Half & none

Working half a day feels better than a full day....

However, the best feeling comes when one does not have to go to work ....

Too bad I have used up all my vacation leave from 2009....

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Send and send?

Did I not just cancelled my ANZ credit card????

Why did they send me a new one ....!!??

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Count back

I had retired the stock Yokohama tyres @ about 3,000 km..... This means that at 30,000 km car mileage, the tyres are about 27,000 km old.....

I plan to use them for a little while more before I try something else....

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Same cuppa

A $500 machine can make coffee while this $1 filter can also make coffee......

One uses pressurised hot water while the other uses gravity to do the work....

It's still a cuppa after all....

copper deal....

hey hey there's a piece of acrolink 6100 power cable on sale in the used market for S$1000......

this is quite a good deal but i have overspend this month.....

so i have to pass.....

ARGHHH....

Left it

It was until I reached the carpark at my workplace that I realised I had forgotten to bring my singlet....

Ahhhhhhh so forgetful ....!!!!

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Water and more water

Rain rain rain....!!!!

And need to bring along umbrella .... Worse still shoes and feet become wet....

Rain rain rain.....

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30 kilo

Finally 30,000 km.....

tough nut....

there's a used pair of Acrolink Mexcel interconnects available for sale in local audio forums .......

at S$3000, the target audience is limited....... so will anyone bite???

it seems like it can be tough to sell the truly high-end stuff.....

recce trip.....

what better ways to spend a Sunday afternoon than to check out the latest thongs and mules at a Louis Vuitton boutique...

for FANS only, first the TULUM thong @ S$700.....

then the TULUM mule @ S$700....

and the most comfortable of all, SOLSTICE thong @ S$830!!!!

OUCH OUCH OUCH...!!!!

from what i know, sizes are running out so if YOU are interested better act NOW....

2 ends

How about the extreme ends of da scale...??

Most expensive pair of slippers I saw today..... $900++ from LV....

Cheapest? $2 from daiso

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Swop deal

Armed with a $50 TANGS voucher .... I have to sboot something right?

Finally settled on 2 simple t-shirts ....

伤脑筋啊.....

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Hot air

For the lazy bum, a garment steamer is a god-send....

No more ironing....

Bye bye !!

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Leave a Mark

Many people do things their way..... Be it works of art or works of crime

I've just watched a movie by Ridley Scott..... Which bore his signature hallmarks of fine storytelling, gripping plot and beautiful cinematography....

My favourite could still be Kingdom of Heaven......

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where's the target...

now is the time for ALL da post-Christmas sales ....

metro TANGS robinsons CARREFOUR topman .... YOU name it!!!

so what should you GET...????

bedlinen..??? pillows??? shirts??? undergarments???

and not to forget, YOU will need to battle the CROWD....

good luck....

no plot....

someone is obviously dreaming......... for on Christmas eve and the day itself, the programming for free-to-air TV is CRAP CRAP and CRAP......

nothing but absolute CRAP.....

Which level

Aha this one is even cheaper @ S$138!!!!!

Miss that house

Someone wrote to the papers to complain about Audio House.... I am not surprised at all....

Oh come on look at their advertisements! So many conditions and caveat.... Special price this, use that credit card that, limited pieces then ....

Forget it....

I'd rather go somewhere else ....

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different bar....

everyone knows that the higher the pressure of the machine, the more effective it can extract the full flavour from the beans / capsules.... comparing 19 bar from Nespresso vs 15 bar from the newcomer Tiziano, what can one make out of it???

at the upcoming metro expo sale, one can get the Tiziano at only S$299 with a complete set of coffee and tea capsules FOC.... for those that love tea, a machine that serves both coffee and tea is a lovely proposition... not to forget the Tiziano has a milk-frothing attachment as well....

since they are also offering samples for tasting, maybe should visit and try things out..... on the other hand, why not just stick to instant coffee powder and condensed milk?????

spray time

need to freshen up whenever wherever .....????

then please seek out this set of atomisers from shanghai tang.....

looks fabulous right????

Win and win

People say one cannot win all the time....

Errr then why some always win....?????

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bigger steps...

to be frank, i wasn't always a true believer in the magic of shun mook......

i remember buying first the mpingo discs and then the spatial control kit from HIFI CORNER,which was really located in a corner of The Adelphi....... each disc was S$80 and the kit maybe errrr S$800 IIRC.....

after using them for so many years, i may have become accustomed to their effects and took things for granted......

do they work?

errr i think they do but depending on how and where one uses the disc, it may not be very effective....... so the key is keep trying until you get it or give up.....

lately i decided to play around with the spatial control kit again...... first by moving the brackets back 1/2 inch and also the discs on the speaker 1/2 inch........

AHA, this time there's no doubt about it.......!! the adjustment made have given the soundstaging greater depth and dimension.......!!!

since i like what i am hearing, i will put more effort to tune the soundstage and tonal balance incrementally until the desired effects are achieved....

step by step by step.....

Join the rest

I was in orchard and needed to get to The Adelphi in 20 mins time.....

What can I do? Take the MRT of cos!!!

ERP + parking can kill all your time & money during peak hours ....

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rolling up still....

too many bids facing too small a quota....

BANG..!!!

kena big time LOR...!!

seventy-two thousands and 1 dollar only.....

Level up

My 112 dB pair of horns are up....

Yeah time to share the joy..!!!!

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Can't say more

In the latest issue of The Absolute Sound, RH eloquently and succinctly described the audio spectacular that is the latest B&W 802D.....

Clearly he is a true professional..... Well he writes and edits for a living....

