Voltron

Hey thrice, did you steal that blinky neon DT sign from Toronado?

OK, where do I find them? Have any for sale?

Oh well, I pulled the trigger on this deal and the seller agreed to deliver it to me on Tuesday. Nice. I am going to be staying in a hotel downtown for a few days, so I guess I can use my iMod or laptop through the Pico as a source and have a pretty damn fine "road rig." Thanks for all the input on my questions. Much appreciated. Now, I just have to find out for myself if the O2 is all that or not. Then, I will be able to compare with the 4070 as soon as Todd gets those delivered to me. I guess that makes me a pretty clear member of the Stax Mafia, in addition to the AKG Mafia, the Ultrasone Mafia, the Sony Mafia, the Grado Mafia, the Sennheiser Mafia, the Shure Mafia, etc.

Who would take that sucker bet? Happy Birthday Ed! Slur away!

Does the new 007tII require re-biasing?

Is this 007t self-biasing or do I have to mess with that?

Thanks for the responses, guys. It seems like decent deal, but not the best. Others have sold relatively recently on HF for less, but without all the extras.

That would really make the deal, now wouldn't it! Anyway, I don't like the way he has the O2 cord wrapped around and under the stand, but what the hell...

OK Staxen, I have a question: A local guy has the following for $2300, firm: STAX Omega II's Earspeaker plus 007t Tube Amplifier. Please note that photos shows that this comes complete with 20 ft extension cord, earspeaker stand with clear plastic cover which were all extra cost items you would want. What say you on the deal-meter? I am buying a 4070 also, and was considering the 007tII new, although I have not checked out prices yet. I am also thinking of giving the O2s a real shot since so many people say that they are all that when given time.

Welcome. I didn't realize you were not here already.

For you kids at home, here is an action shot of Gene's patented "double-blinding" method, as the Agile_One himself prepares to burn some shit in.

Agreed! But why ain't it up in the emoticon ghetto? ^^^^^^^^^^

No shit. All I can do is roll around on the floor laughing like a Nenso-copter. It clearly is the greatest of all pictures, and the fact that Tyll posted it in my 10-year-old son's BD thread on Head-Fi makes it all the better. Tyll is the shit. Oh, and Jay is right. If we can have the kitty and puppy, why can't we have a Tyll emoticon?

Incredible! I cannot decide which one looks more like thrice!

Happy birthday Stephen my friend! I hope you rape and pillage well in your dreams tonight and wake up refreshed for your big day. I think we discussed at MOA last week -- or whenever the hell that was -- that the 13th is also my son's birthday. We'll be back in Mayberry for a little party, but I don't think there will be nearly as many kegs... I hope yours is fab and that you need to be hooked up to the M*A*S*H IV all over again. Cheers!

Absolutely not. It is confusing that amps and cans are practically named the same thing and there are numerous lines over time. I have to look up most everything. Plus, the SR-Lambda vs. Lambda Pro vs. Lambda Signature thing has me currently bolloxed up and I even have two different pairs of them in my possession. Speaking of things in my possession, I have been listening to the Hertsens Signature a lot and it is a great DAC. That said, I keep "forgetting" to pack it up and bring it to the office to ship to you. Tomorrow [hopefully]. Sorry. \

Maybe she'll be ok with it if I also promote one of her books. OK people, go out and buy this thing [if you know what's good for you].

AN Dac-1 is an Audio Note DAC-1 and FrankCooter was using one on his Audio Alchemy transport. As for the nomenclature question, I would say that the there is no set definition for hi/mid/lo-fi. What I think the people you quoted were saying was that the Lavry or Transporter are in the middle tier of audiophile/hi-fi gear. More entry-level items and seriously higher end items exist within the overall realm of audiophile/hi-fi gear. I don't think any of them was placing those sources on the same level as a basic or mid-level Pioneer universal player or something. Just my take, but that is how I understand it. We missed you at the meet, btw. You would have had a blast, but I am still happy to know that you will be around for CanJam.

