[AUDFILE74]

ygm andy

[gerado]

Why do I feel the odd man out here, the fly in the ointment?

I am not happy and its got nothing to do with Hugh's amps.

Do I want more than you guys? Did a take a wrong turn somewhere?

But then again I want bits of Andy's system and bits of Lyn's , lots of bits! And a few from mine.
That planar sound is gorgeous though driven by most things touched by Hugh.

Anyone want to part with a pair of magies in need of repair 
Go ahead enjoy while I still suffer.



Avon lives not everyone died. He just got surrounded and raised his gun slowly then the final credits.  If it comes back I want the old ship and Zen, not slave. And I want Suvalan played by a man in extravagant drag.

David Tennant is back- only a few specials for a year then back after his stage theater work is done( I think )for season 5.

[kyrill]

Theo??

You have a mighty DEQX III
able to fulfill the wettest audiophile dream comes true

a Magie is a 2 way system.

you can easily start a 3 way DIY OB system

AKSA's sound like a dream with the right Felix upfront and a tube buffer

 I am now listening to Limp Bizkit, chocolate starfish and enjoying it erghhh at my older than Hugh's age..

[AKSA]

Kyrill,

You have quite a sweet tooth listening to Limp Bizkit and Chocolate Starfish......  no wonder you like the AKSA!!   

An amused, junior Hugh...   


Theo,

Your system sounds damn good.  But you are changing so many parameters with your DEQX, and it will take time to perfect it.  Now surely that is the perfect scenario for the tragically afflicted audiophile?  Slow, steady returns, no?

Hugh

[andyr]

a Magie is a 2 way system.

You need to get out and around more, Kyrill. 

Some Maggies are 2-way (the "mini-me" Maggies).  Others - including mine are 3-way. 

Regards,

Andy

[kyrill]

Soo sorrryy baas

[rabbitz]

I have to resurrect myself for 1 final post as I can't resist this one.

The AKSA 55 to 55N+ in various forms has been my mainstay since 2004. Several amps have been built since 2004, but none have the balance of this amp that suits my tastes which makes it so enjoyable. I don't mean tonal balance, even though that is extremely good, but balance of image vs soundstage, warmth vs resolution, bite vs smoothness etc.... the compromises have been chosen well. The one I'm using now is not strickly standard but it's only different by component choices and a few different values. It almost got binned 2 weeks ago as I thought it had gone off.... ended up being a faulty Elma switch in the pre. Whew.... saved and gave me a chance to do some final tweaks.

I had a LF55 which is an exceptional amp by any standard and mine could have been one of the best LF55's out there. Especially built on the double sided board (V3.1) by 10 virgins under a full moon.... yes it did make a difference. Hugh told me he heard it a couple of weeks ago and to quote the almighty, "I nearly fell off my perch".

But in the end, it's the balance of the AKSA 55N+ that still holds me. Thanks to Hugh for a great amp that's brought so much enjoyment.

Time to terminate again.....  

[David Ellis]

Now that the USD is making a meteoric rise,

Wow!!!

I dismissed this comment intially, but... wow    . 

Yesterday I ordered some tweeters from Oskar. Today I checked my bank account to see if the correct $$ amount was used.  The amount was about $600 lower than my last order.  I thought surely the bank made another mistake.  Then I checked the exchange rate- Woot !!!    .  Buy, Buy Buy foreign goods now.  Everything is on sale - including Hugh's amplifiers  aa

I am totally mystified how this could have happened, but it sure did.  I thought surely the EURO would continue to rise in value against the oversupplied USD. 

I am very happy about this.

Dave

[Seano]

The Oz dollar has been in almost freefall for the past two weeks against the US dollar. We are somewhere around US$0.80 at the moment......so that's the end of my importing obscure CDs for a while.

But an opportune time for outsiders to charge into Hugh's shed and run off with a bargain. 

As for me....hopefully Hugh isn't charging in US for a few parts that I'd like for my forthcoming GK-1M upgrade & re-case.

[AKSA]

David,

Against a frightening backdrop of Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, Lehmanns, Bear Stearn, Merrill Lynch and AIG, an immobile government as election looms, and despite all common sense to the contrary, the US currency is making an extraordinary comeback.  The economists, rarely short on words, appear not to have tried to explain this one.....

This is shaping up to be bigger than the '87 crash.  That leaves only the '29 crash to compare.  This has presumably happened - opinions vary - because of the dilution of loan security risks, chiefly mortgages, which large financial institutions have indulged for about thirty years.  To reduce their exposure to default, large banks have sold off their mortgages, enabling them both to profit in the short term, and reduce exposure, so they can release more funds to even more dubious mortgage risk.  It's built up and finally crashed when manufacturing industry started to employ less people back in the seventies as Japan, then Taiwan, now China, have developed their manufacturing base.  Unemployment is becoming a real issue again, and we cannot survive on service industries alone.  We have to create something that people want to buy.  I hope I'm not upsetting anyone by saying this.....

Now, 20 years after the Iron Curtain fell, we have capitalist conversions in Central and Eastern Europe, and a growing EU and political uncertainty in the Western and Northern European countries.  There is looming conflict between Russia and surrounding states.  We have lots of immigration and some religious conflict.  Unease is growing, particularly in France, Britain, Ukraine and many states in Africa, it looks to me as though this rise in the USD could be a false dawn.  I note gold is rising fast while oil is dropping.  And China now has a giant olympic hangover on its hands, and problems with milk supply.....  And Japan and Israel could have new Prime Ministers very soon, and quite possibly, both women.

The times, they are a changin'......

However, it's a good time to buy Aspen products.  To bring this thread back to reality, I cannot stress enough that Hugh's 24 hour shop is enthusiastically open for business...... 

Seano, no problem, I will look after you mate!   

Cheers,

Hugh

[David Ellis]

I do have an unrefined thought on the increasing value of the USD.  It is because the supply of the USD has decreased.  This is because banks are now hesitant to offer risky loans. This is true with regard to commercial loans and home loans.  The latter part is fairly easy to identify.  The quantity of home foreclosures is profound in the USA.  I believe foreclosures are up @ 250% when compared to 3 years ago.

I found that some other folks believe this too.  I found this commentary on this website:  http://ezinearticles.com/?Recent-Foreclosure-Statistics-Predict-More-Bad-News-to-Come&id=966071

In 2007, more than 1% of all homes were in some stage of foreclosure. In 2006, only 0.58% faced foreclosure. This is an enormous increase in the foreclosure rate, and areas hit hardest by the crisis must seem to be turning into ghost towns. If not, at least the values of many properties have completely disappeared, if the residents have not yet moved out. Even worse than the nationwide number, Florida had more than 2% of households entering some stage of the foreclosure process in 2007, with 165,291 total properties entering foreclosure.

Since late 2006, over 220 mortgage lenders have gone out of business, filed bankruptcy, or significantly reduced their lending policies due to fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis. Every day, new lenders are also shutting down lending divisions or significantly scaling back their exposure to the mortgage mess. A number of the largest banks in the country are doing whatever they can to minimize the risk, while other large banks are simply trying to keep afloat, after experiencing huge losses in the past year.

This seems reasonable to me.  If banks aren't willing to lend money (i.e. create money), the value of the USD will indeed rise. 

I also read some commentary about the deregulation of the USA banking industry that happened a few years ago.  The initial reaction by the banks was obvious - lend more $$.  The eventual downfall is also obvious... crash.  I really don't know the details of the deregulation, but it allegedly happened.  The lack of government regulation is a wildly capitalist idea that is occasionally painful to embrace, but one that will (I believe) have good consequences long-term.

Dave