sandt38

Writing these down now, fellas. I appreciate the suggestions. I am a metalhead at heart, but I appreciate good music from many genre.

My buddy suggested: Miles Davis in a way goes without saying. But I am not big on trumpet, so I tire of him quickly. I have listened to Parker, Washington, Dizzy, Davis, Hampton, and Gordon so far from that list. SO far I really only like a spattering of Dexter Gordon and Miles Davis. Dexter Gordon plays very well, and he is not so corny sounding, but he is overly precise a lot of the time. It sounds choppy how he enters and cuts off his notes so abruptly. I like a more smooth, relaxed sound. I like Jeff Coffin's style of sax better (from Bella Fleck and The Flecktones, and Dave Matthews Band) for example. DMBs #41 and #36 and Dreaming Tree are good examples of his style that I dig. I have not listened to Thelonius Monk or Coltraine yet... now I know some Coltraine, but I have yet to spend any serious time with his music yet. Those I have listed are the ones suggested by a buddy of mine who is big into Jazz (although he is not an Acid Jazz fan), and ones I have tried to seriously spend time listening to... not just a 30 second spot and calling it good or bad. I'll spend a few hours looking for bright spots. I have liked some smooth jazz I have heard, but don't even know where to start to listen to that genre. Any input would be amazing. I pay for Spotify, so I have a large catalog available to sample whatever you suggest.

I am a bass player. Low e on an upright is magnificent in closed cans. I listen to basically no vocals. Just guitar and bass. It sways my likes A LOT. I also ran a sound board for 4 years and the noise reduction/isolation from the environment is now what I expect in a can or any headphone for that matter. So perhaps not for the right reasons, lol. At this point I listen to my full range speakers more than anything. Almost like wearing open back headphones but without wearing anything. I have a rather quiet space for an office though. I hear ya. My space is quite quiet as well. I am worried about cancellation, but I keep telling myself they will stay hooked up to the amp in my space and noise should not be a concern. I like vocals, but in most cases I just like the filler they provide. Some vocalists I can't get enough of, like Maynard, Aaron Lewis, Norah Jones, and Sarah McLaughlin. But I tend to focus on the music. I am actually really trying to find some good jazz musicians. I can appreciate the talent and love the sax, but so much of it is full of corny beats and weird background fillers. I like to chill with good guitarists, generally metal guitarists in slower songs. Black Label Society's Rust, and Staind's Right Here are 2 great tunes through tubed cans... But admittedly my weakness is Uncle Tupelo's Sandusky... It was just a jam session caught in the studio by the engineer. Just several string players get a nice mellow jam going to warm up. I am fixing to sleep over your house for a few months..Is that cool? Sure. But I have been sober for the past few months, so no alcohol allowed. What? Nice work. All okay? Yeah. I replied to J up above about it. I am just in a better place right now. FWIW, after doing even more research I am going with the HD600s unless you can give me a really significant reason to close them up. I found a few reviews that said the HD650 had more depth and a more vibrant top end, but that it seemed colored compared to a more natural, flatter HD600. With the effort I put into finding a tube setup that fit the bill for me, and the fact that I am rolling tubes, I think I really want to hear what the amp has to offer, not what Senn has decided to color my sound with in the search to acquire the all to common Beats user. The cheap ass in me wants to say look for a used set of 580's then. Nothing wrong with the 6's. I am a big Senn fan. Just sold 300 of their mics this week I do have a problem with all three though, but it is all pinna related. I can wear them for about 15 minutes and my outer ears hurt. You must have some big motherfuckin ears, my friend. How do you stay grounded when a breeze kicks up? I'm nearly 6'8 and EVERYTHING is proportional, lol Your Butthole is blown out?

I'll likely be sober for a few years, actually. My typical cycle is 3-4 years on and off.

