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skonopa

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  1. I know it is a friggan long time since I was last on here (probably at least a good year and half). I just got bored with the forum and was busy doing other things, like skiing, working out, running, and so forth. Lets put it this way, since September of 2013, I've lost over 50 pounds. Hell, just this morning (Memorial day), I ran my very first 10K run and posted a pretty respectable 48:13 time. Anyway, just this past Saturday evening, I, along with Larry Clare and Marty (thebes) was up in Bethesda at the Strathmore music center and saw a performance of Shuman's Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Opus 61 by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra which was being conducted by a guest conducer, Markus Stenz. According to the article in this applause magazine they hand out at the performance, he is the principle conductor for the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a while since I took in a good symphony performance. Just wish it was not such a PITA for me to get up there through some of the worst traffic in this country- would've LOVED to seen that performance of Pictures at an Exhibition back in April. This was actually a very refreshing break from all the hard rock/heavy metal concerts I've been at lately. For example, I just saw Delain, Sabaton, and Nightwish just the prior Thursday, and will be seeing Rush this next Saturday on the 30th. I've also been doing semi-professional concert photography for the past year or so and invested in some pretty nice photography gear. The evening started out with dinner at the Oakville Grill and Wine Bar. Excellent food was served and made for a very nice relaxing dinner before the show. The actual concert started out with a performance of Overture to Der Freischutz composed by Carl Maria von Weber. This is actually a very fascinating piece. Starts out kinda slow and somewhat ominous, but really starts to pickup at about 4:30 in. Unfortunately, the conductor could've put a bit more "oomph" in the performance. My first impression I thought it was kinda boring until it started to really pickup with a nice strong finish. Larry pointed this YouTube video showing a more more interesting performance of this same piece: This was followed up by Strauss' Four Last Songs. I got to attend a lecture before the concert and the lecturer pointed out some really fascinating information about this. First, these four songs ("Fruling (Spring)", "September", "Beim Schlafengehen (Going to Sleep)", "Im Abendrot (Sunset)", were never intended to be presented together as they are. This was done posthumously as a way "sell" these songs together as a complete performance. The soprano, Heidi Melton, did a fantastic job in singing those songs. She had a good strong, powerful voice, that was also very beautiful and melodic as well. I found the second of these four songs, "September" to be particularly beautiful. Also, here, I think the conductor did a much better job in getting a good performance out of the orchestra compared to the first piece of the evening. Also, was quite convenient that there was a lyric sheet with both the original German text and the English translated included in the evenings program. Nice touch also that they brought the house lights up a touch during this part of the performance to make it easier for everyone to be able to read and follow along with the lyric sheet. Intermission followed (tip - pre-order your drink at the bar before the show, so you don't have to wait in line to get one during intermission. I did and there it was, sitting on the counter, and ready for me to enjoy when I came out). Was a beautiful evening weather-wise, so it was really nice to go out on the patio and enjoy some fresh air during intermission. The evening finished up with the four-movement Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Opus 61 by Robert Schumann. Seems this is very underrated piece in much of the musical academic circles. The Larry C mentioned this to me after the performance and in fact, the lecturer during the pre-concert lecture also mentioned this. He was indicating it seem to fall outside of what many considered "mainstream" at the time (i.e., the Beethovens, Mozarts, Bramhs, etc) I personally thought this was actually a very interesting and brilliant piece of orchestration. I guess the fact that much of the music that I personally listen to is very much outside what is also considered mainstream, so I can really appreciate a piece that can be a bit daring sometimes (take for instance, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Having seen that myself as well, I almost considered that very "progressive" akin to much of the progressive rock and metal that I normally listen to). I will admit that the particular performance that I say this evening was actually very well done, considering the somewhat lackluster start to the evening with that opening Overture piece. One part that I thought quite fascinating is during the third movement there is a somewhat quiet passage with a very gothic, "churcy" feel to it. I just thought it was just so cool how it sounded there. In addition, I was told during that lecture that the Scherzo during the second movement is just "loved" by the violinists, in that it is a difficult passage to learn and perform well. The string section at the BSO did an excellent job in performing that section. Overall, it was a very nice evening of music and sharing it with a few good friends.
  2. Major bummer dude! I know the feeling when my brand-new TV arrived with a big crack in the panel. At least, I got it at the local Best Buy (and actually got it cheaper than even Amazon had it for!), so it was easy for me to go back to the store and raise hell with them to get a replacement. Same here. When it comes to things like this, I much rather deal locally, either with an actual dealer or finding one on Craigslist for local pickup. Likewise, if I need to sell something like that and insist on local pickup with cash in person only. I cannot even remember the last time I've bought anything on eBay. I don't know if my account even still works anymore since it has been years since I last logged in.
