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Post by pinkie on Oct 19, 2016 8:45:11 GMT
So for their last breakfast here, having mostly played Jazz or vocals (Alison Moyet "The Voice" - Cleo Laine and John Williams "Best Friends") and the like for Dad, and things like l'estro Armonico and the Orchestral Suites for classical For the last breakfast - I put on Bach's double violin concerto, to be treated to the predictable far away dreamy look, croaky singing, soppy grin, and "that's beautiful music" comment  |
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Post by pinkie on Oct 30, 2016 11:08:50 GMT
The terrace is 75% complete. The pool has the liner in the bottom of it - but we are waiting for the drought to end before filling it. We are having a 7 day "spring" - no wind, horizon to horizon blue skies, temperatures yesterday up to 28, fabulous starry skies at night. We could have used the pool if it had water in The liner can't be raised until the screws are covered with tape. The tape supplied with the kit was naff and peels off (mind, it was too hot to touch yesterday). So I popped out to get some gaffer tape this morning , and on the way back across the vineyards snapped this with my cheap french phone (hence dodgy sky colour). Three varieties of grape - 3 different colours.  |
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Post by MikeMusic on Oct 30, 2016 11:39:37 GMT
Interesting. 
What would you suggest for a 3 bed bungalow living room, as my central heating does not quite cope in really cold weather.  (bit late) Makes sure you have all draughts blocked. Then add insulation anywhere you can Even simpler if you don't already do it - shut all internal doors |
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Post by MartinT on Oct 31, 2016 6:20:10 GMT
Richard - remind me again where you are in France? I love those kinds of gently rolling hills and vineyards, you immediately want to pull back on the throttle and adopt a slower way of life.
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Post by pinkie on Nov 6, 2016 13:00:33 GMT
I have moved this from Mikes mains socket thread - where I don't think it belonged - it is a reply to PJDowns question
This was a very casual comparison. Kevin was visiting with his wife and daughter, and we agreed there would be at least one divorce if we tried to spend the day in a "Bake off". It was a chance for Kevin to see our new house, and hear ESL63's, a Pink Triangle and the rest of my kit, and it gave me a chance to hear the Caiman
We had been playing records. I put on a CD using DaCapo and was frankly a bit disappointed. It sounded flat (unreal) compared with the records - and I recall wondering about interconnects which are my regular cheapies. (@singularity was going to send me some soundcords to try, but they didn't arrive, and I have just been playing records. I can make up a set of starquads at some stage). I was surprised, because the CD I picked was a particularly good analogue recording I know well - Dave Migden and the Twisted Roots "Animal and Man"
Kevin had forgotton to bring a digital lead for the Caiman which takes a regular RCA. I was using a BNC to BNC lead. To level the playing field I found a spare rca lead, and 2 BNC adaptors, and used the same leads (obviously minus one BNC adaptor on the Caiman). Same interconnects
I found the Caiman clean and detailed. First impression was much fresher and clearer than DaCapo. But I still didn't really like what I was hearing, which was a bit too antiseptic. Not harsh. Not "digital". But a bit bare. Switching back to DaCapo was much warmer and more analogue - much more real - much less antiseptic, more musical, but I wondered if maybe masking detail. Switching back to Caiman, and one last time back to DaCapo left me much happier with the PT DAC - and still finding the Caiman lacking in "size" and realness.
But I have to say I expect DaCapo to run analogue a lot closer than that - so I have a knot tied in my hanky to investigate why vinyl seemed so much better. One day.
