June 2, 2015

  • Simaudio Neo 260D, Part 7

    In late summer or early fall 1994, I was with ACS and some of her friends. While waiting for them to decide where to go, and what to do, I was listening to Erasure's I Say, I Say, I Say. We ended up going to San Francisco's wharf area.
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    The Simaudio Neo 260D comes with a so-called CRM-2 infrared remote, which uses the Phillips RC-5 protocol. This plastic remote measures 2"W x 6.875"H x 0.625"D. To give you an idea of what size those dimensions are, here is the CRM-2 next to a CD jewel case and iPhone 5S. Even with the two AA batteries, the CRM-2 is not heavy.
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    Nowhere on the remote does it actually say, "CRM-2." Instead, the back says, "Part No. 8660130." In the mid-90s, ACS used to work at Victoria's Secret. She said that each product had a SKU (stock keeping unit). But there weren't any part numbers.
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    Simaudio's older Supernova and Andromeda CD players came with the FRM-2 preamp remote (above, left). You may complain about the Neo 260D's plastic CRM-2, but at least it is a dedicated CD player remote. Yes, it has an "input" function, so you can scroll through the Neo 260D's digital inputs [if your unit is equipped with that $1000 option]. Yes, it has basic preamp functions.

    After dinner, ACS, her friends, and I went into one of those "adult entertainment" stores. They were checking out, among other things, vibrators. Most had an on/off switch. But one model had a sliding, tapered adjustment. Thus, you could make continual adjustments, from softly vibrating, all the way to maximum vigor.

    While not as lightning-fast as 1980s Sony remotes, the CRM-2 works fine. At least with the Neo 260D itself, the CRM-2 works from angles, and by bouncing off of my back wall. The "fast search" functions are just a tad slower than via the front panel's buttons. Unlike the vibrator above, if you press harder on the CRM-2's buttons, that will not make the "fast search" speed up.
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    Perhaps the strongest criticism of the CRM-2 is that its buttons are not laid out logically, intuitively, or ergonomically. Indeed, when I use the remote in the dark, I still haven't memorized where the vital functions are (sounds sexual, but isn't). So if you do not like the CRM-2, you can use any remote which uses the Philips RC-5 protocol.