[TDinCali]

Had an amazing RV trip to south Utah. I had been to Zion and Bryce when I was a teenager many years ago so this was an opportunity to experience these parks to the fullest. I had been an avid camper and backpacker for many years but my wife and I finally reached a point where we just didn't want to deal with setting up and tearing down tents, sharing bathrooms with strangers, not being able to shower when you want, and all the other inconveniences of camping. At the same time, I have no desire to stay in hotels and eat at restaurants when going out on nature trips. I've stayed in enough hotel rooms during decades of business travel. I've stayed at some glitzy 5-star hotels on business trips and, honestly, I just don't care for that kind of thing anymore although the conveniences are nice.

RV is the perfect compromise. Yes, it has its own bit of hassles and driving something so big (a 36-footer in my case towing my son's little Honda Civic to get around once we are camped) can get a little stressful at times but, once you get to the destination, you realize it's definitely more than worth it for the small amount of troubles.

I took my full-blown TC/Chord stack and Diana Phi with WA11 setups with me for some sublime evening listening sessions with my wife. Of course, I had the JH Audio Layla CIEM for driving and the Audeze LCDi4 for the hiking through the trails of Zion and Bryce. I still had great music with great sound playing pretty much through the whole trip. Music and such nature sceneries go so well together and takes the listening experience to a whole new level of bliss and joy.

I now expect to be an RV'er and my wife is in full agreement. She won't approve me buying even more audiophile gear but she certainly shares my enthusiasm in getting the luxury RV coach Entegra Anthem, which is more like a rock star tour bus converted to a nice moving house. Haha. Well, life is short and I'm kind of tired of the rat race. There is a lot to see and the passage of time only seems to accelerate as one gets older. Heck, I haven't even been to Yellowstone and Grand Teton yet although I have covered most of California and Arizona. I know that I have only scratched the surface.

Music and great sound will always be a major part of my life but I feel that it should complement everything else I'm interested in, not be my sole focus or some senseless obsession, which this audiophile hobby can easily turn out to be. I'm somewhat of an astronomy/cosmology nerd and I've always wanted a really nice telescope but, living in SoCal, I knew it'd be kind of useless here. But, now, after experiencing some extremely starry skies in Utah and wanting to pursue the RV life, I find that I can start thinking about that dream telescope I've always wanted to get. I also want to get an off-road vehicle to pull along for side excursions to explore the really wild nature, not just the touristy spots.

There's a lot to see and a lot to do. Music and nice gear should complement all these other things that are out there to enjoy. Well, that's how I'm seeing things now. No more burrowing down the rabbit hole. Gotta find balance and treat your eyes and other senses well besides your ears. Attached are some snapshots from the trip, including yours truly and my better-half enjoying the view of Lake Mead.

Beautiful pictures.

 

[425455]

Had an amazing RV trip to south Utah. I had been to Zion and Bryce when I was a teenager many years ago so this was an opportunity to experience these parks to the fullest. I had been an avid camper and backpacker for many years but my wife and I finally reached a point where we just didn't want to deal with setting up and tearing down tents, sharing bathrooms with strangers, not being able to shower when you want, and all the other inconveniences of camping. At the same time, I have no desire to stay in hotels and eat at restaurants when going out on nature trips. I've stayed in enough hotel rooms during decades of business travel. I've stayed at some glitzy 5-star hotels on business trips and, honestly, I just don't care for that kind of thing anymore although the conveniences are nice.

RV is the perfect compromise. Yes, it has its own bit of hassles and driving something so big (a 36-footer in my case towing my son's little Honda Civic to get around once we are camped) can get a little stressful at times but, once you get to the destination, you realize it's definitely more than worth it for the small amount of troubles.

I took my full-blown TC/Chord stack and Diana Phi with WA11 setups with me for some sublime evening listening sessions with my wife. Of course, I had the JH Audio Layla CIEM for driving and the Audeze LCDi4 for the hiking through the trails of Zion and Bryce. I still had great music with great sound playing pretty much through the whole trip. Music and such nature sceneries go so well together and takes the listening experience to a whole new level of bliss and joy.

I now expect to be an RV'er and my wife is in full agreement. She won't approve me buying even more audiophile gear but she certainly shares my enthusiasm in getting the luxury RV coach Entegra Anthem, which is more like a rock star tour bus converted to a nice moving house. Haha. Well, life is short and I'm kind of tired of the rat race. There is a lot to see and the passage of time only seems to accelerate as one gets older. Heck, I haven't even been to Yellowstone and Grand Teton yet although I have covered most of California and Arizona. I know that I have only scratched the surface.

