Ken Kessler.

Apologies FIRST- to  OP @tabl10s -sorry for the hijack/sidetracking of the thread

"Doctor persuaded me that I needed a smart watch which amongst other features would let my partner know if I had died, and the GPS coordinates of where to find my body."

@richardbrand 

I’m right with you. We can all be thankful for technology used a RIGHT WAY. I certainly have my own medical drama that encourages me to be mindful/deliberate in my waking hours.

Guess I’m jealous because Kessler probably wears 2 lovely vintage Euro  pieces😂

I wear a non-pedigree, 50-year-old Bulova, gifted by mom. Current value-wait for it......$6.23 on the high side?

My Holbo money was diverted into another obsession-$12K bicycle on sale. Had to dive in while the body can still endure the thrashing! Retired/repurposed the16 year old rig for grocery shopping/about town used LP bin excursions.

There’s always another turntable deal on the horizon.

@tablejockey 

There’s always another turntable deal on the horizon

The Holbo deal has not gone away, though the USD is fading against the EUR and most other currencies.

I've bought my forever bicycle several times now.  They keep getting stolen.  My latest electric one has so many security features, I think I've forgotten how to activate it.  It is actually quite brilliant - the motor, battery and controller will only operate as a set, the controller needs to be near my phone, and can be pocketed to disable the power.  Bloody thing tells my partner where I've been and how little I had to pedal

@rlj 

What caught my attention was 

"the first music in the home was probably the player piano so in a way we've regressed "

There is a truly excellent immersive recording by 2L.no of Grieg's Piano Concerto played by Australian Percy Grainger in 1921.  To quote ChatGPT

The 2L Grainger Recording

The album—GRIEG Piano Concerto (2L-060-SABD)—uses a "time machine" effect by combining Grainger's original 1921 Aeolian Duo-Art reproducing piano rolls with a modern surround-sound recording by the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Rolf Gupta. [1, 2]

The physical release is a hybrid disc featuring multiple high-resolution formats:

• Audio Formats: Pure Audio Blu-ray (featuring 5.1 Surround DTS-HD Master Audio and 192kHz/24bit LPCM) and SACD.
• Bonus Content: The disc also includes historically significant solo recordings of Grieg performing his own Lyric Pieces on the piano.
• Full Details & Purchasing: You can review the tracklist and liner notes on the 2L Recordings Album Page. [1]

You can play the high resolution surround-sound disk on any BluRay player, but you need an SACD player to get surround from the SACD disk (a CD player will give you 2-channel at ordinary resolution).

This is a rare combination of a superb performance and awesome sound quality, in my opinion!  You get both a Blu-ray disk and an SACD

@rlj 

I think Ken Kessler may also have been having a shot at HiFi compared with the real sound of a piano!  I was walking round a hospital the other day and heard the unexpected sound of a piano, which to me was obviously a real one even though the sound was coming from corridors away.

Sure enough, it was real, not recorded.  I was surprised by how easily I could tell the difference 

@tabl10s 

Protection circuit kicked in(whew!). 

That's great!  What sort of circuit is it?

My Quad electrostatics (not the '57s) protect themselves by compressing signal voltages over 40-Volts, and 'clamping' (short-circuiting the amplifier) at 56-Volts.  

Most amplifiers shut themselves down when presented with a short circuit, and then power back up OK.  But I once tried a Luxman which sent a spike when switching on, which caused the speakers to clamp and the Luxman to power down.  Never did get them to work together ...