I am fixing to sleep over your house for a few months..Is that cool? Sure. But I have been sober for the past few months, so no alcohol allowed. Congrats on the sobriety brother! J Thanks. I go though spells of hard drinking and sobriety. I have since I was about 14 years old. I have a massive addictive personality, and I try to stick with legal substances for the most part, I did a lot of hard drugs when I was younger, and had issues with freebasing, crack, powder cocaine, heroin, and speedballing. I have been free of that for about 18 years now I guess. Honestly for me alcohol is a good thing. I don't really suffer DTs (withdraw) in the absolute sense. Being dope sick (withdraw from drugs like coke and heroin) is a really physical thing, and you don't just put them down. When the mood strikes, I just stop drinking all at once. Usually a period of awakening, what a lot of users call resetting leads me to drop the booze. For me it was a string of DMT sessions. Tripping, when I go to it with the mindset of spirituality rather then just partying, really rearranges my priorities, and helps me become more introspective. I tend to get back to that part of me that I run from with alcohol or drugs. DMT really reopened my mind in a huge way. I have been working on starting my own small business. The task has proven daunting, and is taking a ton of my time. I am really not certain that I will wind up getting it going at this point. I am struggling to find THE location. I found a property that would have been perfect, but it went under contract the day I found it, and it closed yesterday. The realtor told me the guy wanted to change the zoning from automotive to shopping and it wasn't looking like the city was going to let it happen... but sadly they did at the last second and I lost the property. This may have been a good thing, though, as it was honestly considerably larger than what I really wanted. I have one "employee" right now waiting for the go. He really wants to work for me and has offered to work as an independent contractor until I really get rolling to keep costs down for me from an employment tax/unemployment insurance pool standpoint. So ideally I want 4-6 bays, and the building I found had 10 lifts and 2 flat bays. Anyways, send good vibes out my way for this venture. I dreamed of this since I was in my mid 20s, and have always found a reason not to take this step, but now it feels right... for the first time in my life I know I am capable of being an owner instead of an employee. I just hope that things work out. Rough way to have gone through the drugs aspect man. I seriously respect your lines and viewpoints on the subject though. It's not an easy thing to see your own addictions and know how to confront them. As for the venture, it sounds like you have everythin pinned down specifically. How broad is your search area? Any chance of buying the land and building what you want? Down here garages are like gyms, a good amount to choose from but not many worth the coin. J J Addiction is an issue I have dealt with for a long fucking time. Honestly, I feel really lucky that I am strong enough to deal with it. It is seriously a sickness, but it is one that users have chosen to partake in. It is really no different then running a pint of an aids victim's blood into your system, you know the consequences and you make that choice... I am going to kill myself with this substance. We all know the risks we take when we slam, snort, smoke, drink, chew, or swallow that first time. That is our loaded pistol. I hate all the pussies that sit in a room and whine about how their dad molested them and it's his fault they shoved that needle in their arm. Sorry, nobody forced that tar in your vein, or that drink down your throat, or that rail up your nostril... you were just weak and made that choice on your own. If you are strong enough you can put it down, but the first step is admitting it is your fault. You will always fall down again, that is a given, the character of the addict lies in how you choose to pick yourself back up again, and how you live your life in that bad time. Do you live productively? Do you take people down with you? Do you put your family and friends at risk? I know a lot of addicts that are damn good people. My search area is fairly wide. Ideally I want to open close to home. I live in a very rural upscale community. There is a lot of money here, and growth is heading my way. 2 new freeways/bypasses are coming out here now, and we are ripe. But I am focusing a bit more in towards "the city" here. I live 20 minutes outside NC's third largest city, part of a tri-city area that houses ~600,000 people. I'm not looking to deal with the city zoning committee, so I really want a shop that is set up. I know what you mean about so many shops. Setting myself apart is going to be a challenge. I know that the talent and quality of work is strong between my employee and I. He is younger, but a brilliant tech. He has some rough edges, but we work very well together. He is eager to learn, and spends a lot of time over my shoulder putting in the effort to better himself, and has impressed me. I can honestly say that he is the next generation of top techs, and he'll be a good employee for years to come. I am also one of the only real hybrid techs in my area, and outside of the dealerships I am the only one who does advanced diagnosis on them. So I think my emphasis is going to be on that market, with a bit of a push towards GM (I am a master trained GM tech), Toyota (my biggest hybrid component, so I have grown to understand them very well), Honda, Nissan and BMW (My employee is very good at these brands as well). This covers a lot of our local motoring public around here.

I am a bass player. Low e on an upright is magnificent in closed cans. I listen to basically no vocals. Just guitar and bass. It sways my likes A LOT. I also ran a sound board for 4 years and the noise reduction/isolation from the environment is now what I expect in a can or any headphone for that matter. So perhaps not for the right reasons, lol. At this point I listen to my full range speakers more than anything. Almost like wearing open back headphones but without wearing anything. I have a rather quiet space for an office though. I hear ya. My space is quite quiet as well. I am worried about cancellation, but I keep telling myself they will stay hooked up to the amp in my space and noise should not be a concern. I like vocals, but in most cases I just like the filler they provide. Some vocalists I can't get enough of, like Maynard, Aaron Lewis, Norah Jones, and Sarah McLaughlin. But I tend to focus on the music. I am actually really trying to find some good jazz musicians. I can appreciate the talent and love the sax, but so much of it is full of corny beats and weird background fillers. I like to chill with good guitarists, generally metal guitarists in slower songs. Black Label Society's Rust, and Staind's Right Here are 2 great tunes through tubed cans... But admittedly my weakness is Uncle Tupelo's Sandusky... It was just a jam session caught in the studio by the engineer. Just several string players get a nice mellow jam going to warm up. I am fixing to sleep over your house for a few months..Is that cool? Sure. But I have been sober for the past few months, so no alcohol allowed. What? Nice work. All okay? Yeah. I replied to J up above about it. I am just in a better place right now. FWIW, after doing even more research I am going with the HD600s unless you can give me a really significant reason to close them up. I found a few reviews that said the HD650 had more depth and a more vibrant top end, but that it seemed colored compared to a more natural, flatter HD600. With the effort I put into finding a tube setup that fit the bill for me, and the fact that I am rolling tubes, I think I really want to hear what the amp has to offer, not what Senn has decided to color my sound with in the search to acquire the all to common Beats user. The cheap ass in me wants to say look for a used set of 580's then. Nothing wrong with the 6's. I am a big Senn fan. Just sold 300 of their mics this week I do have a problem with all three though, but it is all pinna related. I can wear them for about 15 minutes and my outer ears hurt. You must have some big motherfuckin ears, my friend. How do you stay grounded when a breeze kicks up?

