Navy PFT: 40-44

Interesting fitness stuff here for guys my age. I wrote about this before. Since the Navy has a Physical Fitness Test (PFT) indexed for age, the standard for graduating from boot camp might be a good minimum goal for fitness. For the next 4 years, this would mean an average score of 60, or the following:

• 44 sit ups
  
• 34 push ups
  
• 1.5 mile run in 14:45 or better

I re-checked my mile today, and it's 9 minutes (did it an 8:20 back in the Fall). It might be interesting to actually score myself on these and track them.

So I think a lifetime goal might be something simple such as: a BMI of 25 or lower and the ability to pass the Navy PFT for my age group.

I Was (Nearly) There

Joshua sent me this great aerial photo of the mall on the morning of Inauguration Day. It must have been taken quite early because the place was more crowded than that. The Washington Post has a photo here that was taken at 11:19 a.m. Well, I've doctored the image J sent me so you can see where we were (you really need to click on the picture to appreciate it):


I marked the silver section by outlining it in red; that's where we would have been standing had we gotten in. The star marks as far as we got. The place was full and the line stopped by 10:30. Marti walked ahead and learned that nobody was going nowhere, so we turned around and walked back through the 3rd street tunnel and across town to Kyle's apartment. We got there just in time to see it on the TV.

Most of the stuff being sold on the street had the slogan "I was there." We joked by saying "I was almost there" or "I was nearly there." But, truthfully, I felt like I was there the entire time--even when we were walking away from the gate. Below is a shot taken around the corner from where the star is (you can see these buses in the aerial photo):



And here's my favorite photo; this is walking through the 3rd street tunnel underneath the Mall:

Stir Fry & MM Sting Ray

I do the wok and the grill around here. Tonight it was my old standby: very spicy Szechwan chicken with red/green peppers, onions, water chestnuts, carrots, and peanuts. Love the patina on that $15 wok--makes it all taste better. The more I beat the crap out of that thing, the better it works. Kind of like a good old bass. Here's an old MusicMan that's currently on eBay. Those guys are great.

This particular axe is about to end the auction with no bidders (starting price of $1,200 was a bad idea, though it's probably worth that).




Some pro rocker should buy this MM--that kind of wear is earned! I'll bet it sounds like a million bucks, too. It's a 1978. That Leo knew how to make 'em.

Everybody stayed out of that auction until the end--it sold for $1,300. Rock on!

Good to Great: The Board Game!

I really, really dislike most books on leadership and management.* Far too many anecdotes about fighter pilots and Jack Welch. Still, my former faculty colleagues who read this post will realize that I have totally gone native in my new environment.

Jim Collins' Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... And Others Don't is a very popular book, and my boss loves it. I think there's a lot of interesting and useful stuff in there, and she's okay with the fact that I have some major criticism about it. It's my turn to lead a discussion about it at our team meeting, so I decided to make it fun. I've been playing lots of board games with my kids lately; this game I designed is based--in part--on games such as Sorry! and Candyland (with a little bit of Life and Monopoly thrown in). Check it out:

It looks like I spent more time on it than I really did; most of it was done in my head before I started. To check style and organization of other board game instructions, I found this really cool web site called Game Cabinet.

Good to Great: The Board Game!
A fun game for the whole COMPANY
(or ORGANIZATION for game play in the social sectors).

2 – 4 players.

OBJECT: Move through the five levels of leadership by getting the right people on and the wrong people off your bus—the first to achieve a breakthrough and move from good to great is the winner!

EQUIPMENT:

• Good To Great game board
• BUS player pieces (each has 6 spaces for “people” pegs)
• LEADER PEGS (one for each player)
• PEOPLE PEGS (green = RIGHT PEOPLE / red = WRONG PEOPLE)
• Good to Great CONCEPT CARDS (see below)
• Optional set of stickers to place over the ECONOMIC ENGINE spaces for game play in the social sectors.

SETUP:

1. Assign each player a color-matched BUS and LEADER PEG (these come in orange, blue, yellow, and green).
2. At the beginning of play, all leader pegs are to be placed on LEVEL 1 of the LEADERSHIP PYRAMID on the upper left corner of the game board.
3. Shuffle the CONCEPT CARDS and place them in the box near the lower right of the game board
4. All BUS player pieces begin on the START space of the BUILDUP section.
5. The highest ranking executive player goes first; play continues clockwise.

