College was when I first started seeing topless coeds. While you guys are ogling about breasts, all those topless girls also meant that I got to see a lot of bare backs. Moreover, while sunbathing, the coeds would lie on the stomachs. Moon up, many of those sunbathing topless girls did not have tan lines on their back.

As a guy, when it was hot, no problem; I just wore shorts, and went topless. No, it wasn't as common for girls to do that, but enough did. If you didn't make it sexual, going without a shirt was comfy. If you went to girls' dorm rooms, those coeds could be perfectly fine, being topless. As they sat on the desk chair, talked on their (landline!) phone, or went to the tiny closet, you'd see their bare backs.

So free your mind, and take a look at the bare back of the Simaudio Mind 180. Unlike those landlines of the early-90s, the Mind 180 utilizes the more robust RJ45 jack. The Mind 180 has countersunk dimpled buttons for manual Update and a complete Reset. So that leaves mini (3.5mm) headphone jacks, for the lame "SimLink," which is a wired communications function with other Simaudio components. It just allows you, from a Simaudio remote, to turn on/off all of the components, or dim/brighten displays. Whoop-Dee-Doo.

While the wired connection is Ethernet (the RJ45), the wireless is via Wi-Fi. Yes, that means the Mind 180 is to be used with your wireless router. Anyway, for Wi-Fi, there is a screw-in antenna, which I will cover in a future post.

The Mind 180 sports three digital outputs: XLR (AES/EBU), RCA (S/PDIF), and Tos-Link. Yes, all three can be used simultaneously.

The wall-wart AC adapter, which was the subject of Parts 4 and 5, plugs into the lower right-hand corner. Without an on/off switch, once you plug in the AC adapter, the Mind 180 stays permanently on.

As I got settled into my freshman-year dorm, I noticed that, in addition to going topless, some girls also went cuntmando.

Some short girl, a biology major, claimed that, by being closer to the brain, the upper body was more sensitive to cold. Maybe she was onto something. Even when the days were toasty, those Santa Cruz nights could get nippy. Fewer girls went topless at night, versus daytime. However, during those same nights, girls would switch top and bottom. They'd wear a shirt (if not a bra) up top, but would go cuntmando (no pants, no panties) down low.

My neighbor Nora (above) was like that. During the day, she might don a skirt or leggings, but would walk around topless. But at night, she'd put on a shirt, but go around without any pants.

Occasionally at night, Nora came over to my & Josh's room. Yep, her barenaked underside lay, rested, or sat on our chairs and bed.

"Professional" reviews do not show a component's bottom or underside. Yet, audiophiles need to know what it looks like.

The Simaudio Mind 180 comes with four relatively soft half-globe feet. They do just a fair job of sticking to a shelf. But maybe that is a good thing. So far, these feet (same as those found on the Moon 100D) have not tarnished my Salamander Synergy shelves.

The Mind 180 itself is a small component. Thus, there really isn't enough surface area for big, puck-like footers. The photo above does not show it, but the bottom panel identically mirrors the top: it is NOT an uninterrupted flat surface. There are two grooves, which run the length of the unit (sounds kinky, but isn't). Within these grooves is where Simaudio decided to place the four half-globe rubber feet. If you use after-market footers, they will have to have a small footprint, in order to fit into the Mind 180's bottom panel strips.

When I entered college, I started hearing about this phenomenon or urban legend called the "Freshman Fifteen." You see, during your freshman year, you are expected to put on at least 15 pounds. First of all, freshmen are still growing teenagers. Freshmen may or may not take PE or play sports. Freshmen dine on fast food and gorge themselves in the all-you-can-eat buffet-style dining halls. Many drink alcohol, then compound that by not getting enough sleep. Girls get pregnant.

During one of my dorm's Friday night meetings in the lounge, the faculty broached the subject of maintaining your health. One skinny girl, who probably weighed 100 pounds, was okay with hypothetically gaining 15 pounds.

After the meeting was over, I went with my friend Susan and her roommate to their room. The fulsome roommate shed her clothes (to get ready to take a shower), pinched her sides, and said she needed to lose, not gain, 15 pounds.

I didn't put the Simaudo Mind 180 on a scale, but it is small and lightweight. I don't think it weighs any more than a few pounds. Including the feet, the Mind 180 is about 2.875" tall.

While sifting through her closet, the roommate raised her arm(s). She complained that if she were to put on 15 pounds, it would go to her midsection. She lamented that none would go to her boobs.

Not including the rear connectors, the Mind 180 measures 6.25" deep. Sounds kinky, but isn't.

When I entered UC Santa Cruz in September 1989, my family drove to and on campus. We had to find Crown College, which was actually located on top of the hill. We had no idea how big or small it would be. In addition, I did not know a soul.

After my parents helped me move in, and the car pulled away, I wanted to cry, "Don't leave!" I was lonely and disoriented.

But many were happy and ecstatic to be there. As my roommate Josh sagely pointed out, many students saw college as getting away from "oppressive" home-life and parents. College meant freedom. Indeed, on my very first night, I saw three individual guys gleefully running naked down the dorm's hallways. And the very next day, to my surprise, I started to see girls not fully clothed. Perhaps my neighbor Nora was the first girl I saw topless. Nora reminded me of Marcie of the Peanuts, but with straight hair.

As I got to know Nora better, I learned that she was comfortable in her own skin. She frequently went around topless. I would overhear her shrug, "Guys get to go around topless. Why can't gals?"

She would state that, if a coed's hair were long enough, she could use it to "act like curtains" covering her boobs.

However, if you walked, bent over, or had short hair, your boobs could be uncovered or exposed. Such was the case with our dorm neighbor (above), whose name may have been Lara/Laura/Laurel/Lauren/Lora, some iteration thereof, or something completely different. Let's just go with "Laura." Apparently, our other neighbor, Amanda, had taken a handful of photos of nude dormies.

But back to Nora. I would hear her say that it was the sexualization of the female breast, which was wrong. She argued that anyone, of any gender, should feel free to go topless. The person ogling or making a big deal is at fault.

Which brings us to the Simaudio Mind 180. It does not have a removable top plate, so no, it is not going to go topless One of the not-so-big-breasted girls pointed to one of the skinny guys, and said that, even a guy's chest "is not completely flat."

The 5"-wide top is not a flat surface. Audiophiles who like to place bras or other anti-vibration products up top should take note. Also note that, because the Mind 180 runs cool, there are no ventilation holes, slats, or other openings. Thus, dust and bugs cannot get inside. Hooray!