No doubt still this is an amazing pair of loudspeaker..... Even at S$26,000....

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lose the certificate....

perhaps it's time to scrap the COE system.......

the ups and downs of the market prices are driving many people nuts......

i am very sure that we have been accustomed to the abnormal COE prices for the past few years and now the truth hurts badly.....

if the authorities do away with the COE, they have to counter balance the policy by increasing other upfront and variable taxes and expenses....

how about making the following changes....

increase ARF to 200%....

increase registration fee to $20,000.....

increase petrol duty to $1 per litre.....

increase ERP charges to at least $10 per gantry......

increase parking charges to $10 per hour (peak) and $5 per hour (off-peak)....... season parking to $200......

at the end of it, no more jams.......!!!!

Old habit

Lee Chay Watch has done up their decor, which is very posh & modern ....

But old habits die hard....

Auntie still reads papers at the counter...

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One sided

Looks like the right front tyre is wearing more rapidly ....

More left hand turns probably...

Top up power

I realised the Hamilton has stopped....

Time to replace battery again..???

How many metres?

The ongoing drive to give cyclists 1.5 m is laudable....

No one should take things for granted .... Right?

Well I saw a cyclist in full gear and topline equipment riding in the middle of the left lane.....

If he gives himself that big of a gap instead of trying to keep close to the kerb, how many more metres he need from motorists?

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Brown metal

Maybe it's time to buy your favourite high purity copper cables now instead of later... Prices might shoot through da roof very soon....

Look like how the prices for this metal have gone ....

多一木

既然神木棋子威力有如其名， 我打算再购买两三粒回来助阵。

问题是在本地还找地到吗？

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Brunch

Ok this is what is expected for a highly satisfying meal.....

In comparison we had paid more for less 爽.....

Electric coupe

Tesla spotted...!!!

Guess what? The roll-on acceleration is phenomenal..!!!

Of cos I was supposed to smell da smoke .... But then this one runs on batteries so where's the smoke...??!!!

Stronger

Latest mileage = 10.8 km/l....

It's getting better by the distance.....

So is it due to the anti EMI measures?

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wave and wave....

a wave of problems since 0700 hrs .....

oh my oh my....

it's a LAO SAI DAY......

day by day...

it's tough working 5 days a week once i have gotten use to the carefree feeling of having a long break......

even i cannot believe it that i could get through the week unscathed.....

only one more day to go before everything is fine again.......

counting down the hours, one by one.....

One stop

On our recommendation another colleague had new tyres from AL....

This time was Toyo DRB

Look like everyone is going there...

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welcome back my old friend

i said Wednesday is D-day...... and although i remained optimistic, i wasn't THAT hopeful that the situation will change on this last day......

till today all remained the same i.e. no emails no queries on my MSB Link 3 full nelson DAC with P1000 power supply..... thus there was nothing else for me to do except to welcome and embrace it once again as my choice of Digital to Analogue converter.....

most importantly, it's not that same DAC that came into my system years ago after it was recently refreshed with a burson clock and capacitors upgrade and improvements to the AES/EBU input board.....

it's going to be a happy reunion...... welcome back my old friend..!!

Not usual

Somehow the system didn't sound as good as usual.......

Now even though I was playing something that's not my staple, I knew it was a little off the Mark....

Unfortunately I have no idea what happened.... No prob I will try to find out tomorrow then....

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Full bloom

With enough time the reeds are now fully saturated and giving off a nice aroma within the room....

Heartily recommended...!!! Right now $29.90 from the body shop....

With 2 choices for you to pick

Help to spend

A colleague decided it was time to change tyres and after work, a couple of us tagged along....

First stop was at LS..... 2 choices, BS RE001 and Yokohama S drive....

Then we crossed over to AL..... 2 choices, RE001 and Toyo T1R...

For the sake of a few dollars our pick is the Toyo T1R.... it may not be the new kid on the block but it's been proven to be worthy at it's reasonable retail price ...

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Diffusor 2

Now this is a much bigger offering which could last up to 8 weeks....

Can't tell it's effect as I'd just put it on..... Takes time for it to work....

Diffusor 1

This paper Diffusor is from daiso - $2 .....

I couldn't smell a thing. Is that good or bad????

no interest 2....

still nothing???

no worries, i will wait until Wednesday.....

by then, i will end the For Sale advert and keep the MSB......

it's not a do or die sale anyway.......

max the time....

by the time i wake up most of the was gone .....

i remember turning off the alarm at 1130 hrs but what happened after that? must have been a complete KNOCK OUT.....

the worry next is Monday morning ...... i could end up falling asleep at 0500 hrs and waking up in 60 mins' time...

OUCH... pity me AHHHH......

Pressed coffee 2

What I saw at tangs was an offer of $50 off for Nespresso coffee machines.... Hardly enough to make people bite

Even though I have a $50 voucher I wasn't sure it's a right thing to buy now.... Of cos $50 + $50 is a $100 discount..... Plus 6% tangs rebate.....

But like I mentioned, the usage may not be sufficiently frequent to spend the $$$$$

Before i forget, do note that there's a mass order thread on Nespresso machines on hardwarezone..... The prices offered are significantly lower than the RRP...... So if you are keen, go and find out.....

Unless you are sure you could finish the bag of beans in the open-type machines in a week, the Nespresso is a better choice cos all the capsules are sealed for good......

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Pressed coffee

Intrigued by some discussion on coffee machines, I started reading up a thread on Nespresso coffee machines and capsules...

How about getting one...???? With or without milk???

