As the fleet gets more advanced, the diy person is nearly done. Needing a scan tool to retract caliper pistons, "shut off" brakes and bleed brakes, just doesn't compute to the average Joe.

My Levinson was just prior to the Harmon Kardon sale. At the point that HK bought Madrigal I think they tried to balance high end with cost and the line went downhill. In addition they started moving beyond two channel into 5.1 and beyond. I wish I still had the Levinson gear with the 801's. That system was beautiful sounding.

Those are big tires.

Yes,

It looks good.

Do you already have the matching shirt?

I have one of those Park pumps with the useless heads. Well, it's not totally useless. It works on Schrader valves.

Engima's Out from the Deep from the album The Cross of Changes

One of my favourites.

Excellent pics [MENTION=351576]Heathpack[/MENTION]

Phat

We did a casual 50km ride on the tandem today. It started in a town where the state time trail champs were being held; we didn't know that when Machka's planned out route.

We made a wrong turn at one point and added 3km to the original that was planned. But that was OK. We are still trying to sort out a few stoker fit issues.

Last night we ate Mexican. Mexican restaurants are as rare as hen's teeth here. We had a great meal. Tonight we eat at the hotel restaurant where we are staying, then get all dressed up and trot off to see a stage production of Mary Poppins at the city's main theatre just around the corner.

Tomorrow, we will ride the Bike Fridays, just for something different.

Oh yeah, we also visited a model and hobby shop that we have been planning to do for around a year. We are keen to do a little model train stuff, based on Canadian Rail and maybe Via Rail. The research officially started today, and the shop owner was keen to talk to us, but not in a hard-sell sort of way. He and his wife have been to Canada four times, so he had clue as to what we were hoping. Now it's a decision as to whether to go the really compact N-gauge, or the larger OO-HO combination gauge. We have reading material to help.

...the more things change, the more they stay the same.

If it ain't broke...

The weekend just gets better and better.

I have never stood for a standing ovation at any concert or theatrical performance. Tonight, I did, and was one of the first up. Everything about Mary Poppins was superb; and lead was as close to Julie Andrews as you could get, in my estimation; the support cast was excellent almost without fail; and the choreography had a mix of everything, including ballet and tap! And it all knitted together seamlessly.

The standing ovation went on for around five minutes, which is a l-o-n-g time, and it was well deserved. The talent from little ol' Tasmania delivers again.

Lots of photography chat last night. Nice.
[MENTION=44411]Heath[/MENTION]y I like them all. But I personally love the soft, ethereal quality of version A over B. The splash shot I like a lot, too.

Yeah, in every instance that I've witnessed, any time an audio company goes from a singular, driving force (typically the founder, naturally) to a more corporate structure, sound quality takes a dive. I mean, sometimes the stuff is still competent for the price, but it's typically much less compelling.

I agree with that. I bought an Anthem P5 in 2014 and I'm curious where I am in the Anthem trajectory. It's a well built unit, but it owned by Paradigm (I believe).

I hope Focal never changes - I love my Aria 906s and want to replace my existing ML ESLs with Focal floor standing speakers.

My phono stage is an Anthem Pre 1P (I like it okay, but I would like to replace it with something like a Sutherland or, dream of dreams, a Tom Evans). They used to be a Sonic Frontiers value-oriented line, no? Haven't followed them much as they were never much of a player in my old market.

Focal is pretty great. When I was at SbS, we were one of the larger Focal dealers in N.A. The 700- and 800-series stuff is a really good value, but the floorstanders do considerably better with an amp that's got high damping/control; the bass can be a little sluggish, otherwise. In the sub-$3k region, my favorites for Focal would be Moon (Simaudio) and NuForce, strangely enough; both will get some good attack out of 'em.

Since you're a Focal lover, I think you'll like my pic of my old office.

Oh my [MENTION=185471]WhyFi[/MENTION] - dare I ask what your current office looks like?

Thats absolutely gorgeous - I'm jealous. My office has the tax code and other similar books. Not nearly as cool as that.

I have been looking at Pass Labs amplifiers in a "when I win the lotto" sort of way. I was at a local shop who had an open house demo and they were showcasing a pair of monoblocks with a very high end speaker (can't remember what though) and the sound was intoxicating.

Ha. That was when I lived in NYC and worked at Sound by Singer; the above pic was the semi-legendary Room 6. I've been out of the industry for close to 4 years, so no office like that, currently, though I have a satisfying system with DeVore Fidelity speakers, CJ preamp and White Audio Labs power amp.

this is just my personal preference, it has nothing to do with the physical or technical limitations of either one, medium & large format film is just what i like. its not because i need to make building sized enlargements for tommy hilfiger its just personal preference.

i do not think in terms of megapixels, you could hand me a camera with a million MP sensor and it wouldnt be any more exciting than the camera on my phone. to me, digital cameras feel dead, they have no soul

for me, creating a photograph is so much more than just setting some dials and pushing a button. the camera itself is at least half of the reason why i enjoy photography. nothing compares to looking thru the hassy viewfinder, the weight and balance of it, the action of the winder, the look of the zeiss glass, and then making prints from my negatives

i would shoot 11x14 wet collodion everywhere if i could, i could spend hours just creating one photograph. heaven.

the only "convenient" camera i need is on my phone at this point, its more than capable

dude yes! make sure you report in with your impressions, how do they feel inhand?

ps: i love how colorful your place is

We suffer from Ovation Inflation in our town. The Syracuse Opera Company did a very good job of performing "Glory Denied" last night, but it was nothing to jump out of one's seat over.

check out the mirrorless cameras, i think its the the fuji tx-1-its a favorite of adventure types and produces good images

The fact that it was a 90 minute production and the seats in the hall are uncomfortable may have been factors.

#justsaying

Hey Doug, have a good trip!