Leaderboard

The Hitachi DA-1000 (and associated clones) is one of the earliest and most prized CD players. It's method of loading the CD can't accurately be described as unusual (at the time there was no defined normal) but it's certainly a striking one. Working examples change hands for a tidy sum. Even nonfunctional units are near to look at. European market clone of the Hitatchi. The fragile but very interesting looking CD loading mechanism. When was the last time you saw a CDP with an output meter?

Modern tech with vintage looks, Ruark R710 all in one system, basically, hook up a pair of speakers and you have everything. Heard it at an audio show a couple weeks ago and was surprised that an under $10k setup was one of the top 5 rooms at the show, it embarrassed the shit out of many mega-buck systems. Yes, it also plays CDs. If I had room for speakers, I'd be totally happy with this setup.

Not to many of these being built anymore, I built this from Mjorin kit, parts are getting difficult to find. Works and sounds great . Bill

Saw Suzanne Vega Saturday night. Can't believe it took me this long to see her (I, like many, became a fan with the Solitude Standing album which contains Luka, Tom's Diner, etc.). Great voice, and she was a great chatter and storyteller as well! Loved her intro to Flying With Angels, and then her explanation of what it means to her hit a big chord. I had more than one of those "angel" moments taking care of Karen. Links to videos https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pbVJOr7oRrMu3qFmzp_BR2ClAard30ou/view?usp=sharing - Luka https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yoDLhsgfoNn9umTOkQ3h7JGVvBIizeM9/view?usp=sharing - Flying With Angels

Grahame outdid himself making all of these delicious curries and two more salads/sides from scratch, although he only sliced the banana. As you can see, defending the universe requires a lot of sustenance. Thanks again Grahame and Joanne for hosting us at your wonderful new home!

There may have been Curries and fixin's to help defend the universe and sustain excessive woodworking. There may also have been exquisitely crafted Apple Tart And fixin's But I couldn't possibly comment.

SACD Been listening to mostly plastic lately.

😔

Everything But The Girl - Young and Dumb (single from their new album coming in February)

Go sports ball.

Coincidentally, I was just listening to Aja. I even had a bit of a conversation with Google AI about it. Me: Art Pop is one of my favourite genres, especially jazz-tinged art pop. There's something about those chord voicings that just "hits me where I live". I also really dig Voivod's Piggy Chords, and I just want to learn how they compose and incorporate those elements. A lot of my music (that I write) is audibly "melodic minor" to me, and I'd like to expand my palette. It: (Too long, don't read.) After which the conversation shifted to The Colourfield's "Castles in the Air" ("the perfect bridge between Steely Dan and melodic minor"). ...Where art pop differs from traditional straight-ahead jazz is the voicing architecture. Art pop often avoids standard, textbook jazz "shell voicings" (Root-3rd-7th) in favor of highly colorful, open-sounding structures where the melody line can sing out over a flurry of inner voice movement. Add9 and Mu Major Chords: Popularized by Steely Dan, a "mu major" chord is a major triad with an added 2nd (or 9th) voiced directly adjacent to the 3rd. Example: Instead of spelling C major 9 as C - E - G - B - D, voice a C(add9) as C - D - E - G. The second interval between D and E creates a beautiful, shimmering harmonic "blur" that anchors the art pop sound. Slash Chords (Poly-harmony): Art pop relies heavily on playing a clean triad in the upper register over a completely foreign bass note. This gives you jazz extensions without the clutter. Bb / C: A Bb major triad (Bb - D - F) over a C bass note. This instantly yields a C7sus4(9,13) sound—sleek, modern, and deeply reminiscent of late '70s art pop. G / C: A G major triad over a C bass note, creating a pure Cmaj9 feel with a wide, cinematic gap between the bass line and the upper melody...

The October Suite by Steve Kuhn (1967) https://open.qobuz.com/album/0060246544132 Example: On the edge of avant-garde from time to time, and rarely gets into a groove. But it is rewarding with absolutely lovely melodies and variations like the example. Gary known for his compositions and arrangements died 1971 (aged 38).

New Order's turn.

If you guys remember the Back to Mine series (artists compile the music they listen to at home after a night out), Everything But The Girl’s one now…

RIP Mr. Stewart, you seemed entirely like a decent human.

