[R-390] R-390A: Soul of the Machine

[Barry]

Reminds me of the book "The Soul of a New Machine".  Good read.

Barry - N4BUQ

----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Richards" <mark.richards at massmicro.com>
> To: "R-390-List" <R-390 at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 8:59:15 PM
> Subject: [R-390] R-390A: Soul of the Machine
> 
> I am sitting here soaking in the wonderful sounds of a Real Radio
> Receiver.  Having fixed most of the issues in my sad-case of an
> R-390A
> (Stewart-Warner S/N 2786) the tubes glow and the signals now flow.  I
> am
> like an eager child, opening the holiday gift before the sun rises.
>  I
> have the wonderful and esteemed members of this list; all those whose
> inspired work made such miracles as this so possible, to thank.
> 
> Working on the R-390A I have reflected upon this concept: Soul of the
> Machine.  Today's modern, ultra-compact, digitized, flat-screen
> flat-world  E-devices, laden with useless facade and equally-useless
> features, lack the heft, presence, and character of an earlier time,
> where electronic wonders actually took a few minutes to come to life.
> Those 30 dramatic seconds from dark to signal are a deeply satisfying
> pause... this receiver's way of saying, "I have something worth
> waiting
> for".  And, she's right.  Her individual character, warm tone, and
> satisfying rich sound are all made possible through the magic of that
> which our modernity lacks: a beating heart.  This machine has soul.
>  In
> her presence, the false and vacuous melt into the goo from which they
> were molded.  Tonight there is the R-390A, and nothing else.
> 
> There's more work to be done on this old and venerable Real Radio
> Receiver, but tonight I am taking in her wonders as band after band
> speaks in ways the transistorized, processed, and homogenized modern
> gear simply can never achieve.
> 
> I am, to put it plainly, in love.
> 
> /K1MGY
> 
> 
> 
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