Islander

Some concepts take an awfully long time to become obvious or believable to the man on the street. Newton's theories are leading edge for some folks.

Good job, coytee! After reading that, I really think I ought to finally get around to getting a will organized. I don't know about anybody else, but I don't really like thinking about this stuff. Even so, sometimes you just have take care of business.

Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky. It is more than 1000 light years away. ... so ... how significant should we really be feeling, right about now? astro 5:

astro 4:

astro 3:

another view:

Now, THIS is really fascinating - I've never really given it much thought, but it's rather dazzling to see it presented this way.

I bought a few old LPs that were marked "Studio Only. Not for Re-sale."

Why not check him out on Youtube? It's far from hi-fi, but it'll give you an idea what his music's about. http://youtube.com/results?search_query=Jaco+Pastorius&search_type=

Colour is a matter of taste, so what looks good to you is right. The black La Scalas show the dust a little more, but they also tend to look a little smaller in the room, especially in a dark corner. La Scalas aren't very tall and mine no longer look big at all, to my eyes at least.

In the '90s (or was it the '80s?), whenever I heard Roxy Music's Dance Away, no matter what bad thing had just happened, I would feel better right away. You know, the one that goes "Dance away the heartaches, dance away the tears..." Ska music always cheers me up, too:

Nice shot, Michael! Well exposed with detail showing. I was able to watch the live eclipse out the east-facing window beside my monitor and watch the simulated eclipse on my Starry Nights program on the monitor at the same time. That's the second time that's happened in the last three or four years.

Not to worry. Rome (or your dream system) wasn't built in a day. You'll get there.

For in-wall applications, you should use CL3 rated UL approved cable for safety and to conform to electrical codes. 12 or 14 gauge should be plenty big enough to transmit musical transients without diminishing them. Undersize cable can reduce the "punch" of some music and effects. You can get it here for $.55 a foot for 14 gauge and $.75 a foot for 12 gauge. 100 feet (30m) of the 12 gauge is only $68.99. http://www.knukonceptz.com/productMaster.cfm?category=KL3%20Kable As for your other questions, the metal in cable doesn't really age, but the insulation could eventually become dry and brittle. If your Monster cable is still working and not looking aged, it should be okay. For the surrounds, "good enough" cable should sound as good as "premium" cable, since most of the detail will come from the front channels.

I don't know what your budget is and it looks like you're having fun, but have you thought of trading your Heresies for Heresy IIs and then doing the Heresy III upgrade?

Klipsch sells angled risers made specifically for the Heresy speakers to put them at an ideal height and angle and they're not very expensive.

Mad Sunday. It's a good thing they make the road one way for the day, so the Joey Dunlop wannabees are less likely to plant themselves into the grilles of any oncoming trucks or cars. Thanks for the link. And now for something completely different: The Purple Helmets stunt team. They perform at the TT and at various other races, as well as at some bike shows. Check out Methane Man, with the methane powered Honda 90.

Yeah, I wondered about that 5-way idea. They'll take bare wire, bananas or spades. What are the other two "ways"?

Great prices on tracking force scales there, too. Thanks for the link.

Nowadays only the higher-end Yamaha receivers have phono inputs. Mine's an RX-V750 and it was the lowest of the range with a phono input when it came out in 2005.

The last time I saw them was in 1993 in Toronto and Fee Waybill was in fine form. It looks like there's a Tubes movie coming out next month. Hope it makes it to my town.

Maybe it's a relative size thing. "See, when I stand beside this La Scala, I look like a size 4!"

Notice how with high-horsepower vehicles like that, you hardly ever get to use full throttle, because the straights seem so short, even on a less twisty course than this one. Also, did you notice all the skid marks into that left-hander near the end? I suspect a few drivers had to check their shorts after skidding into that one...

Does your receiver have a phono input? Many modern receivers don't, although if your remote has a Phono button, yours likely does. Double-check your connections to be sure you're using the phono input, or the volume will be super-low. I'm not implying you're clueless, just reminding you to check the obvious things first. The output of phono cartridges is much lower than that of CD players and the like, a few millivolts compared to 1 or 2 volts, so turntables need a phono pre-amp, which would be be included in a receiver with a phono input. The lower output means that the volume will be noticeably lower with vinyl than with CDs. On my Yamaha receiver, I listen to CDs at -30 to -40dB, but with records I have to turn the voume up to -12 to -20dB. That's normal. Is the cartridge on your record player moving magnet (MM) or moving coil (MC)? Moving coil cartridges have even lower output and will need a separate phono pre-amp or booster. The receiver's built-in phono pre-amp is only meant for MM cartridges and won't provide enough boost for an MC cartridge. There should be a reference to that in your owner's manual.

Guiness, anyone?