However, it was good to get a chance to hear the DAC so many forum members speak of
(From Kevins comment that he was thinking of sending it back to Stan for yet another upgrade, I take it its not the latest spec for this DAC - but I would be really surprised if any modifications bridged the gap that was troubling me to bring it to something I would look at a replacement for DaCapo)
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Post by pinkie on Nov 6, 2016 13:01:54 GMT
Richard - remind me again where you are in France? I love those kinds of gently rolling hills and vineyards, you immediately want to pull back on the throttle and adopt a slower way of life. Sorry Martin - missed this one somehow We are in Granes - a village between Limoux and Quillan. The next door village is quite famous because of the Da Vinci code - so you might find it on maps - Rennes le Chateau Between Carcassonne and the Pyrenees |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 6, 2016 13:07:21 GMT
Nice!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2016 14:23:45 GMT
Hi Richard. I asked you to Pm me an addres but never recived anything so I couldn't send them. www.theaudiostandard.net/post/73420I'd have happily sent you a pair and I still can from Cyprus if you like. Might take a bit longer to arrive though |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2016 14:34:40 GMT
I have moved this from Mikes mains socket thread - where I don't think it belonged - it is a reply to PJDowns question This was a very casual comparison. Kevin was visiting with his wife and daughter, and we agreed there would be at least one divorce if we tried to spend the day in a "Bake off". It was a chance for Kevin to see our new house, and hear ESL63's, a Pink Triangle and the rest of my kit, and it gave me a chance to hear the Caiman We had been playing records. I put on a CD using DaCapo and was frankly a bit disappointed. It sounded flat (unreal) compared with the records - and I recall wondering about interconnects which are my regular cheapies. (@singularity was going to send me some soundcords to try, but they didn't arrive, and I have just been playing records. I can make up a set of starquads at some stage). I was surprised, because the CD I picked was a particularly good analogue recording I know well - Dave Migden and the Twisted Roots "Animal and Man" Kevin had forgotton to bring a digital lead for the Caiman which takes a regular RCA. I was using a BNC to BNC lead. To level the playing field I found a spare rca lead, and 2 BNC adaptors, and used the same leads (obviously minus one BNC adaptor on the Caiman). Same interconnects I found the Caiman clean and detailed. First impression was much fresher and clearer than DaCapo. But I still didn't really like what I was hearing, which was a bit too antiseptic. Not harsh. Not "digital". But a bit bare. Switching back to DaCapo was much warmer and more analogue - much more real - much less antiseptic, more musical, but I wondered if maybe masking detail. Switching back to Caiman, and one last time back to DaCapo left me much happier with the PT DAC - and still finding the Caiman lacking in "size" and realness. But I have to say I expect DaCapo to run analogue a lot closer than that - so I have a knot tied in my hanky to investigate why vinyl seemed so much better. One day. However, it was good to get a chance to hear the DAC so many forum members speak of (From Kevins comment that he was thinking of sending it back to Stan for yet another upgrade, I take it its not the latest spec for this DAC - but I would be really surprised if any modifications bridged the gap that was troubling me to bring it to something I would look at a replacement for DaCapo) Richard, It was an interesting day. The ESL 63s seemed to work much better in off axis listening to the 57s, but it's a mute point as I don't have space for 63s. The PT sounded nice in your system/room combination. I'll have to bring my DJ deck down soon as I think they share a lot of DNA now, and I don't expect there to be a huge difference. If you want to play with a few interconnects, I can post you some MC5000 and some other cables to have a play, depending on what length you need. Thanks again for the hospitality. The company, food, music and views were superb. |
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Post by pinkie on Nov 6, 2016 15:17:16 GMT
