Friday, October 28, 2011

Reading Pleasure

The Audiophile subscribes to several magazines devoted to the obvious. I had never paid much attention to these periodicals because I assumed from looking at the covers that they were not written in my native tongue.

This all changed recently when I decided to thumb through an issue of what I will call "The Sound Pile." I didn't read any of the articles because that could have compromised my ignorance on this subject, but I did notice an advertisement featuring a physically enchanted woman posing with a pair of speakers.

The shocking part was she appeared to have been granted permission to actually touch the audio equipment. I looked carefully in the background of the image to see if I could make out an audiophile in the periphery shouting at her to NOT touch the drivers, whatever those are, but she seemed to have carte blanche over the photo shoot.

All in all, these magazines seem harmless enough as long as you wear a head-mounted magnifier to read the minuscule font used in the layout. Not that I'm complaining about the minuscule font because from a cost-benefit perspective we are definitely getting our money's worth out of these subscriptions with or without the speaker candy.

And that, my friends, is audio winning.

Friday, October 21, 2011

His and Hers

The Audiophile doesn't always do so right away, but eventually he reads my weekly post. He astutely likes to point out where I've stated something incorrectly, which is pretty much all of the time given my proclivity for ignorance and hyperbole.

Recently he read the Hello Dolly entry in which I bemoaned the loss of my favorite speakers that departed our mud hut several years ago. THEN he used the departed as a swinging pocket watch to convince me we needed a Second System for MY living space.

As soon as I gave him my hypnotized go-ahead, he dashed to the www and began to quiz me on which speakers I wanted. I responded that I wanted them in rosewood. He peppered me with many other irrelevant questions all to which I replied, "I want them in rosewood."

A few days later some guy in Texas was packing up my rosewood furniture while his inconsolable wife was probably choking out a eulogy. I imagine her clinging to the ankles of the apologetic FedEx guy as he dragged both her and the crates down the driveway.

This post is dedicated to that wife. Dear wife, thank you for relinquishing parental rights to the twins. Rest assured they will be regularly polished with a free-range diaper, and, if necessary, I will puff myself up like a cat to protect them from the delinquent subwoofers that swagger through on occasion.

And that, my friends, is audio winning.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Mile High

According to my source, this is the weekend of one of the most highly anticipated audio festivals of the year. I've never been to this festival, and I truthfully don't know whether it is highly anticipated or just moderately contemplated. Either way, I suspect love is in the air for those who are making the pilgrimage.

It is a shame I will not be at this festival because I see they have generously devoted an entire page of their website to "spouse outings." Browsing the outing options allowed me to vicariously savor the thoughtful balance of activities that appeal to temporarily abandoned people of all walks.

If I were more entrepreneurial, I could have reserved an exhibitor room at the festival itself to peddle my wares. That I have no wares to peddle may have been problematic and somewhat confusing for the selection committee.

Instead, I have put "attend an audio festival" on my bucket list because it seems as if I should witness a gaggle of audiophiles in their natural habitat. Sure, I have preconceived ideas about what they look like when two or more are gathered together, but actually seeing them with the naked eye would not only be an educational opportunity for me, it would also make The Audiophile as giddy as a girl on a spouse outing.

And that, my friends, is audio winning.

Friday, October 7, 2011

That One Bad Day

A few years ago, The Audiophile and I were entertaining a convivial couple with our witty banter and good looks. When that had run its course, The Audiophile segued to Plan B and ushered us to The Listening Room with a moderate amount of fanfare about our senses being on the verge of pleasures unknown.

He played a couple of songs at normal listening levels to assess whether we could handle the pent-up testosterone of the subwoofer, and then he slowly began to up the volume until he had perfectly synchronized our bobbing heads. Shortly after this, things went awry. It was the aroma that first got our attention. Something was burning, like hair or poultry feathers or forty-five dead cows.

The Audiophile threw himself at the subwoofer to presumably reestablish his position of dominance and then quickly turned his attention to one of the other rectangular things on the forbidden side of the room. After fussing with a couple of screws, he lifted the case on the innocent bystander and unleashed a belch of putrid white smoke that gave three of the four of us permission to run for our lives.

The Audiophile courageously stayed behind to assess the damage and whimper a little, but eventually he joined us outside where God was faithfully making new air. He solemnly reported that the sub had bucked loose from one of its connectors causing a short that had fried the more emotionally vulnerable component.

In the end, the victim of the audio fisticuff was repaired for less than the cost of an alpaca. But more importantly, we all learned a valuable lesson: subwoofers are bullies.

And that, my friends, is audio winning.