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| Creek Destiny, Part 11I don't know when in 1984 Whodini's Escape came out. But I do recall that "Freaks Come Out At Night" was a hit for Halloween. But it was the song Friends," which was a ground-breaker. I actually heard it a few times on the radio, unusual for rap at that time. And some of my classmates also had heard it. I remember being in Mr. Rosenberg's 8th grade social studies class, when my neighbor and classmate, Brian, started singing "Friends."
The above photo just looks weird. It's Joe's Ice Cream, out on Geary. It's always shrouded in fog, so it's unusual to see it in bright sunlight. A good cable is like seeing things in sunlight. So, for that purpose, one of my references is the Nordost Odin. But the audiophiles get their panties in a bunch, whenever I mention its use.
Who's the only one who has the guts to play Whodini at audiophile events? Yours truly. Well, even audiophiles need friends. And so does audio equipment. Per the above, the audiophiles will howl in protest, if I show Nordost Odin on the modest Creek Destiny. So, I'm going to scale it back a bit, and use the Destiny with Wireworld Platinum Eclipse interconnects and speaker cable. And the powercord is a Pranawire Maha Samadhi.
With friends like these, the Destiny is very, very happy.  Nevertheless, if you can squeeze the WBT RCAs in, you can try Kimber's Silver Streak. Then go with Kimber's new clear-&-white 4TC speaker cable. Why spend more, if you don't have to? Another good sonic choice, if you can wrestle with it, is Tara Labs' Vector 1 series. And of course, Wireworld's basic copper Eclipse 6 series is a more affordable alternative to the Platinum Eclipse.
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| Creek Destiny, Part 10Lost in the pop music explosion of 1984 was Billy Squire's "Rock Me Tonight." It was too noisy to be adult contemporary. It wasn't glam enough to compete with, say, Twisted Sister. And it wasn't heavy enough to challenge heavy metal. Still, it was one of the last videos I saw, before leaving Honolulu for San Francisco.
Most preamps and integrated amps should come with a warning. I've already covered the volume being too loud, even when the knob or readout is at or near MIN. But many control units, even if the chassis is large, have tightly-spaced jacks.
So that leaves no room for all but the skinniest of cables/connectors. It also means that locking-barrel RCAs, for all practical purposes, won't work or fit. Wireworld's latest interconnects will indeed fit onto the Creek Destiny. The Q-Audio Tao and XLO Signature also work well and sound terrific with the Destiny.
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| Creek Destiny, Part 9A quarter century ago, in the summer of 1984, Prince's Purple Rain reigned supreme. But he took the time to produce The Time's Ice Cream Castle album. That summer, I took Marine Biology at Punahou. I've had other great classes, but this one will always have a special place in my heart. It was just so damn fun. And of course, the girls were much prettier and friendlier than the ones at my regular school, Presidio Middle. So, school was good, the girls were good, the field trips to Oahu's beaches were awesome, and I loved it when my parents picked me up, and then went shopping. There was nothing like hearing The Time's "Jungle Love," as we tried to find shaded parking (an absolute must in the Hawaiian heat) at Holiday Mart [now Don Quixote].
Fast forward to the mid-90s. Who's the only audiophile who plays "Jungle Love" at high-end audio stores? Yours truly. I remember playing this at San Francisco's Ultimate Sound, while that customer who lived on Lake Street bought a Creek integrated amp. And I will never forget how he remarked that he could spend more on high-end audio, but didn't. The Creek gave him all he needed, but still left him with space and money to do other things. And when you are in S.F., you will need $$$$ to get around and do things.
Me? I was so hooked on high-end audio. Since I was living at home, I spent all my money on audio, music, and sports. I sacrificed everything else. I didn't go to movies, I hated spending money on food. Everyone else my age was into clothes, cars, food, travel, porn, drinking, and entertainment. But going to Ultimate Sound always excited me, kinda like how Toys R Us excited me when I was a kid. And I've always loved the Union Square area. I loved the BART/MUNI stations, FAO Schwarz, Macy's, Gift Gate, Borders, Sur La Table, Crate And Barrel, Rasputin Music, the S.F. Centre, et. al. With high-end audio, life was good, and I didn't mind spending $10-12 on lunch.