GAME PLAY:

1. On your turn, draw a CONCEPT CARD and move your BUS along the game board according to the instructions on the card. Place discards in the STOP DOING pile and shuffle as necessary.
2. Each time your BUS completes a circle on THE FLYWHEEL, move your LEADER PEG up one level.
3. Move the RIGHT PEOPLE (green pegs) and the WRONG PEOPLE (red pegs) on and off your bus according to the instructions on the game board spaces. NOTE: You may not take on a new person peg if there is no space available on your bus.
4. You may exit THE FLYWHEEL section of the game board when you have:

a. Moved your LEADERSHIP PEG to LEVEL 5 (i.e. completed five circuits of THE FLYWHEEL)
b. Have at least 4 RIGHT PEOPLE (green pegs) and no more than 1 WRONG PERSON (red peg) on your BUS.

HOW TO WIN:

The first player to exit THE FLYWHEEL, proceed through THE BREAKTHROUGH, and reach the GREAT space is the winner.
 
CONCEPT CARDS

There are 7 different types of CONCEPT CARDS in the deck; all have numbers that correspond to the movement of your BUS along the game board. Below is a list of the CONCEPT CARDS with their values and actions.

MIRROR [-4]
You’ve identified a problem and discovered your own role in its creation. This is good leadership, but it’s still a setback. Move your bus back four spaces.

WINDOW [+6]
You’ve identified an achievement and congratulated the members of your team most responsible. Excellent leadership! Move your bus forward six spaces.

AUTOPSY [+1]
You and your team have just gone over a recent failure in detail without blame or finger pointing. Move your bus forward one space.

HEDGEHOG [+5]
Your team is pushing forward with its core strength inside the three circles. Move your bus forward five spaces.

FOX [-2]
You think you’re doing great but have moved away from your hedgehog concept. Move your bus back two spaces.

FLYWHEEL [+11]
Your team continues to push the flywheel toward greater momentum. Move your bus forward eleven spaces.

DOOM LOOP [lose a turn]
You’ve attempted to launch a dramatic restructuring and/or change program. Now you’re caught in a doom loop and you lose a turn.
 
SAMPLE GAME BOARD SPACES

Below is a sample of the actions printed on the game spaces found in the BUILDUP, FLYWHEEL, and BREAKTHROUGH sections of the game board. You arrive on these spaces by following the directions on the CONCEPT CARDS.

• FIRST WHO… THEN WHAT. Add a RIGHT PERSON peg to your bus.
• BRUTAL FACT. Things just aren’t working out for one of your departments. Remove two WRONG PEOPLE from your bus.
• FLYWHEEL BUILDS MOMEMTUM. Add a RIGHT PERSON peg to your bus.
• VISIBLE RESULTS. Add a RIGHT PERSON peg to your bus.
• BEST IN THE WORLD. Add two RIGHT PEOPLE pegs to your bus.
• ECONOMIC ENGINE (RESOURCE ENGINE in the social sectors). You have the resources you need to move ahead—draw again.
• DEEP PASSION. People are attracted to the success of your team. Add a RIGHT PERSON peg to your bus.
• LEAD WITH QUESTIONS. You’re doing the right things as a leader. Add a RIGHT PERSON peg to your bus.
• DIALOGUE/DEBATE. Your team is coming together as a cohesive whole. Remove one WRONG PERSON peg and replace it with one RIGHT PERSON peg.
• RED FLAG MECHANISM. Your team has identified a sensitive issue that must be handled delicately. Add one RIGHT PERSON peg but lose a turn.
• TOO MUCH DREAMING. Your team is getting side-tracked by your lack of focus. Remove one RIGHT PERSON peg and replace it with a WRONG PERSON peg.
• LACK OF DISCIPLINE. Your team has lost its hedgehog concept. Remove one RIGHT PERSON peg from your bus.
• WRONG TECHNOLOGY. You aren’t equipped to move forward with the tools you need. Lose a turn.
• TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATOR. You have what you need to succeed. Add a RIGHT PERSON peg to your bus and draw again.
• ENGINE TROUBLE. Your team just lost valuable resources. Remove two RIGHT PEOPLE pegs from your bus.

* here's a link to a great book that I really do like: Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership. It's a meta-analysis of most of the literature on organizational development and leadership with a really balanced approach.

Dylan w/ Jazz Bass

Here he is holding Harvey Brooks' jazz bass during the Highway 61 session (man, that is a fantastic record).

Right now listening to John Paul Jones play a jazz bass on Physical Graffiti. One of my fav Zep records. Yup--he plays a J on that one. I looked it up. He switched to Alembics for the rest of the records after PG.

Funk Filters!

