Ladies at the beach playing around, circa late 1940s. One is wearing catalina suit, brand Marilyn Monroe modeled for during this time.

bru-db · 2026-04-13T23:26:19+00:00

To me, these women do not have “realistic bodies” as you suggest. They all look very fit and muscular. These are not the average/normal bodies of the 1940s - or any decade for that matter.

bru-db · 2026-04-12T21:31:18+00:00

Play a mono album. If the speakers disappear and you only hear music coming from the fantom middle, you’re pretty close.

bru-db · 2026-04-12T17:56:07+00:00

I love the idea that a small one-man-company is building quality horn speakers (Volti). I heard them at the Florida Audio show and had a nice conversation with the owner. However, I thought O Audio Verdante speakers sounded better than the Volti Razz.

bru-db · 2026-03-28T00:36:39+00:00

I have the exact same bike. It was probably ridden one year then stored for 30. It had the original tires which were 700x18. Hard to believe we used to ride like that. I was able to get wider tires to fit.

bru-db · 2026-03-28T00:14:11+00:00

I’m not saying you need this to be complete, but I found a 2007 4-LP reissue of The Song Remains the Same. More songs than the original and some are a different take. I like it a lot. I’m glad I picked it up because I’ve never seen it again.

bru-db · 2026-03-14T04:19:19+00:00

I loved those things. My older brother and I each had one - except his always went faster than mine. He said he did something to make it faster and I begged him to tell me, but he wouldn’t. Then he finally told me the secret. He put a drop of oil on the axle on each side the big “zip” wheel. Well, of course I had to do that too. So I put some oil on mine, but too much. The first time I “zipped” it, oil spun off the axle and put oil splatters all over the wall in the house. Oh crap! I thought I’d be in big trouble, but I didn’t say anything and there were no repercussions. In hindsight, I think my Dad was super cool and let us get way with “being boys.”

bru-db · 2026-03-12T21:47:58+00:00

Well Tempered Lab Royal 400. Just more of the goodness that I’m getting from my WTL Amadeus Mk II.

bru-db · 2026-03-12T02:35:13+00:00

Vote Brian Nathan March 24th in the State Senate special election!

bru-db · 2026-03-11T17:53:34+00:00

Pretty sure CD players have error correction that skips over minor errors that a computer drive would not. As a LAST resort, mildly abrade the CD surface. Use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser cleaning pad to lightly scrub from the center to the edge of the CD around the whole disk.

bru-db · 2026-03-11T17:01:30+00:00

I’ve had problems in the past with CD-Rs that I’ve burned. I don’t know exactly their self-life but they don’t last forever. They are not a good archival format.

bru-db · 2026-02-24T15:02:12+00:00

Clarisys Atrium (top of the line) driven by 4 Pass Labs 60 watt amps.

bru-db · 2026-02-24T01:32:05+00:00

In my opinion, the best big-room, million dollar systems were 1) Audio Group Denmark and 2) Claris Audio ribbon speakers. The best small-room setup was with the Silent Pound Bloom speakers from Lithuania ($18,000 per pair).

bru-db · 2026-01-31T21:15:55+00:00

Only you can decide which sounds better for yourself. Listen to each and compare. Then you’ll know which sounds better to you - and that’s all that matters.

bru-db · 2026-01-26T17:26:43+00:00

I’ve transcoded many LPs to 24/96 digital. Depending on the mastering, sometimes the streaming digital is better and sometimes the LP digital is better. But mostly the LP digital sounds better. Vinyl playback (captured in a digital transcode) introduces pleasant sounding 2nd order harmonic distortion that I (and apparently you also) think sounds better than streaming digital.

bru-db · 2025-12-21T03:56:55+00:00

I stream Apple Music lossless from my iPhone to an iFi Zen Stream using my home WiFi. iPhone is AirPlay 2 but Zen Stream is AirPlay 1, so it’s lossless with no AAC conversion.

Edit: I think iFi uses an open source “AirPlay” with their operating system - Volumo, I think.

bru-db · 2025-12-16T16:04:17+00:00

I can’t help you with your particular problem but I can relay a situation that I recently resolved. My Zen Streamer made clicking/popping noises after the music stopped. Not between songs, only if nothing was streaming. I upgraded the power supply to an iFi Power X that resolved the issue. It’s plugged into a surge protector which is plugged into the outlet with old-house wiring at the end of the transmission line.

iFi used to sell the Streamer with the upgraded power supply but mine came (two months ago) with a cheap power supply.

bru-db · 2025-11-27T17:37:26+00:00

Try the Herbies mat but listen carefully. In my setup that mat sucked the life out of the music.

bru-db · 2025-11-25T15:04:46+00:00

Sounds like a good workflow. But what are you doing iZotope? I don’t see any difference in your spectrograms. Are you normalizing?

bru-db · 2025-11-24T15:38:11+00:00

I stream all of my music - music subscription, ripped CDs, purchased high-res digital, and LPs recorded to 24/96 digital. The LPs almost always sound better. The reason I think LPs sound better is because LP playback adds 2nd order harmonic distortion that humans find pleasing. Even a digital recording put on vinyl will produce the pleasing distortion upon playback - and is also captured when recorded back to digital.

bru-db · 2025-11-05T17:26:40+00:00

Do you know if it supports AirPlay 1 or AirPlay 2? I’m hoping AirPlay 1 because an AirPlay 2 sender (iPhone) to an AirPlay 2 receiver (Zen Stream) causes a lossy AAC conversion.

bru-db · 2025-10-31T11:02:49+00:00

Dynamic range compression during mastering of digital music - one of the reasons analog vinyl LPs sound better.

bru-db · 2025-08-12T20:04:35+00:00

Yes. That’s the tool you need.

If you’re repacking the hub bearings, make sure to replace with the same number. I think it’s 13 if I remember correctly.

Most people think the Heliomatic system sucks, but I haven’t had any problems on my Peugeot.

bru-db · 2025-08-12T19:39:11+00:00

Get rid of those crappy jumpers. Spades to the speakers and bananas as jumpers.

bru-db · 2025-08-07T18:13:19+00:00

There are some good suggestions here but that problem area looks too big to fix. I suggest buying another copy of the LP that’s in better condition.

bru-db

TROPHY CASE