Hopstretch

It's terrible what drugs have done to Michael Phelps.

I could have, I guess. Feel free.

Ayre MX-R -- $10,000. Dog dish and Ikea coffee cups -- $7.50. Appropriately elevated speaker cable -- priceless.

I love you and I want to have your babies.

We have a winner!

Now you're just showing off! Peter Gabriel -- Security

I bought my friend some Yuin OK2s for his birthday to use on the train. He's very happy with them and I thought they sounded good when I listened to them out of my iPhone for an hour or so after they arrived. But at that price point ($170), I'd personally look for some used X10s. They're just killer out of a good amp.

I agree that the GS-1 does a very good job with Senns, but think it's at its best with Grados. My impression is the reverse is true of the Zana. Solution -- run both.

I'm just glad I'm not your roommate, Windy.

-18dB on music for me, too.

Wait until tomorrow.

Way to cheer him up!

That's a pretty good idea. If you get buds or IEMs, you'll also have a portable solution once your HPs come back. I would be quite happy to run nothing by my X-10s in my desktop setup for a while.

Hang in there, Nate. The good news is once you send in the -cillin or -mycin cavalry, things generally improve very rapidly.

Split Enz -- Spellbound

Rotated the new APC power conditioner and some sweet SIALO speaker cables into the HT system. It's now 14.3 percent more better. Give or take.

'Til Tuesday -- Everything's Different Now

Me too. My wife had just gone to business school and gained access to our first ever broadband connection. Someone told me about this new thing called Napster and claimed it had "all sorts of weird stuff," so I searched for the first obscure song that popped into my head: Dream Academy -- Life In A Northern Town. Aheyanownownowwww-heyyyeheyyyeyaaa.

Sorry for treating you like a dilettante, then! Ngiyakuhalalisela! Queen -- A Night At The Opera

^^^ I don't know if you're a fan, or just sampling, but they have a lot of great stuff that didn't make the Best Of. "Universal Men" and "African Litany" are both worth seeking out. I have fond (though hazy) memories of a very impaired night out on the town with Johnny Clegg in the late 80s, so my soft spot for his music even extends to owning much of the fairly diabolical later output. Listening to: The Stone Roses -- The Stone Roses

If any member of the HC constructors' club wants to build one of these puppies for fun, or educational purposes, or whatever it is that does motivate you solder sniffers -- but doesn't particularly want to front the cost or keep it for the long haul -- shoot me a PM and we can probably work something out.

Tesla -- Five Man Acoustical Jam

Obligatory.

Jennifer Hudson gave the old anthem some welly! I'm for the Steelers, if only to avoid the sermon from Warner if the Cardinals do pull it out.

Tonight. I'm, not too proud to admit, I consumed a prepackaged delicacy that came with the following advice: "Warning! Product becomes hot when cooked."