  3. Just saw Fates Warning the Friday after Thanksgiving (the 29th). Those guys put on one AWESOME show!
  4. People who own an RC-7 typically keep them. Not sure Christmas would make them all of a sudden want to sell it. Exactly. I have two RC-7s and I don't plan on getting rid of either one of them anytime soon. Anyway, to pretty much confirm what was already said in this thread, the RC-7 is definitely the speaker to get to pair with the RF-5s, assuming one can be found for a decent price. I have both RF-5s and RF-7s in my rig and the RC-7s matches incredibly well with either of those.
  5. Tell me about it. I was putting my RC-7 up on the shelf above my TV, only to have my hand slip with my thumb going into one of the drivers. Put a huge crease right there in the driver. I was really pissed, as that was brand-new RC-7. However, it did not affect the performance, but still, I wanted to try to keep my speakers as pristine as possible. Did end up eventually getting a replacement driver and swapped that in, so it all looks new again.
  6. There is one with Jubs, with a Belle center, at 08 seconds. I was trying to step through it slowly to see if mine made it in. Even if it did, it would be woefully out of date. Once I get my new pre-amp later this winter, I'll have to post a new one, with the new TV and all.
  7. I figured I'd try Marantz's website (I know, to easy). Go figure that they don't a manual for this particular unit available. I guess that would be to easy, wouldn't be? I then did find this link: http://audio.manualsonline.com/support/other/stereo-system/user-contributed-manual-for-a-marantz-home-stereo-system-182512 However, when I tried to download the PDF, but the stupid thing wanted me to sign up for some bull$#!+ account. No thanks. If you want to try, that is your prerogative, but I am not going to give out my name and email if I don't have to. Did you try contacting Marantz themselves? Maybe they can send you one or point you to where to download a PDF version. Marantz Customer Service hours: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM ET, M-F Tel: 800-654-6633 If that does not work, try... Tech & Operational Support hours: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM ET, M-F Tel. 201-762-6666 Fax. 201-762-6687 Parts
  8. im not so sure about this statement. you saying that a rw-12d is as clean sounding as your chase 18.2 at 30 hz? cause i doubt it Great point there. I would have to agree. Just don't see how an inferior sub would sound the same as a high end sub just because it's playing below 40Hz. I would think the opposite is true. Perhaps, but I was able to successfully integrate an RW-12d alongside a REL Storm III in my system with good results. That was only because back when Tweeter went out of business, I managed to score an RW-12d dirt cheap. Looking back, wish I also grabbed that RT-10d that was there as well. I guess a lot has to do with your setup as well as how the sub itself sounds.
  9. No desire to have monitor or TV in the living room at the present time. The reason I connected both digital and analog cables is the digital cable actually sounded better on certain disks that I tried when I originally setup the 2ch system. My guess is when it uses the Analog cables, the DAC in the Marantz is being used and when it uses the Toslinc, the DAC in the HK is being used. Is that correct? I have a cheap little TV that I used to setup a DVD player in a two-channel rig I had setup in my basement. I think I paid about $150 for that thing. I had the TV hooked up long enough to get everything setup in the DVD player and after that, unplugged it and put it away in a closet down there. No need to keep it hooked up all the time, but handy to have when it is necessary to make adjustments to the settings. Turned out that little TV came in handy when my new plasma TV arrived with a crack in it. I still wanted to hook everything else up, so that little TV was useful in testing everything out. Once the replacement plasma TV arrived, I was able to just swap out the little TV and put it away. But yes on the second part. When hooked up via analog, the DVD player's DAC is doing the decoding/conversion, since the output is analog (thus the digital to analog conversion has to be done in the DVD before sending the analog signal out to the receiver). When hooked up via TOSLINK, the DAC in the receiver/pre-amp is doing the decoding/conversion, since the TOSLINK is a digital connection, thus the digital to analog conversion is then has to be done in the receiver. Of course, you can get an outboard DAC if you are interested in two-channel. You would plug the DVD player via TOSLINK to the DAC and then the DAC is plugged into the receiver via analog. May be worth considering as good ones are now available for pretty reasonable prices.
  10. I saw ZZ Top myself a couple of summers ago right here in Fredericksburg. They were on with 3 Doors Down and Gretchen Wilson. Was a pretty cool show. Figured, hey, the venue is only about mile and half from my place, so might as well go and see it.