I didn't have to cheap out, and eat at Costco. But still, that customer's quote about enjoying life hit me. Oh well, now that I have the Creek Destiny, I feel like it sufficiently takes care of the music. So much so, I can forget about the Big Bux Audio, and go out to eat more.
American audiophiles stupidly cling to their spade lugs. In the 90s, many British amps (smartly) accepted bananas. And of course, the whiny Americans would complain.
Yes, the Creek Destiny nominally accepts spades. However, the narrow slot only permits one leg of a spade lug. And as you can see from the picture above, there's just no room to hook up spades to the lower binding posts. So, as I am fond of saying, use bananas!!!
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| Creek Destiny, Part 8Everyone has forgotten that, 15 years ago, Frente's cover of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" was a smash, here in the U.S. However, I think it had been around for at least a year-and-a-half internationally.
In 1994, my preamp frustration heightened. I was using a B&K Pro 10MC. Even in its passive mode, its volume control knob never made it past 8:00. But I grew tired of the Pro 10MC, on account of its lack of remote control. And, as I was acquiring balanced sources, the Pro 10MC's lack of balanced inputs bothered me.
So the next preamp I bought was the Classe' Thirty. It had remote, albeit just 3 buttons: mute, volume up, and volume down. It had a balanced input. Its phonostage was good. It was compact and cool-running. And its silver faceplate sure looked nice. But alas, even when the Thrity's volume control was all the way down at MIN, the sound was too loud. I sent it back, and they tamped it down with a resistor. I was then able to use more of the volume control (up to about 8:00), but the sound changed! It was now neutered. I missed the original's fast, powerful sound.
The Creek Destiny integrated amp certainly shows a lot of thought put into its design. But alas, even with 2V sources, a medium-sized room, and "low" sensitivity speakers (e.g., Totems), the Destiny's volume control never goes past, you guessed it, 8:00. So if you are using the Destiny in a small room, you better check to see if you have enough play of the volume control knob.
Once again, we're all pissed off about the volume control issue. I hate to appear redundant, but this is audio's #1 problem.
I'm also disappointed that the logo is no longer green. Creek's green corporate logo has always reminded me of the trees of San Francisco, especially the ones in Golden Gate Park and the Presidio.
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| Creek Destiny, Part 7When I'd go to San Francisco's Ocean Beach, I'd often point to the southwest, and facetiously sigh, "Hawaii is just 2,200 miles away!" Now that I'm living in the East Bay, I can point to San Francisco, and facetiously sigh, "San Francisco is only 22 miles away!"
Here's the view from the San Leandro Marina. Until my wife moved here, we didn't know it existed. The only East Bay marina I knew was the Berkeley pier.
It can be surprisingly windy at Marina Park, so be prepared, and bring a jacket.
25 years ago, Chicago 17, by starting off with the mediocre "Stay The Night," did not start off with a splash. But that allowed the other songs to build (albeit slowly) momentum. So by the time the album ran through all of its singles, it had become a blockbuster. I still recall the glowing late August or early September afternoon, when I was at Honolulu's Ala Moana Beach for the last time, before heading back to S.F. Someone with a boombox was softly playing Chicago's "Hard Habit To Break." At that moment, I just...did...not...want...to...leave. But the absolute best song on Chicago 17 is "Along Comes A Woman."
Let's back up a moment. When I was in 6th grade, Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl" was a revelation. It told me that, as a poor boy, I didn't have to look only at girls who were as poor or poorer than I. Joel followed it up with "Tell Her About It," which encouraged us chicken boys not to be afraid, and to speak up, and let our feelings be known. Well, then, Chicago's "Along Comes A Woman" was another inspiration. It told us that, just when you think nothing's going on, you never know when Cupid's arrow will strike...
When the Creek Destiny came along, it maintained Creek's strengths of size, function, and sound. But with its more upscale styling and electronic features, the Destiny aims higher than ever before, relatively free from being labeled as a "budget" or entry-level component.
From the front panel, you can engage the tape loop or engage the active line stage [per my prior post, the gain selector is located on the bottom panel]. Whereas the older integrated amps may have had a manual selector switch, the Destiny uses scroll-through buttons. Yes, the remote also duplicates this. And, you can choose which speaker binding posts to use.
Every time a girl unexpectedly comes into my life, I get all excited. And to heighten that euphoria, there's nothing like hearing Chicago's "Along Comes A Woman."
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