What Santa DID bring for Christmas...

[kyuu]

Didn't find an existing topic for this, and there's already a thread for what Santa DIDN'T bring for Christmas. So, let's share what Santa (or other supernatural being or friend or family member) did bring us for Christmas. Preferably audio related, but also if it's just something that might be interesting or fun in general.

I'm always on the lookout for some good multichannel audio content, and I'm a huge fan of video game soundtracks. So I asked for and received a couple items this year that will scratch both itches:

They call this an audiovisual "revival" album, featuring the soundtrack rerecorded and set to visuals from the game. It says it's DTS-HD, so I'm hoping that means it is in fact multichannel. Although if it turns out to be "merely" stereo in a DTS container I can't be too upset, it's still an incredible soundtrack that's always worth a listen.

The other:

This is a recording of the London Symphony Orchestra playing selections from three Final Fantasy games -- another series with consistently wonderful soundtracks. This one for sure does have 5.1 recordings.

Haven't had a chance to listen to them yet, but will definitely be doing so in the next week. We talk mostly about gear around here, but content is king and I'm very happy to have what is sure to be some highly enjoyable new content to listen to.

 

[Tassin]

4 new midwoofers to restore my 90s tower speakers

 

[Chr1]

Topping Mini 300.

Thanks Santa.

 

[Rick63]

I got my two toys during the black Friday week sales. Actually 3 with the Schiit Lokius (not on sale) on the shelf below.

 

[Rick63]

4 new midwoofers to restore my 90s tower speakers

View attachment 500055

Now I'm curious as to what tower speakers you have. Are you keeping it a secret?

 

[Tassin]

Now I'm curious as to what tower speakers you have. Are you keeping it a secret?

Happy to share some details.

Acoustic Research AR 312 HO. An MTM design with 12" side-firing woofer. Purchased in 1996 based on a suggestion by a local dealer, backed by a favorable review by Don Keele Jr (Audio magazine).

I had already replaced the tweeters 2 years ago. A while ago, the surround foam on one of the midwoofers cracked. It took quite some searching to find a midwoofer that would (hopefully) be a good match, as I had no details about the original ones. As was the case previously with the tweeters. I did my research and calculations, and some guesstimating. Thankfully it worked out well.

 

[Joe Smith]

Held myself to a JDS Labs "Synapse" galvanic isolator for $54 shipped, enjoying current equipment & moving a few components around from system to system for variety's sake.

 

[DWPress]

My kids and folks all came here this year for Christmas Day and we even had some snow.

 

[AnalogSteph]

There was some snow around here, too, which we hadn't seen in ages.

I did not receive anything audio-related myself, although my new binaural head magnifier thingy should help me work on electronics. (I don't know who this Jack Shit is but I see him around a lot.)

I did get my dad an AT VM95ML for his recently-acquired Blaupunkt P-150, plus a few related goodies (digital stylus scale, stylus brush, alignment protractor). Which, mind you, I already put to good use while listening to at least 4 or 5 of my parents' old records during the past few nights. Some classical was played during initial testing, but over headphones it only confirmed why fans of the genre adopted CDs early. The higher average levels of pop and rock releases suit the medium better.

We'll still have to remount the cart onto the stock headshell, the aftermarket one he got from Temu, while seemingly well-made, is at least 2.5 grams heavier and I have a strong suspicion that the tonearm isn't the lightest thing ever to begin with. (It really likes to slide around in the lead-in unless the antiskating is set just right, and even then it's just mostly OK, with either the stock AT71 with an E stylus or the VM95ML and arguably more touchy with the latter. I interpret that as tonearm resonance being too low, as there are no obvious faults with the arm bearings or the lowering damper and tracking force is already set 0.25 g above nominal.)

Side note, looks like I will have to slightly revise my old blogalike entry on stroboscopic speed indicators, as those found on turntable platters commonly seem to be n=2 and not n=3. Which has to mean that 45 rpm in 50 Hz territory (which would nominally require 133.33333... divisions, invariably rounded to 133) would actually be standing still at ~45.11 rpm, about 0.25% fast, and you'd want it to be showing about 1.7 mm/s slow. This is not an issue for 60 Hz regions as the number of divisions is integer all the way from n=1.

 

[Tell]

I did order a Topping Mini 300 for myself a few days before christmas, but otherwise the only thing I got was a pair of towels that my mother made. We don't really do presents anymore in my family since it just such a weird thing to do when you think about it. Food and some cosy company is all one needs for christmas!

 

[JeffS7444]

Santa brought surprisingly good 2025 stock market returns! I don't really understand why, but who am I to complain.

English-language edition of The Solitary Gourmet has finally been released, 2-1/2 years behind schedule: "The book where nothing happens and everything is consumed". There's only minimal plot but much atmosphere and mouth-watering food.

 

[mglobe]

The most recent Dr Floyd Toole book, and a new gaming desktop and Meta Quest 3 for my iracing simulator.

 

[middlemarch]

Well, it's kind of sound related, it has the upgraded Harman Karden sound system. But it's still on a boat and probably three weeks away
from being in my hands.

So in the meantime I had to satisfy myself with one of these, which is for sure sound related. Been a velly good Christmas for me, kind of unusual, actually.

 

[mglobe]

Well, it's kind of sound related, it has the upgraded Harman Karden sound system. But it's still on a boat and probably three weeks away
from being in my hands. View attachment 500454

So in the meantime I had to satisfy myself with one of these, which is for sure sound related. Been a velly good Christmas for me, kind of unusual, actually. View attachment 500456

Great color on the car. This came too early for Xmas.

 

[Thighsofsteel]

A new pair of cycling shoes. I treated myself (always the best gift) to some Dynaudio Confidence 20 speakers. Replacing Contour 20i’s