So I go to City Hall today to take care of some business stuff and I am ushered into a room with a woman who will help me get what I need accomplished. On her desk are a pair of Altec Lansing speakers. They are the tiny satellite kind that appear in offices all over the United States I’m sure. What was unusual about them (so I thought) was their positioning. One pointed at the side wall next to her desk (it was a corner-oriented computer arrangement) – the other pointed completely sideways. SIDEWAYS. Neither was oriented correctly to deliver any sort of coherent stereo image. I’m relegated to the fact that girls don’t care about sound. They just don’t. If they hear anything at all it’s fine. Read more…
Yeah, so Tom and I got a bit ancy and decided to do a little Home Makeover on AVRant. The idea was to give it a more palatable look and feel that also enabled us to invite some more content into the exposed areas that previousy were not used very efficiently. We’ve gone from 2 columns to 3 and are now able to “front and center” some really cool info. We can also do some polls – and yes, we added some banners. But seriously, this podcast is NOT about the money. If we can bring in a little more, however, then we’ll be able to podcast more frequently – and that’s nice for everyone… well, maybe except for Dina. I think she has quite enough of Tom as it is…
Let us know what you think!
Today, Tom and Clint tackle listener questions including one on room acoustics and what to do with bipolar music speakers. Tom psychoanalyzes a $6 million dollar home theater system and they tackle the age old question of whether to spend more money on a receiver or get a dedicated amplifier instead – they’ll tell you what they think and why. Wiring up your house? Terminated cables or roll your own? Sooner or later everyone has to make this decision – and sometimes you’ll do a little of both. Planet Waves has a nice little kit that might be the home theater enthusiast’s dream come true. We’ll try to do these special AVRant Q&A podcasts more often from here on out. Thanks for listening.
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I’m just going to get this out into the open, OK. I just saw the teaser trailer for Star Trek 2008 and it’s making me really really want to go see it – like opening night. It’s going to star Zachary Quinto as Spock (and also guest Star Nimoy as well) and it features young versions of the entire primary crew, including Kirk, McCoy, Sulu, Scotty, Uhura, and Chekov. It’s being Directed by JJ Abrams (Lost, Alias…) and looks to be a very promising film.
What’s exciting about this film is that the cast and stories we all love about Star Trek actually have a chance at being resurrected once again. The original cast are either fat, obese, super pudgy, or dead. The original series had an incredible amount of charisma that has not really been recaptured in any of the subsequent iterations of the franchise. Don’t get me wrong, I love what they did with the other series, but there’s something special about Kirk, Spock and McCoy and to be able to experience that again is going to be fun. Read more…
Boy, did I get some eye openers this Christmas. Talking to my family, I decided to ask some probing questions and just take in the perspective that non-enthusiasts had regarding high definition, flat panels and the world of home theater in general. What I found was a mix between disturbing and humorous.
People are being forced into HD. They could just about care less… Read more…
