Knuckledragger

Never seen it before. It's been exceptional so far. Jack Black wrote the music for it, and has a cameo. He is so young looking.

/me points toward Casino.

Supposedly us here in the Northeast are to get dumped on tomorrow. I took this picture late Tuesday night during the first storm this week: This is actually two exposures combined in Photomatix using Exposure Blending in Highlights & Shadows - Adjust mode. I further tweaked it in Photoshop applying both the Lomo and Holga scripts. This is the first time I have used the scripts since I migrated from Windows to OS X. Depending on how horrible the weather is, I will have several opportunities this weekend for more snow pictures.

Burger King Diamond! Burger King ...Beefcake?

Audition?

[ame= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADemgTWs7Eg]YouTube - Kaleidoscope[/ame]

Or make the crazy Russian dude in that viral video ad for Wanted: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwyWKMRsIfg]YouTube - Russian Office Rampage[/ame]

That reminds me of this:

So, in light of my *ahem* most recent purchase, I am now in need of a preamp that has at least one set of balanced inputs, and one set of balance outputs. Ideally, I'd like at least two sets of each. In a dream world, I could use three sets of balanced outs. After perusing the 'Bay and the 'gon, I can say with no hesitation that things get very expensive very quickly in the balanced realm. I am sure this surprises exactly no one. For the time being, I have ruled out a pre with a phono stage. Any preamp that anything even close to the I/O I want and a phono input is going to cost at least twice what I can afford. Here's a few of the potential candidates I've found: There's a Chinese company names YS Audio that sells two different balanced tube line pres. As I have said before, I'd prefer SS to tube (just as I said I'd prefer SE to balanced, and we see where that got me.) These pres are cheap, at least compared to the competition. Their quality is a total unknown to me, and they are, to put it delicately, impressively ugly. YS Audio sells their products directly on eBay. They list two models which could possibly suit my needs: The Balanced A1 ($720 shipped), and the Balanced A2 ($1130 shipped). Looking on the 'gon, there are of course a legion of options, most of which are entirely out of my price range. There are a few that are close, however: Number one: Gamut Audio C-2r. $1000, 2x balanced in, 1x balanced out. Maker is unknown to me, and the unit entirely too blingy for my taste. Number two: Marsh P2000b. $750. 1x balanced in, 1x balanced out. Maker unknown to me, unit is relatively attractive. Number three: Meridian 502. $750/obo. 3x balanced in, 1x balanced out. Well known brand, but it's an older model? Not funny looking, at least by Meridian standards. Lacks a real volume knob, which is a big minus. Number four: Classe CP-50. $890/obo. The pictures of this one are terrible, but it looks like 2x balanced in and 1x balanced out? Well known maker, nice slim unit which is a boon in my overcrowded rack. ...and the two big guns: Pass Aleph P. $1400. 4 ins, 2 outs. Any can be balanced or SE. The P iteration is an older version of the Aleph, but it does everything I want, and nothing I don't. Stereophile class A, storied maker, beautiful in its minimalism. Pass X 2.5. $1650/obo. 3x balanced in, 2x balanced out(?) Newer and more expensive than the Aleph. The truth is, I'm not terribly interested in the two Chinese tube units. The Balanced A1 is cheap enough that it's almost worth consideration. The Gamut unit might be okay, but its garish looks are enough to make me not want to spend a grand on it. The Marsh might be fine, but I don't know enough about it. The Meridian also looks perfectly acceptable, but I can't say I'm in love with it either. The Classe isn't that much more expensive, and I like it a hell of a lot better. Of all these preamps, only the two Pass models have multiple balanced outputs. Both are a serious stretch for me financially, but they are clearly the top contenders from a features and build quality standpoint. I favor the Aleph P a bit over the X 2.5, and it's a bit cheaper to boot. So what I want to know from you, O Fellow Head-Casers, is what are the arguments for and against these preamps, particualrly the Passes. Is there another option I should be considering that has multiple sets of balanced outputs?

Today the Dutch word of the year was announced and the winner was 'swaffelen' which means to sweep the male organ from side to side while banging against an object such as a building. The word came to prominence when a young man posted a youtube video where he 'swaffled' the Taj Mahal. Since then most of the world's major landmarks have succumbed to the same fate. Rival football fans have been known to 'swaffle' the opposition's stadium. This is obviously a human variant of territorial pissing and though I am sure the partakers are having a 'swaffily' good time I am not sure that this will be a stayer. Maybe next year the youth will just go back to mooning.

From a time when Robert Leiner could do no wrong.

Hoo-boy. I didn't get rid of any gear, save a pair of balanced Cardas ICs I traded to swt61. I did managed to acquire more gear that I never planned, especially given how much I've sunk into my house. In May I bought a pair of Balanced Beyer DT-880s (2005) off sometime Head-Caser 4N6. In June I bought a used NAD surround sound receiver, ostensibly to be the new source/amp for my computer rig, for non-music requirements. It didn't work out for me for a number of reasons. At the moment I am ...unsure what I will do with it. In July I bought a shiny new MacBook. Its purchase wasn't directly related to audio, but with the death of my PC, it's now my most used digital source (# is my 'Pod of course.) In September, I bought a pair of Quad 12L Actives off eBay, after finding out about them on Head-Case. In late November, I bought a Quad 99 CDP-2 off eBay, from the same seller. Just this week, I bought a HeadRoom Balanced Desktop from a Head-Case lurker. It should be here late next week (I hope.) All this and I still don't have a proper preamp. Clearly, I need to log out from this place and never return. My skin is a lot thicker than my wallet these days.

The ST-70 is a storied amp, and rightfully so. From this article: [David Hafler's] first company's "Dynakits"—preamps and power amplifiers in kit form—were assembled by hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts in the 1950s and '60s, a period when audio was primarily an engineering hobby and most good-sounding gear was built by its owners. Several Dynaco products from the period are still regarded as among the best ever made, including the ST-70, a 35Wpc stereo tube amplifier with a highly efficient push-pull output circuit. The ST-70 was the prototype for most similar designs that followed from other companies. The Dynaco Mk.II, a 50W amplifier, was featured in a media display in the Smithsonian's Museum of American History in Washington in the 1990s. (A detailed history of Dynaco can be seen here.) Hafler sold Dynaco to Tyco in 1968, but stayed on in an advisory capacity until 1971.

Damn, dude. That second one is gorgeous.

HeadRoom Balanced Desktop + DPS & balanced Sennheiser cable

Disaster Girl: Disaster Girl noting her 15 minutes of fame: