The Barnes Family

I’ve added a “Blogroll” - this is a standard wordpress feature that puts favourite links in the sidebar. These are just a few of the sites I enjoy. You can find more on the Favourites page (from the links at the top of the screen).

 I’ve also added a set of random images from the gallery at the bottom of the sidebar. Clicking on one will take you to the full sized image in the gallery.

I’ve spent the past couple of months building a new set of speakers based on a design by Wayne Parham (Pi Speakers). They are three-way horn-loaded speakers, using high quality PA (public address) drivers that are a lot more efficient than the speakers they are replacing.At the weekend I finally was able to install the new Pi Sevens in the living room. Here’s a first set of impressions.

My system is as follows:

• Townshend Rock III turntable with Grado MM cardtridge.
•  EAR 834P phono stage
•  Naim CDP8i CD player
•  First Sound passive “preamp”
• Music Reference RM9 tube amplifier
• Mixed cables - DIY solid silver, Cardas speaker cables

The speakers replace my Thiel CS3.6 floor-standers, in roughly the same locations (corners). The room is sub-optimal in that the speakers are in corners that also house bookcases, and there’s a baby grand piano between the speakers along the same wall. However, there’s no sign yet of any piano-contributed vibration.

I’ve been listening to lots of stuff: Beatles, Tom Paxton, King’s Singers, Lieder (Brahms, Schubert), Wagner, Gilbert & Sullivan, Dave Brubeck, and a mix of CDs and records.

The first impression is of a very delicate and accurate mid-range. The King’s Singers have never sounded better. The mid-horns seem solid and unfussy. The treble is clear, but I think a bit recessed, and definitely less audible than with the Thiels. The bass I’m not quite sure about yet. Clearly the power of the woofer is exciting a couple of room modes, and I will need to build some tube traps or something, and possibly alter the room layout a bit (I’m sitting against the back wall, which is probably not ideal). The most obvious effect is on plucked bass lines, and also some coloration on male voices. But except for the notes that are too loud, the bass seems clear and unobtrusive. I don’t know if I’m really getting all the extension I was expecting - this may be because of the bookcases, or (and I hope not) it’s possible the cabinets leak. I have been unable to detect much port action so far.

The other major change is the increased level of dynamics. I find I have to adjust the volume for every recording separately - I never needed to do that before. Popular recordings with lots of compression need to be turned well down. Classical recordings with wide dynamic range can be turned up and I still get good pianissimo, with exciting climaxes. The bass excitation limits my ability to listen loud - especially with bass or baritone voices.

I should mention Marina’s view - she has expressed three opinions:

1. “They are bigger than you led me to believe”
2. “They are uglier than I thought”
3. “They sound much better than the old speakers.”

…so I guess I get to keep them, but I will need to finish the veneering and clean up the wiring etc.

One of the world’s great photogenic places.  Extraordinary beauty, and a quiet sense of isolation make it a great place to visit.

I was there in May, following a conference. May is a good time to visit. It was hot, but not unbearable, and I did a lot of walking. The roads are tiny, and I imagine that in summer it must be very crowded, but it was quite empty when I was there.
Lots of pleasures to be found - the landscape, the architecture, the food, and of course the blue sea, all around.

I was out walking in Bourne End last week while in the UK, and I was surprised to see a clutch of OK dinghies - 4m sailing dinghies - sitting on the grass by the Thames. This is a boat I used to sail when I was a teenager in New Zealand. It’s a single-hander, quite challenging, and lots of fun. Standing around were a group of people with name tags. It turns out this was the official 50th birthday party of the boat!

I gate-crashed the party, and secured an invitation to sail in an informal race as a result of the kindness of one of the sailors there. After rushing away and borrowing some clothes I came back and with some trepidation launched myself into the river. The thing about these boats is that the boom comes very low - in my old boat it would actually touch the deck. The implication of this is that you need to be flexible and quick to avoid cracking yourself with the boom, or getting it caught on your head or life jacket - usually with disastrous consequences.

I discovered that while I could still sail the boat, I am far from competitive, and made a rash of mistakes that led to a less than stellar result in the race. Still, I beat a number of people, including a few who sail those boats regularly at that club, so not too bad, I guess. And I should mention perhaps that a few of the sailors are in the top 100 worldwide, so I think I did OK. To my chagrin I found that after the race was over, and the boat returned to its owner, I was so stiff and sore I could hardly walk! But it was well worth it, and a serendipitous pleasure on the last day of my trip to the UK.

