Announcing The Delicious One Audio Aficionado Limited Edition

[Alberto]

Fellow Audio Aficionados,

I am thrilled and honored to present to you the Audio Aficionado Limited Edition of The Delicious One variable deliciousness control.

This edition will limited to 10 units and will only available to Audio Aficionado subscribers*.



What is it?

As introduced in a thread a few days ago, The Delicious One is a unique passive tone control designed to help with at least three listening situations:

• Low-volume listening: Like a traditional loudness control, The Delicious One makes low volume listening more satisfying.
  
  
• Harsh recordings: While it can’t make a harsh, over-compressed, recording sound like Jazz at the Pawnshop, The Delicious One can help take the edge off these recordings to make them much more enjoyable.
  
  
• Lean recordings: Some recordings are not harsh but they sound thin, lean–unsatisfying. The Delicious One adds body (and soul?) to these recordings to make the listening experience more enjoyable.

Bottom line: Other than in low-volume listening situations, The Delicious One is not something you would use or need to listen to Diana Krall, Dire Straits, Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, or any musicians whose records sound great without any help; in those situations the bypass switch takes it out of the loop and makes it completely transparent. But, if you are like me and not afraid to use tone controls when the situation calls for it, there are a many records where the music is great, but the sound can be harsh, fatiguing or unsatisfying–and that’s where The Delicious One comes in.

You can read more about The Delicious One at Delicious Decibels - Home.

What’s this Audio Aficionado Limited Edition all about?

What makes it special, aside from being being the very first units available, is that each will be hand-built, soldered point-to-point and hand-numbered and signed by yours truly!

Furthermore, after assembling it, I will personally run it through my usual battery of tests and even provide you with a printout of the performance chart (a plot of frequency response at various knob settings) for your very own numbered unit:



It will also look unique because, after months of testing, I’ve finalized the internal circuit and selected the components, but I am still experimenting with various finishes for the case, finish/color for the big knob and overall labeling/logo design. I want to be really sure about it before ordering a bunch. As a result, these AA Limited Edition units come with a special “stealth” finish: black case, metallic knob, no logos or other marking (other than a dot to indicate the knob position) ... not that any are really needed since there is only one knob and one bypass switch. I think it looks great, something you’d see in Batman’s home. See the photos below for what the AA Limited Edition looks like.




I should also point out that this Limited Edition is designed for RCA line-input/output. A balanced unit is in the works but not available yet, and will cost quite a bit more.

Another thing that makes this AA edition special is the low introductory price: $249 + shipping ... I know I’ve spent more on a power-cables ... and this is a hand-built (by me!) device that will make a positive difference that you will be able to hear immediately.

If, for whatever reason, you don’t like it or want to get a production version when it’s ready I will gladly take this potential collector item back and refund you the money minus shipping costs (or apply the balance to a different version.)

Interested?

The website will accept credit cards/paypal/etc, but you don't need to think about it now. I will notify you when the units are ready for shipping (3-4 weeks) and we'll take care of it then; but please don't get in line unless you are pretty darn sure you want one.

If you are interested in placing an order for the one of the first 10 copies of The Delicious One please send me a private message (you’ll need to be an AA member to do so) or just reply to this post indicating so, and early next week I will send you more information including a link/password to a private page on the Delicious Decibels website (Delicious Decibels - Home) where you can take a peek at the draft of the manual and hear samples of The Delicious One Audio Aficionado Limited Edition in action (so you’ll know what you are getting.)

Thanks a bunch!

Alberto

Chief Toneology Officer
Delicious Decibels

P.S. First come, first built and shipped. The first two or three serial numbers may already be taken by people who have already contacted me. If I get more than 10 requests, I will start a waiting list. If I get zero requests, I will seriously reconsider this venture :-).

* In the original post I wrote Audio Aficionado *member*, I should have said *subscriber*. I will honor the people who have signed up but future special AA offers, etc., will be for subscribers only ... and it's only $25/yr. If you got in The Delicious One deal it will have already paid for itself.

[-E-]

This is such a neat little device. Seems like a no-brainer for the vastness of fiddlers and tweakers we have on AA.

GLWS!

[hkval]

The members of this site never cease to amaze.

Alberto: The Delicious One which is exactly what so many audiophiles may desire and at a great price.

Emile: E-silentPc which is a music server that is virtually "Bit Perfect" and Rips almost anything from Bluray to to HD tracks with 2 mirrored 3TB NAS. Also, at a great price.

[-E-]

Originally Posted by hkval

The members of this site never cease to amaze.

Alberto: The Delicious One which is exactly what so many audiophiles may desire and at a great price.

Emile: E-silentPc which is a music server that is virtually "Bit Perfect" and Rips almost anything from Bluray to to HD tracks with 2 mirrored 3TB NAS. Also, at a great price.

Thanks, Howard!

And you just have your FIRST 3TB; my solution can scale to hundreds of TB and beyond to PB, even!

[Masterlu]

Alberto... You can count me in for one; serial #8 please.

[Alberto]

Originally Posted by -E-

This is such a neat little device. Seems like a no-brainer for the vastness of fiddlers and tweakers we have on AA.

GLWS!

Thank you Emile!

Alberto

[Alberto]

Originally Posted by hkval

The members of this site never cease to amaze.

Alberto: The Delicious One which is exactly what so many audiophiles may desire and at a great price.

Emile: E-silentPc which is a music server that is virtually "Bit Perfect" and Rips almost anything from Bluray to to HD tracks with 2 mirrored 3TB NAS. Also, at a great price.

Thank you Howard; AA is a special site indeed. Friendship, courtesy and respect lead to confidence; which leads some of us to share and try things that on many other forums would lead to all kinds of hostility.

I am quite sure that if it wasn't for Audio Aficionado, I would have probably kept The Delicious One as a one-off for my own use.

Alberto

[Alberto]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

Alberto... You can count me in for one; serial #8 please.

It'd be an honor Ivan. #8 is yours ... but why #8 if I can ask.

Thank you,

Alberto

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by Alberto

It'd be an honor Ivan. #8 is yours ... but why #8 if I can ask.

Thank you,

Alberto

Of course... 8 is my lucky number.

[dirtbag]

Alberto, is "The Delicious One" Shindo approved?
We wouldn't want to be blacklisted by the Shindo faithful.