I am fixing to sleep over your house for a few months..Is that cool? Sure. But I have been sober for the past few months, so no alcohol allowed. Congrats on the sobriety brother! J Thanks. I go though spells of hard drinking and sobriety. I have since I was about 14 years old. I have a massive addictive personality, and I try to stick with legal substances for the most part, I did a lot of hard drugs when I was younger, and had issues with freebasing, crack, powder cocaine, heroin, and speedballing. I have been free of that for about 18 years now I guess. Honestly for me alcohol is a good thing. I don't really suffer DTs (withdraw) in the absolute sense. Being dope sick (withdraw from drugs like coke and heroin) is a really physical thing, and you don't just put them down. When the mood strikes, I just stop drinking all at once. Usually a period of awakening, what a lot of users call resetting leads me to drop the booze. For me it was a string of DMT sessions. Tripping, when I go to it with the mindset of spirituality rather then just partying, really rearranges my priorities, and helps me become more introspective. I tend to get back to that part of me that I run from with alcohol or drugs. DMT really reopened my mind in a huge way. I have been working on starting my own small business. The task has proven daunting, and is taking a ton of my time. I am really not certain that I will wind up getting it going at this point. I am struggling to find THE location. I found a property that would have been perfect, but it went under contract the day I found it, and it closed yesterday. The realtor told me the guy wanted to change the zoning from automotive to shopping and it wasn't looking like the city was going to let it happen... but sadly they did at the last second and I lost the property. This may have been a good thing, though, as it was honestly considerably larger than what I really wanted. I have one "employee" right now waiting for the go. He really wants to work for me and has offered to work as an independent contractor until I really get rolling to keep costs down for me from an employment tax/unemployment insurance pool standpoint. So ideally I want 4-6 bays, and the building I found had 10 lifts and 2 flat bays. Anyways, send good vibes out my way for this venture. I dreamed of this since I was in my mid 20s, and have always found a reason not to take this step, but now it feels right... for the first time in my life I know I am capable of being an owner instead of an employee. I just hope that things work out.

FWIW, after doing even more research I am going with the HD600s unless you can give me a really significant reason to close them up. I found a few reviews that said the HD650 had more depth and a more vibrant top end, but that it seemed colored compared to a more natural, flatter HD600. With the effort I put into finding a tube setup that fit the bill for me, and the fact that I am rolling tubes, I think I really want to hear what the amp has to offer, not what Senn has decided to color my sound with in the search to acquire the all to common Beats user.

I am fixing to sleep over your house for a few months..Is that cool? Sure. But I have been sober for the past few months, so no alcohol allowed.

Sean, why do you like closed cans? I would have expected you, as what I think of as more of a purist, to prefer open backed cand.

Interesting. I saw one yesterday and had no idea what it was.

I have been known to sit with them on for 3 or 4 hours lately. Been doing a lot of research, so I am wanting something more comfortable than the Momentum On-Ears I think comfort would be a REALLY strong tie breaker for me...but my pinna are huge so that REALLY limits the choices. Comfort is the key here, and it is really the only reason I put the Grados out of contention. I would have coughed up the cash for them willingly.

I have been known to sit with them on for 3 or 4 hours lately. Been doing a lot of research, so I am wanting something more comfortable than the Momentum On-Ears

