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Cake day: October 23rd, 2023

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  • Chorale, Slagwerk Den Haag

    Differently, Marian Hill

    Everything In Its Right Place, Radiohead

    Raleigh and Spencer, Tony Furtado Band

    Death Row, Chris Stapleton

    The Snow Maiden, Minnesota Orchestra

    My Home’s in the Delta, Muddy Waters

    Avratz, Infected Mushroom

    The Incredibles, Gordon Goodwin

    Wabash Blues, Duke Ellington

    Royals, Lorde

    Cousin John, Marcus Miller

    Coolsville, Rickie Lee Jones

    The Goodbye Look, Donald Fagen

    Warsawa, David Bowie

    You Should See Me in a Crown, Billie Eilish

    The Girl in the Magnesium Dress, Frank Zappa

    Bach Cello Concerto No 1, Yo Yo Ma

    Too Far Gone, Metallica

    Stay, Post Malone

    Chokola, Alan Cavé

    Ben Harper, Whipping Boy

    Harlem Nocturne, Illinois Jacquet

    30,000 Days, Yello

    John Lee Hooker For President, Ry Cooder

    Somebody’s Sins, Tricky

    You Gotta Move, Parker Milsap

    Chocolate Chip Trip, Tool

    Quality of Mercy, Michelle Shocked

    Deeper Well, Emmylou Harris

    Love is a Bitch, Two Feet

    My Bass, Brian Bromberg

    That Train Don’t Stop Here Anymore, Los Lobos

    Après la Pluie, Renaud Garcia-Fons

    Birds, Dominique Fils-Aimé

    Small Song, Lhasa de Sela

    Money For Nothing, Dire Straits

    Bring Me the Disco King, David Bowie

    Jungle Blues, Kansas Smitty’s

    Wishful Beginnings, David Bowie

    Let’s Hope, Bruce Fowler

    Hunting Wabbits, Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band

    Kanne, Thaikkudam Bridge

    Song of the Stars, Dead Can Dance

    Paper Tiger, Beck

    Drum Solo, Manu Katché

    The Howling, RY X

    Till Tomorrow, Yello / Till Brönner

    Fields of Gold, Eva Cassidy

    …and more!






  • Polk doesn’t seem to be a brand that makes much of an impact in the audiophile world. But maybe they make a couple of terrific speakers that can play with the big boys — I don’t profess to know…

    A Stereophile review of an affordable speaker from Polk started like this:

    Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking: “Polk? You’re reviewing a speaker from Polk? Get ready for the flames!”

    And it ended as follows:

    It’s a lot of speaker for the money. It never sounded bad—the slight tendency toward warmth and slight loss of HF sparkle were certainly not offensive traits, and could even work in the speaker’s favor when it’s teamed with inexpensive electronics.

    You can pick up the hint: that’s a reviewer trying very hard to write nice things about a product he didn’t like.

    The magazine also did a more positive review of the $1,200/pr Polk L100s, so I could be talking out of my rear end.

    Dynaudio is a legendary brand, but in the end that may not matter. I’d let my ears be the judge.







  • I’m just a bit confused by why people who have so much aesthetic sophistication in one area seem to lack it another

    I’m with you. I tried to make my listening room bright and airy, rustic and modern all at once, without too much clutter. The goal was to create a space that despite being dedicated to stereo sound would be pleasant to spend time in even with no music playing (entertaining and such).

    I spent maybe $1,000 on the rug, and about $2,000 on all the furniture combined, including the modded equipment console. The couch, included in that tally, was a FB Marketplace purchase. Everything else came from Amazon and Overstock.

    The acoustic panels were the biggest expense, at around $4.5K.

    For what I was trying to achieve, white walls help, and the acoustic panels are white too so they don’t draw too much attention (I hope). It’s not perfect but most people seem to like it. I do too. :-)

    https://imgur.com/a/897Csqa


  • Anyone can tidy up and declutter a little. There, now it already looks twice as good.

    Furniture and the like doesn’t have to look terrible even on a low budget. Over time, especially if you look in the classifieds / eBay / Facebook Marketplace etc., you can cobble together a very-nice-looking interior that didn’t set you back much.

    OP is right in that most audiophiles don’t seem to care, and that’s puzzling to us. Audiophiles are fussy esthetes when it comes to sound reproduction but then they have a room with cinder blocks and milk crates and Star Wars tchotchkes / Beanie babies everywhere. I don’t get it but…different strokes for different strokes I guess.



  • I agree that audiophiles are an obsessive lot, just like true car enthusiasts, oenophiles, and collectors of everything from Chinese porcelain to high-end watches.

    But why is price a component of that? Why would a high price tag signify that there’s something wrong with the buyer’s mental state? Why dislike something just because it’s way out of our budget?

    My speakers cost double what my new car did. What of it? Most people won’t understand it but I’d like to imagine that the Redditors in r/audiophile do.

    Decades ago, a fellow audiophile told me something I won’t forget. Paraphrasing: “There are people who buy expensive paintings. That’s fine, but you can only look at a million-dollar painting, one picture, so many times. Me, I’d rather take one-tenth of that money and build a stereo system that puts me in touch with virtually all the sonic art that’s ever been created.”

    I couldn’t argue with that then, and I still can’t.

    And when someone drops $133,000 on a turntable, I won’t judge them even if it’s not my cup of tea (I don’t listen to vinyl, for one thing). I’m happy for them.

    On a vaguely related note, I’m an atheist. Consequently, I find zero comfort in religion, but my spirit soars when I hear incredible music, from Bach and Philip Glass to Tool and Rage Against the Machine. Music is my path to knowing greatness. It can inspire awe and bring me to tears. For me, perhaps regrettably, that’s not something that happens with an old transistor radio or a $150 Bluetooth speaker. It requires an investment in exceptional gear, which is also my way of honoring the music and the musicians.

    Why would anyone have a problem with that?