  11. Update! Best Buy did indeed deliver a replacement this past Wednesday (13th). This time, since everything else was already setup, I just simply cleared out that little TV I had in place as a temporary hold-over. I got the delivery guys to unbox and setup the replacement TV as well as both myself and the delivery guys did a thorough investigation of the replacement set. It was flawless. Since it was pretty cold that day, I had to let it sit for a good half-hour or so before plugging it in and turning it on. At that point, I just went back to work (as this just happened to be my lunchtime break). I then spent the last couple of days getting all the connections all setup the way I want to with the rest of my rig and tested everything else. I've heard about the "CNET Settings". I also found a set of "Sound&Vision" settings that I went and applied (before I knew about the "CNET settings". The S&V settings seem to work really nice with my particular unit and room, plus they have separate settings for both the 2D and 3D modes, which the CNET settings did not. I will get professional calibration done, but will let the TV break in the 300 hours or so that has been recommended. Also, the delivery guys only took away the cracked TV itself (and power cord). They told me to go ahead and keep the rest of it, which was fine with me. That ended up giving me two additional pairs of 3D glasses and a spare remote. With those 3D glasses going for $80/pair, I'll take it as a nice compensation for having to deal with the inconvenience of getting a replacement set. Anyway, I am REALLY impressed with just how awesome this TV looks. To be honest, I don't think there is anything that looks this good short of getting an OLED 4K set (which does not even exist yet). I have not tried any of the 3D stuff yet, though. Especially considering that I don't have any 3D content on hand, nor a 3D-capable player (although, supposedly the PS/3 can now play 3D movies). Yeah, I could've probably gotten a screen and projector, but such a setup just simply does not work and is not practical in this particular room, so I opted to get what is arguably the best TV that is currently available right now. I am certainly happy with what I got here and hope this thing will last me as long as my trusty ol' Mitsu did (and that Mitsu is still going strong, thus why I am going to try to sell it on craigslist - I just don't want to junk it. Failing that, I'll see if the local homeless shelter could use it. And failing that, it will be interesting to try to load it in the back of my truck and take it to my ski house up in the mountains to replace that ancient 32-inch TV that is currently there). Hopefully by the time I am ready to retire this unit, that elusive 4K OLED set will be readily available for a decent price.
  12. You are not just going to show up in cut-off shorts and a "wife beater" shirt like I do? In all seriousness, you don't need to dress all up in tuxes and the like to go to the symphony. I just pretty much wear the same thing like I wear to work, basically a nice pair of pants and shirt. I don't bother with ties and suits and the like, although I've seen people dress up in suits. At the same time, I've also seen people wearing shorts and t-shirts there as well.
  13. The last "Rock" concert I was at was ProgPower XIV in Atlanta, GA back in September. I am one of the sponsors of the show, thus I had full VIP access. that means I was able to get right up next to the stage in front of the crowd barrier to get some pictures: Sabaton: Damnation Angels: In the Silence: Just this past Friday, I did attend a classical performance - Holst - The Planets with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Marian Alsop conducting. On the 29th (the day after Thanksgiving), I'll be seeing Fates Warning at Empire.
  14. Is that a pic of the broken one working? I am actually curious myself. If you still have the broken one, did you try hooking it up and see if it still works? If it does and the crack does not affect the image quality (since it is there in the extreme corner), may make for a good "back-up" or second TV.
  15. i probably could, but it won't happen. And for multiple reasons: In this particular room, a projector and screen is just not practical at all. Yeah, I could renovate one of the rooms down in the basement to put in a dedicated theater with projector and screen, and I even gave it serious consideration, but in the end I would probably hardly, if ever, actually use it. I use this rig for much more than just watching movies. In fact, movies is a very tiny fraction of what I use this rig for. I find I watch quite a bit of "regular" TV, such as football games and things off of History Channel. I also like to play video games on this rig as well. These are just much better served with a good, high-end TV than with a projector and screen. There is much more to it than size. For example, I've yet to see a projector come even CLOSE to the quality of image that this particular TV is capable of displaying, short of getting one of those ridiculously expensive, really high-end units. Yeah, the image a projo puts out may be bigger, but if it looks like $#!+..... Just like it is a lot more than how much wattage your amp is a capable of putting out. It may put out 200 watts, but if it sounds like a$$..... Granted, I've seen some pretty nice pictures from some of those projectors, but not good enough to still overcome reasons #1 and #2 for my needs and usage. So yeah, as somebody already pointed out, a projector and screen is not always practical and is certainly not the end-all-be-all of video display solutions.
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