Cal Blacksmith

My PERSONAL view would be to go with the new, I was around at the start of the whole CD thing and the equipment curve for improvement was fairly steep for the first years. As also said, can any CD be thought of as vintage? That isn't a lot of money and if you could use a second (or third or whatever) CD player then it may not be a bad deal, used CD players are very common though so they really are not that expensive.

Welcome to the survivers club! Not fun at all,mine was kidney so my left kidney is gone but I am OK now for over 5 years, it is great to hear that you are clear![]

Yep dash mounted here too, both phone and GPS. I find the wide view easier to orient to. The few times that the GPS shows a VERY up close view, it is more like looking out the windshield of the car than you might think, to ME (YMMV) it is more "natural" wide VS tall and narrow. A lot also depends on how you setup your display, I tend to use the "road view" style of setup, showing the directions as if looking through the windshiled rather than a "map view" looking down at a map. Then there is the whole thing about map view preferences of do you want North up or direction of travel up and the whole screen to rotate like a top while the nose of your car points "up" Lots of ways to sking this cat! []

They are supposed to be well built but I have never seen one let alone used one. Here Offset barrel type of units are most popular with the sprinkeling of green eggs, webber kettle etc. We burn stick and lump charcoal so anything that self feeds is something that we are not used to dealing with. We HAVE used a vert smoker though and it worked well so it is not so much the tool but how you use it []

I'm not saying phone nav is bad, I use it too but it does have it's draw backs. I have used stand alone programs I purchased and I have used the free stuff that cmoes with the phone (nav tied to Google maps) and the free stuff works just as well as any phone nav I have purchased and better than some too that I have bought and used but I still will keep my Garmin with me. YMMV!

Be careful about letting it sit out so long. In food service (I know you are home and not serving to the public) if meat is left in the "danger zone" below 140F and above 40F for a total of 4 hours additive, it must be discarded. The nasties that grow in the danger zone can not be killed by recooking or reheating. If it works for you, well .... I am just saying. This stuff tastes GREAT but it isn't worth getting sick over. Ya I have been away for a while but the smell of this thread brought me back!

Way cool and congrats! Someday we will get our chance but until then I am just going to have to envy those of you who have the joy now!

I have had several and Garman has always performed the best and was easiest to use. I have Nav on my Droid and in the city it works OK but when you leave service (which I often do) the Garman with it's built in maps just keeps on telling you where to go (if you like that sort of thing) when the Nav on the phone is searching for signal and is useless. I have used Garman in the air and on the ground (Pvt Plt) and I have always gotten where I wanted to go. I use the GPS or at least have it on for 95% of the time I am in the car.

If you do gaming on the set, I see a difference. We do have the 60" Aquos and it keeps up with even the fastest action with no issues. If you don't game then I guess it does not matter much but if you do, then the rate matters a bit more. Our 60" is now down to like $1700 at Sams and Costco, we paid about $400 more, less than a year ago. Such is life with tech. For our money, the Sharp had the BEST pic. OH well, that is why there is more than one brand of TV out there!

That makes my CWII in OO, look lke the deal of the decade, $500 delivered. Even if the wood is slightly faded but still very nice.

UH, well, I guess I am the exception here but then again we have DISH, not direct. Our bill has been level for the whole time we have had service (over 12 years now) except for when WE added content. The wife is home alone all day (medicaly retired for health issues) and she watches a lot of movies etc. There is no real internet that is an option for us other than Hughes net and I am NOT going to pay their stick it up my back side rates, for only slightly faster than dial up speeds. When I can get it, my cell phone is a hot spot to my home stuff but even cell service is VERY iffy and is not there more than it is. I NEVER watch broadcast TV, mostly TLC, History and the like.

