October 23, 2012

  • XLO Signature 5.1, Part 7

    20 years ago, my friend and economics classmate Kim was one of the few at UCSC who liked dance music.  And that's why I liked and appreciated her.  In the Fall '92 quarter, Kim and I naturally belonged to small study groups.  One Saturday, she invited us to meet at what turned out to be a really nice townhome-style condo.

    Thinking that's where Kim was living, I got all excited.  Alas, it was where her friend, a biology major, was living.  Kim's apartment was in Condoland, an older unit.  But anyway, at the friend's nicer, more modern condo, I discovered that someone there had the new Madonna album, Erotica.  Although my generation loved Madonna's teeny-bopper Material Girl image, by '92, Madonna wanted to act her age, and get into adult contemporary. 

    I would go over to Kim's 1-bedroom condo, which she shared with a roommate.  Many times, the roommate was gone for the weekend.  So if I came over to Kim's condo at night, she occasionally walked around without any pants.

    The only true disco number is "Deeper And Deeper."  Perhaps it was in December '92 or January '93, when Kim came over to my apartment.  I don't know where my housemates were, but one time, Kim played "Deeper And Deeper" on my Sony/Adcom/Pinnacle stereo system.  I'll never forget dancing...kissing...getting deeper and deeper.  But when it came to cables, which brand did I lust after the most?  XLO.  More specifically, I really, Really REALLY wanted their Reference series interconnects and speaker cable.  Ah, but later in that Fall '92 quarter, XLO began placing this ad:

    You see, on January 7, 1993, XLO wanted to introduce the Signature series.  As I did not attend that Winter 1993 CES in Las Vegas, I do not know if XLO actually did introduce their Signature series, right then and there.  Some stores actually had ads listing the prices of the Signature series products.  But whether or not product was actually available is another story.

    In college, I learned that some girls liked to walk around (especially after showering at night) topless.  Other girls liked to walk around in panties, but without pants.  Ideally, we'd all like to walk around in the buff, but sometimes that's not an option.  Sometimes, we have a bi-wire speaker, but only one single-wire speaker cable, such as the XLO Sig 5.1.  Should the Sig 5.1 go to the tweeter first?  Or should it go to the woofer first?  Each speaker is different.  You'll just have to try it both ways.  The Sig 5.1 was expensive.  It was difficult enough to buy one run.  Hardly anyone was rich enough to buy two runs, for bi-wiring.  And if you were going to the expense of discrete bi-wiring, your speaker better have been top-notch!

    Perhaps because of all the Teflon, the XLO Sig 5.1 is susceptible to the electrostatic fields near floors.  This is one cable which does sound fuzzier and duller, when placed directly on a floor.  Whether you walk around topless or pant-less, you shouldn't throw your clothes on the floor.  Pick up after yourself.  Prop the XLO Sig 5.1 off of the floor.