NorCal With Friends & Family Valentines' WE ~ And Car Trouble In The Atmospheric River 12Feb25-16Feb25

It's been several years since our last visit to NorCal to see family and GR8 friends there... I arranged a trip back in Dec24 to head up over Valentine's Day & Prez Day WE (when I'd not wanna be in Summit, whatever the snow conditions). We stayed at Letha's on Wed night so the inbound storm would have a reduced chance of impacting our travel to the airport. It was great to see her and Matt, and spend time in "Kala's room," and dine fine at North County Mex with them. Wed... Getting to the airport came off without a hitch and we landed in SFO in time for the atmospheric river hitting the area. We drove straight to downtown SF to our friends' Bill's & Michael's place. It was a fabulous spot Bill's had for many years. We beat the pending rain by a smidge and hit Golden Gate Pk for a hike and then talked and toasted before going to excellent Chinese in the 'hood. Michael's tiny Fit car, and his driving, was perfect for the task.

We crossed the GG Bridge toward Berkeley and our hotel, the Aiden, near the marina there Wed night and found free street parking 6pm-9am (vs $30/day @ hotel). Nice new place with a comfy king & OK WiFi for us. Thu... We dined nearby at Ken's recommended La Note before heading down for a day with Ed & Laurie. La Note was French style American and good.

Back in the car to head to Mtn View and the skies opened wide. We have a brand new Jeep Compass with nice new tires so hydroplaning wasn't and issue on 880 southbound around the bay. However, we picked up a construction staple and massive metal and quickly lost air pressure to flat. Great ~ I limped to a parking area quickly but one without cover. I donned the raincoat and set out to change the tire. Many calls to Avis and AAA were never heeded by humans so we were on our own. I got it done and we headed to Silicon Valley. I tried four places for tire repair kbefore meeting Ed but all were too busy to completely inattentive. Hmmm...

We met E&L at their place for a chat and then a coffee out. We debated the world's and humans' issues but solved precious few... there were ideas but yeah ~ it's hard. We all headed to downtown Mtn View a block away for our keen dining & totties experience at Scratch. That was a blast with tasty scallops and branzino and fafarelle as well as excellent custom drinks. We rested a smidge after but soon enough headed back in the rain to free street parking in Berkeley near the Aiden.

Fri... Happy Valentines Day! We dropped the stapled tire at Don's who will repair it. We then headed to Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Assoc (BAMPFA) to view some keen art installations as we awaited cuz Ken's availability. Nice, though some abstract stuff is beyond us; maybe it was just the colors but we liked this big piece...

We met Ken at Steph's ADU that he's renting while he lets his primary house. We dined at delicious Dumpling Time for lunch, after a review from Phia, Steph & Craig. It was excellent.

We returned to Steph & Craig's home and talked family stuff a bit then Ken took us on a nice tour around upper Berkeley: past Ruth's and his homes, up to Lawrence Science, over to Berkeley CC, and down and around Strawberry Canyon back home. The outing was cool but while out I got the call from Don's about the non-fixable (brand new) tire... grrr. We did tour an ADU supplier in all teak from <>, $350K for 500sqft! Their secondary biz is furniture supply ~ cool stuff in teak we've noticed before, Masaya, a Nicaraguan company making finished goods ~ I really appreciate when a less "developed" country pursues more added value in their exports, rather than just exporting raw materials for someone else to advance. Good on ya.

That evening we went out together to Tuts! for dinner and Fieldworks for some beers and tiny Trivial Pursuit with Erin, a friend of Ken's from pickleball (no pic at FW). We hadn't seen the travel TP before but the cards were impossible to read without iPhone zooming or the tiny magnifying glass they provided.

Sat... We were off to American Canyon to visit Mike & Betsy. But first we loaded up with brunch items from the Cheeseboard and Andronico's to share with M&B and hopefully Lisa and her boys. It was a great brunch and all day chat with Mike & Betsy and a dinner and early evening visit with Lisa, Mazi & Obi. Lot's of the floor is lava and charades and more. Lisa and the boys seem great and Obi's 1st soccer game is tomorrow! Mazi's favorite sport is baseball, and he's good, and his fav subject is math... fine combo. I was even able to assist Mike by re-attaching a motion sensor to his IoT network.

