Leaderboard

We had a friend with "taste" come and have a look, and apparently What we want is "Desert Tan" Capturing the sunbaked warmth of a desert landscape, this yellowish tan is low-key yet luxurious. https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/2153-50/desert-tan Well OK then. The Office Renders look Ok. Like I have a choice.

In case you need to replace the onboard battery.

lumber-jacking?

Gag-ish gift as in stocking stuffers. Forgot to post as I don’t even currently have the vinyl rig connected, but all the best holiday 2025 Tiny Vinyls. Reconfigured listening rig soon.

looks like my lumberjacking will have to wait a bit. 🪓

I don't know about the new MS Windows logo

Well I've been away and a certain SR-009D showed up in the meantime... Sorry for the crap picture but I've only had a couple of hours with them and I should have been in bed an hour ago... First impressions, I like the color but it's clear that Stax have cheaped out with one of those surface treatments that are so popular in China. Nothing as nice as the 009BK here, it's that matt but shiny black except in the grove on the back. It's okey but we are clearly seeing production moving away from Japan here of crucial parts. Same is true for the earpads, very different from regular 009 pads and the smell and feel is identical to the various earpads I've been buying from China. Nothing wrong with that really... if they didn't resell the 10$ pads at 200$. They are also odd as they don't seem to fit nicely on the headphones but feel nice, much better than the 007S trash pads. They are similar to the Omega pads in some ways, large opening and pretty thin. The headpad seems also different from the older models so likely a new supplier there too. Same basic thin pad design though but a bit wider overall compared to the L500 part I have on the MA-009 in the picture. Same cable as the SR-X1 and the 007S. I'm not in Japan so I'm not getting the shorter cable as instead of throwing them into the boxes, Stax wants you to send in for them, in Japan only. Gotta love companies living in the 70's. As for the sound... I was expecting to hate them but no... these are the first 009's that aren't way too colored for their own good. For the most part, they are easy to live with with plenty of bass and presence. Maybe a tad dull and uninvolving at times but still easy to get long with. Now they are not perfect, there is a distinct "bass drum" resonance on many tracks and some certain ranges make them way too shouty in the midrange but it's far from as bad the originals or what the hell the 009S was. Nice controlled soundstage with some depth to it, good extension on both ends of the spectrum so yeah... I'm pleasantly surprised. I haven't detected any of the serious driver resonance issues as with the 007S either. Only a couple of hours with them but some volume matched comparisons with the MA-009, I prefer the fuller sound of the latter but it's not a long way off. I do feel the irony of me finally tackling the long planned project of fixing the 009's, only with Stax releasing a new version which doesn't suck like the older ones at the same time. Still, this is good move in general and at present I'd recommend these over the 007S and the X9000, let alone the older 009 models.

...and just as legally.

Dan's advice is solid. I got the Kickr on black Friday so it's a bit more now but is the bottom of the range direct drive model they make. I decided to get what i needed instead of what i might want.

ok, this is head case :), what do you mean by inexpensive? I found it almost impossible to motivate myself to ride a purely mechanical trailer. Just got bored. I would get any trainer that would connect to zwift, and would read https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/11/trainer-recommendations-winter.html to get an idea about what the options are.

Took the new bike out for a first ride today. My new shoes (five ten) need to have the release adjusted, because when I stopped, I fell over because my left foot wouldn't let go. I need to adjust the front brake, it's grabbing intermittently. It could use some minor fit adjustments, but over all, I'm pretty happy with the fit, I got the right size. The big issue is I haven't ridden enough to make a difference since I met my wife in late 2020, so I'm in AWFUL shape. I was gassed after less than a mile. Kayaking isn't a particularly aerobic exercise. I'm gonna set up my indoor setup with my old bike and see if I can get slightly less out of shape before trying anything not mostly flat outside again.

Had Joanne compare similar different greens under various lighting conditions in various locations. Apparently getting Gemini / nano banana to replace wall colors in a picture isn't good enough 🤷‍♂️ Also, how many greens are there. Many many many apparently.

Figured I'd post this picture here as well as in the Stax thread, MA-009 vs SR-009D I've just been on holiday so no work on this project but I'll probably make some new diaphragms for the MA-009 soon. The ones in there are just too unstable, any major airpressure and they just stick to the stators.

Actually yesterday, not today. I got up early on my 4 day holiday weekend, and decided to get my laundry done early. So loaded up the laundry and Maki and headed to the laundromat in Fairfax. Got it done and headed back home to Nicasio. Halfway home, on Nicasio Valley Rd. saw flashing lights.... Had to turn back and go the long way around. On Lucas Valley Rd. I had to stop briefly for an overturned car. Luckily no more blockages, and got home to discover that I still had power. Could have been much worse.

michika: chill mix with Japanese grandpa at a stationery shop

I've been following along with it utter crap springs to mind. The amplifier is a Stax SRM-1 Mk2 with some cobbled together power supply. I have no idea what output devices are being used but they look modern so holy Cob batman... yeah... As for the headphones, I've not heard anything good about them. Going by his speakers, this is amateur hour. No dust covers, the bias supplies in the speakers are those 3$ modules from China which ring like mad and spew out trash... for what 100k$?

Wow...... Thanks......