Remember the sign which read:

If it's yellow, it's mellow,
So just let it sit
If it's brown, flush it down,
Cuz it looks like shit

Well, I suspect it was Nora, who added:

If it's red, it's dead,
Flush? Please go ahead!

When I reviewed the Simaudio Evolution I-7, P-8, and 750D, the North American units only came with a red display. That red color was/is an eyesore, compared to the blue-colored display found on foreign units.

Well, the Mind 180 does not have a display. It has one bright blue circular LED, which flashes when the unit is initializing or trying to sync. The photo above does not accurately depict just how bright that blue LED really is. If you find this LED blinding, you should cover it.

In our Friday evening meetings in the dorm's corner lounge, one girl said that, statistically, 1 of 4 females of childbearing age (as college kids, we were all qualified as such) should be on her period.

A dark-haired goth-looking girl stood up, and without smiling, said that she didn't mind being on her period. #1, she wasn't pregnant. And #2, it gave her an excuse to be "left the fuck alone." Mind over matter.

Our dorm's bathrooms were disgusting, not because girls left it a bloodbath, but because everyone (all genders) was a slob.

Not a bloodbath, the only red light to be found on a functioning Mind 180 is the rear-panel's unoccupied Tos-Link jack.

During the Fall '86 semester, we bought the Sony STR-AV780 receiver, which came with a loop antenna for AM, a dipole T-shaped ribbon for FM. Under the influence of Crutchfield and J&R Music World ads, I bought a black plastic, powered, L-shaped FM antenna. Damn it, my audio friends and I have not had any luck, determining exactly what the antenna was. Archer/Radio Shack? Parsec? Recoton? Terk?

On September 1, 1992, I bought the Adcom GTP-400 tuner/preamp, which came with a T-shaped dipole ribbon antenna. My intention was to use and leave the GTP-400 at home, in San Francisco. It was so good, I decided to bring it down to UC Santa Cruz, for my senior year.

Move-in date was September 20, 1992. The college apartment originally had two single-person chairs flanking an end table. We removed all three pieces, and replaced them with the coffee table. The coffee table held Tron's 13" TV; my stacked Sony CDP-520ESII, Adcom GTP-400 and GFA-535; and the Pinnacle PN-5+ minimonitors.

Via our careful experimentation, the mystery-brand L-shaped powered FM antenna worked best, when placed in a corner, behind one of the loudspeakers. With that powered antenna, the GTP-400 could bring in a few local stations, plus - hallelujah - a Central California (Soledad?) Oldies station. On certain days, by pointing the antenna in a northerly direction, we could get 2 or 3 San Jose stations.

No, the Simaudio Mind 180 does not have FM. But even if you use Ethernet, you will still need to use Wi-Fi, for setup. The Mind 180 comes with a small, matte-black, plastic antenna. It screws into the back of the Mind 180, and has a joint near one end. When you were in college, you screwed into the back, and had a joint...oh never mind, get your mind out of the gutter.

In September 1992, our friends and neighbors very quickly learned that we had not just a stereo, but one comprised of high-end audio products. Back then, in colleges, that was simply unheard of. Thus, everyone wanted to come over, and listen to music. Even when we ran out of CDs, we could always see what the GTP-400's tuner could bring in.

Because the Mind 180 has an Internet tuner, it brings in radio stations from all over the world. Back in '92, even world band radio enthusiasts could not have imagined this.

Ribs. When I was in college, the dining halls rarely served ribs. And when they did, were the ribs rare or well-done? Neither. They were burnt beyond recognition. Hard as rock, those charcoal-like ribs made jerky look tender and soft.

Ribs. When I was in the dorms, early in the school year, the staff put on safe-sex seminars. They had a big cardboard box, containing a wide variety of condom brands and types. My neighbor Nora opened a Trojan ribbed condom, saw the teeny tiny ridges, and said that this condom wasn't her idea of "ribbed."

Ribs. I commonly overheard the girls complain that none of the guys had six-pack abs, beach bods, or chiseled, well-defined ribs.

Ribs. But where did we see the girls' ribs? Mostly in the dorm's bathroom(s). Like the guys, the girls would bring one towel to the bathroom. They'd frequently use that one towel, to dry their hair. They'd commonly dry their hair in front of the large mirror behind (in front of?) the sinks. With the towel over her hair, or draped over her shoulders, the girl exposed her ribs.

Ribs. The Simaudio Mind 180's side panels are ribbed, more corrugated than, for example, those old Trojan "ribbed" condoms. Are the ribbed sides supposed to be heatsinks, like in the Evolution series? The Mind 180 is meant to be left on permanently. Accordingly, it does not give off any heat. Thus, I doubt that the ribbed sides are to dissipate heat.