Sun... Well at 11pm Sat night we were interrupted by the hotel fire alarm and dang loud sirens. We changed from undies to street clothes and headed down and out. Someone just burned the PopTarts in the kitchen but we got 2 trucks/alarms.

We did breakfast with Ken on 4th St before heading to SFO to turn in the car with the whacko tire. I've already received the "damage report" from Avis, 'cause I reported it ~ we'll see how much they charge me.

We caught MLC @ Torchy's on the way home. It's been another fun trip to NorCal visiting family & friends ~ thanks for sharing with us everyone.

February Music Appreciation ~ Just Stuff I Like 09Feb25

I've been skiing and building audio systems... now some listening & sharing. I have no common thread but I've been inspired a skosh by some visits with MN youngsters Jacob & Conor. Here's mainly stuff I couldn't show due to time constraints. Kendrick Lamar's half time was pretty cool too though.

• Kacey Musgraves covers Bob Marley's "3 Little Birds" @ Howard Stern 18Mar24 ~ naturally spectacular every time.
• Sweet Sally cover "Shoot The Moon" on Bluegrass Signal @ KALW 04Mar23 ~ never defund NPR; NorCal is the best.
• Heavy Heavy "All My Dreams" @ Carter Vitage Guitars 13Jul24 ~ where, Manchester somewhere.
• Sierra Hull (and so many more) "Shine" from Less Than Face @ Grey Fox 08Sep23 ~ complete innovation.
• AJ Lee & Blue Summit "Too Mine" @ Green Mtn Fest Summer '24 ~ gorgeous songstress.
• Pixie & The Partygrass Boys "Ski & Party" 21Jun18 ~ best vibe ever.
  

Building The BFM Center Channel ~ The Onken-Like NanoCC Rockin' With The NanoOnkens 09Feb25

Blodgett Family Room Center Channel (BFM CC)... Yeah, I haven't built a speaker in a couple weeks so I literally dreamt of a shift to bolster the BFM's new sound ~ try the NanoOnkens in there! It'd be a solid upgrade but I need two things then: 1) a center channel speaker to match and 2) replacement speakers for the Elekit living room tube amp system. This post deals with #1; you'll need to wait for the replacement speakers alluded to by #2. I will say however that in each case, I am a fan of the ~$50 Mark Audio Pluvia 7.2HD full range drivers and bought 3 more of them. Most center channel designs are smallish, especially in height, as they are best placed directly above or below the TV/monitor in a theater build-out. I really like a tight Onken full range sound and the DIY FrugalHorn team (DLugos diagram) drew up a decent, and small, center channel for a variety of MA drivers to mate with those horn designs. Slick, Fb tuned, restricted bass ports, abreast of the Mark Audio drivers. I used that core design to create an Onken-Like NanoCC with a 4" MA Pluvia driver and using leftover 15mm Baltic birch. The new speaker dovetails well in sound and look with the NanoOnkens. I prefer a soundfield built from all the same drivers; it keeps the timbre consistent. I'm replacing some low-end Paradigm bass reflex speakers for the front 3 channels of the BFM system (I've repaired them a couple times already, and replaced the sub). The new NanoCC, and the sub, are behind the acoustically transparent fabric panel below the TV.

NanoCC Design & Cut Sheet... I first took inventory of all the 12mm, 15mm, and 18mm Baltic birch plywood I have. This so I could map out the parts needed against the cabinet raw materials. It's not a classic cut sheet but the process worked so I could use all 15mm for the NanoCC.

I got the parts cut on my table saw and drill press from the leftover 15mm scraps. That includes a front baffle with a 102mm hole for the driver cut with a hole saw and the rear side eased 45° via a router, as well as a brace with holes. Stack of stuff looks "nano" as hoped and took just an hour.

