October 28, 2014

  • XLO Signature 4.1b, Part 4

    Okay, let's go back to Valentine's Day 1992, when ACS visited me at UC Santa Cruz. That was the night she discussed and depicted vampires having sex. In addition, she also talked about the human penis. She firmly declared that she did not like the look of the uncircumcised human penis. I wasn't going to ask her whose uncircumcised penis(es) turned her off.

    I tried to argue, "But that's its natural state."

    ACS reasoned, "Don't get me wrong; I like dick. But the dickhead is such a beautiful thing. It deserves to be unwrapped. It deserves to be shown in its full glory."

    Fast forward to Fall '94. My preamp-to-power amp (Classe' Thirty and Muse Model One Hundred) used a balanced connection. I was using the inexpensive Kimber PBJ. I have always regretted not replacing it with the original XLO Signature 2.1. Instead, I went with Kimber's own balanced KCAG. When ACS held the clear-Teflon-over-silver-conductor KCAG, did she ooh and aah about the jewelry-like tri-braid cable? Nope. She held the male Switchcraft XLRs, and likened them (especially the three pins) to penises. She loved the way they plugged, and sometimes locked, into female XLR sockets.
    IMG_1029
    Which brings us back to the XLO Signature series. The first XLR-equipped Signature product I had wasn't the 2.1 balanced line-level interconnect. Rather, it was the AES/EBU 110-ohm 4.1b digital cable. A major reason why XLO balanced cables did not have that upper-octave roll-off was that they avoided using Neutrik XLRs (which are notorious for curtailing the treble). Instead, XLO designed their own XLR plugs, which were sonically neutral, neither boosting nor curtailing the treble. Regarding XLO's custom XLR, ACS giggled about the ribs. She kept running her fingers up and down the outer barrel. She cracked, "I wish that ribbed condoms were this kinky."
    IMG_1031
    Then ACS eyeballed the 3 pins, which had a thin layer of gold plating. She joked, "Hmmm, I have a silver vibrator, but not a gold one!" She likened the male XLR to an "extra large condom wrapping THREE penises together." She would refer to a male XLR as a "3-headed dick." Do note that, after almost 20 years, the thin gold plating on the XLO Signature 4.1b looks a bit dull, more like bronze or copper. After 20 years of...oh never mind.

    The Kimber KCAG wasn't a total loss. It inspired ACS to buy a thin silver belly chain. Above her thong, the belly chain looked very sexy, was quite a turn-on. Which is more than I can say about my system at the time; I just wanted to turn it off.