So, why do you buy a $300 JazzBass? Well, to take it apart and mess around with it, of course. One of my favorite things about being a bass player was monkeying with my bass--swapping pickups, putting in new bridges, changing strings (boiling them in vinegar, too), and all that stuff.





Here are stock photos of the current Fender J-Bass re-issues with the chrome covers. My pal Frog used to call them "funk filters" because it made it harder to slap and pop (get it? they filter out the funk); I had the reputation of being a real slap-pop guy, so he'd make fun of me about this. Now that I think of it, Marcus Miller had the neck pickup cover thing on his bass for quite a while. I used it, too.

MaQuarium

Okay, I probably need one of these in my office. Don't you think?

Learn more here.

Love Like Rockets and Girls Who Glow*

Black Sea, XTC (1980)

"I would have made this instrumental,
But the words got in the way."

Saturdays when it's just me and the kids are great times to play old records really loud. This is a good one:


It came out in 1980, but I got it in about 1983. Still have the vinyl. Read about it here.

When I was in Diatribe, we used to cover "Respecatble Street." I sang and played bass, jumped around, screamed, and acted like a real idiot. Other really good tunes and lyrics here. I love "No Language In Our Lungs," and "Burning With Optimism's Flames." This record really hangs together.



* phrase ripped shamelessly from this funny review by Robert Christgau (Village Voice)

Virtuosos shouldn't show off--it's bad manners and bad art. I'm suitably dazzled by the breathless pace of their shit--from folk croak to Beach Boys croon in the twinkling of a track, with dissonant whatnot embellishing herkyjerk whozis throughout--but I find their refusal to flow graceless two ways. On what do they predicate their smartypants rights? On words that rarely reclaim clichés about working-class futility, middle-class hypocrisy, militarist atrocity--not to mention love like rockets and girls who glow. They do, however, show real feeling for teen males on the make and, hmm, the recalcitrance of language. B+

Lyrics for Respectable Street

It's in the order of their hedgerows
it's in the way their curtains open and close
it's in the look they give you down their nose
all part of decency's jigsaw I suppose

Heard the neighbour slam his car door
don't he realise this is respectable street
What d'you think he bought that car for
'cos he realise this is respectable street

Now they talk about abortion
in cosmopolitan proportions to their daughters
as they speak of contraception
And immaculate receptions on their portable
Sony entertainment centres.

Now she speaks about diseases
and which sex position pleases best her old man
Avon lady fills the creases
when she manages to squeeze in past the caravans
that never move from their front gardens.

It's in the order of their hedgerows
it's in the way their curtains open and close
it's in the look they give you down their nose
all part of decency's jigsaw I suppose
Sunday church and they look fetching
Saturday night saw him retching over our fence
bang the wall for me to turn down
I can see them with their stern frown
as they dispense the kind of look that says
they're perfect.

© 1980 Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd

KD-D50 Manual Arrives

Okay, so now I have the service manual for the KD-D50. I will use this blog entry as a way of explaining to a few electrically-inclined friends what it is I want to do with the thing.

THE GOAL: Remove the LCD display from this 80s-vintage cassette deck and install it in a project box. I would like to be able to have stereo RCA connectors on this box to feed a line-level signal in so the box will serve as a stand-alone VU meter/spectrum analyzer. I would also like a volume pot on the thing to adjust the levels up and down (it would be great if I could use the slider pots in the deck, but I can use regular pots, too). Ideally, power would be from some wall wort-type of transformer.





Q. Why on Earth do I want to do this?
A. Well, it's complicated. This is the exact model deck I had as a teenager. A true child of the 80s, I loved making mixtapes on this thing and stared at this display for countless hours. I love it. I think that armed with the info in the service manual, doing what I hope to do should be easy.

Below is a photo I took of my deck back in 1984.



Long toasted, this unit was junked many years ago. Enter eBay. I purchased another for $9.99 and yet another for $14.99. Pretty cool, eh?

Ideas?

Steve's Inaugural Poem

So, the conversation turned to inaugural poetry online. I asked my former English professor colleagues what they thought of Elizabeth Alexander's poem. I didn't care for it, but the more I look at it, the more I think I was wrong. That I missed something. And Larry was justified in pointing out the incongruities of my blog post on taking African Man to DC last week. This inspired me to write a narrative poem about the Inauguration with my odd little experience in mind.

An African Man Travels to the Inauguration
January 2009

by Steve Robinson

No Kikuyu came from his lips,
Strapped to the ceiling of the mini-van.
Strapped not in bondage
Not in the belly of the boat, as cargo
But tightly tucked on top
As we slithered, salt-covered
Turnpike to turnpike
Toward monument and Mall
For the Inauguration.