What's stopping me though ..... Well I dun drink coffee at home on work days which mean I only get to use one (if I buy it) on Saturdays & Sundays....

Is is worth the money to get one then?

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r u balanced..???

recently more and more of my colleagues are catching on with this power balance business..... at first i spotted one guy with it.... and then i realised there is another wearing one as well..... and another one....

i am not sure if what this product can do what it's supposed to do..... from what i know, wood, pure quartz and precious metals etc can be used for resonance tuning..... but for holograms? well, this is the first time ......

so far no one i know who is wearing one has been able to demonstrate its power and effectiveness.... of cos i have to catch the demo video on the product website to understand the 3 PB tests......

the next time i see them i am going to get them to show me exactly how it's being done in the video.....

btw so are you wearing one?

Relative load

When idling, time flashes by....

When working, it trickles by......

I dun want it all to go away that quickly....!!?????

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Home test

How am I going to face my own setup and speakers after listening to the superb classe & B&W 802D setup earlier in the day..?????

Fortunately I can....

Even thought my speakers are outclassed in all areas, they are still listenable and liveable with .....

But it makes me wonder how the 802D will sound in my room..?????

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Still the same dollar

If one sticks to using $50 wallets, $3.50 flip-flop slippers, $15 t-shirts, $100 wrist watches and so on, it's not difficult to be reasonably rich in no time .....

But...... But if one decides to go for $600 wallets, $600 slippers, $20,000 watches, $1,000 power cords etc then forget about getting rich .....

Stretch your dollar or enjoy the luxury?

Your choice.....

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For my ears

To satisfy my curiosity I did what I have to do: listen to the new B&W 802 diamond ....

In a few short words, this is a one of a kind world class loudspeaker...!!!

Extremely resolving and superbly transparent, it was almost devoid of colorations and distortion in the midband......

With an even tonal balance, it's an easy match for most systems and its alluring qualities come forth slowly but gradually to draw the listener in....

Now where do I find $26,000 to pay for it..????

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no interest....

alamak..... !!

almost 24 hours gone since the FS post and so far there's no interest in the MSB DAC....

aha looks like i am destined to keep it for good....

sonically there's nothing much to criticise but i was bitten by the upgrade bug.... after all i have been using it for years and the urge to change cannot be eliminated easily......

can someone just take it off me for a good price.....

If only you did

When the COE was in the hundreds I told my friend why not u buy another car....

Of cos he said what for? He said he ain't got money (I never believed him once when he used to say that)....

Well could have earned him some good money today within 18 months...

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pay & pay...

i was soooo distracted and forgetful that i paid my citibank credit card bill TWICE.......

and now citibank owes me money ....

to get back the money i have to spend and charge to the card until the account is back to NIL.....

gosh what have i done.....

Hold on

I have this on site but it's still sitting in the box ....

What am I waiting for?????

Errrr if I can sell the DAC, then I no longer need this....

If I can't sell, perhaps I can get cardas RCA to XLR adaptors so that I can get 7N cables.... Oopps that means more money ...

Ouch..!!

Moved?

As I sit here listening I asked myself, is there anything I didn't like about the MSB DAC..???

If there's none, why am I selling it?

Am I being foolish?

While I'm sure the new one I am eyeing is definitely better, am I doing the right thing by spending more money than I should?

On the other hand what am I saving up for? Time once it passes will never come back .....

By being too rational too prudent one may let chances go pass when one should not....

Anyway I will let fate decides ... If I can sell it for a reasonable price I will.... If not I will keep it...

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Next to go

Ok everyone...

Have decided to put my beloved MSB digital to analogue convertor up for sale to fund an upgrade....

Pls support if u r looking out for one.... It's been very well kept and loved....

Condition and performance is still *thumb-up*....

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whose bid

as usual who are the people bidding..???

the dealers of cos.....

as usual who controls the COE supply..???

the government of cos....

as usual who to blame....

who else of cos...

what diplomacy

i was chatting with a ex-classmate over lunch .... and when the talk came
to work, he mentioned that he found someone i know to be a "nice
person"......

being a true and true cynical person, i told him that people usually try to
be nice when you meet them at work........

and most recently, wikileaks have shown that people are never honest of
what they say to you......

deep down inside or behind your back, there lies all the ugly and
unflattering comments .........

new goal-post...

i used to think that i would never spend more than $500 on a pair of interconnect cables  .....

not that they do not make a difference but because something in my head told me so.....

well well, that was all in the past for i have broken my self-imposed limit quite awhile ago when i switched to acrolink 6N-S3000 speaker cables......

it was followed by the 6N-PC6100 power cord..... and now 7N-A2070 interconnect cables......

i can only say these are truly exceptional audio cables........ together they have brought me closer to the music, which is the most important isn't it...?

one may achieve sparkling highs, thumping lows or magical mids but if the audio system cannot communicate emotionally, then what's the point of having one .......

Too narrow 2

It's been confirmed....

The biggie acrolink RCA plugs are too big for the adcom preamplifier....

Haha ok I shall look at 6N copper cables for now.....

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over fill

i was reading this long thread in mycar forum about 3/4 tank rule.... as usual some motorists were caught tampering with the fuel gauge and have to face the law of the land.....

to me, checks on fuel gauge are conducted randomly and if there are reasons to do it more frequently they will do it....

well isn't it too troublesome to try to catch all these people...... instead of motorists having to make sure of a 3/4 tank, why not ICA / customs install petrol dispenser pumps at woodlands and tuas and make sure every Singapore car that passes through will be filled until petrol overflows...!!!!!

in this way, no need bother with whether one has remote control, tampered fuel gauge, damaged fuel gauge, 3/5 tank, 3/7 tank and so on .....

all Singapore cars will be FULL TANK ..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!!!!!!!!!!

