Friday Weekly May 16, 2025
Kunal in Munich
Happy Friday everyone! Another week bites the dust so let’s see what’s going on around here
Kunal is out of the frying pan and into the oasis thankfully. He’s on his way back home from his family in India without event, but has stopped over in Germany to go check out the HIGH END show over in Munich. No shortage of cool things to see there, but here’s a couple of Kunal’s highlights. He’s very cryptic, but implies there was more he’s not allowed to share yet. Hopefully we’ll all learn more about that later.
"This is a ceracoated (I think) new TOPPING DX5II DAC/Amp. The color and feel was beautiful"
"This is the new D&A Alpha Pro that is being launched soon. Sounds and looks great."
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Last Week's Feedback
Last week I asked you all what kind of “vibe” you’d prefer to read in a weekly email, and was pretty surprised to see it was almost a dead 50/50 split on straight to the point audio info vs a more laid back approach. Most people agree that a mix of the both would be ideal and I agree entirely. In a perfect world I’d like to have something audio centric to share, but some weeks there’s just not a ton going on so it’s nice to have the freedom to talk about other topics more conversationally.
Going forward, I’ll do my best to include a few different sections with a bit of this and a bit of that so readers can jump to their preferred sections and skip things they’re not interested in. Newspapers had this figured out a century ago so I should be able to do the same.
Also, a few people who completed the survey asked non-rhetorical questions in the comment section, but I intentionally left the survey anonymous so I couldn’t reply to them. To those of you out there who asked questions here you go:
- I guess it was unclear, but it is me who is the proverbial monkey running this zoo which is this email since Kunal was unavailable to watch over me
- If you’re interested in giving feedback on any Apos 𝒙 products, email communityfeedback@apos.audio and we’ll add you to the early access list
- My rambling won’t always be random exposition, but there may on occasion be less audio focused topics. I’d enjoy it if people had feedback like last week because I think it’s fun and interesting hearing other people’s thoughts, but I’m sure there will be times I’m just a busker in an empty subway station and that’s fine too
Oh and I’m playing around with the email subscriber settings a bit. If you want to help me test it out, you should be able to click the “Manage Preferences” button at the bottom of the email. Right now there’s just the two options plus the usual unsubscribe as I still need to do some testing to make sure I’m not breaking everything, but you should soon be able to pick and choose your emails with a bit more granularity. Feel free to email me with any feedback or preferred options. And let me caveat that I’m learning this platform as I go, so bear with me if it’s full on busted.
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Apos 𝒙 Quick Updates From Tom
- Receiving final Geshelli Merlin boards from Geno today, will be working on photos next week. Excited to share those with everyone.
- Also working on a solution for stacking the Merlin and Gremlin. Stay tuned
- Doing test prints of packaging for the Rock Lobster IEMs
- We're thrilled to now be selling Capra headbands (plus an exclusive white colorway) from our friend Brian at Capra Audio.
- Also working with Brian on a collaboration headphone with Apos. We're starting with the Satyr 3 and bringing new changes to the pads, the sound, the look, the name, and more. Very excited about that
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Our Weekly Fixations
These are some of the things we're currently obsessed with around here. Music, science, tools, toys, etc. Hopefully we'll find something new and interesting for you every once in awhile, because knowing is half the battle.
Tom
Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues by Jonathan Kennedy (non-fiction)
I became fascinated with the Black Plague during the COVID-19 pandemic. I know that sounds bleak, but learning about the worst plague in our species' history put lockdown in perspective and was, ironically, fantastic for my mental health. I'm now reading Pathogenesis by Jonathan Kennedy, which isn't calming my nerves so much as blowing my mind. The author, a professor at Queen Mary University of London, poses that it isn't military forces or Great Men who've been the chief driving forces behind history but pathogens and innoculation to them. From the extinction of the Neanderthals to Europe's inability to settle interior Africa, the book is a sweeping look at how history has been shaped, for better or worse, by the forces we can't see.
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Feedback
And that's all folks. If you made it this far and have any opinions or ideas I'd love to hear it. Good, bad, whatever. Email me at alex@apos.audio and let me know. Thanks and have a good weekend.