Don’t forget the invasive species known as boa constrictors! Although I think that’s more the Everglades and the fuck do I know of Florida geography.
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If you need some “No (insert dangerous creature here) weclome” signs just let me know. Everyone in Australia has a surplus.
They also don’t work, as far as I’ve experienced.
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By all repute, the alligators and crocodiles in Southern Miami are quite law abiding.
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Denny’s Latin cafe on your way down the keys has an amazing cubano sandwich, and great rocket coffee pods.
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That’s good to know. The ones down here are the sort to walk through the McDonalds drive-thru and have public sex on your lawn at 3am.
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Sounds like the hedgehogs back home.
Of course … they can’t kill you by glancing in your direction …
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Guilty pleasures …
Post midnight “Checkers”, with some cheap (but undeniably delicious) Chilean plonk and the “Grease” soundtrack … on vinyl.
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The comedy advice in Louisiana’s bayou country was that you have a fighting chance on land - just make sure to run in zigzags. The alligators’ll flip over and go belly up trying to follow in your footsteps.
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People always gravitate toward their best or favorite equipment. The rest will see minimal use. Never, ever box up old computer stuff when you upgrade. The next time you see it will be years later, long after it’s obsolete. [Exception: There are now PC and electronics collectors, so nostalgia leads to ridiculous valuations.]
I hear that boas make great speaker interconnects. Their diameter is just large enough to carry an electric current without premature cooking. Remember that the mouth end goes to the speaker rather than the amp – this helps eliminate background noise.
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Welcome to the sunshine state. 
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Well not just in the everglades, they have made their way up towards Fort Pierce across to Ft Myers. And we have those playful and bite happy Green iguanas that seem to love peoples pools and porches.
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I was already hankering after a much simpler (overall) setup (i.e. the HE-1*/AirPods Max approach), so packing things up and then having to unpack them was a perfect incentive to just not bother with the unpacking part for numerous items …
And then the ability to run speakers, properly, all the time, due to the way the house is built (and the resultant acoustics and isolation), means that headphones become far less of a necessity than they used to be.
I have always preferred to listen via speakers whenever possible.
So for now, the Blu-Mk2, DAVE, Étude/Ultima 5, Woo WA234 MKII Mono setup is all I’m going to run for headphones. Plus either the A&K SP2000 or 2Go/Hugo2 combination, via the EE Odin, for serious pool-side listening.
We’ll see if having my prior speaker rig in the same room really makes a “proper” headphone setup as redundant (as I expect it will).
*I will still go down this path if the Sonova acquisition of Sennheiser doesn’t negatively impact the long-term support for the HE-1.
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Very wise to take this approach considering how much of an investment the HE-1 is.
I’m sure it doesn’t need to be said but please do keep us all in the loop about this. I was unable to create a satisfactory speaker setup, even in a dedicated room. If you were to eventually post a few paragraphs on pros and cons as well as your overall thoughts, I would find it very useful.
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I find I listen to my speakers the most, especially when working from home. Something about having nothing on your head that is appealing.
If you can have a good speaker and room setup, I can see headphones getting much less use.
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@Torq What speakers do you like and what are your current speakers? I am currently looking at speakers, so curious to hear your thoughts.
Getting speakers working well is very much dependent on the room, which speakers you’ve chosen (it’s typically a lot easier if you can choose speakers that are a good innate fit for the room as a starting place - but many people have speakers already of course), and how willing you are to deal with room treatments and/or DSP. I’ve always been able to get excellent results, but some places where much harder to do it in.
I’ll write up how I’ve tackled it in a few different places as I take breaks in unpacking the remaining boxes and shuffling things around.
That said … I can already say that my current speaker rig* (now my office/den/cave rig) is working beautifully here … but more on that in a bit …
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My current speakers are Linn Akudorik Exakt (Katalyst), fed over Linn’s Exakt system from a Linn Klimax DSM/2 (streamer with analog inputs).
It’s very flexible, since it has on-board room compensation/correction (called “Space Optimization”), has one DAC and amp per speaker driver per channel and does active driver, time and phase correction (when you set it up, you give it the serial number of your speakers, and it phones home to get the measurements for your specific drive units from the factory).
So on the active/DSP speaker front, I am a Linn fan.
I used to run Meridian DSP 8000s, which have some similarities (and were the progenitors of this type of technology), but living in downtown Seattle, on the water, didn’t leave space for such things … and they had a tendency to be a little clinical.
The new “main” rig, for the dedicated listening room will probably be Wilson Chronosonic XVX. Maybe WAMM Master Chronosonics.
The bigger Focal’s are fantastic, and even the little guys are entirely credible.
B&W’s 800 series are excellent, particularly the 803 D3 and up.
But assuming you’re not jumping straight into exotica …
I am quite fond of the KEF LS50 (the original passive version, and the newer Wireless II model). Though they need a subwoofer to work well. Some of the Salk Sound stuff, mostly the floor standers, is very good and high value. And I quite enjoyed the original Elac Debut models.
Beyond that, I won’t be much help on the sub $50K side of things, I’m afraid.
Though I will say that I really like the Devialet Phantom stuff. I have a couple of the Phantom II 98 dB units as my desktop/computer speakers, and they’re phenomenal for that (I like them better than the KEF LS50W II, and unlike the KEFs, the Phantom IIs do not need a subwoofer). They also talk directly to Roon, among myriad other things/services, which makes them a “plug the power in, put them where you want them, and get on with the music” proposition - which is always nice.
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@Torq I’m going to miss our get togethers! But, I’m glad you are on your way =) better late than never as they say! Hopefully we can make it down your way at some point in the near future for a visit!
You will be missed!
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I run the LS50W II as my desktop monitors. Just sitting on the Aperta stands.
Ran the test tone sweep a few times and just listened for the bass resonances for my setup and EQ them down a touch, given big large foam blocks have very low WAF.
Co-axial design works a treat as nearfield, no complaints.
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Welcome to South Florida. It’s an interesting & diverse place. Good water access. Home of a growing number of reptiles, but apparently you are already aware of that. (I very rarely see any indoors.)
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