Too narrow

I have a strong feeling that the huge RCA plugs on the higher end acrolink cables can't fit between the narrow connectors on my preamplifier ....

So?

Even if I have the $$$$ to buy them, I can't use these cables at all...!!!???

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No two

Since money is never enough I have to tell myself that I can no longer sustain improving the HT system significantly without compromising the budget for the stereo system....

So the onkyo & friends will have to remain for a longer period of time unless something else happens e.g. strike lottery or find hidden treasure, both which are highly remote ....

All eyes can only be on the stereo .......

Right now even watches have to take a back seat cos there is nothing at sane prices that interest me at the moment....

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19 years..

How does it feel to meet people one has not seen for 19 years ..... ????

All ever since the last A levels paper.....

Wow..... It's a strange feeling all of a sudden......

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Dun jump

Some people are good at telling others off but they never remember their own mistakes or shortfall.....

I can do that too if I want.....

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First try

Before it ended I didn't have confidence to pass the fitness test...

Ever since my injury I longer feel the same....

And even after a few months I could still feel the effects occasionally .....

That last time I went for a jog is about 2 weeks ago but somehow I managed to maintain a consistent pace this morning to beat the "to pass" time....

Other than the dreaded 2.4 km run, my injury also affected the shuttle run & standing jump ....

I think I am officially a damaged person....

Thank you....

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what to sell..??

what will happen to petrol stations when electric cars invade roads in countries around the world....???

what will happen to them if carparks begin quick charging outlets...???

can they switch to selling other things..???

who will foot the bill for this new electric grid...???

and if you happen to stay in HDB estates, how do they provide charging facilities..???

Who took it

What a bad day.... !!!!

And then at the end of it someone stole my umbrella & I am stuck without one...

Damn....

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Wrong time

8 to 10 pm was sooooooooo tired & sleepy

Now? Errr awake ....

What's wrong?

If only I dun have to wake up at 6 in the morning ...

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The one only

Tons of information are available to anyone who wishes to build a dedicated audio desktop PC system.....

Casing, power supply, mother board, RAM and so on can be picked up from places like Sim Lim Square and put together in the comfort of your own home...

Users also have a wide choice of ripping software, playback software, direct or wireless connection to choose from...

However a full size desktop PC is way too big and most audiophiles into computer audio use a portable laptop computer as their source...

Compared to their desktop cousins, there is no easy way to build your own laptop computers.... One is stuck with whatever the market is offering e.g. from ASUS, Samsung, Acer etc...

One favourite right now is the MacBook Pro which is still not ideal in terms of power supply and available connections.....

I am waiting at the sidelines to see who will be the first to launch a dedicated audio quality laptop computer with high speed & low noise SMPS and how about I2S and AES/EBU digital outputs to go with the usual USB connection....

Give it to us.... Come on!!!!

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First strike

Wowo this afternoon i struck the equivalent of "lottery" at work when the surprise came to me when my bosses were not in...

Wahaha damn but in the end everything was OK....

Whew....!!!

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Red swell 2

Fortunately the swelling and pain has subsided .....

Even though it's still red and bruised I didn't feel much pain throughout the day...

I was afraid I might not be able to wear boots when I woke up as the pain was bugging me...

Thank you for the quick recovery.....

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if only i could....

is there anyone willing and interested to buy me a pair of B&W 802D loudspeakers for Christmas...???

i must find a good chance to sit down and listen to it......

is it worth the money...???

ah it depends on the markup....... which is too generous to say the least......

red swell...

damn.... knocked against the drawer chest and now my toe is swollen......

is it a sprain????

i cant tell but then it's such a bitch.......

PAIN...!!!!!!!!!

say say only

motor insurance is a necessary evil...... you need it and i need it.....

since it's something we all have to pay for it, why not pay less and be happy about it......

to test the waters, i applied for an online quote from aviva......

too bad..... their offer is not attractive at all.....

nah.. next better player.....

Ring ring

It may not be the best or the latest but I still like what I hear from the ring radiator tweeter......

Nice job ..!!

Over dose ...!

For the whole day was facing laptop computers....

Went back home still facing laptop computers..!!!

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Just eat....

What's this?

Nevermind just eat ok......

ISSE 2010 - Worthy mentions.....

on previous occasions, i didnt stay too long and was probably gone in a couple of hours ... but on Friday i was there from 1430 to 1830 hrs..... 4 hours in total!!!

gotta give the organisers and myself a pat on the shoulders even though the mini concert and autograph session itself took up 45 mins..... i guess i enjoyed myself.......

this time round, there were quite a few rooms which did pretty well....... and here's my list of worthy mentions in random order.....

audiomanufacture sls loudspeakers and wyred for sound amplifiers

german physiks loudspeakers and simaudio amplifiers

verity audio loudspeakers and nagra ampilifers

sanders loudspeakers and amplifier

atc loudspeakers and room correction

asi resonators - these tiny metal cups on wooden blocks made the room acoustics calm, relaxed and ready for playing music..... compared to other rooms, there was a greater sense of ease and musicality from the martens loudspeakers and shanling amplifiers / front end...... i bet the asi cables also played a part in achieving the good sound i'd heard....

fair play

if only they know what is fair play.....

http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2010/11/26/in-the-military-the-non-malay-is-ridden-like-a-horse/#more-10156

well not everyone can understand how it feels to be ridden like a horse.......

