What are your jeans doing today?

[Double 0 Soul]

I wanted a little rack to put 25-30 cd's on.. but something with a mid-century vibe.. alas, cd's wouldn't be invented for a few more decades.. but i found a 'book trough'

https://www.vinterior.co/furniture/storage/shelves/vintage-mid-century-desktop-book-rack-teak-wood-desk-top-bookshelf

..it had already sold and i wouldn't have paid £75 when i can rip it off for nowt in oak

...only cd i could find at work.. something which Andy Votel of Finders Keepers fame put together

..bit of french polish

..rub down with some wire wool and a coat of wax

Ta, Daaaa!

[Geeman]

Half Marathon in Keswick/Lake District  

[Coolguyzack]

43 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

This is so awesome! I wanted to get more into woodworking last year, but I put it on hold until I can access a shop space with good tools and tables. But I managed to make what I titled "skinny tables" to place against my apartment balcony rail since I wasn't allowed to attach planters to the ledge lol

[MJF9]

So it started with a nice walk around Newmillerdam Country Park with the crew

Lookin blue as a smurf

Twinned with Junior MJF9 in foot-hugging Salomon 

Then into the nearby town of Wakefield (aka Wakey) on an impromptu kebab hunt

We took in the sights but, alas, no kebabs to be had

So sat on some steps eating M&S couscous watching the local busker

And - for the Superfuture crew - I tipped the fella for a special request just for you :).  Beauty indeed.

PS This is the under 9MB clip - have got the 3min version safe 

Edited May 29, 2022 by MJF9

[Maynard Friedman]

On 5/28/2022 at 6:46 PM, Double 0 Soul said:

I wanted a little rack to put 25-30 cd's on.. but something with a mid-century vibe.. alas, cd's wouldn't be invented for a few more decades.. but i found a 'book trough'

Lovely shelf Neal, what kit are you using those speakers with?

[pomata]

saw some Giotto's frescos in Padua yesterday, amazing experience. too bad I didn't take more pictures

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by pomata

[Double 0 Soul]

7 hours ago, Maynard Friedman said:

Lovely shelf Neal, what kit are you using those speakers with?

 

Ok deep breath... as you know i've been having thoughts towards compiling our CD collection on an external HD.. i needed a reasonably decent amp to power those speakers but I didn't want large black or silver boxes in the living room again, although i do find 70's era vintage HiFi kit very aesthetically pleasing with all their knobs and dials.. as a happy medium I bought a Leak 130 with walnut surround.. it looks and feels vintage but around the back it's got all the modern gizmos.. i found it on Hi-Fi Shark going cheap back in March from Hi-Fi Corner in Edinburgh, It had been used in their demo-room.. i managed to run it through checkout but an hour later they gave me a call saying "we're very sorry but we sold that amp last week in the shop and forgot to remove it from the web page".. before i had a chance to respond they said.. 'but we'll honour the price and send you a brand new unit' 

Sweet!! ..and they say Scottish folk are cheese-paring misers..  

 

I bought a Brennan B2 thinking it would be small enough to tuck away on a shelf (and it is) operated via the phone or laptop interface, using optical connection to bypass the Brennans DAC and volume control, I ordered it directly from Brennan as an 'opened box' not pre-owned with £80 off RRP (hey, 80 quid is 80 quid right!) 12mth warranty and such...

 

 

 

 

..When it was delivered it already had 334 songs by 30 different artists installed on the HD.. it should have been clean so it looks like Brennan are selling customer returns back onto the market as new/open box products so i sent it straight back.. it's fucking scandelous! they'd obviously forgot to format the HD before sending it out.. They offered to exchange it saying there must have been a "mix up" Pfft! i would never have another one on principle alone.

 

I was pretty impressed with the Leak 130 so as replacement i ordered their CD transport from the good folks at HiFi Corner to say thanks for the great customer service.. the amp has a USB port so ive still got thoughts towards compiling the CD collection on an external drive (with what interface.. i don't know yet) but in the meantime i'm just playing 30x CD's while keeping a couple of 100x CD's in a storage case in the spare room and leaving the majority in my mum's attic (looking through the rose tints, i remember every one of my CD's being dope af but in reality probably 30% maybe more will never get played again)

 

The Kan's are quite bright so I ended up adding a little (it's only a small room) Rel Quake sub (in cherry wood) into the mix for the low ends +increased soundscape.

So in answer to your question..  Leak CD transport to Leak 130 amp, to Linn Kan's to Rel sub, i'm really happy with how it sounds and they all look nice t'boot.

Edited May 30, 2022 by Double 0 Soul

[Maynard Friedman]

Very nice, I got rid of all my separates (Teac mini reference and B&W speakers) a few years ago and replaced it with a one-box Sony MAP-S1 and some Monitor Audio bookshelf speakers in white that I’ve mounted on the wall. The Sony has CD, amp, DAB+, AirPlay and Bluetooth plus phono connections and USB inputs. It also has an updated 70s vibe with the aluminium casing, which was the clincher!

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by Maynard Friedman

[Double 0 Soul]

I nearly bought this too to add into the mix.. remember..i've got that big box of cassettes

AIWA-AD-1300-Desktop-Tape-Deck-with-Lid-HiFi-Vintage

Thnkfully someone else bought it before stupidity took hold of my PayPal'ing finger... i'd still like it tho

Edited May 30, 2022 by Double 0 Soul

[Maynard Friedman]

…but it has a matching walnut surround! 

