System Updates: both Major and Obscure

Audiophiles have an acronym - WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor), that is usually applied to equipment as an indication for how likely a significant other is to accept *that thing* being inserted into the living environment. My S.O., Blithe, defines it differently - as a rating for how supportive she is for my oddball hobby with the rotating experiments, solder fumes, racks of spare parts in the basement, and road trips to other DIY addicts. With that definition, Blithe rates a sky-high WAF!

Blithe also gets a lot of mileage in her job herding engineers by telling stories about my crazy projects, but since my updates to the website are well... unpredictable at best, she asked me to add a page where I can more quickly post some of the changes to the system. Some of these projects may (should) enventually get their own pages, but for now she will have a place she can point to where people can confirm the madness.

2012

Winter: Oh yes, the second coming of the Lowther field coils is a most happy time. Sadly, I'm still waiting after 8 months for the blingy 'supermarine' Lenco platter bearing from Jeremy Clark...

2011

Fall: Midas aluminum shell replacement for Denon 103 cartridges + successful surgery to remove the old plastic body == outstanding musical performance! Thanks Daiwok! Ebony headshell and counterweight for Schick tonearm add to the experience.

Summer: Landscaping - building a stone wall along the driveway in the front yard.

Spring: Trip to Asheville, NC to pick up Lowther Field Coil drivers purchased from Jeffrey Jackson (Experience Music, also Hifi Heroin Blog) is followed by surgery on azurahorns to replace the driver mounting baffle with a Lowther-compatible bolt pattern (oddball freakin' Lowthers are NOT even radially symmetric and have a smaller bolt circle than any 8-inch driver I know...). Also have to design and build rear support legs for the 20 pound electro-magnets, else the weight will warp the Lowther basket.

Order a replacement bearing for the Lenco turntable from a machinist in the UK, Jeremy Clark. Seems a shame to hide this level of craftsmanship inside a turntable, but Jeremy assures me this is the last bearing I will ever need!

Winter: finally replaced ancient and gigantic Mitsubishi rear-projection HDTV with a Sony 55-inch LED flat panel. HDTV improved a lot in 13 years! It's thin, light, has a great picture, uses less than 40% of the power of the old TV, and I can drive it at full 1080p resolution from the MacBook.

2010

Fall: Purchase an Eastern Electric Mini-max DAC, a Sabre-chipped beauty with 12AU7 tube output and switchable phase.

Summer: More small house projects, convert the reef tank to LED lighting. Trip to Asheville to visit Steve Blair and the Jacksons for Independence Day, then an Alaskan cruise in September.

Spring: 46 tube preamp with parafeed loading and remote-control slagleformers as output trannies...

Winter: Replace the bass support panels for the azurahorns with new open baffle panels featuring double 15-inch Augie drivers from Silver Iris, and solid walnut wings...

2009

Fall: Replace the Squeezebox with Apple Airport Express boxes on Kitchen and Music room sytems, convert all FLAC files to Apple lossless so that we can both use iTunes on our MacBooks using 'Max'.

Summer: Back to MC Cartridges after I put a Faraday cage around my stepup transformers to kill the EM-induced hum.

Spring: Dang, I can't remember! Oh yeah... working on the kitchen.

Winter: January DBH meeting in Greenville, SC - Ken Lochridge. Trip to Memphis, TN to visit Jeffrey Jackson and the Jackson clan.

2008

Fall: Tear up the kitchen!

Summer: dBH meeting here in Raleigh -- and it's frikin' hot in da Music Room!

Spring: VSAC 2008 in Vancouver, WA March. Oswalds Mill trip in April. Return with a 12-inch Schick tonearm for the Lenco, perfect for use with a Denon DL103. Lash up the azurahorns atop the OB subwoofers from Charlotte and start experimenting with crossovers -- Zowie! What took me so long?

Winter: Replace main power transformers in il Monstro with custom-wound units from Jack Elliano (electra-print.com). DBH meeting in Ashville, NC at Jim Dowdy's house.

2007

Fall: Moving into new house with a beautiful new listening room and a basement crying out to be a shop -- but first I have to seal all the block foundation walls and add wiring and lighting throughout.

Summer: Commuting weekends between Charlotte and Raleigh while we sell the Charlotte house, living in an apartment in Cary during the week stuffed with audio parts and tools. Rebuilt Lenco turntable kicks the poop out of my Empire turntable. Begin the digital transformation with purchase of a Slim Devices Squeezebox and start ripping all my CDs to FLAC files.

Spring: Lulu.com comes along and makes me an offer I cannot refuse to leave Wachovia and move to Raleigh... Also prep the Adire HE12.1 speakers for sale by finalizing the crossover and installing it in the cabinet, and recovering the baffle with black vinyl -- looks marvelous!

Winter: Finally get the new equipment stand built and installed in the living room in Charlotte.