Heard the JM products, very very nice untis. I have had Fisher, Scott, Yamaha, Blonder Toung but my fav so far is my VTL Ultamate pre, it is a few years old but kicks butt. Your ears will decide for you which is better for YOU. I have a SF power 1 main amp in my 2ch rig and if their preamps are anything like their power amps, it would be hard to go wrong with one of them. I have pondered the idea of building the grounded grid unit. Too many projects and WAY too little time to start something like that now.

If you can get them into corners, that would be a plus. Your room will determine where they should go but start at about a foot away from the wall. Move a little at a time until you hit the sweet spot for them and your room.

LOL to the don't buy Khorns! Each person has different needs and different ears, to my ears heratage and extended heratage are the best made. YMMV. The Fort'es are great speakers (versioin 1 or 2), I listen to mine every day, they are part of the TV setup. 5.1 through a Yamaha AVR is our normal TV sound. If you do not have good corners, don't buy Cornwalls either, same reason for Khorns!

No, SAY IT ISN'T SO! I thought you had found the antigravity ray I hid so long ago![:|]

Almost any Pixar movie has some good sound. A movie with some good sounding music in it is Burlesque, well recorded, the Bluray is much better than the DVD. agreed.. Despicable Me is a favorite of mine. ...liiiightbolb... Sticking with movies that have great music, Ray is hard to beat, sometimes I watch the movie only for the music. Man in black is great too.

I love the 6550. My Power 1 amp came with Svetlanna tubes and I am now running the Russian reissue Tung Sols, which sound VERY nice indeed. Great score there, that box would keep my power amp running very happily into the next century!

I have a pair of H1s and a pair of 4311s, running in the same setup powered by a Mirantz integrated. They compliment each other very well and the sum of the two speakers is greater than either on their own, very pleasing sound. The combo is keeping my 45,000 cubic foot shop (30'x75'x20') well supplied in high quality sound. I have had several people into my shop and remark that my sound system in there is better than what they have at home, I think I agree []

Sisterhood of the traveling pants.... SORRY I JUST HAD TO DO THAT!![] The opening of "flight of the phenox" remake is awesome when the transport plane flys from behind you then over the top of you and lands infront of you, plenty of LFE too with the props and engine noise. Toy story is always good for a famly style demo Avatar has some great shots

LOL, I can relate, when I called my wife in to listen to my Cornwalls and tubes, her reaction was underwhelming and she said "well it's louder" What can you sat to that?[:|]

I went through this last summer. We wound up with a 60" Sharp Aquos, fantastic picture, we are very happy with it. I am going to wait for the fad of 3D to either go out of fassion or to move to glasses-less tech. We (I) play a lot of games and the new ones in 3D are supposed to be great but I am going, again, to pass. I seem to consistantly back the "wrong horse" when I jump on the tech train at the start. Beta, Laser discs, HDDVD they were all my pics as the better format, thankfully, my hold off until it all shakes out, kept me from loosing a fortune on outdated tech.[]

Interesting. I have owned Yamaha equipment since 1977, it all performed above it's price point and never had any issues at all. They all sounded great.

Yes, many have been down that particular road. My vote is for the speakers unles there is something the AVR isn't doing for you. My TV room gets the most workout of any of my systems and I have a (guessing) 10 year Yamaha 5.1 AVR on it. It still sounds great and I am not taxing what it is able to do. That is, short of getting a new house.[]

If you ever check back, it has been a while since this thread was active, Fort'e speakers need at least a foot behind them, they like corners too. Small movements in back distance makes large changes, you need to play a lot to get them just right but once you do, they play very nicely, Fort'e speakers are known as "ROCK" speakers and they excell there when you get them setup right. They are very effecent so you do not NEED large gobs of power but it great if it is there, that is called head room, it allows the amp to reproduce large punches such as gun shots, drums etc to give the kick in the gut you expect. If the amp is grunting just to get the sound out, there isn't any left for the punch.

Great score! It looks like someone had a speaker downgrade for Christmas, probably to a Blows series of cubes. Enjoy them, they are a great series.