 

[Double 0 Soul]

Jimmy twiddling the Leak 30

[MJF9]

Knaresborough, North Yorkshire... yesterday

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

I have been trying to dye an old RGT t shirt with coffee. It’s a working progress it seems. Starting day two today(aiming for a darker tone)

edit:the ac remote is as white as the shirt used to be  

Edited June 3, 2022 by Hopethisoneisnttaken

[AlientoyWorkmachine]

2 hours ago, Hopethisoneisnttaken said:

I have been trying to dye an old RGT t shirt with coffee. It’s a working progress it seems. Starting day two today(aiming for a darker tone)

edit:the ac remote is as white as the shirt used to be  

Not sure where you're at but if you've got a black walnut tree around anywhere they're great for this, don't even need a mordant. I got inspired by Tender and the walnut in my new backyard and tried this last year. This fall harvest is gonna make for some fun dyeing. 

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

That’s pretty cool! I’m from Israel. We don’t have walnut trees here(as far as I know), but I might go that direction if this experience turns out to be fun. 

[Talan]

14 hours ago, Hopethisoneisnttaken said:

That’s pretty cool! I’m from Israel. We don’t have walnut trees here(as far as I know), but I might go that direction if this experience turns out to be fun. 

https://www.neot-kedumim.org.il/index-plant-of-the-month/play-with-walnuts/

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

I guess we do! But I live nowhere near there haha. 

[julian-wolf]

Lots of household things stain well, but coffee really isn’t one of them

If you don’t feel like hunting down walnuts, regular black tea will get you pretty far

[Double 0 Soul]

I wanted to hear what it sounded like with my sub decoupled but the smallest isolation pad i could find was 380mm sq and 30+ quid so i thought i'd just make one instead.

Split a piece of oak

Made a former with some pads on the same centers as the subwoofers legs and gave it a coat of mould release solution

Got wood ...and SC-47s

Bored some holes

Mixed some silicone and ran it through the vacuum chamber to remove the air

Poured it through the back of the oak which i had clamped to the former and ran it through a secondry vacuum to remove the air from the mould

Split the oak from the former

Leaving squidgy vibration absorbing rubber recesses

Covered the holes on the back (which i cast through +vents) with class o acoustic foam

..and there you go,

Decoupled

[mpukas]

results of sound? 

[Double 0 Soul]

I'm not sure just yet, it does sound less boomy (which is what i wanted) but i can't crank it up, it's 10pm and i have a neighbour to consider.. i see for sure tomorrow.

[MJF9]

Day out at the British Athletics Finals in Manchester - some cracking talent on show, great day out and much inspiration for junior
Lots of sky blue, befitting in the shadow of the Etihad stadium

Ewan Thomas introducing the ladies' triple jump finalists... and the 1500m final in full flow

And, finally, some proper blue!

Edited June 26, 2022 by MJF9

[pomata]

Saw Saxon and Judas Priest inside a medieval castle. Good times

[Duke Mantee]

Took my wee girl up to Montrose today for a change of scenery - but she fell asleep in the car as we got into the play park, so I bought myself an ice cream and took a couple of pics to show mum we actually went …

 

 

This life-size bronze statue, looking out over Montrose bay, depicts the local minesweeper whose job it was to patrol the dunes during the Second World War to keep a watchful eye for stray mines which might be swept into Montrose harbour on incoming tides.

The sculptor William Lamb was born in in 1893 and died in 1951. He had trained as a stonemason before WW1 and hoped to work as an artist. However, he ended up losing the use of his right hand fighting in the trenches, meaning that he had to re-train to work with his left hand.  

Many of his statues are of the ordinary people of Montrose, often shown being buffeted by the wind in this very windy place! He was a friend of the poet Hugh MacDiarmid who encouraged him to stay in Montrose and focus his art on expressing the character and people of the area. 

Edited July 1, 2022 by Duke Mantee

[smoothsailor]

Lovely place duke. My first port in my navy days was Dundee. With a minesweeper vessel.

[Duke Mantee]

6 hours ago, smoothsailor said:

Lovely place duke. My first port in my navy days was Dundee. With a minesweeper vessel.

Wow - it’s a small world

[Double 0 Soul]

I wonder why British coastal towns, be it the top of the country or the bottom always use the same duck egg blue/green paint for the wraught/cast iron railings between the beach and footpath?... i bet it's summat to do with them Victorians!

[NilsLW]

Maybe instead of using real and expensive copper that takes time to corrode into blue, they go the cheap route by painting it like that.
 

Edited July 2, 2022 by NilsLW

[Duke Mantee]

1 hour ago, Double 0 Soul said:

I wonder why British coastal towns, be it the top of the country or the bottom always use the same duck egg blue/green paint for the wraught/cast iron railings between the beach and footpath?... i bet it's summat to do with them Victorians!

Those iron railings were painted to ‘match’ the statue - most of the railings around here are dark red / burgundy or just heavy concrete since the coasts take a battering; but now you mention it I can think of a lot of other places where it does seem popular

Edited July 2, 2022 by Duke Mantee

[Maynard Friedman]

Took the pooch for a walk to Portobello Road today, here he is outside the pub which Mrs F grew up in.

Some shots of Ladbroke Grove, Trellick Tower and the Grand Union Canal.