Wmcmanus

Not to mention the $1,500-ish vinyl order I've been working on all week, and that's with goodguy pricing wherever applicable. About 50 audiophile pressings, mostly classic rock, and another 30 or so standard pressings (but all new and unopened). I'm listening to the Tom Petty 7 album live set now and it sounds amazing. It's a compilation from over the years, so it picks up all of the good stuff and leaves out the crap usually associated with live albums. I need to leave here before I go completely broke. It's like be a kid in a nose candy store.

I'm still in Three Forks, MT. Went out for a long drive in the Atom yesterday (426 miles) down to Yellowstone and then back across the Beartooth Highway. Kind of fun climbing those "hills" at about 105mph then braking hard to get around 20mph hairpins, then getting right back on it. I've got a terrible farmer's tan today to prove it. Three Forks is an amazing place. You can jump in your pickup truck, head into town for lunch, circle back the "long way" stopping at the gas station for a 6 pack (of Diet Coke of course) and end up back at Todd's Junkieland and the pickup still hasn't even thought about clicking off a mile on the odometer. I should visit more places like this.

My thoughts exactly...

Went to see Jackson Browne (with David Lindley) last night in Bozeman, MT. Todd opted not to come along, thinking we would get crappy seats at the last minute, and since it's a basketball arena it would sound like crap (his experience recently from the rafters at a CSN concert). But dang! I was lucky. Got a seat just 4 rows behind the sound engineering tables and exactly dead center (right at the half court line). I don't think I could have hand selected a better seat. Lindley was a surprise, but I guess mostly because I didn't know about his artistry in advance. He plays all sorts of string instruments and with considerable skill. A bit of an odd duck, but it was nice to see him perform. He and Jackson did 4 or 5 songs together to start, and then Lindley did a couple of solo pieces before the (rather early) break. Jackson returned with his band and played most of his standard stuff, and eventually invited Lindley back on. The post-break part of the show lasted much longer and offered a lot more variety. One thing about Jackson is that the man can still sing (unlike many of his old foggie peers these days). He's not the most energetic and exciting performer in the world, but he seems at peace with himself and puts his audience at ease with the singer/songwriter stuff that they come for, while saving a few not-so-surprising rock surprises for the end of the show. I'd give it a solid 8/10, and probably a 9/10 were it in a venue offering better acoustics.

I sometimes miss civilization, both when I'm in Cayman and when I'm on the road in the summer, so have been thinking about subscribing to either the NY Times or Chicago Tribune, which is what got me to thinking about the DX.

I've often promised to write reviews, but have never followed through. This, then, represents my first-ever attempt to write a full review of an audio product. Setup: I'm at Todd's in Three Forks MT. The T50's are plugged into an awesome system consisting of a Meridian G08.2 CD player, APEX Peak and Volcano headphone amp and power supply, with Cardas Golden Reference cables. Summary: Worst headphones ever. Really bad. Nothing good at all, and I really tried to like something, anything, about them. Shrill, hollow, muffled, tinny sounding like you have pillows over your ears. Thing is, this particular pair is well broken in with over 100 hours on them. They just plain suck. I would take any $10 pair of Koss headphones over them. Todd concurs and adds that he would take a buffalo fart over them. Simply horrible. Oh, and the headband looks like it was made from a tin radiator hose clamp. On the plus side, they are light weight and they fit Ok, not that I'd imagine anyone would actually want to be listening to them. Just for the record: The system is not at fault. Many other headphones, including the PS-1000, HD800, T1 and HF-2's, sound fantastic on the same system. It boggles my mind that Beyer had the nerve to release this product and ask $299 for it.

What were you doing on the funny bus?

Yup, that's what I figured. I'll probably use the Kindle 3 DX when I'm stationary and can prop it up on something (most of the time) and keep the Kindle 2 for when I'm traveling. I'm hoping that I won't end up buying a Kindle 3 simply because I don't like the size of the DX, but if that happens I'm sure I'll get over it. Decisions... Anyway, you're in for a treat. My guess is that you'll love it.

I'm thinking about getting a Kindle 3 DX now. I'm using my Kindle 2 much more than I thought I would, and have always wondered whether I'd enjoy the larger screen. My only concern is that I'll get hooked on the better contrast (of 3 over 2) but not like the added weight (of DX), and then one day soon end up with a Kindle 3, Kindle 3 DX, and a Kindle 2. Of course, I could sell the ones I don't use.

