20Fifteen2015 was a roller coaster year for me. I was able to sell my Vr5 Anni to try something else, I was able to secure Magico and of course the fall on Apr 2. I wish I have more than nine lives because at 51, I have used up 2 already
. I feel very lucky to be still alive and with no permanent damage, it took months before I regained my energy level. I did not do much audio related stuff for around six months because my energy level felt so drained when I get home from work, to the point that I had to take a nap right when I get home before I eat dinner. I think I am back to normal now, and actually a little healthier ( I am now down to 201, after staying steady at 215 for more than 5 years)..oops, balik 205 pala, dahil sa walang humpay na kailan nitong mga nagdaang araw. I am looking forward for spring, I hope I could ride my bike more in 2016.
I promised a friend that I will go with him to Vegas for the Pacquiao - Mayweather fight if it ever goes through, we booked our flights right after the fight was confirmed. My wife was totally against the idea of proceeding with the trip because I was still not feeling well and was insistent that we cancel the trip,but I didn't really want to disappoint my friend Joey, who has never been to Vegas. When we arrived in Vegas, my wife phoned me to tell me that one of my arowanas died (it was sick for a while, I think it ate my pleco).. I told her to fish it out of the aquarium and throw it away. It was a very stressful situation for both of us.. Other than that, me and Joey enjoyed our time in Vegas. We were disappointed that MP's camp lied about the shoulder injury (by claiming that he's in best shape ever up until the weigh-in). The crowd was obviously pro Manny during the fight, but me and Joey were looking at each other and knew he would lose by the mid rounds.
Vegas was buzzing that weekend, a lot of people were wearing FMJ stuff. We walked a good portion of the strip the night before the fight, from 11 pm till past 2 am, Joey said he got high on the second hand marijuana smoke
people were partying, having drinks and doing pot out in the open.
We took the opportunity to visit my sister in Phonenix as well. Joey and I left my mom in Phoenix and drove to Vegas 3 days before the fight then drove back to Phoenix the day after.
My brother-in-law is also into cars. pictured above with my mom is his restored 1942 Packard, he also has a 1939 Cadillac parked in the driveway, and a 45' Prevost mobile home (my wife gets a chuckle looking at the picture of my 5'4 brother-in-law driving a big bus :lol: ), he used to own a very nice Chevelle SS, previously owned and rebuilt by a pro racer. This guy can go talking for hours about little things like signal light or door locks. but yeah, those classic cars were very well built, the headlight use crystal glass instead of plastic, the shiny trims are actually polished steel instead of chromed. not my cup of tea, but I like listening to his stories anyway. He did crazy things too, like driving a classic car he bought in Chicago all the way to Arizona instead of having it transported.
On the audio side, the S1 arrived in July. It did not see action right away because it arrived just days before we left for a family vacation in Cancun.
shown here is da dimfer, fighting a 20' crocodile in Mexico
When the Magico S1 finally got setup, I was pleasantly surprised how capable this little speaker is. Even better when I augmented it with the Von Schweikert Shockwave V15.
The new top of S line, the S7 arrived in October.
This thing is a chameleon and reveals changes in the signal path much more than the VR5 did. I originally had it driven with the Lamm M2.2 and I could easily tell the difference in the sound when I switch between my Memory Player 64 and PS Audio Direct Stream DAC (either fed by PS Audio Perfect Wave Transport via I2S or Aurender N100 via Uptone Regen Amber/W4S USB cable). With the MP64, the sound was super neutral but still very dynamic. With the PS Audio stuff, it is a little more colored and warmer. Lot's of bass, even in my big and open room. The sound was a little bit strident in the beginning, the edginess started to smoothened quite a bit past 100 hours.
Switching over to Mang Rod's GM 70 lately revealed the musical side of these speakers. Wow, these new tweeters reveals a lot more information now without drawing attention to itself. The sound is now full of body, with lot's of sparkle and air on top. The presentation is more holographic and the speakers can totally disappear from the room. The tube amps gave the S7 more purity. I ordered it in red (pikit mata na lang sa paint upcharge) with the intention to keep it for a long time. We really like the rich shade of red, very similar to the of Porsche GTS red... and I think I could live with my current setup for a long time.
I have not abandoned my Von Schweikert family, and still intend to bring in their new models once my bank account recover a little bit. I have not heard the reportedly very capable Vr55 yet, and hope to hear them either in the show in Chicago (Axpona) or Maryland (Capital Audio Fest).
let me end this report with a beautiful picture taken by our daughter, who is getting deeper and deeper into photography. She did a lot of boudoir but now getting tired of it and branching into something else. This picture was published at
Jute fashion magazine's December 2015 issue (more pictures can be seen page 130 & up at Jute site). I think she has come a long way, while Dad remained in grade 1
