TheEvan

Now those are some right proper knobs, if you ask me.

Rosewood Lacquer!!!! As for the bass, it has a totally different quality than that of direct radiators. There is less of that chest thump because it is enveloping, not firing right at you. But crank some organ music with deep pedal notes, and you'll realize you've got bass like you've never had. And yes, fitting them into your corners just so will improve that. If you play a recording with lots of deep bass content, walk around the room and other rooms of the house. You will likely find spots where the bass is too much and others where it is lean...a phenomenon common to live acoustic music.

The great Ralph Towner on his Guild 12-string. His other guitar is a $15k+ classical. But he's played this humble Guild for decades...

Thx Max. That's the Ubaye Valley in the French Alps. Pretty place.

No electricity. No roads to speak of either. They live in the bush. But, remarkably, there is signal. Weak, but it works, at least for texting. The Maasai are tight-knit and they love to stay in touch. So, how to charge the phones? A few enterprising folks have car batteries. They use cell chargers that plug into the car lighter, cut off the plug and put the wires to the battery. They charge a few shillings for an overnight charge. When the battery runs down, they strap it to the back of a bicycle and ride into town (half a day by bike, I imagine) and have it charged. One family has a solar panel and use that for charging and for running their laptop. The accommodations are basic to say the least, but FAR more pleasant than staying in an African town with "conveniences". Here, I'm among friends, in beautiful nature, seeing things that are wonderful. And the night sky!!!! That part of Tanzania (the Southern Highlands) is one of the least light-polluted spots on Earth.

Our daughter, reprising the opening sequence of the Sound of Music

Ladies. They hang their mobile phones around their necks. Some of them make beaded cases for them.

He shares this little space with a few young calves. His young wife and their children live in a larger but similar structure at right angles to his place.

Here is a longtime friend whom we call "Simon". His Maasai name is a bit too thorny to remember. Wonderful guy. His youngest wife is no older than 20. Him? He's in his 80's.

And yeah, they still cook on the ground over open fires.

The ladies carry their milk around in these gourds, all nicely decorated with bead work. Here, they are, being washed and "sanitized" by hanging them over the fire and getting smoked. Effective and it imparts a pleasant smoky flavor to the milk.

Thanks. Dang it, I can't seem to help myself. Here is another friend making a sort of cottage cheese. The gourd is filled with milk. She hangs it from a tree branch and shakes it back and forth for a long time. Note that the rope is all homemade. They do beautiful work.

Wait, ONE MORE. This is an uber-poisonous Green Mamba that joined me in the outhouse. I had no idea how deadly he was until I looked it up later.

OK, one more.

Her daughter, Ana

Mama Kisota

Swiss Alps

Near Bern, Switzerland

Another... Maasai community in the Mbeya region of Tanzania, out in the sticks from Chimala village.

Back to forum after a long haitus. Here's my first contribution. Not great photography, just interesting subjects.

Good kid

I have a customer who has in his stable of exotica an FXX, which is similarly rare and priced. I'm wondering if he'll get one of these as well. Here's the FXX.

We also jettisoned our cable TV service a few years back. I bought an outdoor antenna from Crutchfield (I think it is the Channel Master 3016) and put it in the attic. Our TV broadcast is notably sharper than cable and with a splitter to my tuner, I get fine radio reception.

Such a great deal. I'm trying to think of somebody here in the Red Stick who I can talk into taking these. I'd love to have them, but I'm all Klipsched out and really only listen through my Klipschorns.

This will be an incredible bargain, even figuring the obligatory gitches along the way. A local church had a parishoner donate for an organ, a lovely self-contained thing. Price inclusing installation? A cool million dollars...and this was not an all-out, cost-no-object effort. Not even close.