ISSE - LPCD

Most test and audio show CDs are essentially useless....

At the most they get played once or twice and then would receive the archive treatment: collect dust ...

I have a strong feeling that this will happen the 2010 ISSE LPCD..... Nothing in it is likely to make me come back for more.... Especially the reverb effects in track 9 which drove me NUTS....... Why why why do they have to use so much reverb?? Beats me.....

Such a waste.....

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ISSE 2010 - No telling

I was quite busy yesterday and did not get a chance to look through the show CD & other CDs I bought at the ISSE ....

And when I opened it up, I said to myself "What? No liner notes no explanations why these pieces were picked for the LPCD????"

They must be tired.... Where's the heart?

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@OYAIDE_NEO, 26/11/10 13:40

オヤイデ電気_OYAIDE_NEO (@OYAIDE_NEO) 26/11/10 13:40 みじんこブログアップ！！！「Power Inret R発売されます！」　作りやすさはもちろん、音質も格段にグレードアップ！アンプや電源タップの自作に活躍するのはもちろん、コネクタ着脱型の機器を持っておられる方のグレードアップに！！！！　http://bit.ly/alorEP

Check this out .... The product is late when compared to the competition but better late than never....

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ISSE 2010 - Head banger

They are allocated same room as before and well they did it their same old way..... some things never change do they.....

It was just TOO LOUD..!!!!!!! Are they selling a PA system ...?????

Yes the room was big and at times there were many people in there but this was no way to showcase a world class system....

Pity the superb components put on show here....

This ranks as my personal disappointment of da show....

ISSE 2010 - 现场录音

sharing video of live mini concert.....

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ISSE 2010 - 好听

马小倩与刘德丽签唱会......!!!

and they are my VOTE for the BEST SOUND OF THE SHOW.......

ISSE 2010 - Click your head

Here is one of the kuku who dunno how to turn their camera to silent....

People come here to hear the singers not your camera LAH

Damn....

On my way

Oh yeah its going to be Friday very very soon ....

ISSE 2010 here I come lah..!!!!!

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Is there a mine?

What's with the merc driver? Is there a bomb or mine or invisible barrier..????

Some people leave an extra big gap between themselves & the vehicle in front ....... As in really a big gap!!!

For what?

This behaviour causes the traffic to be stretched further than necessary..... Then it stretches and stretches....

If everyone maintains a 5 metres gap, the seemingly minute problem escalates into something serious & major....

So? Close up LAH..!!!

No stick

At the hawker centre a man approached me for a cigg...

Too bad dun have...

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SITEX or ISSE

your choice.....???

well why not visit SITEX on thursday for scouting ..... and make your final slashing on sunday..... if you have eyes only for gadgets you can buy everything on the first day itself and rest during the weekend.....

for the ISSE..... it's always a less crowded option to spend a good friday afternoon browsing...... weekends are usually way too cramped and noisy.......

will you be buying the 1 day or 2 days pass..???? to be frank, i'd never seen the need to visit ISSE for more than half a day....... so why spend the extra $5 for an additional day ......

maybe i'll reserve the $5 for prawn mee.....

in or out...

well well a record is a record......

by selectively including and excluding certain information, the document no longer qualifies as a "record" of a person's behaviour and performance......

shame on you HCI for your "no apology" stance.....

Half a grand

Aha eagles is coming back to Singapore & for $499 + $3 booking fee you can get a front view seat...

OUCH..!!!!!

Half a grand...!!!!

different steps....

looking for mp3 songs is easy......

but looking for original versions in FLAC or WAV requires more effort.......

maybe most people think that ripping in 320 kbps is sufficient and confirmed their choices as such.....

of cos handling FLAC and WAV will involve more disk space.....

A gap....

Is there anything to get from ferragamo ....????

An additional 10% is not too bad.....

Polarity

It seems the RR-77 is quite sensitive to AC polarity......

When I switched the power plug over, everything become better as a result....

If you find yours to be not that effective, just switch the unit over....

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Stick it up 4

If you purchase the tape instead of the bigger sheets, you will get 5 metres of it.....

Since it's quite of lot of tape to go about you may wish to share with some friends to spread out the cost.....

Remember: do it slowly 1 at a time.....

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Pipe travel

I am so tired ..!!!!... All after getting rid of the choke in the aircon drainage pipe....

What's wrong with this idiotic pipe....????

Damn..!!

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cosy....

i remember telling friends that mr mas could be somewhere warm and cosy and watching barclays premier league football matches.........

opppsss ... he did..!! well at least the warm and cosy part.......

Stick it up 3

Maybe I wasn't able to tell the actual difference with the EMI tape on the car ECU but it was surely not subtle when applied on audio components.....!!!!!

My very first piece was for the aircon fan unit in the room..... Errr seems quieter.... So so I thought....

2nd piece was on the little power supply for the RR-77..... WOWWW!!! This is no joke huh...???!!!!

There and then I pasted little pieces on the rear of the CD transport, starhub antenna box and rooftop antenna box (unused but may have stray signals anyway)....

The most effective way however is to paste the sticker on the inner panels but I am too lazy to dismantle everything.... So for the preamplifier, DAC & power amplifiers I simply cut a few sheets and place them as near as possible to the power transformers.....

Be aware that too much of a good thing is always too much.... Never never overdo it..... So I took care to introduce the EMI sticker incrementally by cutting each piece the size of a 5-cent coin....

Thief who stole electricity

Spotted at the coffee bean & tea leaf:

A guy who unplugged a floor lamp so that he can power his laptop ....

