Stephen Mejias

While Buddha keeps asking me about hands, and Wonko wanted to know more about the glove, Christian had some more practical questions. First, he asked, "What are you running through the Moscode now? Are you still using the Arcam as your source, and are you running it through the Arros or the DeVores?"

I haven't used the Arcam as a source for the Moscode; I've been using the Musical Fidelity A3.5 player. Come to think of it, I'm not quite sure how I'd use the Arcam, as it has its own amplifier. I realize, though, that it must be possible to use the two together. I guess there's some simple way of bypassing the Solo's amp. Is that right? How would that work? I don't know. I can go read Art Dudley's review again. That should tell me. I really hadn't even thought about it yet. Or, if I did, it was only in passing. And, not for any good reason, but simply because the A3.5 is what was already in the system when I hooked up the Moscode. I'm lazy. A little bit, at least.

My sentences are herky-jerky and weird. That's because it's late on a long Friday of a short week, which, as I've mentioned in the past, never seems to be as short as a normal week. I mean to say: Short weeks, like this one, when we have a Monday off in celebration of something like Tweak Day, often seem longer than normal work weeks. I don't know why that is, either. Maybe the answer to that mystery is somewhere hidden in one of Art's reviews, too. I'll look into it.

About the Arros or the DeVores, then: I've been using the DeVores. I did have the Arros hooked into the previous Musical Fidelity system for a bit, but, because I'm more familiar with the DeVores and because I just really, really, really wanted to hear what the DeVores would sound like when being driven by tubes, I swapped the Arros out. When John DeVore first heard the news that I'd be spending some time with the Moscode, he sent me a very excited e-mail which said: "Those little monkeys are gonna sound HUGE!" I wanted to see (hear) if he was right.

He was.

I do plan, however, to get the Arros in the game, too. Eventually.

Christian then asked the important question: "The important question, however, is what are you listening to? Do the tubes have you all nostalgic and listening to some classical jazz, or the Beatles, or are you putting some old world tube smoothness on some modern tunes?"

Good question. Something I thought was noteworthy: I needed to listen to music while I was setting the Moscode up, but, because I was setting the Moscode up, I had no music. So, I went into my bedroom, pulled out the old boombox, and plugged it into the wall. Boom: music. I had no idea that the tuner was set to Q104.3. It was a pleasant surprise. I hadn't even thought about listening to the radio since the boombox left the scene. Instead of digging up a CD, I followed the fate of classic rock. I think it was the Beatles, actually.

I moved along. At the exact moment that I finally figured out how to connect the NHT Pro passive controller to the Moscode (more on that extravaganza later), Led Zeppelin shot out through the boombox's crappy speakers. This seemed somehow meaningful. That's all.

To really answer your question, though, Christian: It turns out that I've simply been listening to my favorite music. The CDs that carried me through 2005 have suddenly jumped back into heavy rotation. The Silver Jews, Iron & Wine, Calexico, and my special mix CD have all benefited from the Moscode. Enormously.

Next week, I'll follow-up with more detail on how things actually sound. I've also been meaning to mention some stuff about the experience of setting the Moscode up. Which wasn't really difficult, but wasn't really easy, either. That is to say: I'm still stupid.

Tune in next week to find my television set on the kitchen floor, and, for all of you out there who miss the sex and sass and emotional chaos that this blog used to offer, we'll have tales of loudspeakers crushed beneath the forceful weight of lust.

Yeah, that's right.