June 16, 2017
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XLO UltraPLUS U6, Part 3
Hairbands. Hair bands. Hair metal bands. Among Bay Area bands, Vicious Rumors were kind of by themselves. VR were more power metal, than Night Ranger and Y&T. VR were more talented, professional, and versatile, versus, say, the hard rock/glam metal Babylon A.D. Yet, VR weren't anywhere near the myriad thrash acts, which dominated the late-80s and early-90s.
Durign that era, when my friends got together for competitive activities, such as video games, remote-control car racing, and athletics, we preferred kick-ass music. But sometimes, it was nice to tone it down. We all liked slow songs, acoustic numbers, and power ballads. During the summer of 1992, this is where VR's "When Love Comes Down" came in.
When Patricia had hairbands, she'd keep extras on her wrist. When we played softball, Patricia was primarily our pitcher. She claimed that all those hairbands acted like a wristband. A slender righty, Patricia said that having hairbands on her right wrist enabled her to throw (underhanded) with more control, consistency, and power. Hey, who are we to argue?One mild and fog-free day out at San Francisco's West Sunset Playground, we were chilling to VR's "When Love Comes Down." Patricia took a hairband, and put her relatively long hair in a pony tail. She then threaded her pony tail through the back of her baseball cap.
These hairbands were, in effect, rubber bands. Patricia also used them to hold her 3/4-sleeve sweater or windbreakers down or in place. She even somehow used them to fix her baseball mitt. And on our road trip down the central California coast, she used hairbands to close bags.
During that summer of 1992, after I did my Hokubei Mainichi newspaper route, my friends would meet at, or go over to, Japantown. I do not recall Patricia doing the two-pony-tail thing. But whether or not she tied her hair back, she kept excess hairbands on her wrist, not in pockets or bags.
The original XLO Ultra series speaker cables used to be held together, not by hairbands, but with Velcro straps.
Since the U6 was stiff, it needed to be tied, to prevent it from springing open/apart. Sounds kinky, but isn't.
Sigh, nowadays, the current-production UltraPLUS U6 is not bundled or tied up. It is just loosely placed in the blue-colored canvas bag. The cable wants to come apart, and places enormous strain on the bag's outer edge and zipper.
The price of the UltraPLUS U6 is double what the original cost, twenty years ago.In the second half of the 90s, the original U6 was $50 for termination, plus $25 per stereo foot, with no minimum length.
As of this writing, the UltraPLUS U6 is $70 for termination, plus $50 per stereo foot. And if you get it in lengths under 8' (the pair above is 7'), you're still charged the same as for the 8' pair ($70 + 8@ $50 = $470).
