26 February 2006

just stuff

Stuff 1: I'm just finishing off a stubbie of the exploding batch 6, which was a Cascade Spicy Ghost. Can't say I recognise too much of the description, not surprising given the hit-or-miss methods on home brewing as I practice it, but it's OK. Whether any of the remaining 4 bots survive for any visitors is a moot point. I've got to bre another batch soon anyway for the arrival of the theory.

Stuff 2: We are teetering on the brink of going all home theatrish. Not in a big way as we're really not movie people, but a slightly bigger TV would be good and LCD screens are coming down in price rapidly. We eventually bought a DVD recorder/player a few months ago, but as all the DVDs we have bought are music concerts, the old hi-fi setup is lacking a bit. Well what it lacks is the ability to decode surround sound and any tracks with specific technology (such as Seven Bridges Road on
Hell Freezes Over, which is recorded in DTS for some reason). My old gear is bottom end but mainly nice: Luxman amp and NAD CD. The speakers are shit Pioneers, bought in a hurry from Cashies when son was having a party and blew up my old KEFs that very afternoon. Although he and I have since replaced the tweeters and woofers with VIFA gear from Jaycar, they're still shit.

So, yesterday I'm out tootling around and I find myself near a good hi-fi place so in I go. Why is it that every time you audition Bose gear, they try to upsell you? Last time I was just about to buy some 301s to replace said shit Pioneers, but the salesman insisted we listen to the 501s first. Naturally there was no comparison. In the event we didn't buy on the day and then incurred some expense elsewhere that put speakers right off the agenda. Yesterday I said I was after entry level stuff but instead I got their top-of-the-line model: yeah, really nice but far more than we would ever consider spending.

Stuff 3: And finally, the
female offspring arrived home this morning after several months globe-trotting: the States, Sweden, UK, Thailand and Cambodia. It's OK for some! And as she travels with extraordinary quantities of gear (I could barely lift the rucksack), and then there's the snowboard bag stuffed with...er, stuff. It's where the flexible interior combinations of the chariot come in handy: lift out the hatchback tray, swing the rear seat squabs forward, slip the headrests out and then drop the backs of the seat and away we go. Swallows furniture, boxes and large bags with ease.

9 comments:

rat said...

is that your homebrew exploding? i've had that happen when the bottles aren't kept cool enough (eg: boot of the car) or you put in too much sugar when bottling.

phil said...

Yup, is homebrew. I'm pretty sure I bottled it a day or so before primary fermentation had finished because all except 5 of about 55-58 stubbies exploded. That resulted in 19-odd litres of beer all mixed in with 30 zillion bits of glass sloshing around the downstairs room.

FXH said...

ooh careful the hi-fi rule is ABB. Unless in a hi-end car with custom system

FXH said...

check this out before looking at BOSE

FXH said...

"BOSE" is considered an acronym for "Buy Other Sound Equipment".

phil said...

fxh: hey thanks for the advice, and the great link, you have confirmed what has previously only been a gut instinct. I've always equated Bose with BMW: all the value is in the name. Bose's restrictive marketing and pricing policy is a good indication. I suspect that when the moolah is available, I'm going to buy a reasonable receiver (Onkyo?) and some good front speakers with something a bit more ordinary for the rears. But plenty more research first.

FXH said...

phil - i hear from reliable sources that BOSE car stuff is good. The rest is worse than shite. (I can explain)

I have been on a promise to write an article on "good hi-fi cheap" for some time. I can point you in the right direction if you are in a hurry.

Do you have to have to have "surround sound" and a sub woofer?

Thats only partly rhetorical. Let me know. What you already have may be a good start.

phil said...

fxh: I probably don't have to have surround and a sub. Like I said, we don't watch DVD movies and so have no need for "gut-rumbling effects" or similar. The DVDs we bought include Eagles, Crosby Stills and Nash, Simon & Garf, The Band etc, all in concert,(so you can pick our demographic pretty easily!). The room is far from perfect: not symetrical, has cathedral ceiling, etc.

I have a Luxman L205 amp NAD 501 CD deck both of which are old but good: the DVD is a Pioneer, has 80 gB hard drive etc. The speakers I described in the post - they need to go. I've been quite into audio in the past and know a bit about what to look for, both gear and other online sources of reviews(the post was mainly about the seeming BOSE sales trend to upsell, but that sales trick seems compatible with their whole approach!). All that said, I will gladly gobble up any help you offer. And purchase is not imminent, I typically take about 6 months on such purchases from the time I first strat nosing about shops. Thanks again.

I would

tomic said...

So let me guess this straight.
We get to go speaker shopping again? I'm sure we can waste some good time doing that :)

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