Assembly was pretty quick with just clamps and Titebond 3. From dry fit to final box was 90min. I laid down and aligned the vents as a 2nd step. Acoustical physics analysis on these 9mm ports is not for the faint of heart ~ Onken conviction.

You see the case is heavy and the driver will be braced ~ inert cabinetry is your dearest friend. Never go flimsy on anything... I even glue flute all the seams on the inside to assure security and air seals. I actually learned this best as a kid building custom rockets and needing to assure fins didn't rip off at torque/lift-off. I also dipped into the scrap piles of damping materials when completing the NanoCC. I used 1" wool for key surfaces but stepped to 3/4" for corners and even 1/2"poly between the chambers. All DRC full range builds are heavily damped and super rigid. The cabinet is done but for binding terminals and a driver ~ and perhaps some finish... that "active" stuff is back in COS, where the NanoCC home will be.

Equalizing & Measuring... My first task after installing the new NanoCC and L/R NanoOnken Mains, all based on the MA Pluvia 7.2HDs, was to use the new Onkyo's AccuEQ system to dial in the 3.1.2 array (we have in-ceiling pressence/height speakers in the rear). With an included measurement mic I invoked the automatic measuring system in the Onkyo and let it do its thing for 5min. Always just white noise... no sweeps. Sounds fine ~ far more defined and dynamic than the old speakers, so the upgrade is working well so far. I next measured the NanoCC and the entire NanoOnken-NanoCC-SVS Sub system in place in the Blodgett Fam Rm. The orange below though is just the NanoCC in free space, where it does exhibit baffle diffraction step "loss." However, with the AccuEQ running and the sub engaged, the sweep is down-bending as desired, and sounds quite good. I don't fully understand the wiggles 5KHz-10KHz or the 5-10dB loss 10KHz-20KHz but the room is pretty padded and the measurement are taken kind of off axis (below the mains and above for the center channel) from the speakers' drivers... the speakers are not in ideal locations for listening, but they are out of the way.

The Nano upgrade to the BFM system and driven by the new Onkyo AVR is sharply improved for music and movies.

Wrestling The Thermal Expansion Tank ~ There's Always Something 05Feb25

Today was an adventure. I knew my thermal expansion tank on the hot water line had failed and was full of water. And I received lots of alerts on my flood sensor since it was backed up and leaking onto the floor through a relief valve. I knew basically how to proceed with replacing it and had already bought the replacement tank and a pressure gauge. However, while attempting to remove the tank from H2O system, the pipe it was screwed onto just sheared off. I had to turn off every thing, drain hot water from house, and repair piping with new copper & fittings. I had to buy all that stuff and tools like a pipe cutter, pipe cleaner, flux, solder, propane. Sheesh. By 4:30pm I was back where I expected to be at 10:30am... measuring pressure. The basic process requires measuring water pressure in the system, and pressurizing the new tank to that level, before installing it. Pics in reverse chron...

Ski & Party With Bro Brown And Yoho During Guys Week ~ MN Mafia In The 'Hood 05Feb25

It is that time of year when lifelong friends, and family (yeah, all male) of Bro Brown come to Summit for winter fun. I usually visit, dine, and ski with these Minnesota Mafiaosos some during the week long event. Too, my buddy Yoho joins as well for parts of it. Well, with a less generous pass held this year, Jim & I only jointed for Breck & Keystone outings. And, through strange administrative turns, Jim didn't get his normal Epic Local pass this year and I had to flip him some Buddy Passes... dang, even they are very expensive. Too, at the ticket booths not everything was smooth ~ there's some glitch in the system with Jim's pass. Anyway, try as we did to catch up with Richard & Brown and their team, we couldn't at Breck and didn't at Keystone. The last we saw of Brown-sign was parking next to the Vanagon in the Airport lot. We did share some pops at Broken Compass after runs at Breckenridge, and we did dine that evening at The Lodge. Later in the week we skied another nice day (weather here is 20° above normal right now so think spring snow conditions) at Keystone. Part of the show is giving the young Brown & Hubbs boys some music education via the NestMT... it was a good time with them too, despite missing them on the slopes. Yeah that's a decent shot of the 10 Mile range from atop Bergman at KS.