THIEF.....!!!!!!!

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Stick it up 2

Errrr I felt a difference or did I ...????

The engine seems to be quieter and more eager to pull than before.....

Maybe it's all just placebo.... Perhaps......

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Stick it up

Everyone knows that EMI is bad..... But bcos we rely so much on electricity we have no choice but to bear with these electro and magnetic nasties.....

There are however many ways to deal with it.... From zero cents to many dollars of ways...

After checking out the competition, maybe I'll try this.....

Most importantly I will stick some on the car ECU.....

blind and deaf?

referring to cleopatra wong and her "wonderful" story.....

http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20101119-248066.html

dun u think she has a serious hearing problem as well as terribly poor eyesight.....

and even a layman could not possibly believe that incredulous story of her mitigation......

sigh....

kimber PBJ

many years ago i had kimber PBJ interconnects and 4TC speaker cables in my system....

they were cheap and cheerful products that sounded very good, especially at the prices back then..... if i could recall. a metre of PBJ terminated with kimber ultraplate RCA plugs was less than S$100......

it was much later when i decided to replace the kimbers with silver sonic cables...... all bcos of my old friend who loaned me a set to try......

the original BL-1 interconnects and T-14 speaker cables were not leaps and bounds better but the slight improvements were still enough to induce me to swop....

anyway it is gratifying to know that there are still people who heartily recommends the PBJ ... follow the link to see what this malaysian blogger has to say...

http://hi-fi-avenue.blogspot.com/2010/11/feast-on-peanut-butter-and-jelly.html

no doubt i agree that the PBJ interconnect cable is a true high-end product...... caveat? it may be too honest for its own good......

1 more...

now that one of its scholars is busted for possessing child pornography, PSC may be tempted to include sexuality tests to beef up its current selection process......

they could be interested to know what turns a scholar on and off....

well well why not....

this case is the first for them but may not be the last........

Equilibrium????

Although car prices are back to levels never seen before in 10 years it may not be a bad thing after all....

It used to be a case where the more affluent people in Singapore owned cars. The then sky-high ARF, loan and downpayment restrictions and conservative growth rate for vehicles all combined to make cars out of reach for the more common folks.....

E.g. Without 30% downpayment in cash, one could forget about getting a loan and there was no such thing as a 10-year 100% loan....

By cutting the supply of COE, the only way for prices to go is up..... And current owners have less reasons to deregister their cars and that will lead to a small pool of COE for the next 6 months....

Looks like we all fug for the next few years.....

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no desire....

one day in the 80s, i saw a performance by a French lady on TV...... and was deeply attracted by her song voyage voyage.......

as i didn't manage to catch her name, i was quite eager to find out more about her and da song .... only when i returned to class and talked about it with a classmate (secondary school) did i know da name is desireless.....

so began my search for da song and i wanted to get the 45 rpm single or da album itself...

all the stores i visited had either not heard of her or did not know what i was talking about....... be it supreme music centre, DA DA, valentine's and so on......

nowadays with google and da internet, one can find almost anything........

listen to it and you may like it......... even after so many years, it is still as timeless to me......

Small but big 2....

Instead of the supplied vibration damping sheet, I followed one of the proven methods and put on a piece of AR QR-8.....

It seems to be another small step ahead.....

White band

According to the product literature, this White band has been impregnated with tourmaline and possesses properties of negative ions ....

No idea what it's all about but since it's only $2, why not.....

another a cheap experiment from daiso...

More = less?

How come I end up feeling more lethargic after sleeping for 12 hours?

Maybe 16 hours should be better for me..?? Cos I know 4 hours are definitely not enough...

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Small but big?

As usual I was sceptical....

How good can this little duralumin plug be? I'd read about it from most of the online sources and all have been positive and encouraging ..... Can it really be that good?

Furthermore it's "quite" expensive for such a plain little thing..... This is surely another dun-tell-your-wife-how-much audio accessory.....

After putting it into the unused r1 outlet, I have to realign my sights and expectations ....

The effects are not subtle at all.... Hmmmmmm

It works!!!!

b version

the B version of the CIA D-100 is out........ and i believe it is around SS$2800.......

as an owner of the original D-100, i am interested to know the sonic improvements ....... is it worth to trade in and upgrade????

unfortunately the D-200 is far too expensive over the D-100..... if not the bigger amps will be a good choice for upgrade.....

Body protection

I was thinking if downtown east should offer bullet proof vest for customers..... Haha why not?

Anyway how come these gang members bring parang but never wear body armour..???

At least put some steel plates in their shirt lah..... To ward off some blows....

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Oakley concrete prescription frame

Like the plank I wrote about many months ago, the concrete is made of lightweight aluminium ..... From my left vs right hand weighing scale, it is nowhere heavier than a pair of titanium frame.....

Compared the other metals, aluminium is far more pliable & compliant so you can bend & shape the frame to your needs.... If you have a odd-shaped face it can be crucial for your comfort.....

In terms of cost, it is also cheaper than other Oakley titanium frames..... Something to take note if you prefer to track every dollar you spend......

Most importantly it is made smaller than the plank.... And those that go for a more compact look will like it.....

It is my fav Oakley prescription frame right now.......!!

Next year

There goes the 2010 formula 1 season ....... Did it end the way you wished for?

No matter what the man fought for what he believed in and won it fair & square..... There was no other way except to go as fast as he could and beat everyone else that way.....

No team orders and every best man for himself..... Which is the loftiest sporting code and behaviour that everyone should learn from......