I meant to mention it in terms of his gear being split but still being first class because the Marantz stayed with the WA5 while the ES-1 got bumped up to the EMM in the K1K room. Not too much, just too much to remember!

Your rig has great synergy and although not cheap it has great bang for the buck going for it. The K340s sound amazing in your rig and I agree that when I put on the K340s when the NWO was in my rig it sounded like drek. If you listened at other times and it sounded bad, please tell me. I just got those back with balanced connectors and haven't had a chance to listen on the SDS with the EMM more than a couple minutes. My memory is that it was better with the EMM than with the NWO but I am not exactly sure why that would be. I don't know about that wait list idea, Ken, it makes my palms sweat just to think about buying a $30K CDP. \ Sure does sound purty though...

MOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOTMOT > > >

That is a tough one Purk because there were so many great rigs. Going from a strictly personal preference standpoint, I guess I would rank something like this: 1. My SDS-XLR with Neil's NWO 3.0G. I'm still a dynamic guy at heart, and hearing what that rig did with the HD650/Equinox, HD600/Wyvern, K701/Black Dragon, and Ed.9 (all balanced of course), really melted my heart. I don't think I will replace my EMM SE stack soon with the NWO, but man is it godly. 2. Ironbutt's Technics R2R with Bottlehead tape stage into the ES-2 with HE90s was the most amazing experience even though I didn't have a chance to sink into it for long. Replacing the R2R with the NWO doesn't drop down the analog-ness nearly as much as with probably any other digital source, but there is such a body and realness to the R2R sound that it is incredible. So I guess I would say the NW0 into ES-2 was probably at 2.5 on this top 3. The moral of this story is that the NWO and R2R should be heard with all of the top rigs to really see where the greatest synergy is. Ironbutt's own ZanaDeux/AD2000 rig has amazing synergy at that price level and clearly indicated where that R2R could scale to. Slapping it into the ES-2/HE90, etc. rig simply proved it. 3. Frank Cooter's Audio Alchemy/Audio Note source into his DIY masterpiece with the HP-1s, and to a lesser extent with the K1000, was a revelation. I just cannot get over the fact that he sets about to build a system around a headphone (RS-1 previously) and produces these strokes of genius. Very impressed, which I and others told him repeatedly on Saturday. The K1000s with stock cable into a 1/4 jack really had a handicap in my book. We discussed putting speaker taps and a 4-pin XLR in place of the 1/4 so maybe the next time we see/hear this rig it will truly knock the snot out of the other K1000 options. Now this top 3 leaves out some spectacular rigs. Min's EMM SE/Zanden/K1K rig still amazes. JP's Walker TT (his 3d class vinyl rig) into the EC HD2 was awesome with RS-1s and especially HP-2s. Mikeymad's ES-1 and WA5 setups had to be separate for power reasons (although my old house held up damn well without so much as a flicker) but both were great. blessingx's balanced B22 with Transporter and his usual Lavry were great. My own SDS-XLR/EMM SE setup ranks very highly for me, of course, but the NWO outshined it as I knew it would. bobcn's new RWA 30.2 upgrade was an outstanding improvement on the K1Ks, and whereas I used to think it sounded good but underpowered it now has much more body and pure balls to drive the cans. Great upgrade -- Vinnie should be applauded on that one. Many other great setups were everywhere, and I cannot even think of them all as I sit here. CanJam had better be on peoples' to-do lists because it will be epic beyond all proportions.

Thanks.

Next stop on the Magical Mystery Tour was Marin Brewing Company where thrice had been dumped by the Marin Airporter after his flight was "cancelled" according to him. Although some might speculate he was after the Blondes (why is that one woman handing him money and looking so angry at the same time?), mostly I think that he was dead set on making it to the last stop of the day, pictured below. OK, thrice's real reason for returning was found here: Double-Double Animal Style with a side of Animal Fries and a shake. He believed that Jesus himself whipped up his heavenly dream-come-true treat.