Music and great sound will always be a major part of my life but I feel that it should complement everything else I'm interested in, not be my sole focus or some senseless obsession, which this audiophile hobby can easily turn out to be. I'm somewhat of an astronomy/cosmology nerd and I've always wanted a really nice telescope but, living in SoCal, I knew it'd be kind of useless here. But, now, after experiencing some extremely starry skies in Utah and wanting to pursue the RV life, I find that I can start thinking about that dream telescope I've always wanted to get. I also want to get an off-road vehicle to pull along for side excursions to explore the really wild nature, not just the touristy spots.

There's a lot to see and a lot to do. Music and nice gear should complement all these other things that are out there to enjoy. Well, that's how I'm seeing things now. No more burrowing down the rabbit hole. Gotta find balance and treat your eyes and other senses well besides your ears. Attached are some snapshots from the trip, including yours truly and my better-half enjoying the view of Lake Mead.

That's a wonderful write up and shots .... So true ....

I know I can get carried away chasing "stuff" but using it is the true test of it's worth ... and you can't use it all at once!

There are so many awesome things to experience - life's tapas I suppose - audio is certainly one of them which is why I spend so much time here.

But I try not to distract myself too much from the other fantastic experiences I am yet to have

And if you can combine them like you obviously do that's just brilliant!

 

[425455]

New bike day!!!

Better than a birthday

 

[Orlok]

That's a wonderful write up and shots .... So true ....

I know I can get carried away chasing "stuff" but using it is the true test of it's worth ... and you can't use it all at once!

There are so many awesome things to experience - life's tapas I suppose - audio is certainly one of them which is why I spend so much time here.

But I try not to distract myself too much from the other fantastic experiences I am yet to have

And if you can combine them like you obviously do that's just brilliant!

Yep, that's the new "journey" ahead of me. The 45' RV will have to wait until my boys finish school but, until then, I can rent them and pull the Jeep around to go off-roading - FINALLY! I'm thinking, "Why have you pushed this off for such a long time?" Haha. Could have gotten a DAVE or Rossini and a WA33 EE or AIC-10 or whatever but... I want to get out and start exploring. Love what I have now and it's transportable stuff too, so why mess with a good thing?

 

[Ciggavelli]

I’m contemplating building a new water cooled pc. But those gpu prices and chip shortages

Here’s my current rig that I built a few years ago:

 

[protoss]

After 1 hour of waves crashing on top of me. I laid on my beach ⛱ mat feeling a little shook and notice a phoenix in the sky?

Took a quick pic.

 

[MatW]

I’m contemplating building a new water cooled pc. But those gpu prices and chip shortages

Here’s my current rig that I built a few years ago:

Honest question : why would I need a big a$$ thing like that? I have a fast laptop that I connect to a screen and some other hardware. It's placed under my desk and takes up almost no space. It works like a charm, ample processing power for my needs. I don't play video games though. Is that the main reason for humongous machines like these?

 

[425455]

Honest question : why would I need a big a$$ thing like that? I have a fast laptop that I connect to a screen and some other hardware. It's placed under my desk and takes up almost no space. It works like a charm. I don't play video games though. Is that the main reason for humongous machines like these?

i use my bada$$ desktop for gaming, running multiple screens with complex realtime graphics and https://foldingathome.org.

Water cooled looks like the dogs... (english slang meaning awesome )

mine has a fan...

 

[Ciggavelli]

Honest question : why would I need a big a$$ thing like that? I have a fast laptop that I connect to a screen and some other hardware. It's placed under my desk and takes up almost no space. It works like a charm, ample processing power for my needs. I don't play video games though. Is that the main reason for humongous machines like these?

Yeah, for gaming. Full size GPUs are significantly better

 

[theaudiologist1]

talking about high-end audio

 

[number1sixerfan]

I’m contemplating building a new water cooled pc. But those gpu prices and chip shortages

Here’s my current rig that I built a few years ago:

The first computer I ever built was a water-cooled computer in high school for a science fair and it looked nothing like this lol. Using an old school case like this that I modded (with my dad's help of course, & won first place). Say all of that to say this... haven't built a computer since. I can't believe how crazy and futuristic these things look these days. Looks pretty insane, nice.

 

[protoss]

Summer is too short. Enjoy it while it last.

 

[425455]

Summer is too short. Enjoy it while it last.

wow.. what a shot.. is that yours?

if it is how did you shoot it?

 

[protoss]

wow.. what a shot.. is that yours?

if it is how did you shoot it?

Yes, all pictures I post here are all mine.
I was on top of a observation deck. Extremely windy but was able to pull it off.

 

[TDinCali]