Well now he's seen everything the GuardianPatrick Stewart, Star Trek actor and acclaimed thespian,...Star Trek: the Next Generation and X-Men actor died at his home after ‘a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia’

North Node by Natalie & Brittany Haas (2026) https://open.qobuz.com/album/q8qgcdcx9xl6c Example: The Haas sisters back at it again. I thought Brittany was too busy with the Punch Brothers that I missed this one coming out. Just what you would expect from a Cello and Fiddle album. And that is what I wanted with a touch of mandolin thrown in here and there.

There's always the new iPad mini. Lifestyle Benefits Narrative Or Minimalist Product Showcase What's not to like? Several things, actually. OLED, yes, nice, but only 60 Hz, not 120 Hz ( sorry, Pro Motion) Display?

Shouldn't this be in the baking thread? Well technically both. I tried an experiment. A pretty standard sourdough mix at 78% hydration. Formed yesterday, sat overnight in fridge. Baked this morning on pellet grill. I use a cast iron dutch oven/combo cooker. I heated the grill to 500 with the cast iron. loaded and scored the bread lowering the temp to 450. I took it out of the cooker and baked in the grill at 350 for an additional 30 minutes. The oven spring wasn't great but good enough, And I probably could have baked it a little longer. But there is a decidedly Smoky flavor to the entire crust. I'm not sure if I would want it all the time but it's pretty darn yummy.

Going out to Mr. and Mrs. Bedecarre. Some AI BS but that's just where we are?

There are long standing threads for speaker and amplifier porn on HC. Thus far, sources have been neglected. It's true, speakers and amps are in general better looking units than most sources but there are certainly some good looking ones out there. Let's start with a mid 80s Revox CDP that is a bit of a legend amongst collectors: The Revox B225. It's overbuilt like a MFer, which is good as it's also prone to failure and in need of extensive servicing. I just watched a really good YouTube video on repairing one while I was editing a whole stack of photos. TL;DW: A whole pile of Swiss engineering, dirty electrical contacts and a new motor. There were some variants with balanced out and at least one meant for professional use: Love those green lights.

Aged 86 with Alzheimers and Lewy body dementia. RIP Patrick Stewart. What a rotten way to go. Was lucky to see him several times on stage, three times in Chichester. Malvolio in Twelfth Night, MacBeth in the landmark production as Macbeth in the tiny Minerva (so close I could have touched him), and as the aged Shakespeare, and his death in Bingo. That particular production of MacBeth transferred to the West End, and then two theatres on Broadway, and was made into a movie. And on the London stage with McKellen in Waiting for Godot and both of them in No Man's Land, a rather bleak play by Harold Pinter. A really superb actor of stage and screen. I'm really gutted he's gone.

They sell a ton of these to pilots. You put them on a knee board and it's perfect for displaying charts/approaches etc. and with a pencil you can jot down complicated ATC clearances. The biggest ask for a couple of years has been a brighter screen, so we'll see if the OLED is a step forward. Some folks will even mount them on the control yoke as an additional flight control display, although the FAA officially frowns on this.

And Now there's the iMac's and MacBooks with M6 Power! Spec Bump? Price Bump! $4K, Nice? They may announce a Touch Screen Tomorrow.

I’m team performance then recording first. Without those the rest is irrelevant.

Mi Historia Americana: Sur by Daniil Trifonov (2026) https://open.qobuz.com/album/z5ctty71t1zjt Example: A lot of new works for me. I should have looked at the runtime (knowing Daniil's work in the past). I was not ready for 2.25 hours of music right now. I am a little over half way. I really enjoy it, there are some challenging works mixed in with lovely powerful pieces. Edit: I forgot to mention a feature in Qobuz that I recently found. I don't know how long it has been there. But for some classical recordings they include the digital booklet. So that you can have liner notes and track lists. I do hope that they keep expanding it, because having the back album covers for old jazz releases would be great. Ex. (18 page booklet)

Or rather used our local official ballot drop box avoiding potential USPS shenanigans. "Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest"

Thanks to both for the worthy dialogue, keep going!

New Teenage Engineering EP-35 Amp:

A Song for You by Søren Bebe Trio (2012) https://open.qobuz.com/album/5707471025819 Example: An older set from Søren, clean

The Revox & the Lampizator are interesting "bookends" to the overall thread. The former being how Lukasz started out, soldering DIY tubed output-stages to older TDA154x-based CD players, and the latter being his uber-expensive current offerings. Not sure if that was planned or not, but...touche' 👍 Can't comment on the latest Lampizator retail products, other than I think I've heard some models once or twice at meets over the years, and they sounded good in those specific instances. I've also heard Chord-based systems that sounded good under similar circumstances too.

