Impatience

Amazon Prime has ruined me. The mere idea that something I ordered over the weekend will not arrive tomorrow is more than just upsetting or frustrating - it is appalling. I have no fewer than 4 orders in the air (or on the ground, more likely) right now, a majority of those were ordered to give me something to work on while I mourn the loss of my main computer.


I have been curiously active since my the machine stopped booting for good a few days ago. I am waiting for Asus' incredibly slow support team to get me an RMA number so I can ship the motherboard off and get a new one which will hopefully fix my problems. Problems being systems lockups in BIOS and during POST and randomly (and inconsistently) identifying RAM as bad.


I've also finished my book, and I can't bring myself to pirate or purchase another one since it won't be able to live up to my expectations at the moment. I've just finished Dark Sky, the third and final book in Patrick Lee's Travis Chase series. It was a wild ride, but I expected no less after reading and loving both The Breach and Ghost Country. The trilogy is an immensely entertaining blend of sci-fi and action that is sure to have you hooked from the start. Sad as I am that the series is over, I am pleased with the ending - Lee didn't leave any loose ends of lingering plot arcs to frustrate me. I am, unfortunately, cursed with a terrible memory when it comes to books. It has been well over a year since I read The Breach and Ghost Country, so of course I have little recollection of the goings-on contained in their pages except for the broad story arcs. Now that I can read the whole of the series in a single straight shot, I aim to read it all over again in a quick burst to get the maximum effect. Think of it as watching all three Bourne movies right in a row - but better.


My old 20" LCD had been making horrible squealing noises for months now, but I've been able to ignore it well enough. Now that my primary distraction is promising to be knocked out for a week I couldn't stand it any longer which is why it is now lying - in pieces - on my kitchen table, waiting for the USPS to hurry up and bring me some new components from DigiKey. It has been all of a day and a half since I placed the order now, and already I am frustrated with how long it has taken. I am eager to break out my shiny new soldering iron and get the display back to (silent) working order. Working with my hands is often the best distraction I have when not satiated with constant internet.


In that vein, I have a pair of dev kits coming from SparkFun. Fresh off my Free Day victory at SparkFun, I ordered a USB RFID kit and TI's MSP430 Chronos kit. They should provide me with some entertainment if not a bit of learning. I have long been fascinated with RFID, so this will be a chance to play with it in the confines of my own home. But of course, as with everything else, it's in the mail.


I have been thankful once again for my DAC if only because it meant that I didn't have to go dig up a 3.5mm to RCA cable to get music playing from my laptop through my delightful 2.1 setup. After much agonizing, I ended up with a pair of NHT SuperZero 2.0's and an Hsu STF-2. I'm still adoring my Maverick Audio TubeMagic D1, and my cheap little solid-state amp is doing well enough - for now. I was lusting after some bigger closer-to-full-range speakers such as the Paradigm Atoms and the PSB Alphas, but I came to rest on the NHTs after reading a number of glowing reviews. In all honestly, I ordered the subwoofer first - it was on sale over Black Friday and, having heard wonderful things about Hsu subs from my good friend and audio sherpa Jon, I jumped on the sale without a second thought. That left me full of turkey from the holiday and without a decent pair of bookshelf speakers. Since I already had the sub in hand, I no longer needed to worry about bass response - I'd have plenty. The SuperZeros are astonishingly cheap when you look at bookshelf speakers, and even compared to other entry-level speakers, they are on the less-expensive side of things. They have smaller drivers - a 1" silk-dome tweeter and a 4.5" wood pulp cone woofer - than others in their price class, and their frequency response looks a bit strange at first - they roll off around 95Hz on the low end. This, however, pairs perfectly with the STF-2. The SuperZeros have brilliant mids and highs, just as every review I read said they would. Even at nearfield listening (~2ft in my case) they sound excellent. Imaging is top-notch, especially given their less-than-ideal placement on my desk. I picked up a pair of AudioEngine DS2 desktop stands for them which has - much to my surprise - helped quite a bit. As a sidenote, the SuperZeros don't fit the stands perfectly - the stands stick out about an inch past the front of the speakers, but it doesn't look too strange. I may try to rig up a way to move the NHT's closer to the front in the future. For under $40, though, the DS2s are solid stands.


I am in no way qualified to write speaker reviews. I have learned that I barely have a copper ear, let alone a golden one. It is sufficient to say that I am very pleased with the setup. The only upgrade I'm lusting after now is a less bargain-basement amplifier. There will always be something.