Broken Compass & Yonder Mountain Concert @ Lulu's Downtown 31Jan25

Scott & I heard Broken Compass Bluegrass at Lulu's with friends David & Lisa. The band was excellent with a fine 45 minute set as openers for Yonder Mtn. We arrived a smidge late by my standards, from a good dinner at Jax across the street. That kept us from position A on either of the rails overlooking the stage & mosh pit. It didn't temper the vibe though and folks were fairly decent about not standing right in front of us.  We all really enjoyed BCB, but Scott less so. He and I departed during the break between the bands so we did not get to hear Yonder Mountain String Band this time. Too, it was a medical situation that kept the Fretliners from playing in their scheduled spot as the number 2 act for the night. The sound seemed better at Lulu's this time out but still could be improved with more vocals in the mix. As described prior BCB is an excellent Nor Cal group quickly emerging in modern alt bluegrass; I was really pleased to see them in our small club in Colo Spgs. I doubt that standing will last long. Their musicianship and skills are very strong; their writing it good; their vocals were good ~ even bringing 3 part and 4 part harmonies on occasion. They played some great covers, some classic bluegrass, as well as good originals. They didn't really come to the merch table after their set so I did not get signatures, and they played from memory and didn't have a setlist. It was a blast.

Updating Blodgett Family Room Sound ~ New Onkyo AVR & JRMC Streamer 29Jan25

The 20 year old Yamaha receiver I brought from PHX for the Blodgett Family Room (BFR) gave up the ghost on its Zone 2 outputs. It was so old that it was only delivering derived multi-channel with Dolby PLIIx anyway, which was OK, but has long since been eclipsed with discrete mutli-channel formats. This is most important for movies and TV video. I didn't want to spend much (typical behavior) and found a low end Onkyo TX-NR6100; it's recent but not totally current, yet supports 8K/HDR10 and all the keen Dolby and DTX sound variants. I installed the new AVR and readily removed a lot of cabling... it's notable how clean modern consumer electronics can be aided by HDMI cabling. The prior install used quite a bit of optical & COAX digital as well as even some analog RCA cables. Little beyond HDMI 2.3 runs were required with the Onkyo and newish LG TV. The new install uses a Roku Ultra for most stuff but also sports a BluRay/DVD/CD carousel for nostalgia I guess. The new receiver and it's capability to decode discrete Dobly and DTX stuff sounds great and the video switching is strong too.

The BFR uses old bass reflex Paradigms and is a 5.1 setup in which I've replaced the sub and even drivers in the speakers previously. I used the Onkyo's own measurement mic and integrated EQ system initially to re-measure and set up the sound ~ ultimately I tweaked it manually to a more THX-like configuration. The panel below the monitor holds the center channel and an SVS subwoofer. The Paradigm speakers are just OK and a smidge oddly placed.

I also added a new JRiver MC streamer to the BFR kit. I really like the tiny inexpensive fanless mele PCs rebuilt into Linux boxes (especially when augmented with Flirc adapters to allow remote control from my normal Harmony control system). Even it is connected via just HDMI which carries the 2 channel 24bit/192Khz PCM or even DSD (.dsf) SACD files fine to the Onkyo for decoding and amplification, and for computer display on the LG. As usual, the JRMC displays lots of stuff about the current band or track.

Zone 2 works fine too; I use the optical back from the TV to assure 2 channel PCM (that's the only format accepted for Z2) is used to drive Zone 2. I can send music basically anywhere in the house using an Adcom selector and power amp driven by the Onkyo's Z2 line level output. We have in-ceiling speakers in many rooms, and even nicer stuff on the rear deck with the spa ~ that's where Zone 2 is most often used, sometimes to the chagrin of neighbors.

I guess I can next upgrade the BFR sound with some custom DRC speakers. The new NanoOnkens would be great replacing the Paradigms, though I'd want to add a new Mark Audio Pluvia 7.2HD center channel too. Hmmm...