This African Man was not bone and blood
But a straight stick of ebony.
No airport art was he, no--
Purchased from the artist in Nairobi,
He is worthy of museum or embassy.

This African Man stood proud and watchful
In my parents' empty Michigan home.
Could he hear bursting pipes in Winter?
Could he feel the drafty windows?
Did he know that 600 miles away
The house's errant owner wanted him to come?

So I went one night
To that dark house in the woods
And took him.
I did not ask if he would come.
And yes, I tied him up
And took him.

But this trip was no Middle Passage
No trans-Atlantic terror.
It was a simple family errand
A tedious transport of art acquisition.
Yet it seemed fitting
That this African Man
Should travel East,
Quit the quiet Winter cold
And travel toward the White House on this day
To be there.

Mid-Atlantic Ball

Bedtime!

Okay, this guy's gotta get up early tomorrow morning. The Metro might be booked solid, so we are prepared to make the 4 mile walk to the Silver Ticket Checkpoint on 3rd and Independence. I'll have my BlackBerry--send me an e-mail if you like.

Inaugurating

Okay, we're here. This place is nuts, and it's going to get nutsier.

So far, we have Silver tix to the swearing in, and tix to the Mid-Atlantic Inaugural Ball. We only have childcare for the ball.

Last night we were at the DNC's Inaugural event honoring Howard Dean at the National Museum of American History. Good time (had me a few cosmos and lots of chocolate mousse).

Pictures and stuff here later.

African Man Goes To Washington

This is the African Man that lives at my Dad & Marti's house in Metamora. My Dad would like him to move to DC. So I offered to take him with us to the inauguration. Usually, he stands right here in the hallway (he's velcroed to the floor).
I took him home in my car; on the way back, I puzzled over how to get him to DC (mind you, my entire family and their luggage must fit in this van, too). I was going to build a container and mount him to the roof, but then I had this idea:
He's lightweight and quite strong, actually. Hooked to the air ducts, he's really out of the way.
There is a chance that Kathy will not be wild about this. It's very temporary.

I just took a spin around the block to see if he moves around; it's like he's a part of the headliner. Perfect, elegant solution. I love those. I even had the rope on hand.

Back to Digitizing Cassettes

For musical purposes, this is shite as the Brits would say. But for spoken word...

Bill loaned me some great kids' stories on cassette for the trip to DC. The Secret Garden, Watership Down, The Chronicles of Narnia. But they're all on cassette, and the van doesn't have one. Too bad the van doesn't have iPod capability--I wouldn't have to burn discs. But I can re-gift the discs to Mike & Christine, who will play them in the car for their kids.

Next to the KWR/UAW project, this digitization is a breeze. No complicated track splitting; no listening for program clues for the ID3 tags. Just plain old copy and paste. One track per side; one tape per disc.

We'll be in the car for 20 hours total, so we'll need all the programming we can get. Oh, and I found these on cassette in the garage:

• The Brothers Karamazov (2 tapes)
• War and Peace (4 tapes)
• Tom Jones (3 tapes)
• The Adventures of Don Quixote (2 tapes)
• Jude The Obscure (3 tapes)
• Emma (2 tapes)
• The Portrait of Dorian Gray (2 tapes)
• Anna Karenina (3 tapes)

Those can wait for later; more where those came from in Metamora.

Good Weekend

It was.

Got a request from the kids to play the Mr. Monkey Suit mix during board game time (we played Sorry!, Zingo!, and Battleship--two of those games have an exclamation point in the title). Owen and I also jammed tonight--he begged me to play the bassline to "I Like To Move It, Move It" while he danced and rapped the lyrics. Good times.

I now have 20 mixes up on 8tracks. Love that place.

Just uploaded an old MTC mix to 8tracks--this is a good one: my Challenge #5 mix entitled "Not Fade Away." When Muxtape was still alive, I streamed this at an all-day Datatel work session (remember that day, Gail?). At any rate, I remember telling Brenda from HR that "Not Fade Away" was the best rock song ever recorded. Did I mean it? I'm pretty sure I did, but... Read about the mix here, and listen to it here or by clicking below:





Hey Greg--this is another mix you might like (now there are two). Playlist

Not Fade Away
1. Billie Holiday - Your Mother's Son In Law
2. Dorothy Love Coates and the New Gospel Harmonettes - Deliver Me
3. Ricki Lee Jones & Rob Wasserman - The Moon Is Made of Gold
4. Michael Hedges & Michael Manring - After The Gold Rush
5. Buddy Holly - Not Fade Away
6. Lene Lovich - You Can't Kill Me
7. Pinback - Concrete Seconds (Demo)
8. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - From Her To Eternity
9. David Lindley & El Rayo-X - Never Knew Her
10. PreFab Sprout - I Couldn't Bear To Be Special
11. Chares Mingus - Original Faubus Fables

Listening to Coltrane (Giant Steps) now and contemplating an early bedtime. Paul Chambers is a monster.

