About Lugnut -- Patrick Malone

AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGG!!!!! I filled the sink with hair this morning. LOL. Now I'll be able to go incognito. I guess it doesn't matter and the goatee will grow back quick enough. But old Lugnut isn't going to be able to shock and annoy his friends with his unusual appearance. The time warp is history. Hell, I guess in a month or so I'll just need to take to wearing white shirts and ties to go along with this new look. I will not however be posting a photo of this new look. Assuming I make it to Miami in early march I'll be able to hug guys like Cello and Doug Deacon with them thinking some insane stranger has crashed the party. Woohoo!

I've been swapping gear in and out of my system like crazy. A couple of things that will most definitely stay no matter what else comes or goes are the Ridge Street cables. Robert, you are a magician! They haven't settled in yet but with the addition of the tuner, thanks to Jeff Logan, I'll be able to play some low level radio to speed up the break-in procedure and enjoy this weekend at a new level of detail. The additional detail in the bass and high frequencies is something else, really. I've used his cables before and know exactly what to expect once they settle in. The best way I can convey the huge impact they have is by saying it's like going from a very inexpensive mm cartridge to a SOTA mc. Everything is better without any harshness whatsoever especially considering I'm running solid state amps. It's a shame that the RS speaker cables can't be used with my current system as I'm sure I'd be in hog heaven then. If anyone knows of a banana adaptor that has a binding post on it I'd love to try these driving my mid/bass drivers and then the tweeters. I'm guessing that this alone would represent a significant improvement.

The little Snells are incredible performers even though I had to place them on top of my floor standers which wasn't giving them a fair chance to really shine. I have yet to receive the stands that go with them but when I do I'll go through the setup again. There was a small amount of bass driver pumping caused by the rear firing ports interacting with my turntable and placement of the subwoofer is going to be problematic with my room layout. Still, even considering these massive setup problems, if they exceed the performance of my floor standers I'll figure out a way to use them. For sure, they would work very well if I were digitally based. I do have an idea for using them in another system in the living room if I can do it on the cheap.

Man, I'm going to miss my old retro look. Let's have a moment of silence for my hair.

Pat,

You better make it to Miami! It is going to be big fun. And no ties allowed.

Joe

Oh well. Hair today, gone tomorrow.

While you deny it, I do think your decision to forego the chemo is a brave decision, as well as a wise one. As we discussed, 150 good days is better than 300 bad ones, and that first course of chemo certainly caused you some very bad days. And I doubt that it's totally a selfish decision; I'm sure that your suffering from the chemo wasn't easy on Barbara or Amanda ... or for anyone else that cares about you -- just ask Steve, or me, or any of us.

Those Snell K7 Monitors are amazing, aren't they? They image-up beautifully, with very liquid and gorgeous mids and highs. They provide a great deal of detail while also remaining very musical. They were designed by Joseph D'Appolito, the inventor of the famous D'Appolito array (tweeter flanked by 2 mids), which has been copied by almost every speaker manufacturer. BTW, I just called Snell, and the stands are on their way!

I wonder if, besides moving the location of the table, removing the dust cover or perhaps letting it rest on a couple small pieces of Sorbothane might reduce the port turbulence problem. I suspect Tom Lyons' Audiopoints will help a great deal, and allow you to successfully integrate all of the components in your listening room. And if not, give Snell's Bob Graffy a call -- he's a very knowledgeable guy and a very nice man to boot. Their website is www.snellacoustics.com.

I also agree with you about Robert's Schult's Ridge Street Audio cables -- they're great, and he's a great guy, too. As Steve mentioned earlier, audiophiles are a wonderful group of people, and this clearly extends to manufacturers who are in it for the love of it. This hobby has been called a sickness, a mania, an obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other (fairly accurate) terms. The beauty part is, we get to "suffer" with the best company! :-)

Have a great day,
Paul

Pat, I support your decision to forego chemo. I have a hard time believing in its merits, all told...this hippie will stay off his soapbox otherwise! ;)

I've recently added Ridge Street Poiema!! speaker cables in my system and I'm quite pleased with them so far! The Northeast Wisconsin Audiophiles had Robert and Steve up to Green Bay last month to demo the RS cables and new speakers. Great guys and great products!

Hey Pat, if you're bored and looking for something to read, check out The Detox Book second ed. by Bruce Fife, N.D. Maybe you find it helpful or interesting, maybe not, but it's a worthwhile read IMHO!

Feel better, man!

Hey guys, I got a haircut yesterday and it doesn't look like I've lost as much as I did. Boy oh boy do I look respectable. I'm seriously thinking about getting lightning bolts dyed into my hair on each side. Bright red perhaps. Barb wants me to get my ear re-pierced. I'd do that if I could find a musical note earring. Know where I can get one?

As a few of you guys know, old Lugnut grew up in a less than sophisticated environment and never got exposed to classical music. I've always felt that I was missing out on a lot of joy but without a mentor it was too daunting a task to undertake what with all the great jazz and blues I could pursue easily. Well, I've got myself a mentor now in the form of Scott Campbell. The first of his records that I listened to was Tchaikovsky Symphon NO. 6, a MOFI pressing. While not the best recording the content lifted Barb and I up and carried us away. Very sensual and intimate if that is a correct way to express how it made me feel. Thanks Scott for making this easy for me.

Later guys as I've got a busy weekend going.