Shame on you Scuderia Ferrari....!!

Finally am here extending my congratulations to the 2010 formula 1 drivers' world champion: Sebastian Vettel....

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stop what...

Now the high-profile contraband is printer cartridges...... not one is allowed to get through airport security ....

Hey you can ban this and that but those guys will just look for another generic item to carry their IED.......

And what's next...???

Laptop batteries..??? iphones??? ipads????

I'm sure one can stuff an ipad with enough powder to do enough damage ......

How to stop these guysss..?????

Full cycle

Without the obligation of waking up on time for work over the past few days, my body clock is now all messed up.....

The trouble is I have to pay the penalty on Monday during work hours.....

Ahhhhhhh only a good nap after lunch can help me.....

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He & he

Remember: FA only has to race MW......

The rest is not so important after all..... And now FA starts in front of MW....

How can the 2 RB6 respond..???

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The right bend

If I had this I wouldn't have had to suffer a heartbreak.....

Make sure u get this if you have a super stiff hdmi cable and a tight wall clearance ......

It can save you hundreds of dollars (if your hdmi cable is that expensive).....

Harvey Harvey

You know the jingle ..... Harvey Harvey ... Harvey Norman....

But can you remember Pertama...??????

If you dunno what I am talking about it's ok.....

For those who are old enough to know, I'm sure Pertama stores ever had a place in your life in one way or another....

I had so much hanging out in the old plaza singapura..... One can find Pertama, Tat Chuan, Atlas, Kingsley and one other shop that sells Sony audio components (ES series even..!!) .... It was like hifi heaven .....!!!

Inside Pertama, they had this wall of speakers ready for demo anytime simply by pressing a few buttons ..... Everything was wired up together and it was soooo easy for the salesperson....... And I was always so excited when looking at all the Mission speakers, Wharfedale speakers, Celestion speakers ... They also have Denon amplifiers, Sony amplifiers, Pioneer amplifiers etc.... Maybe Sansui even......

Another highlight was their advertisements in the papers..... Sometimes they would have good offers for their audio components.... Even though I can't afford any of those beautiful things, it was nice just to daydream .... Hmmmm

Life was truly simple back then.... No 5.1 no surround sound no DVD ..... Only LPs and cassette tapes; even CDs were new kids on the block ...

Ahhhhhhh those were the days.....

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green and hot.....

ho ho ho...... it's green but very fast....

177 hp from a 1.4 litre engine......................... too bad there's only 200 pcs.....

Gills 2

After experiencing what the acoustic revive room conditioner can do for the room I am ever curious to improve things with wooden diffusors ..... But then the available products in the Market can be priced quite steeply....

Being the occasional audio cheapskate, I was thinking what can be done at DIY prices .....

As usual I look toward Ikea for inspiration .... And I found a few interesting items that could potentially be used for a DIY project......

Since I can't buy everything I wanted, I chose the wooden dish rack as my guinea pig.....

Hey tell you what: after some measuring and drilling, I'd got everything up and running.....

How do you like the look....????

You gotta try hard to guess how much these cost me.....

Gills

Discovered something in Ikea that could well be a good choice for DIY acoustic diffuser....

Flip it and mount a few on the wall... Viola!! Instant improvement?

Haha maybe maybe...

Random

So often people often remarked that winding crowns on their rolex watches are not aligned at 12 o'clock position.....

All along I knew the position is random cos one cannot direct when the screw threads meet exactly....

Coincidentally there was such a random moment this morning: TADA...!!!!

But the next time I unscrew the crown, there's no guarantee it will be the same again....

Dried up

Thanks to an intensive dose of flu medicine, I'd managed to put it up before it really had the chance to whack me hard....

A little bit more rest & I should be back to normal.....

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Run or walk

Almost everything needs to run in, break in or just settle into its rhythm ..... Engines, brakes, shoes, cables etc.... And even nose pads..!!!

The new pair of pads I replaced at Oakley Singapore certainly feels too new to be comfortable haha....

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One swop

Went down to Oakley Singapore to see what are their terms & conditions for repair or upgrade..... I was curious to know if small paint chips could be repaired or parts replaced...

Found that after the 1 year warranty, you are pretty much on your own.....

If there are any parts to be replaced (due to parts defect only) after the warranty, you still have to pay about $100++....

On the other hand you could hang on your frame until it's almost kinked out and then pay an upgrade charge which may be offset against a to-be determined credit due to your existing frame... Maybe around $100++???

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please dry up...

oh no i hate having a drippy and damp nose..... and how long is this going to last this time....????

1 day 2 days or more? let's get it over and done with........

what i need is rest...... more and more of it......

talking about flu, i cant remember when was the last time i had a flu jab.....???
 

hot alarm....

it's one thing to charge a person for murder.....

but it's another thing to prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt........

more often that not, the prosecution's cases are seldom watertight....... and there is always a fighting chance.......
 

quick action 2.....

something stronger is required to suppress and defeat the onset of the flu .......

popped 2 pills this time and made sure i have a good sleep after work.... but it seems i need another 2 pills now.....

hope it works.....

quick action

since saturday i was feeling some effects at the back of my throat...... a little itch and discomfort.......

so the threat is looming.... and i knew i was going to fall sick if i did nothing......

to stave off the unwanted trouble, i popped 2 panadols and had a good short nap after lunch.....

hopefully this will work to keep the flu or fever away....

Who knows

Yeah yeah recently it's been quite tough on a wandering mind......

While trying to solve one issue, I realise that I have inadvertently created another problem.... And it seems that these new creations are getting cumulatively expensive and irritating.....