60s Vibe Jazz Bass

Okay, so it arrived. I'm impressed. This bass is totally good enough to gig with; in many ways, this thing is better than the 80s Mexican J-Bass I played for most of the time with Diatribe. Under $300, too!





It sounds a lot better than it does on this YouTube video (and it would help if my playing weren't so rusty).

Cabaret Voltaire = Brilliant

Mixtapes for Girls

A fun song:

MIXTAPES FOR GIRLS
by My Legendary Girlfriend

I spent a lot of money
I spent a lot of time
Sitting at my stereo
Trying to get it right
Oh, what to put on first?
Maybe some Fun Boy Three
Something to let her know
Just what she means to me

They never appreciate
The time and care spent to create
To try to find that perfect song
It always seems to come out wrong

CHORUS

I don't what to do or say
So I make this litle gift
A tiny piece of me, a tape
But the more time I've invested
The less they're interested in me...

Mixtapes for girls
Mixtapes for girls... never work
Mixtapes for girls
Mixtapes for girls

I've tried The Wedding Present
Neil Young and Pavement, too
Portishead and Brian Eno
It doesn't get through

My taping's not killing the industry
'Cause they never make it past song three
But some girls think I'm so uncool
But they couldn't tell Lou Reed from Doug Yule

And your non-interest makes me feel blue
But it's the only thing that I know how to do

Mixtapes for girls (repeat)

It's Coming!

This is a little model bass I have in my office; it's exactly like the REAL ONE that will arrive TOMORROW! I am so excited!

Music Squares

My Old Fender Basses

This was my Homage To James Jamerson "Funk Machine." That was THE Motown bass!

This was THE bass: 1964 J-Bass that had been through a lot!

G-Fab The Roadie

I can't think of a better way to end the Christmas break than to play roadie to a rock 'n roll priest.

Fr. George dropped off his broken guitar case today. Coming off the end of a guitar buying spree, he needed a slight repair to this case for his Washburn electric guitar (dual humbuckers, cool piece, really).

Back to the repair. One of the side panels had split down the middle; any guitar of moderate weight would be able to exit stage right without too much bother. Here's a photo of the broken side panel and the first stage of my repair:



That's a piece of slightly warped plywood I've kept in the shop (it used to be part of a Hammond speaker enclosure I built and the un-built). I've been keeping it around for just this sort of thing. The next photo shows some good clamping going on (you know that old woodworker mantra: "you can never have too many clamps"). At any rate, here's the final repair:

Looks better than I thought it would. I warned George that it would be sturdy yet ugly, and he was already picking out bumper stickers to plaster on it. You've got to love any problem that can be fixed for $10 in only 40 minutes of your time.

• Remove corner protectors
  
• Remove busted panel
• Neatly trim tolex covering
  
• Buy Gorilla Glue and Tape
• Cut plywood to fit
• Rasp the edges for a smooth fit
• Gorilla Glue (verb)
• Drill and screw new panel with extra-long, extra-skinny screws
  
• Gorilla Tape (verb)
• Replace corner protectors
  
• You're Gorilla Done!

This project was a confidence builder! I felt like Harry Tuttle (played by Robert DeNiro) in Brazil: "I came into this game for the action, the excitement. Go anywhere, travel light, get in, get out, wherever there's trouble." Ha!

One of my favorite scenes:

Thanks, Fr. George!

My pal Father George dropped by today; I am going to repair the hardshell case to one of his electric guitars. It's going to be easy--I have the perfect thickness of plywood and it's going to be a tidy repair.

A parishioner of his gave him a little Peavey practice amp; he doesn't play bass, so he's giving it to me. I'm taking that as a sign to get an electric bass once again. But a cheap one. Funny thing, Squier has a model out that pays homage to my beloved '64, right down to the color scheme.


Looks kind of familiar, doesn't it?


Not bad for $300, eh? Besides, I thought it would be a cool project to distress the thing and make it look like a vintage bass.