…I should point out that the picture above is not of me…but I may be somewhere in this one which was taken on the day, prior to the rather messy start of our race.

After a busy week we all went up to Redwood City and spent a couple of hours out on the water in a Merit 25. The boat is apparently based on the J24, but has better accomodation and is more of a cruiser. The boys enjoyed taking the helm and helping with the rigging, and of course sitting on the bow getting wet as we surfed down the waves!

It was surprisingly warm, with moderate winds and waves. Nice to be out on the water again, even if in a very tender monohull (half-cat). Two hours really only gives enough time to go out and come back - tacking out, running back - although the wind changed a bit on the way back in and we ended up close-hauled for a while and had to tack up the channel.

The affair was organized by Spinnaker Sailing - they offer Friday night sails as well as club memberships, bareboating, classes etc.

Yamkat has been sold. She is now in the hands of her new owners, and we wish them well. We learned a lot from her - dealing with maintenance, learning to sail her, dealing with emergencies at sea. Somehow she represented more about challenge than pure enjoyment for most of the time. Part of the reason was that we really only have one sailor in the family, and Yamkat was a handful for one person. Also I think it’s important that the whole family be excited about sailing - it’s a complex and demanding pastime with a big boat, and everyone needs to be on the same page.

But despite these caveats, we had some wonderful experiences - especially sailing to the Isle of Wight and back again over a weekend, staying the night at Ryde Harbour.

Now we’re back in California, we will give big boats a rest for a while…I have a lot of other projects to keep me busy.

But the bug is hard to shake off - we’ll see what the future brings!

It’s great to be back in our house - even though there’s a great deal of work to be done. It was very sad saying goodbye to all our friends and family in Europe, and I am looking forward to the opportunities I will have to visit them again.

Having been in a rented house for three years I now realize meant we lived with a sense of impermanence that didn’t motivate us to really create a home. Now we’re back we seem more interested in working out what we really want in our home - not just things, but the atmosphere and style of the place.

The lesson I have learned is that home is something that must be created, invested in. It could be anywhere, and it doesn’t have to be a house you own, but perhaps it’s easier that way. The key is to treat it as a special place and plan and implement together. That way it becomes a reminder of the relationships that make up the family. In a good way (just kidding).

What a year it has been! Sadly our last in the UK for a while, but rich beyond measure. We’ll write a proper retrospective later - perhaps in time for the Chinese New Year (our excuse for a late Christmas letter!), but this time around I would like to acknowledge all the gifts of kindness and support that we have received from our family and friends, during a year that has brought more change, and more challenge than most.

We will be moving back to California during January - our house is ready, and it will be nice to be back in the place we made our own through extensive re-modelling in 2002. We will of course be leaving behind our friends and my family, but with low-cost air travel, e-mail, and cheap phone calls, we hope to stay in touch.

Our possessions are ahead of us - probably somewhere close to the Panama Canal by now. They are expected in Oakland on December 24th, and if customs clearance proceeds as expected, we should be able to start unpacking quite quickly - perhaps even in the first or second week of January.
Lots more to say - but the most important point is simple:

Thank you all for your support and friendship over the last year, and let us wish you every blessing for Christmas and the New Year!

Tim, Marina, Caelean and Jeremy

I’ve posted the first set of pictures from Barcelona. Topics include:

• La Sagrada Familia
• Park Guell and Gaudi’s house
• Exploring the city

I’ll have more as and when I can get them processed. Still to come are Casa Millo, and some of the cathedral and Tarragona.

Enjoy.

tim

What a place! We just came back from a week staying in an apartment in the Gothic Quarter - easy walk to the Metro and many of the sights.

I took lots of pictures - I’ll post them as I get them processed. But if you get a chance, it’s the most wonderful mix of beaches, restaurants, architecture, town planning, art and culture.  We visited Gaudi’s buildings, saw the Picasso and Miro museums, and explored the shops and restaurants. It was warm enough for the boys to swim (not me!).

I was a bit surprised to see everything in both Catalan and Castillian - the two languages seem quite similar to me, although of the two, Catalan seems more closely connected to French (not surprising, I guess…).

We took a day trip to Tarragona - on the coast south of Barcelona. I had wanted to go to see where Dali lived, but it proved difficult with public transport, so we went to explore the Roman remains at Tarragona instead.  There’s a Roman ampitheatre dating back to 200AD, and a cathedral from the 12th century. Most of the city walls are also still in place. The town is quite spectacular, set up on a cliff above the sea.

We’ll be going back - I don’t know when, but we will.