Can I wish for something that's far less exciting..... Seeing my stuff going bonkers is not a good way to spend my weekends....

Sigh.....

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Some gust

Its task at hand is to blow the guts of hot air away from the onkyo AVR...

Can it do the job? ..... Somehow it may not be strong enough....

A little fan

Something is not right but there is no panic....

Since the 55 is obviously larger than the 47 it replaced, the bigger panel has brought along a problem I didn't expect.....

The centre speaker is now blocking part of the screen..!!! Now part of the issue is because of the installers' incompetence: they mounted the bracket lower than it ought to be....

The solution is therefore to bring the centre speaker to within the tv console; the result is less ventilation headroom for the super-hot running AVR..... But that can be easily overcome with a USB laptop cooling fan....

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Elevate

For too long I'd been depending on styrofoam to raise power cables ..... Due to their non-natural properties I think they are not ideal but then I wasn't able to find suitable alternatives...

And then I saw these wine bottle racks from daiso..... !!!! Bull's eye!!!!

Now I've got what I wished for....

Kuku taps

Why are there so many cock-eyed sensor taps around that dun really work as they should be.....

So long I wave my hands at the sensor I expect water to flow.....

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step by step...

i was soooo hungry...... and had decided to get a bite nearby until i was intercepted.......

after a late lunch, what should be the next best thing?

a good nap of cos...!!!

well it wasnt voluntary, i was lying down and then i didnt know what happened next....

Sotong大学

I dun care if it's 大学或小学.....

So long as the cuttlefish is good I dun care.....

Eyes open

Most filter lanes intersect with a give way line.... Most but not all....

So when I was running behind this kuku cab, I have da feeling the driver was going to slow down & give way even though there is no need to.....

True enough the kuku fellow began to slow down and of cos I have to wake him up: tap the horn !!!!

But that sensitive pig of a man crawled to almost a halt and looked at me through his mirror ... What else can I do but to continue tapping the horn....

CB lah open your eyes please..... No need to give way slow down for what.....

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aggravated fatigue

if one was tired and fell asleep while driving, it could be reasonably construed as negligent...........

if one had not slept for 22 hours and fell asleep while driving, how can that be negligent only.......... ???????????

dollars and cents.....

let's say i can sell my car for $60,000 and if i cough up another $10,000, i will need to loan $70,000 to buy a exo X SST at about $142,000.......

repaying a $70,000 loan over 5 years at 2 percent interest rate will require $1283 each month...... most importantly, i have to find out the terms and expenses involved in early settlement of the current car loan i.e. how much do i have to top up....

hmmm if i stop buying watches or audio equipment, there shouldnt be any problem with the monthly obligations...... but the problem is i cant guarantee anything like that.....

perhaps i can shave a few thousands off the expenses if i opt for the 5-speed manual........
 

small thing big headache....

my colleague wanted to get new tyres for his car...... and i wasted no time to convince him to do it today.......

and so we went to the el cheapo shop: uncle lee will know where this is......

errrr but because we are looking for 185/70-14 tyres, only one model was available: from thunderer @ $68!!! .......

what my friend wanted is toyo teo plus, which is out of stock right now..... but the price quoted was pretty good: less than $100........

since we were around ubi, we also dropped by autobacs....... their range was slightly better: 4 models...... thailand bridgestone, indo bridgestone, thailand michelin and japan yokohama...... all between $102 to $110.....

in the end, he decided to wait for the toyo............

morale of the story: what i realised today is that buying small tyres is actually tougher than buying big tyres......... the selection is SOOOOOOOOOOO limited ah.....

Whose is it

Diaoyu islands are occupied by Japan.... But the Japs insist there is no territorial dispute.... To be fair, blame the Americans: they were the one who handed the islands over to Japan.......

Meanwhile Kurile islands are occupied by Russia .... But the Russians are in no rush to return to Japan while the Japanese can't wait to get them back..... These northern islands have a special place in history as it was the rendezvous area for the carrier strike force that eventually attacked pearl harbour on Dec 7 1941...

So who is making the right noises?????

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Half pack

If one is a espn subscriber, then he gets access to espn web tv. Free.....

But if one is a mio BPL subscriber, access to web tv is subject to charges.....???!!! Siao ah.....

Make it a complete package singtel...!!!

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affordable juice bars - belden power cords

if money is "enough", then everything in the house would be using super-duper expensive acrolink power cords....

but alas!!! we all live in the real world and so i can only stick to buying multiple acrolink 4030 and one acrolink 6100 power cords in the audio system...... no super-duper expensive stuff for me ..

then how about the video system in the living room????? hhmmmm......

well since money is not enough, i have to make do with belden power cords....... this time round, i bought enough to make AC cables for the MJ subwoofer, sony ps3, mio set top box and hubstation.......... which meant 4 x MK plugs, 2 x IEC plug, 2 x figure 8 plug and 6 metres of belden cables........

all on DIY as LHS was way toooooo busy yesterday........

black oh black belden AC cables....

MK plug exposed.....

stripping and preparing the internal conductors......

bare ends all tightly clamped.... one tip: remove all the brass plug-ends before trying to connect the ends..... once OK, push them back into position.... so much easier.....

for the IEC plugs, there is no need to solder anything as all ends are made by clamping...... but for figure 8, one has to resort to soldering.....

my trusty WBT silver solder.............

figure 8 connectors exposed......

ready to solder...........

putting on heat shrink for the finish.......

i would have made one for the TV if not for the captive power cord.......... EEEKKSS!! what a pity........!!!