jheis

As a note of caution, those are stained raw birch rather than "walnut veneer" as claimed in the listing. The stain job also appears to be well past it's "use by" date. James

My favorite is a western, but not in the "cowboys & indians" sense - it takes place right after WWII. "Bad Day At Black Rock." Directed by John Sturges (The Great Escape) and starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Ann Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine & Lee Marvin. Sound score by Andre Previn. "A very superior example of motion picture craftsmanship." - Pauline Kael James n

I meant relative position on the hemispheric chart - not in relation to the constellations on the "looking south" chart. Of course, I'm looking about 2 hours later. Could it be that the "looking south" sky has rotated into a nearly overhead northern view by that time? I think I can pick out Mars, and the object I'm looking at is ~10 degrees higher and ~30 degrees further to the northeast. Guess it would help if I knew my constellations, but it looks to me like there are two red/orange objects in a line (Mars & something else). James

If what I'm seeing is Mars, the sky charts fini linked to have north and south reversed. The relative positioning seems about right for Mars on the chart labeled "LOOKING SOUTH." I know it was dark, but I was definitely looking north (rather than south). James

As (I believe) Hemmingway said, there are only three sports: mountain climbing, bull fighting, and motor racing. Everything else is a just a game. Baseball is is just an exceedingly boring game. The only thing that makes this interesting is the obscene amount of money these (artificially) overgrown children are paid to play a stupid game (and yes, I'm wearing my flameproof underwear). James

I spent my formative years in Germany and, while I already had my drivers license here in the states, pretty much learned how to drive there. In the three years I spent driving the autobahns at what Americans consider insane speeds, I never saw a single accident. Of course they do have accidents, but they also have rigorous driver training. You have to actually know how to drive and be able to demonstrate it to qualify for a driver's license. In the 60 mile, crawling pace, slog from here to San Francisco it is not unusual to see three or four accidents on every trip - almost always caused by driver inattention. The typical American driver eating a burger with one hand and yapping on a cell phone with the other while watching a DVD is unsafe at any speed. It's not speed that kills, it's the sudden stop.... James

I too noticed a very bright red/orange object last night & wondered what it was. It seemed unusual enough that & went back inside to get my binoculars for a better look (of course trying to look at the heavens through a pair of binoculars is a recipe for vertigo). Facing north, it was almost directly overhead at ~9 or 10 pm PST. I went back outside a couple of hours latter & it had moved a considerable distance (~20 - 30 degrees in a northeasterly direction). I know nothing about astronomy (other than maybe being able to pick out the big dipper). I guessed it was, maybe, the space station since it had moved so far between my observations. James

I don't know how prevelant it is yet, but a local town here in Northern CA (Petaluma) has stopped chalking tires for parking enforcement. They've got a couple of camera equiped golf cart type vehicles and they simply cruise the downtown area every couple of hours and do a drive-by scan of ALL the license plates. Computer software then compares the plates and times and the ticket arrives in the mail. Revenue from parking tickets is WAY up. Word is that the powers that be are chomping at the bit to install cameras with plate recognition software on the "freeways." Your license plate passes between two cameras in less time than the speed limit would permit and - presto - speeding citation in the mail. The technology exists. It's getting scary out there. James

I'd suggest you try posting your question in the RoomGrove section under the iPod Speaker heading.

IMHO the recording industry shot itself in the head by continuing to charge outrageous prices for CDs that cost next to nothing to reproduce. When cheaper alternatives became available, people jumped on it. Now they're trying to stuff the genie back in the bottle by suing their customers. Too late for that. James

As you can see from my signature line, I'm a big fan of B&K products. I stumbled into B&K by accident. I answered a newspaper clasified for KG2s and guy who was selling them brought along a B&K ST-140 amp on spec - the deal was too good to pass up, so I bought the amp as well as the speakers. At the time my main system was a 375wpc Carver TFM-45 driving Cornwalls. I plugged the "new" 105wpc ST-140 into my system and, over time, I realized that I was listening to the B&K more than I was listening to the Carver. I ended up selling the Carver on ebay. When I moved into HT, I bought a B&K Ref 50 pre/pro and eventually acquired four ST-125.2 amps to power the system. Over time I picked up two B&K PT3 SII pre-amps and two more B&K amps for my office and BR systems. I now own six B&K amps, one B&K pre/pro, and two B&K pre-amps. After about 10 years of faithful service, I sold the original ST-140 on ebay for about $100 more than I paid for it. B&K sounds great and it's built to last. Good stuff. James

I don't have any specific knowledge of the two units you listed (I think they're both older discontinued models - the 307 can be updated to 507 specs), but in general, B&K is pretty bullet proof & a major step up in sound & quality from Denon. Plus B&K is made in the USA. James

I'll second the advice from jzoz01. When I first got into HT, I got talked into a Denon AVR1804. I got it home and (before I set up the HT thing) plugged it into my 2 channel system to see how it sounded back to back against my 15 year old Carver separates driving Cornwalls. There simply was no comparison - it was like the Cornwalls had suddenly turned into Bose 301s! The Denon sounded like crap! I also discovered that (contrary to what the salesman had told me) the 1804 didn't have pre-outs - so I couldn't use my other amps with it. Oh, and on top of the poor sound quality, the tuner section sucked. It wouldn't even pick up FM stations that my old Carver CT-17 pulled in, crisp and clear. Took the Denon back and made a big jump up in sound quality (and bucks) to B&K separates. I did not know that the lower end Denons were made by Panasonic, I did know, however, that they were made in China. In the past, I've advised people to move far enough up the Denon food chain to make sure that they were buying a Japanese made model. Lots of folks seem to be very happy with the higher end Denons, I'd just recommend that you avoid the lower end Chinese made stuff. As jzoz said, it's not really Denon. James

I'd second the Diana Krall "Live in Paris" DVD, if only because you get to see two Jazz masters - John Clayton on Bass and Jeff Hamilton on Drums - in action. I'd also recommend the Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense." In my view, the best recording of a rock concert ever made. I was tempted to pop it in to pick out individual tracks, but it's the middle of the afternoon and I'm supposed to be working.... Off the top of my head I'd say track 6: "Burning Down the House" and track 15: "Take Me to the River." James

Add another vote for the B&K. I haven't heard the Sunfire, but I did own a 375wpc Carver TFM-45. If the Sunfire sound is similar to it's Carver predecessor, I'd go for the B&K. James

For $15k you can do a lot better than Denon.... James

www.oppodigital.com

Yeah, Britney sells a lot of records too. As H.L. Mencken once said: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." Or, as our feckless leader would say, "missunderestimating." James

Actually, Bonnie Raitt's "Angel from Montgomery" is really John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery" - Bonnie just did a cover. Personally, I prefer the original. Bonnie & John do a live duet on the John Prine anthology "Great Days" on Rhino records (still prefer the original). James

Just think how much they'd save on hearing protection.... James

Just what, exactly, does "B-stock" mean? James

Looks like the P.E. version should fit with .33 mm to spare! Let us know. James

Sonoma County - Wine country. As we say around here, "you come to Sonoma for wine, you go to Napa for auto parts...." James

Damon: I don't know about your pre/pro, but in my experience, manufacturers will tell you NOT to plug an amplifier into the switched receptacle on a pre-amp. What does your manufacturer recommend? That being said, I've got an Optonica SM-4305 amp plugged into a switched receptacle on my Carver CT-17 pre-amp in the garage system and it works fine - but the Optonica is only 40 wpc & has a "soft" or delayed power on, so it doesn't draw a lot of current or cause a big transient spike when it powers up. James

"Mary" is gone, but "History of Violence" is still available if anyone wants it. James