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Keep 500 or so in heavy rotation close by and in nice looking bins and less used in a spare bedroom. Then move as necessary. No way you listen to 1,200 in a few months

I use a Dell Latitude 5289 12 Inch 2-in-1 Convertible daily to run my business as a software developer. Super light, very fast converts to a tablet with a very nice touch screen. Touch screen is way too shiny so shows lots of finger prints. Other than that no complaints. I've had several Latitudes over the year all very reliable and will take a beating. The last 3 or 4 I've bought have been through their Outlet. You can really get a good deal if you figure out the exact configuration you want then check back 2 or 3 days in a row till one shows up and buy immediately. Never a problem with Scratch and Dent, Returned or Refurbished. I agree that a backlit keyboard is a nice to have and a SSD drive it mandatory....well not quite but once you have one you don't want to go back.

I know you said no to Ikea, but with a bit of engineering, like building your own Belle speakers, you should be handy enough to find a generic piece of furniture with adjustable shelves. Use the holes for the shelf holders to put a rod across. Then you could end up with the ability to view them and flip through them like a record store. Me I was lazy and bought the rods from Germany. Arrived in less than a week. Have not had time to buy the Ikea Billy and try it out. Hoping soon. Seems totally DIY with a bit of effort. https://www.recordbilly.com/

I have a deck above my walkout basement with a product called "Dry space". So the deck is effectively 1 story above my pool area. The Dry Space diverts all the rain water to a gutter at the far end of the deck. Think screened in porch WITHOUT the screen for 40x14 feet in front of my pool. Covered/shaded above you but all sides open to the elements. What I find with my "normal" TV is incredible glare off the glass of the TV. No amount of brightness or contrast makes it viewable from the pool. If you are 5 feet away under the shaded deck it is fine. I'm hoping to get okay, not great, viewing from the actual pool. Right now you have to be out of the water sitting at a table to make is useful. Mind you it is sunny and lots of reflections from the pool water. Long term goal is to casually watch the Tour de France for 2-3 hours while floating in the pool with a drink in hand. Then move closer for critical viewing the last 45 minutes or so and maximize my outdoor time in July. I think it will be great for those first few football games of the season when the weather is too nice to be inside.

To test the waters I took my cheap Costco 42"er out and ran wires through a slightly open window. Quite a bit of reflection the screen even in partial shade. I'm guessing the dedicated outdoor TVs must have some sort of matte finish or a way to negate reflections

Seems like lots of you have outdoor living spaces. Any of you have a TV outside? What lessons learned can you share?

So what was the solution?

What happens when nothing up stream from Xilica is turned on? Just Xilica and amps on?

Check my post here with exact quote from Xilica. Page 2 about half way down https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/178692-xlr-to-unbalanced-rca-to-phoenix/page/2/

To and from Xilica all balanced or some/all RCAs? On my RCAs Xilica customer service told me to wire all 3 as normal to the Phoenix connections and on the RCA end solder negative AND shield to whatever the non-signal "thing" is called. Sorry not too technical, but hopefully you get the idea. All my cables are 3-wire balanced Beldin brilliance. Using an RCA and jumper at the Xilica end did not sound as quiet to me, but even when I had them that way nothing was really noisy. Hope this helps

I've been to Ocracoke many times, never knew that. Thanks for posting!

If you are still looking I have near perfect Forte II. Original owner, with original boxes and some paperwork/glossy adverts. I'm not really in your Raleigh-Knoxville range but on the east coast north of Baltimore close enough to D.C. and Philly. If interested and your travels bring you close by let me know via PM. I'm not actively selling but would like to see them land in a good home that would appreciate and love them like I have. Lots of sentimental value, but never use them anymore.

Bumping this since a lot were away for an extended 4th holiday. Any feedback on Savant? I'm interested specifically in the audio/video end of things. Not really interested in controlling my thermostat or blinds/shades. On a somewhat related matter any of you have a easy/simple/failsafe way of taking HDMI output and branching it out to several (3 or 4) locations? I'm more concerned with set it and forget it, I want it to work with zero effort once set up. Cost (to a point) is less important than user experience. I don't want to constantly be turning things off/on to get them to talk or fussing with it.

In honor of @Allan Songer Allan's avitar. Plus a bunch more. Acoustic Sounds got me with their 4th discount.

Really nice job