OK headphoners... I looked at the Grado RS-2s and while I think I would be in sonic nirvana, I see too many shortcomings for these to suit my needs. The biggest is comfort. In all my readings the size of the ear cups and the rigid foam seem to be long term listening hindrances. I'm certain I don't want to suffer comfort issues if I am spending $500-850 on a set of cans (the RS2e and RS2i respectively). Obviously they produce better than my other finalists with regards to midrange clarity and high end detail, really only lacking in depth compared to the Senns. I love their sensitivity and the super low impedance (32ohm) make them desirable as well. My headphone amp is perfectly capable of 32 ohm loads, and it handles my Senn Momentums easily. Now on to the Senns, which is really where I think I am going to end up... The question is, what do I gain by spending the extra $110 going from the HD600s to the HD650s? From what I can discern, the 650 is just more nicely appointed, using real metal cups and hardware, while the 600 uses plastic on the cups and as a cover for the band. While the 650s are listed at 10 Hz - 39.5 KHz and the 600s are listed at 12-39K, it seems they use the same drivers and architecture. They are both 300 ohm units (which is a bummer, but they are really efficient, and they will be driven with my tube amp), both are reviewed as beyond exceptionally comfortable, and they are really the only competitors to the RS-2 I feel I want to use. Finally, and I know I have beaten around the bush about this before, but I am going to ask a few questions directly... If I go full size on the Momentums I am moving into closed cups. Benefits: Bass responce and noise cancellation. How loud are the 600s and 650s externally? Obviously they will be audible, and I tend to listen to cans by myself, so it isn't a huge deal, but I don't want to be ridiculous at the same time. Also, is it really beneficial to have the cans so open and airy? I understand the benefits of a dipole, but I also understand the drawbacks... With a good dipole speaker you need a strong bottom end boost, so exactly how much does the dipole can suffer from bottom end losses? Or do I really need to shut the fuck up about the momentums and go with the open 600/650? Amp: I was bummed with the Mullard 6V6GT tubes. They really were nice and warm and had great depth, and they broke up really nicely, but the midrange was really muddy. Vocals were very distant. I have a set of Tung-Sol 6V6GTs in it right now. They are still breaking in, but everything is much more vibrant. So far I think I am a fan of the Tung-Sol (Russian made tubes). I am going to be trying a few other sets in the near future and will post about them if they are worthy.

Ahh, home crap home http://www.wkbw.com/news/buffalo-named-most-dangerous-place-in-new-york-state#st_refDomain=www.facebook.com&st_refQuery=

Where to? My hometown.

Fuck this heat. And fuck the guy that beat me to the building I wanted to open my own shop. This whole process is wearing me out. There is so much red tape and finding a good location is proving a daunting task.

Never, and I mean never flush a tranny. Never, and I mean never, have Aamco built a trans... Particularly one behind a performance engine. Find a good local GM performance shop and ask who does their transmission work. Doh. Now of course I am curious as to why what was done to the trans was wrong. Overstroking of valves in varnish caked bores can create binding in the valve bodies. Dirt, varnish, and contaminants that are happily nestling in nooks and crannies can be cooked and dislodged. In some cases dry bores can result causing burrs and ridges that bind valves and check balls. You may get lucky and run a nice cleaner (like the BG chemicals) that can dissolve these solids and break shit free, but I don't want to flood you with false hopes. A good builder could get into the valve body and fix things for you.

A stage 2 block? Everything must be custom. We used to make intakes for them as stock GN intakes do not fit. Special exhaust manifolds are required too. Heads use 6 extra bolts, so they are specific. Cranks are not standard fare either. A typical stage 2 build was upwards of $20-25K. Blocks alone were $6 grand. Stock Vin7 engines easily handle 700HP for under $5,000. This is forged internals, crank girdle, Cloyes double roller, +/-3 degree chain set, cam, Mid 80's Chevy 350 springs (stock 3.8 springs could float valves when turning over 5,500 RPM), high volume oil pump and worked timing cover (for oil flow) and wire lock Fel-Pro head gaskets (for $500 more we cut receiver grooves and inletted steel o-rings on head-block surfaces to facilitate sealing with high boost applications. Of course, it is the go fast goodies outside that add up. Stage 2 go fast goodies are still additional to the initial $20K build costs, and they will cost more in some cases as they are rare and very custom.

If the tranny started whining then you may have a filter issue. It will cause a cavitation whine, similar to the sound of a Ford PS pump. If not, no bueno muchacho.

Never, and I mean never flush a tranny. Never, and I mean never, have Aamco built a trans... Particularly one behind a performance engine. Find a good local GM performance shop and ask who does their transmission work.

I have a Makita MKT9237CX2. Great buffer. As far as a random orbital, just do it by hand. You'll be better off.

Buffeting is such a common problem in large cabin trucks, though. I think the worst I have ever heard was a friend of mine's Dodge Dakota king cab (circa 2007-09). The buffeting made it feel like someone was taking a sledge hammer to your skull. With the rear windows down going down the freeway it was retarded... It almost made me sick to my stomach.

Cool. What year? I just put my first engine in a newer Hyundai last week. They are super reliable. This particular Hyundai (2011 Sonata 2.4 GDI) had 100K on it but had come in to my shop 3 weeks prior making noise on startup. He had ~1qt of oil in it and he was 18,000 miles past due on his oil change, so no fears for you.

Triple Crown!