Hi Richard. I asked you to Pm me an addres but never recived anything so I couldn't send them. www.theaudiostandard.net/post/73420I'd have happily sent you a pair and I still can from Cyprus if you like. Might take a bit longer to arrive though Andrew - thanks. I am sure I had PM'd my address - both of them, UK and France, but on looking in my outbox I can find no evidence in support of the delusion. I will rectify the error. Like the Caiman - it will be interesting to use a talked about cable instead of N E cable. Kevin - thank you for your offer. I'm interested if its not too much trouble. It's not urgent. As we discussed (even though you caught me with my trousers down with the speaker cables) I don't expect huge things from cables. TBH I was looking at just about anything else, even though I know those blue cables and have used them all over the shop for ages. I raised the subject the first time, when Andrew made his kind offer, for the same reason I noted this time. I really expected DaCapo to me much closer to vinyl and was surprised it seemed so disappointing. Since we have foul weather outside, I might go and have a play with a Katie M LP I have which has a CD supplied with the LP. As we discussed - its easy to blame the equipment, when in fact its the recording. The Fleetwood Mac was a case in point. Maybe - the PT mods are more significant than I reckoned, and my reference point has changed. Back in my days at PT DaCapo had 4 filters. Subsequently there were 2 more I have never heard (24 bit and HDCD). It is universally agreed the new 2 were better, although Arthur & JW have different views about which was better. In my day 18 and 20 bit were lower priced options. The real choice was between 22 bit and 1307 -again with folk in one camp or the other. 22 bit was "pink triangle" -airy detailed ethereal. 1307 had the bass slam. I have 22 bit in my DaCapo. Perhaps my tastes have changed. Vinyl seemed much better |
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Post by pinkie on Nov 6, 2016 17:16:21 GMT
I'll leave the previous rambling speculative post in place, but the short answer was "No"
Comparing apples with apples, vinyl and digital are very close. Vinyl is better - more real, more space, closer piano to piano, trumpet to trumpet. I am referring to the Katie Melua LP and CD. If anything DaCapo has slightly more bass but its real close - but that blows the 1307 theory
I think the contrast while Kevin was here was that the LP's we were playing were nearly all old all analogue LP's. The contrast from true analogue to a CD, albeit mastered and recorded using analogue equipment , was a big one. The Katie Melua is a great digital recording in my view - but LP and CD have (presumably) the same recording and mastering.
I did in the process notice that the train crash of a turntable Kevin saw yesterday wasn't set up quite properly due to not having got round to fitting the P clip to hold the arm cable in place. Gravity had "sub optimised" the cable dressing - but nobody died as a result. No big deal. I have a couple of "maybe" finishing touches to do - one being flying leads, and that has made me quite keen to have a pop - although it can be a PITA.
Yes Kevin - it was lovely to have you and the family over - Sue and I enjoyed it very much and look forward to the next opportunity to get together
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2016 18:35:50 GMT
I have moved this from Mikes mains socket thread - where I don't think it belonged - it is a reply to PJDowns question This was a very casual comparison. Kevin was visiting with his wife and daughter, and we agreed there would be at least one divorce if we tried to spend the day in a "Bake off". It was a chance for Kevin to see our new house, and hear ESL63's, a Pink Triangle and the rest of my kit, and it gave me a chance to hear the Caiman We had been playing records. I put on a CD using DaCapo and was frankly a bit disappointed. It sounded flat (unreal) compared with the records - and I recall wondering about interconnects which are my regular cheapies. (@singularity was going to send me some soundcords to try, but they didn't arrive, and I have just been playing records. I can make up a set of starquads at some stage). I was surprised, because the CD I picked was a particularly good analogue recording I know well - Dave Migden and the Twisted Roots "Animal and Man" Kevin had forgotton to bring a digital lead for the Caiman which takes a regular RCA. I was using a BNC to BNC lead. To level the playing field I found a spare rca lead, and 2 BNC adaptors, and used the same leads (obviously minus one BNC adaptor on the Caiman). Same interconnects I found the Caiman clean and detailed. First impression was much fresher and clearer than DaCapo. But I still didn't really like what I was hearing, which was a bit too antiseptic. Not harsh. Not "digital". But a bit bare. Switching back to DaCapo was much warmer and more analogue - much more real - much less antiseptic, more musical, but I wondered if maybe masking detail. Switching back to Caiman, and one last time back to DaCapo left me much happier with the PT DAC - and still finding the Caiman lacking in "size" and realness. But I have to say I expect DaCapo to run analogue a lot closer than that - so I have a knot tied in my hanky to investigate why vinyl seemed so much better. One day. However, it was good to get a chance to hear the DAC so many forum members speak of (From Kevins comment that he was thinking of sending it back to Stan for yet another upgrade, I take it its not the latest spec for this DAC - but I would be really surprised if any modifications bridged the gap that was troubling me to bring it to something I would look at a replacement for DaCapo) Thanks for the reply and a good right up. |
