Thanks for the updates Bryan! I never even had to check tracking...
The eagle has landed in fine shape - well packed by the gear swapping master Lonewolf. The box is awesome, all 1/2 plywood, screwed together tight with Korato stencilled on the side. A really nice touch that looks like something very important has arrived.
Carl's RCA 12ax7as arrived today too... whoa, big difference in sound over the modern chinese and russian tubes we tried. Now we're getting somewhere! I'm sure there are better out there, but good ole RCAs are always sure to please. Used almost new from AC for $30 each!
My neighbor the decorator came in to see the 'new' speakers today. She freaked at the appearance, didn't know such a thing even existed. It was like she was seeing a UFO (not far off?) Then I sat her down in the hotseat and played a Boney James CD that her husband gave to me, something she hears all the time, heavy adult contemporary bass lines and super hyped sibilant background vocals, big fat tenor sax - an audio mastering masterpiece of soul. She just started laughing and squealing, "oh my GOD!" It was overwhelming for her to hear it like that. Her comment was "it felt like she was at a live concert." Which I think is high praise, she said the same thing when I played the Altmann amp for them. Nice to share with normal people occasionally. I wanted to give her the full audio demo tour, but she doesn't understand the religion so it would be like a Latin mass for her. So I was happy that she enjoyed that short moment so much. It will fester in there for a while until she invites herself back for some more. After that we discussed what she is gonna do with her full, unfinished basement, 60 feet long, 35 feet wide with lollies at the 25 foot wide mark, totally unused, 1/8 full of boxes. She wants a big yard and windows in the bathrooms like we have (otherwise identical houses), so I told her we could trade.
Can you imagine a sound room 24 x 40? Holy shit!
Nick is bringing the squeezebox server over tomorrow, so we should be all set on the source end. Duet has been behaving B+ since tweaking the processor load. The new server should be FAST!!
I am working hard on improving the acoustics in the room up to the standard of the incredible equipment on hand, so everyone can really get the full impact. I feel truly blessed to be allowed to play with all your amazing toys, guys. Thanks so much!
Rich