So, I’m on my Boston Acoustics trip and I have to say, first off, no lobster. At least not at the house. Contrary to the beliefs of people on this and other boards, the lobster pot was NOT prelude to a real live lobster for me to eat. No, it was marketing speak for, “Hey, you’re going to eat lobster” which could have been said with the crackers and bib (or just a note for that matter) and not the oversized pot that, according to the directions, can’t be used on my glass top stove (maybe I can use it as a planter?).

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It doesn’t take long to realize that marketing people don’t come from the same gene pool as the rest of us. Blonde hair, blue eyes, chiseled physiques, vapid stares, marketing plans that make absolutely no sense… they all add up to a whole new species. Case in point, I’m going to a press event next month for a speaker manufacturer. I won’t mention the name but the event is held in Boston. Now this Acoustics company is announcing, um, something I guess, I have no idea. Gene asked if I wanted to go and I lied and said yes. The same day he asked I got in the mail, from the marketing firm I suppose, a lobster bib and two lobster crackers. Hey, I’m all about lobster so maybe this isn’t such a bad idea right?

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I’ve never shopped at a boutique store so I don’t know the types of return polices they have but I implore you to look into it before purchasing. I’ve just (like 5 minutes ago) received an Email from someone that purchased a system that sounds different in the home than it did in the showroom. Now he wants to know what to do about it. My suggestion? Take the speakers back.

All of you looking at purchases, speakers will ALWAYS sound different in your room than they do just about anywhere else. Case in point, J brought to the shootout a pair of speakers that I’ve heard before in his room. And they SUCKED!! Big time. Probably the worst speakers I’ve EVER heard in just about ANY room. So we set them up in Gene’s room and prepare ourselves for a good chuckle.

That never came.

In Gene’s room they didn’t sound half bad. They didn’t sound good, mind you, but they weren’t the dry-heave inspiring POS that they were in J’s. Are the speakers different? Not in the least. But the room was. When you take home those speakers you need to be prepared to take them back (or send them back if you went the Internet Direct route). Cause you never know how they’ll sound in your room.

Of course, you can add room treatments, EQ’s, futz with placement and positioning… or you can just keep shopping for speakers. What a reviewer likes is highly dependent on their personal preference and (most importantly in some cases) their room. Those speakers got those ratings in their room. Not yours. Your room might have a problem that accentuates a fault in the speaker. That additive effect might make a speaker that sounded tolerable (or even good) during a review the worst sounding speaker ever. One fault can do that. So be prepared to bring things back. You just might have to.

Get your attention? This has been the second heaviest week for Podcasting for me. Three with Dina (the second part of the Best Buy one got screwed up and we had to redo it) and two with J (expect a new Ask AVRant on the Tuesday). Now I’ve just got to edit all this crap and get it out to our adoring fans. Of course, editing is the fun part (for masochists – which I’m not) so I’ll have to get right on that. If, of course, I can get the review monkey off my back (fat chance) long enough to sit down and do a little editing. Seriously, Dina claims that her audio recording program will record but she can’t hear the playback so she can’t help! Really? Cause that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. And just about the last nail in the Mac coffin.

But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been looking out for you people. In an effort to keep you up to date to the SECOND of the goings on around here, I’ve installed Email notification into the website. What does this mean? You can get an Email sent to you the MINUTE someone posts a new blog or when the Podcast goes up. Look for the link on the top of the page or just click here. You can select the format, the specific blogs you want to subscribe too, and more. You don’t have to thank me but feel free to send me a “I’m Internet Famous” shirt in gratitude (the Bloody Kristy one is mighty nice too… especially if you have “Dina wuz here” silk screened on the bottom). Oh, and get one of these for yourself while you’re at it (I’m partial to the WWBD one myself but that’s just me).

They’ll be a special addition of Ask AVRant released tomorrow with our normal AVRant episode on Thursday. Who loves ya, baby?!

EDIT: Just found out that Dina went to Best Buy. She says she got a lot of good stuff so that’s what our next Podcast (on Thursday) will be about. That’s all I know. Should be good times.