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Post by pinkie on Nov 17, 2016 17:01:31 GMT
My soundcords have arrived from Andrew - many thanks! I may just plug them in to check no music leaks from them, but proper listening will have to wait till I am back from the OOk in just over a weeks time I have a virtual office in Kings Hill, where I am very well looked after by the 4 ladies on reception, who forward my post, bin junk mail, and will take in client files for me to collect etc. I wanted to take them a little Christmas pressie and 2 ideas suggested themselves Turn right out the gate, down the hill, and turn left, and we come to Campagne sur Aude - where we find Salazar - our nearest Cave de Blanquette (and currently my favourite Blanquette). A bottle of fizz each seemed appropriate Turn right out the gate, down the hill, and turn right, and we come to Luc sur Aude - where there is nothing but an independant chocolate shop. I have driven past a thousand times, but popped in for a box of choccies for the girls at the office to share - and nearly fainted. 1Kg assorted box 49E. I steeled myself - I have been well looked after since coming out here - and a box of Milk Tray - even if I came in the window to deliver it, wouldn't be the same I was offered a free sample as I left - and chose a sort of macaroon - and it was maybe the most delicious chocolate I have ever had - but it is going to have to be a very occasional treat Still - we continue to love it here |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2016 17:06:21 GMT
We have a chocolatier in the next village.
It's also very good...
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Post by MartinT on Nov 18, 2016 6:42:05 GMT
We don't even have a shop in our new village, it's a bit of a disappointment in an otherwise idyllic quiet place right next to a big town. There's a nice pub which is always popular, a church and that's about it.
So our 'corner shop' is the Sainsburys three miles away.
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Post by pinkie on Feb 17, 2017 14:21:40 GMT
Absolutely heavenly day today. The weather here takes a bit of getting used to. Not 2 weeks ago it was minus 15 in the morning, and we had to break a thick crust of ice on the surface of the pool (which at the time was still waiting for its cover to arrive). Today the pool temperature is 11 degrees, it is 18 degrees in the shade, horizon to horizon blue sky, not a breath of wind, and Sue and I have just enjoyed a gesiers salad for lunch with a 1/2 litre of rose at the Palais bar, under the castle, next to the fast flowing river Aude. I should have taken some pictures - but didn't. Just lovely |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2017 14:41:53 GMT
I have just come in from the garden. It is time to start the spring cleaning, so I have cleaned the pool.
Nice enough to be out in a t-shirt.
No posh lunch or rose for me though. It's time to have some "me" time before I go and pick the littl'un up.
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Post by pinkie on Feb 17, 2017 15:49:21 GMT
I have just come in from the garden. It is time to start the spring cleaning, so I have cleaned the pool. Nice enough to be out in a t-shirt. No posh lunch or rose for me though. It's time to have some "me" time before I go and pick the littl'un up. A pretty simple 9E salad for lunch - but lovin it. This is what we came out for. New office roof should be installed on Monday (I bought 11 assorted rolls of material back with me from the UK0. Then, 1st March, work starts on the extension and garage. After that we can clean up the garden, and next year - next year we can chill. Hopefully we can get over to see you again before long. Meanwhile , good to know you are enjoying this currant bun too |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2017 16:33:13 GMT
Lovely weather here too.10 mile walk for us today. It only started out as a short walk to the beach but we became curious and went right along the coast. We saw some beautiful coastline and an amazing shipwreck very close to shore. Also some top end modernist villas with incredible scale, proportion and outrageous infinity pools with uninterrupted sea views. We even got invited into one by the builder. If I could've afforded it, I'd have bought it in a heartbeat.
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Post by pinkie on Jun 29, 2017 15:41:12 GMT
I've just received (late) my first french tax return to check and then sign and return to my french accountant. Granted, in addition to being an incomprehensible form relating to an incomprehensible tax system, it is also in a foreign language But I think I know how my clients feel now when I send them their SA100's and SA800's and CT600's and ask them to check them carefully  |
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