But are they anti-vibration? I'm sure that Simaudio's marketing department, if not anybody else, would say yes.

More importantly, do know that the ribbed grooves collect dust. You may find that those tiny strips are difficult to clean.

Let's go back to September 1992, the start of my senior year of college. While I was hooking up my Sony/Adcom stereo with Monster IL-400 and AudioQuest Topaz interconnects, my housemate Ron was connecting his PC to our regular landline. A cable burn-in device, the Duo-Tech Cable Enhancer, did exist at the time. But as it was not reliable, it was in the twilight of its market life.

Back in 92-93, I do not believe any of us knew about CAT5 cables, RJ45, and/or Ethernet. While we found the AQ interconnects to be more accurate than the Monster Cable(s), we could not imagine any RCA-to-RJ45 conversion or adapter.

But that is indeed what people today use, to transmit audio (from RCA out) via a house's internal wiring. The ones above have two male RCAs on one end, and a female RJ45 at the other. You should be able to find electronics stores, which sell these for well under US$20/pair, including tax and shipping.

It is now 2016, and we now have so-called CAT5 (and higher) Ethernet cable and the audiodharma Cable Cooker. These same RCA/RJ45 adapters allow the Cable Cooker to treat Ethernet cables. Hooray! But do pay attention to which direction you are Cooking said Ethernet cable(s).

When I got to college, the guys in my dorm loved to run around naked. For them, it was a fun activity.

As I got settled, and met more of my dorm neighbors, I would see see females go topless, cuntmando, or fully nude. But I sensed a difference. For the girls, it was not so much about having fun. It was more about comfort. Mind over matter.

Since the Simaudio Mind 180 is in their "Moon" series, everyone has fun equating that with butts. And yes, we have been talking about my college neighbors' moons. Well, if they pulled a 180, you'd see their front side.

Many times while I was brushing my teeth, a girl would simply walk out naked from the shower. She'd pull up to the sinks, dry her hair, floss, or brush her teeth. Either directly or via the mirror, I'd have a nice view of her, um, front side.

When I was in college, NO ONE shaved her armpits, legs, or pubes.

But the Mind 180's front panel, available in either boring black or pretty silver (above), appears clean and shaved. Well, maybe not shaved, but it does have a horizontal groove or cutout. In this trough is the lone LED. Notice that this front panel has no controls or sensors.

Were Simaudio of unsound mind? In Mind 180, the "Mind" is actually a mind-numbingly bad acronym, Moon Intelligent Network Device. Those coeds just cringed, shook their heads, and started minding their own business.

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!

One of my college dorm neighbors, a dark-haired girl [I'll refer to her as "DHG"] whose name escapes me, had ancestors and relatives from central European countries, some of whose names were difficult to pronounce and spell. I don't know if DHG herself was from abroad, but she said she occasionally visited her European relatives. Now, our other dormmies' image of central Europe was the World Wars, Medieval castles, and vampires. A Gen X girl, DHG was more modern, and said that each country could have its own electrical voltage and/or plugs. So, with her American electronics overseas, she had a voltage-adjustable AC adapter, with interchangeable plugs. Damn, some of those plugs looked like they were designed to ward off vampires!

Today's universities typically ban matches and the burning of candles indoors. That may have been the case in 1989-1993, when I was living in on-campus housing. Anyway, instead of candles, DHG had this weird, phallic-shaped lamp, which she had brought back from one of those central European countries. She and her roommate used that oddly-shaped lamp more as a nightlight or decoration. IIRC, that lamp had a 2-prong socket, to which its powercord attached. In order to use that lamp here in the U.S., DHG utilized some voltage-converter.

That lamp enabled the user to insert a slide/filter over the bulb, which was hidden in a compartment in the lamp's base. Each slide had its own color. 'Twas kind of crude, but you had to admit, all the different colors added a certain charm to their little dorm room.

At night, DHG would leave the room light off, while leaving on the foreign lamp. I suppose, with her room being insulated on the second floor, it was consistently warm. Warm or not, DHG liked to go topless. I thought it was kind of cool, when the topless DHG would get up, and switch the lamp's color filters. Each color would give her face and body a different look.

All of this brings us back to the Simaudio Mind 180's AC adapter. The module itself does not have fixed prongs. Instead, it has a locking mechanism, which will accept a variety of plug-cards, each one suitable for your particular country.

The AC adapter grasps the back of the plug-card.

DHG's roommate, a, um, fat chick, had a vibrator, with different attachments. 'Tis not the same as the Mind 180's AC adapter. North American units are supplied with a 2-prong plug-card. Thoughtfully, Simaudio have indicated which end is top, so you can attach the plug-card in the correct orientation.