Update: Fender has a production bass that is inspired by the '64 I used to play. They call it the Fender Jazz '64 NOS ("new old stock"). Street price is $2,500. I sold mine for $1,900 (it was nowhere NEAR stock, though). Gonna get a replica thing for $300. Here's what it will look like, though:

White J-Bass

Here's me playing with Diatribe back in 1990; that's a Mexican J-Bass with some modifications: a LeoQuann BadAss II bridge, Schaller tuners, chrome pot knobs, and the vintage chrome pickup cover. It was nearly identical to this one:


That's the bass I played in the Diatribe days with the modifications described above. I remember that the tuners and pickups were Christmas presents from Dad & Marti--their pals owned a music store in Canton.

The photo above (a video still from a performance on the local cable channel) also shows my rig from the time: a Peavey MegaBass 400w bi-amped head; MESA/Boogie 1x15 cabinet; Hartke 2x10 cabinet. That Boogie cab was the best sounding bass box ever! I built an exact replica of it and gigged with that for a while, too. But this rig was great.

NAD 310 Integrated Amp

There's another NAD 310 Integrated Amp up for grabs on eBay; like mine, this one is in mint condition. Let's see how much this one goes for.

If you want a great amp for a quiet space, this is your ticket! I love this thing.

SR

Didn't Get Much Done

...on the thing I was supposed to be writing. Maybe I've lost the knack for working at night. Nah.

More fun to goof off with wires and stuff. The dog is getting better at going to the bathroom outside. That's a good thing. The cat seems less pissed off, too.

I watched about 1/2 of Control--but I watched The Making of Control, which was cool. When I saw this movie at the Maple Theatres when it came out, I was the only one in the audience!

Those kids did a great job.

Larry Invites Me To Facebook

And I say NO for the moment, but check it out:

Writing something for work tonight and listening to English Settlement; depending on when you catch me, I often say this was my favorite record as a teenager. Some say Skylarking is XTC's best, but I think this one is it.

Oh, and Tropic Thunder is a way stupid movie.

Bookshelf Speakers

... are meant to be heard on bookshelves. For years, years, years, years, years my main speakers have been Polk Audio Monitor 4s--bookshelf speakers. I used the a pair of Baby Advent IIs in my office for about 2 years. Recently I brought them home and refurbished them. They are nice sounding speakers.

Tonight I swapped my trusty M4s out for the Baby Advent IIs in the living room bookshelves, where they sound anemic and hollow. I think part of the problem is the acoustic suspension cabinets. Those bass reflex speakers sound much better on the bookshelves.

My intention was to take the M4s downstairs and reunite them with the LF-14 subwoofer; but I don't think I can stand these Baby Advents IIs in the living room. Not enough ooomph.

I could take the Advents back to work. Ooomph is actually a bad thing in the office. The little 30 NAD amplifier drives these guys pretty nicely. Oh--I have both amps at home now--I could do a rematch of the speaker shootout that Bill and I did. That's something fun to do tonight. In many ways, it won't be a fair fight, as the newer Polks are at work and these Advents would have to compete against 1st generation M4s (better build, nicer xover, and much better tweeter). Still, that sound like a fun thing to do.

You see, the Polks are much more efficient than the Advents, so using a single amp to compare the two isn't fair--the Polks are much louder at the same volume. So I'll set up two pair of speakers with two amps, get the volume the same and switch back and forth.

I have an exciting life, don't I?

What I Am Trying To Do...

Once the schematic is available, I should be able to build a circuit board that does exactly what the deck does in REC mode. Essentially, I want it to take a line-level input to the meters and spectrum analyzer with the ability to increase or decrease the intensity of the signal (volume pot).

Again, I'll need the schematic. And I will probably need some help reading it. And then some help designing a circuit that will do what I need it to do.

WRONG!

Nope, my logic on the colored wires in the KD-D50 was WAAAAAY off. The schematic still hasn't arrived, but I thought that with only 7 wires I could do some process of elimination work. I snipped the WHITE wire (by this time I suspected it might be LEFT), and I was correct.

Another cool thing: I disconnected RED and WHITE and hooked them to line-level R/L signal. It works exactly the same! That means all the spectrum analysis stuff is in the board attached to the black wire harness. The other lines must be power.

I had a theory that the LIGHT BLUE wire didn't impact the meters--I think that's true, but it shuts down the whole deck when it gets cut.

More updates later.

BLACK = some kind of ground--the whole deck shuts down.
YELLOW/PURPLE/PINK = power.