Dear gentlemen,
A busy weekend that first one in May will be. The Vinyl Crawl on Saturday, the McGurk's event Sunday, the record show the entire weekend. A good time for playing and spending too much money.
I am here doing a new post because some people didn't note that the "thread" for the original posting went on to include photos of some of the gear offered at the silent auction. So do have a look at those photos. I'm still waiting, anxiously, for certain promised items to arrive that haven't yet come. I don't want to mention them and thus be sending out false enticements until these things are actually in my hands.
Glumly, I have to say that one item did come in but was defective. A dealer donated a brand-new Cardas 1&1/2-meter "Clear" power cord. It came and I thought I would break it in and at least listen to it, and see what it sounds like since I had promised I wouldn't be bidding on it. So I broke it in, which went fine. I then plugged it in to my DAC, and noticed the thing kept going on and off. After some anxious experimenting, I realized that the PC was shorting at the end which plugs into a receptacle because (of all things!) the two prongs were about half as long as they should be! So the cord went back, not to the dealer, but to the factory. And now it is in limbo. I don't know if it will be re-donated, after being fixed or replaced, or what. Regardless, once again. Yes, once again, and I would say this happens about fifty-percent of the time: A new piece of audio gear arrives, it has something wrong with it immediately, or it will go down at least once within one year. That's on an average. I've had better luck with some brands than with others.
So in its place I am donating a NOS Cardas "Hexlink" PC which is an excellent cord for power amps. This one is long--no less than 10 feet. But I use a "Hexlink" on one of my power amps and I can tell you it kicks butt with many of their later models.
So for this proffering, along with smaller goodies and some premium vinyl, there are two PC's and three IC's.
Maybe people get addled by all that Irish whiskey, but some just can't figure out what a "silent auction" actually is. In truth, it's very simple. With each item, there is a card with a starting bid. E.g., the "Hexlink" will start at $40. You can place your name on the card and bid $40, and it's yours. But if someone bids above you, then you have to either bid above them or take them outside and there take them out. In truth, most bidding is done in a civil manner. Two or three bids are done, and a sort of accord gets silently struck to not keep bidding against each other. Rarely an item gets bid way up there. Often it goes at not much above the starting price.
This money goes to fund my wife's trip to the Honduras where she will be doing medical work under the auspices of Grace the Americas. This makes the 4th year at this main village, with many rural people coming in for treatment. Already, a huge difference has been noted. The first year, so many children were brought in with "distended bellies." One glance, and Abbe could see they were merely malnourished. So there was much education done on this topic (where money is actually more needed than education). But what people most wanted was birth control. Even the local priest and nun were supporting this. So, in merely 4 years, the birth rate has dropped drastically, and the result is that what children there already are get more food, better education, and one can not the effects just in pictures of the village.
So it's for a good cause. There are lesser causes. With Abbe gone for 10 days, I can play Bob Marley (Am I shameful?) as loud as I want. I can do other projects that go better with people out of the way. And Abbe comes back, exhausted, but feeling fulfilled.
Time: Sunday, May 4, from 4 to 7 P.M. Entry costs $25, and this gives you free food and access to an open bar, plus the right to blow your budget at the silent auction. There are many things in the silent auction that have nothing to do with audio, like bottles of wine, gift certificates to restaurants, craft items, and such. So bring your arm candy, and everyone will be happy.
I hope to see you there!
Francis Baumli