Oh, and I added my name to the LCD-2 list just a few minutes ago as well. Figured it was about time to get in on all the hype.

I'm at Todd's in Three Forks and have been listening to the PS-1000's a lot. I had heard them at the LA and Chicago CanJams and was at least mildly impressed each time, but now they're really starting to grow on me. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I'm hearing half speed 200 gram vinyl on his VPI HRX with a Lyra Titan cart and his/Pete's APEX Pinnacle. I haven't bought a pair yet, but mostly because I can't decide whether to go single ended or balanced.

I've been hanging out in Three Forks MT since Friday night. Got a chance to party a bit with Todd on Friday night and took him out for a ride in the Atom. He's been on a quick camping trip with his son since Saturday morning, but I'm still parked along the street around the corner from his house. Just read a book about the Unabomber last week, written as a first hand account by his closest neighbor and friend. So I decided to check out his old haunts yesterday near Lincoln, MT and Stemple Pass since the book is so fresh on my mind and offers many references to the local terrain. Parts of the drive were quite eery and strange. How could such a deranged lunatic have lived at peace with nature in such beautiful mountain valleys for 25 years without being detected? Beware, Ted. I know where you used to live. I can come and get you any time!

We have Mikhail to thank for learning this defense mechanism.

Sorry about staring a thread and then immediately abandoning it. I've been wandering around in the Canadian rockies, where the scenery is absolutely beautiful but internet access is crazy expensive. At least now that I'm back in the US (in Montana) I can use my wireless air card again. It was a bit awkward to be singled out, but what zippy said about "more visibility to the headphone community" was pretty much what I was hoping for. A lot of speaker-based audiophiles follow Steve's blog, so perhaps a select few of them will give headphones a try and will (hopefully) find their way to Headcase.

Here's the link to the link. My headphone collection featured in Steve Guttenberg's blog - Head-Fi.org Community

Hey, I think topic is as worthy as any. People just amaze me with the crap they can come up with. I was just browsing Audiogon and ran into this ad: Hms Gran Finale, Top Match with the new For Sale | AudiogoN My favorite bits were: "I am not still sure they use them but I was told that NASA uses/used his power cables." "I will be glad to answer any serious questions and I do have a Associate Degree in Electronics from a local college back in 87'." "May God Bless Our Troops and Their Families and End This War SOON!" Huh? Anyway, I thought it would be fun to have a thread that is dedicated to the stupid shit people write in for sale ads. Hopefully it will get some traction...

Happy belated birthday, Mike! Nice that you were able to get together with John and Vicki to celebrate!

I probably should have mentioned by now that I had a great time at CanJam, as always! Big thanks to Jim, Ryan, KG, etc., for all that they did to make it such a spectacular event. It's just insane that we have people in our ranks who are willing to spend countless hours for month on end to plan a party of this scale down to the last detail, but that's what makes so much fun for all of us to be a part of the community for so long. You guys sure did Chicago proud!

Just got back home to Cayman today for the first time in a long while. Same old, same old, only much hotter than when I left. I'll have to get out and do some diving just to stay cool, but other than that I'll mostly just veg out for a while. I can't think of anywhere else that I've ever been where it's so easy to do nothing at all, day after day... and I really like that about this place!

Congrats, Hawks! It's just such an unreal whenever Chicago wins anything!

By far, as measured by how long it takes one to fall asleep him/herself when located anywhere within snoring distance of the offender. In the case of Matt, it took me about an hour and a half before I could finally fall asleep. The beer buzz didn't seem to help. But I was down in the basement, so I didn't actually hear your roar. I'm told, however, that it could cause sleep delays for up to 3 hours. Oh, and Matt's other trick is to set a recurring alarm (every 9 minutes) that he doesn't bother to either respond to turn off for hours on end.

Hey, I don't snore at all, and I've detuned my CPAP machine to a mere 60 db. So where can I find a room for Friday night? I think I've got a room lined up for Saturday night, but might have to fight Stevio for a bathtub to sleep in for Friday night.

Came back across from Maine to New Hampshire last night. Took the Atom up to the summit of Mt. Washington today. Great views up there, somewhat similar to some of the 14ers in Colorado, but then again, not really.

I think you'll enjoy this. One of the better emails I've received in months.