In a recent podcast, I mentioned a story by a listener David. Here is the entirety of his email:

Around this time last year, as a favor, my girlfriend and I babysat for her co-teacher’s infant. In the same spirit of the season we were planning on going over there again tonight. My girlfriend called to make sure we were still on for tonight. At some point during this call she was told something to the effect of, don’t let David touch the electronics. Read more…

Listener Ted had this to say about his recent purchase of a Samsung BD-P2500.

For this holiday season, I ordered for myself a Samsung BD-P2500 at a GREAT price (around $200 after various discounts).

I was so excited because it would have great upconversion (Reon-VX), and internally decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA via its 7.1 analog outs–I have an old receiver without HDMI.

So for $200, I could get Blu-ray and high-def audio and not have to shell out for a new AVR.

But, alas, that would turn out not to be true. Read more…

So… hesitant to get into the Blu-ray game? Maybe you don’t want to buy the uber cheap ones n Black Friday afraid you’ll get upgraditius. Listener Ted sent me this suggestion:

I just bought a brand new Samsung BD-P2500 Blu-ray player from Ebay for $235.

The price was $335 (inc. shipping), but Microsoft gives you 30% cash back if you go through their cash back program, up to $200. For my purchase, I got about $100 back.

This is how it works: Read more…

Alex sent me his experiences with Audyssey’s Dynamic EQ. You listeners will note that this is in pretty direct conflict from my own limited experience at the SOTU event. I think this is great as Alex has really taken the time to test it out. I can’t wait to get a receiver with these features (including Dynamic Volume) and see how I like them in my room under extended tests. Feel free to share your own experience in the comment section.

Note – if you’ve read this before, check it out again. Listener Rick had something to say that I added. Read more…

Jon had some more to say about the economy:

Now The Times has weighed in. You have to read these articles carefully since these people generally have no idea what they’re talking about, but there are a few noteworthy things.

First, HDTV is a category that is up, no doubt reflecting the dramatic improvement that HD provides. Second, we see substitution effects, though not the type I predicted last week. Thank God it’s only an anecdote. Otherwise, I might have been wrong. Read more…