My RFI private hell


Advent. The irony is delicious. Advent is the name of the computer speakers that I use on my upstairs desktop computer. They're quite up to the task of handling my music with nice highs and midrange and a modest if serviceable low end.
The original Advent loudspeaker was introduced in the early 1970's to compete with Acoustic Research, specifically the AR-3a which had a stranglehold on the acoustic suspension high fidelity market along with JBL and a few others. When the hi-fi boom petered out in the 1980's Advent turned to making products that were more consumer oriented like small speaker systems and then computer speakers. I bought my pair of Advent computer speakers eight years ago and have had no need to upgrade, until now.
It started one day about three years ago. I began to hear voices, mostly in the middle of the night. I thought at first that my parents were trying to reach me from beyond the grave. I was lonely at the time and talking to them would have been the thing I would most want. After a week of experiencing these phantoms I finally found the source...my Advent computer speakers. It turns out that they were channeling a local gospel station here in Columbus so it was Jesus this and Jesus that at all times of the day and night. My computer speakers were suffering from RFI or Radio Frequency Interference. Lovely.
My friends know full well that I'm not a believer. I excommunicated myself from the Catholic Church eons ago and have an almost fiercely dismissive attitude towards organized religion. And don't get me started on religious fundamentalism or we'll be up all night. It's safest to say that the irrationality of faith based knowledge puts me in a foul mood so having non-stop Jesus on my computer speakers is more than a little annoying. The fact that the speakers are made by Advent hasn't escaped me either. But I always get the last word.
The RFI is muted and almost imperceptible so it's a simple workaround that allows me to function without JC constantly at my doorstep. I just listen to music. iTunes will do the trick. Today's solution to my problem happened to be Pink Floyd's A Great Day For Freedom. David Gilmour's unbelievably inspiring guitar solo at the end took care of the preacher. Take it away David.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I prefer my PC silent, without speakers, but when I had the cable service, I occasionally did hear something like a faint news transmission coming through the wiring. DSL took care of that.
Anonymous said…
Sometimes the voices aren't as scary or annoying as you think. Our past has a way of always defining our future. What I mean by this is your upbringing which is very common by the way has a way of closing down entrances that should have remained open. Though you heard Jesus and didn't like it is not the point. You heard something that was sure to get your attention. The meaning is for you and you alone. And it is never black and white when these doors are allowed to remain open but a thousand shades of gray. Great sounding speakers I wish I had them in my home. But then my doors which I have many are usually wide open.

Perhaps you should listen to David Gilmour's song "On An Island".

Kindred

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