RIP, Donnie Iris

Played with it in the apple store today when I was out ring shopping. I was a lot more impressed with the hardware than I thought I'd be. Seam really is basically invisible. The phones were hot to the touch but they are floor models with brightness cranked and plugged in to the AC main, so makes sense. Happy to sit this year out as wallet is empty after making a different large purchase, but I will be tempted for Rev 2.

You pointed out the real issue with all tablets and probably fold phones. Navigating/typing on it is awkward, and if you get a keyboard case, you basically have a watered down laptop.

I enjoyed this set.

What a cutie

Minor story: likely my first trip to Sundance we ate at a Mexican restaurant in Park City next to an actor we recognized, but couldn't name. Eventually we figured out it was Tom, and in fact we discovered tomskerrittishot.com that day, though now long gone.

Kim Jong Un in Coma After Brain Hemorrhage? China Hospital Rumors Spark Despite Recent Public Appearance. Unproven of course. Big if true, as the kids say.

The famous photos of Margaret and printouts (plural) of the code use in the Apollo program: The first image has been serially reposted on reddit, usually incorrectly described as "the code she wrote by hand." Not to take away from Margaret's work in the slightest, but these binders are multiple copies of all the code written by everyone who worked on it. Here's where things get weird: Margaret has her own wiki page. It lists two relatives that have links. One is James Cox Chambers, a billionaire "renewable energy businessman." The other is Fergie Chambers who is a communist activist. Family gatherings must be awkward.

Oberschoßhundführer Drumpf For a Dr. Strangelove or Catch-22 style satire, the slur should sound absurdly bureaucratic, aggressively hyphenated, and entirely mock-serious. Since it is a derogatory term used by other characters rather than an official rank, it should bite—exposing the leader's cowardice while mocking their delusions of grandeur. Here are a few satirical, German-style slurs tailored to your two-faced, sell-out head of state: The "Sell-Out" & "Traitor" Angles Oberausverkäufer (Oh-ber-owss-fehr-koy-fer) Meaning: Chief Clearance-Sale Director or Supreme Sell-Out. Satirical punch: It treats the betrayal of an entire nation like a cheap retail liquidation event. Oberkollaborateur (Oh-ber-koh-lah-boh-rah-tehr) Meaning: High-Command Collaborator. Satirical punch: It uses high-sounding military phrasing to call them a spineless Quisling who does the enemy's paperwork. Oberrückgratloser (Oh-ber-ruek-grah-tloh-ser) Meaning: Supreme Leader of the Spineless. Satirical punch: Pure bureaucratic mockery of his absolute lack of courage. The "Puppet" & "Lackey" Angles Oberbückling (Oh-ber-buek-ling) Meaning: Chief Bootlicker / Grand Bower. Satirical punch: "Bückling" comes from the verb to bow or grovel. It positions him as the world's highest-ranking sycophant. Oberpantoffelheld (Oh-ber-pahn-tof-fel-helt) Meaning: Supreme Slipper-Hero (Henpecked Leader). Satirical punch: A classic German idiom for someone who acts tough but is completely submissive behind closed doors to their actual master. Oberschoßhundführer (Oh-ber-shoss-hund-fuehrer) Meaning: Commander of the Lapdogs. Satirical punch: It highlights that he thinks he is a "Führer," but he is actually just a tiny pet to the dictator. The "Nihilist / Clown" Angles Obertheaterdirektor (Oh-ber-tay-ah-ter-dee-rek-tor) Meaning: Chief Director of the Theater. Satirical punch: Fits the Dr. Strangelove vibe perfectly, mocking his entire geopolitical strategy as a fraudulent, deadly stage play. And I stand by: he's laying the groundwork to get the USA invaded by Russia, whether intentional or not.

Lunch á deux With plates. Fancy.

This is my latest to add to the growing collection, I think a may have a problem... oh well. This is a Simon Marty guitar, it features his innovative radial bracing, the back and sides are ancient Huon pine, salvaged before a dam flooded a valley, estimated between 1000 -1500 years old, the neck is Australian rosewood and the top is spruce.