June 16, 2015

  • Simaudio Neo 260D, Part 8

    Back in spring 1987, the Sony CDP-520ESII was my first audio product with a real-time counter. That alone made it superior to our cassettes and vinyl. The Sony had all four time modes - a godsend for (a) personal use, (b) recording to tape, and (c) having guests. The problem with the CDP-520ESII's display was that, as informative as it was, it was tiny. In order to read the display, you had to be right up at the unit (please, no sex jokes).
    IMG_1985
    I've already mentioned that, even by 1980s standards, the Simaudio Neo 260D's segmented display looks crude. Above, I've placed the Neo 260D side-by-side with a Simaudio Evolution model (the 600i integrated amp), which sports a dot-matrix display. The Evolution's dot-matrix display can do a wide range of numbers, letters (both capital and lower-case), and symbols. The Neo 260D can't even do a minus sign (for example, when trying to display remaining time). Moreover, the Evolution's display is larger (and thus more easily legible from across the room) than that of the Neo 260D.

    When the 92-93 school year started, I had my first housemate who had a computer. When we moved in, one of the first things I did was set up the stereo. While I was doing that, my housemate Ron was putting together a PC. Once he had all the hardware done, it was time to load MS Windows. I just recall him patiently inserting one 3.5" floppy after another. His roommate's girlfriend joked about "inserting 3.5-inch floppy things" into a different, um, kind of slot. Anyway, as audio CDs were playing in the living room, I'm not sure if we could have imagined or foreseen CDs used for computer data.
    IMG_1888
    In the 28+ years I have used audio CDs, no CD player has been as lightning-fast (operationally) as that Sony CDP-520ESII. As I've chronicled at length, many of today's CD players simply take too long (usually half a minute) to load. In this day and age, that is unforgivable. Those impatient and horny coeds would not have waited half a minute for males to load. That is a major reason why the CD format has died. The Simaudio Neo 260D takes 6-8 seconds to load/play. While not as instantaneous as the old Sony CDP-520ESII, that is still faster than the majority of today's CD players.

    Just as importantly, when a CD is playing in the Neo 260D, you can put your ears up to the unit (get your mind out of the gutter), and will not hear the disc spinning. Because the Neo 260D does not make noise or give off heat [my college neighbors made noise and gave off heat], you can keep the Neo 260D, for example, next to your bed or on your desk. Throughout college, I would keep certain mementos of KJ next to my bed or on my desk. But the Neo 260D obviously gives more pleasure (get your mind out of the gutter).
    IMG_1884
    At UC Santa Cruz, I was at Crown College. The campus radio station, KZSC, was located between the Crown dorms and a parking lot. As such, it was always a short walk from my dorm or apartment. KZSC would receive, from various record labels, hundreds of promo CD singles. During my 4 years at UCSC, I would buy a small number of these promo CDs. They were all regular 5" CDs. None was a 3" single. However, if you do have 3" CDs, the Neo 260D's drawer has a cut-out, to accommodate them. Some of the coeds' panties had a cutout to accommodate 3"...oh never mind.