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My brother and me are both avid tea drinkers-- and by avid, I mean several cups a day. I tend to prefer the light floral subtleties of a first flush darjeeling, while he prefers a more aggressive, almost musty tea, such as Pu'erh. I was shopping for a christmas gift, and read Teavana's...

Recently, I've noticed a lot of posts which seem to claim that Onkyo is, at best, the Bose of Japan-- overrated, sold alongside junk, what have you. I have an Onkyo TX-SR502. It's held up, nice ergonomics, but of course, it's not HDMI 1.3 enabled. So, eventually, eventully, I could see myself...

Asking $65 plus shipping. I prefer local pickup (fairfax, virginia), but can ship ups. cs1 center Black "Ash". Timbre matched to Polk Monitor speakers. They work. I think one of the grill attachment points is damaged. They're taking up space. sale pending

Last night, I finally sat down and watched Jean Pierre Melville's classic treatment of the professional hitman, Le Samouraï (1967). It's a very stylish movie. This moment stood out, however. This framing is immediately followed by this framing which neatly impresses upon the...

I saw this over at boingboing. The only function of the Suspicious Looking device is to appear as suspicious as possible, whether carried in hand or placed indiscrimately in public places. There's also a video of the thing in action

I've cobbled together a system in my living room, and I'm wondering what upgrades I should consider, and what just needs to be left in place. System is 50/50 music (jazz/rock/classical) and film/tv. Listening Volume is typically around 15-20 db below reference. Budget maximum: one thousand...

I recently reconfigured my stereo system (around a newer TV), and I've noticed that my speakers seem to be somewhat muddy, with a hump around 230 Hz (I was using DVE's rattle test, so my reading might not be that accurate.). This is not welcome, and I was wondering what effects (if any) higher...

I'm sort of in the market for a hdtv. My tuner died recently, and I'd like to get a replacement before the season starts. My current display does not support hdcp, and for those reasons, I'd like to get a new display, relegating the old to computer use. Here are my requirements. 16x9: I...

I have one Polk CS-1 center speaker for sale. Used for a few months, and then replaced by a B&W LCR3 (so as to gain advantages associated with timbre matching, and for this reason only). This is timbre matched with the Polk Monitor series. It's a decent speaker, clear, and focused. The...

OK, I went by a Bose store recently, and decided to umm, do some "opposition research." I really wanted to hear that "9ft wide violin". So, I ventured into their demo room, and started playing tunes. Wow! It was like mud. So, I'm thinking that the speakers aren't set up properly. They...

Frequently, I see "Digital Audio" being advertised as 20 Hz --- 20 kHz, roughly matching the frequencies audible to a young pair of ears. The sampling frequency imposes a upper limit of 22 kHz. Add in some gradual filters, and there's your 20 kHz. But where does the lower limit 20 Hz come from...

I'm thinking of upgrading my front speakers-- the ones I have are old, and have some problems. (Infinity RS-9). I was thinking of replacing them with some inexpensive Polk Monitors (30 or 40) but was somewhat unimpressed with the sound. I walked over to tweeter, and demoed a Polk RTI-4. Somewhat...

I'm looking for a multichannel audio switch, as I have two players. I don't want to pay an exorbitant amount of money, but I would like something that 1) requires one button push (preferably on a remote) 2) will not degrade the signal. To give some hint of my budget, here's my current...

I'm a bit curious about the basics of how a amplifier works, and how it relates to speaker impedence, power consumption, decibels, and so on. I'm not in the market for a new amplifier, I just would like to have at least some grounding in electrical engineering, so as not to be lost in any future...

After seeing the sizes of the SACD/DVD-Audio selection at tower, I've come to the conclusion, perhaps too hastily, that DVD-Audio is dying, but the market for classical and jazz SACDs seems a bit more robust. Pity. I liked DVD-Audio, despite any deficiencies in my player (an Oppo 971H). Having...

