postjack

I experienced fatigue with the W11JPN after long listening bouts. Having said that, it is a fine can, just not my cuppa'.

As you know, I bought an MS2i at the same time you did. They are a great first Grado, and I can easily say they are the "sweet spot" in the sub-$300 Grado line up. Not nearly as bright as the 325i or 225, might even be called "rolled off", but this is a pleasant sound. Not as resolving as the RS-1, but they are still detailed and pretty airy for a Grado. The bass and the midrange is where it is at here. Marvelous! I'm loving listening to beat laden electronica, but even better, rock vinyl, since vinyl shows off those low frequencies so well. Also, the MS2i can be listened to at high volumes (relative to other, brighter Grados) for longer periods of time without being fatiguing. This also makes the bass that much more impactful and exciting. As for pad choice, I think flats are definitely the way to go on this one. Bowls take some of the oomph out of the bass. I also have the reverse quarter mod "vwap" hd414s, and like you say, they exist in the land between bowls and flats. To be honest with you though, I've never been a huge fan of the vwap with any Grado, now the MS2i included. YMMV, of course, it may be worth picking up a pair just to have around, but flats have pretty much been the winner on all the Grados I've heard (GS1000 being the exception, bagels win here, and I've never heard the PS-1). Glad you are enjoying the cans!

909, I really enjoy reading all your posts, and have enjoyed having you around headcase, and I do respect you and your opinion, so take what I'm about to ask gently. Whats your beef with Mikhail and/or Singlepower?

nice, I bought a 32" westy lcd hdtv last december, it has been a great TV. My one complaint is that occasionally (I maybe notice it once a week) I see some minor ghosting. I think this is just a necessary evil when dealing with budget LCDs. The best way I found to adjust all the color/hue/brightness/saturation etc settings is to just look at the actor's skin. Adjust until the skin is lifelike. As for backlight, I wait for a scene that is inside a house or building, but with windows letting sunlight in. I adjust the backlight until the light is bright and lifelike, but not overbearing.

After dealing with some very helpful Fedex customer service reps (no sarcasm, they really were helpful, polite, and professional, both on the national and local level), it looks like I'll be getting my amp tomorrow. I had it rerouted to my parent's house, hopefully someone will be home there to sign for it. If not, my dad said he would go to the fedex terminal to pick it up (one of the many benefits of having the same name as one's father). Hopefully by this weekend I'll have my first taste of what decent speakers can do.

x2. Ease up off the kid Nan.

Grawk is right, I was checking out the Mac refurb page today and there are some good deals.

cool, grats on the new DAC!

no.

looks like its just being released now. i googled the page.

Looks easy: Basically I just run my RCAs straight from the phono stage into the "breakout cable"?

I seriously want to get setup to do some needledrops, I would love to hook you all up. I need to learn how to do them though. That Steely Dan Aja is tight as hell, smooth as silk and warm n' tasty like melted butter.

The three new Rhino 180g vinyl reissues of Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures, Closer, and Still.

this is why I use IBM OS/2. still got that shit on 14 3.5 diskettes dog, damn. its the convenience of a Windows 3.11 gui combined with the strength of PC-DOS 6.0.

You can pretty much pick any relatively popular source and find some article, somewhere, that says it is the best source ever that beats even $250,000 CD players. For example, from a Positive Feedback review: "The Sony DVP-NS 999ES CD/DVD/SACD player with Signature Truth modifications by ModWright is state of the art. There is no better-performing or more musical digital playback unit available today. More expensive and more flexible digital front ends are available, but the Modwright/Sony 999ES defines its category, and thrills the listener. Highest accuracy plus ultimate musicality equals state of the art in my book. The ModWright/Sony 999ES is that and more, with excellent DVD playback as a bonus. If you already own a 999ES, you are only $1300 away from digital perfection as it currently exists." see, I own digital perfection.

i had an ibook two years ago, and the lobo went out a couple weeks after the 1 year warranty ended. Apple wanted $800 to fix it, blah. I bought a big ass HP 17" widescreen monitor after that. I gamed REAL heavy on it (this was when I discovered WoW), and after about 6 months started to get these wavy blue lines on my monitor. Turned out the graphics card had gotten so hot it had kind of melted itself. HP Customer Service was kick ass, real nice lady helped me all the way through. Boxed up, shipped out on Monday, had it back by Thursday. Next computer I bought was a desktop, Velocity Micro. Its the best computer I've ever bought. I don't see myself ever going back to Mac because a) price and games. I'm not much of a gamer, really, but I at least want the option of hopefully finding an MMORPG that will grip me like WoW used to. Nate, if I was you I'd go Dell and get the 3-4 year warranty.

your job rox.

Pitchfork gives music a 6.8

I would encourage you to waste at least 48 more minutes of your life and watching a couple of episodes from season 2 of The Office. Then, if you don't laugh, then you'll know for sure it just doesn't do it for you. But yeah, Deadwood is totally FOTM, you should check it. I still need to watch season 3, but I don't want it to end. \

Lawn.

i'll give my usual suggestion here. Did you watch anything after season 1? Season 1 honestly wasn't that funny... I like to think it was funny, but when I actually watch those episodes they are just uncomfortable, not really funny. All the actors really seemed to get into their flow in season 2, and so from there on it is golden. But hey, if you don't like the Office US, you don't like it. have you watched Deadwood yet? if not you should. I am FIENDING for some more of The Wire! I'm so glad I have six more episodes, I'll probably watch 3-4 more tonight. need to do dumb homework though.

BTW, the birdseye maple is gorgeous. Its like the speakers are constantly melting.

Well I called Fedex and have attempted to reroute the amp to my folks house. We'll see if that works out. In the meantime... And nary an amp to drive them! Just for kicks I did hook them up to my $300 panny receiver and played a couple SACDs through the Oppo at low volume, and they sounded good! Can't wait to run them with a real source and amp. Hopefully this week sometime.

"have you ever looked into his eyes? its like the first time I listened to the Beatles..." "you cockblocked mcclovin!!" so many great one liners. Yeah, the plot is the stereotypical "get booze get laid" high school comedy, but the dialogue is smart, the pace is fast, the comedic timing is out of this world, and the comedy itself is loaded with tension. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to laugh.

watched two more episodes... was up until 2am. ugh... another addictive HBO show. hopefully going to go see Superbad with some friends this afternoon.