Leaderboard

Every couple years or so I email Sound Organisation to see if there is a Rega dealer in my area, never having any hope that there will be. I've been buying all my gear via the internet since I got into this game in 2006, and as much as I love the many benefits internet shopping provides, I have always wanted to form a relationship with somebody local. I like doing business with people I know, which is probably why I've completely stopped using ebay, audiogon, or even head-fi, I'd much rather buy and sell my crap here rather than deal with the teeming mass of insanity that is the open interwebs market. Lo and behold they get back with me, and there is a new hi fi dealer not to far from me: http://www.ellingtonhifi.com/ The owner emails me and tells me about all his brands. He carries Rega (he is the only Rega dealer in Alabama), VPI, Quadraspire, which are brands I have some familiarity with, and some other brands as well: Clearaudio (never really been impressed by anything they've done) Dynaudio speakers, AMR, IFI Micro, Octave, and T+A. I told him my situation straight up, that I'm not in the market to buy right now because I'm out of work until later in the summer, but would still love to come back and check out his shop and listen some stuff, but didn't want to waste his time. He was really friendly in his reply, saying that he is about to get a pair of Joseph Audio Perspectives in, and would love for me to come by and spin some records and hang out, no pressure to buy or anything. I also saw on twitter he was spinning Widespread Panic, so I know he's a major dude. Anyone ever heard any Joseph Audio stuff? Generally it looks way out of my price range (the perspectives run ~$11,000/pair) but I'd be stoked to hear a crazy expensive speaker like that, and it appears to be well reviewed. I guess there is no real point to this post, other than to express my happiness that my next turntable purchase could be in person with a real live human being. I also think its a testament to the steady growth in appeal of hi fi that a dealer has opened up in Loxley, AL of all places. And I'd love to finally hear a VPI table after reading countless reviews of their stuff. Anyone have any decent local audio dealers they've formed a relationship with? I guess I could use some tips on etiquette and whatnot, since this will all be new to me.

After a trip to Ikea yesterday, I was able to get the closet in the nursery all set today. Tough to beat their closet organizing stuff... Solid pine so it's easy to customize and fit in a 100+ year old barn without a straight, level or plumb surface at a fraction of the price of the particle board crap at the big box stores. She certainly won't be suffering from a lack of space for a while!

Didn't manage to hit anywhere near 46 miles but did get out on an excellent ride with Chris and Juan in an area I have wanted to ride since first driving through it. This area of DC and Maryland feels like you are miles from town and the roads are mostly closed to vehicles on the weekend so much more relaxing. My Garmin once again failed miserably in the trees so I am going to have to figure out how to fit a cadence sensor on the Cervelo. I was reading around 6 MPH for most of the ride including some pretty crazy downhills that were in the trees. I think the Strava plot will look pretty strange because I saw at least once that I was cruising at 6-8 MPH and then I came out of the trees and jumped immediately to 30MPH. This explains why I always set all my PRs on the Calfee (with cadence sensor). Chris and Juan are still much faster than me but I am feeling much better at the end of these rides than I ever did in the past so I guess that is an improvement. Just saw on FB that my shop is showing the TdF stage tomorrow projected on the outdoor screen for a bit of a party so I have reason to break out the DeSalvo for a ride over and a bit of TdF party.

Ahhh PRP's, where the reject pile almost equals the useable units. That's why I use CMF60's instead.

I think it is insane that "the worlds top pros" of scootering actually exist.

I ended up picking up a UD35 and I can definitely see this bag weighing a ton if it's fully crammed with gear. It's deceptively small looking for what it can hold!