The other day, I was shopping around for a center channel. I saw a new Polk model (CS-M or some such) and I noticed that the nominal impedence was 4 ohm. This was obviously intended as an entry level speaker-- but I thought that low impedence speakers were handled best by (more expensive)...

I have a Onkyo 502, which has a global crossover setting (40,60,80,100,120,150). I have a Polk CS1 center and R15 surrounds (and vintage fronts capable of reproducing lower frequencies). Where should I set my crossover? I was thinking 80 Hz. The fronts have a -3db range pf 50--22k Hz The CS1...

I am in need of an inexpensive DVI switch. I'm hoping to be able to just plug this device in and have my Harmony remote control it. I need two DVI-D inputs (one for my DVD player, and one for my ATSC tuner) and, of course one DVI-D output. That's all. It doesn't even have to be HDCP...

I just got my oppo dv971h dvd player. Fine DVD player. It also supports dvd-audio-- so I got my first dvd-audio disc today "best of REM"-- more to find out what the fuss was about than anything else. I can't seem to figure out the oppo's settings for multichannel audio. On my receiver, I have...

It's my habit to "surf" the forums, looking for newbies who need help--usually it's a matter of finding the manual on amazon or crutchfield, downloading it, and translating the instructions into English.... On one of these threads, the subject of "Theater Reasearch" speakers was brought up...

Lately, I've been noticing that I spend a great deal of time with Grado SR-80s plugged into my PowerMac G4, listening to iTunes (ripped mostly from my own CDs). I listen to a lot of classical, some Jazz, the occasional folkie, and a lot of R.E.M., and U2. Some Sarah McLachlen. A right mishmash...

On a lark, I got Cecilia Bartoli's "Opera Proibita" recording, and immediatly played it on my Powermac G4 (the one with the mirrors on the drives) with Grado SR80 headphones plugged into the front headphone jack.. Sounds absolutely incredible. Later I played it on my Onkyo TX-SR502, and it...

Even though I've been on the forum for a bit, I still feel that this is a newbie type question: I was flipping through the menus of my atsc reciever, and noticed a certain feature: Enable Dynamic Range Compression The manual, as is usual for a samsung product, is a bit light on details...

I've been thinking of upgrading my center channel to something that can produce deeper bass, and perhaps mesh better with my fronts (old bookshelves that go down to 50 Hz). I've looked at center speakers, and have noticed that frequently, they are more expensive than a pair of bookshelf...

I'm trying to achieve as flat a response as possible between my speakers (Polk 6005 sats) and my subwoofer (dayton 10 inch), with an onkyo 502 driving the speakers. The subwoofer is hooked up to the lfe pre-out. (Yes, I know, it's unusual, and Polk does recommend using a Polk subwoofer, high...

My home theatre is a tad strange, cobbled together from various sale pieces and bits of cool technology. For playing DVDs, I use a Apple iBook, output to a VGA monitor. For sound, I use an m-audio Sonica USB, a cheap but effective spdif interface. Probably not the best setup, but upgrading to a...

I'm finally adding a subwoofer setup to my frankensteinish setup. The Dayton 10 inch is scheduled to be delivered today. I have an onkyo 502 receiver, currently hooked up to a pair of Infinity RS-9s and several Polk RM6005 satellites in a 6.1 configuration. I am hoping to add a bit of edgy...

I picked up a Harman/Kardon FL8385 open box at circuit city, as I wanted a CD Player to replace my iBook (which was mechanically noisy) for such things. I have a onkyo 502 reciever. I haven't bought (decent) interconnects yet, but I'm wondering whether getting good RCA cables will be worth...

I'm wondering if any of you are having difficulty receiving WETA-DT, (Channel 26.1, etc) using an off air tuner. The signal seems to be strong, but my tuner (a SIR-T165) can't decode it. Thanks, Jeremy

I noticed a very faint scratchy sound coming out of my speakers in a soft passage of music. This was quite annoying, so I muted playback and turned up the sound. At "Max" the scratchy sound was quite annoying, and proceeded, to isolate the problem, removing antennae, switching speakers, etc...