Austin - next HTF meet planning (1 Viewer)

[Jacob Aaron]

Steve- Sorry I couldn't make it the other night, my fiance got in a car wreck and totalled the Xterra (yeah! new car!).

Do you want three for blind testing or just the party?

If its just the party you're good to go. If its blind testing, Scott has to inform us.

I've got some goodies planned besides giving away UT tickets. I'll be giving away DVDs and LPs.

 

[Scott Oliver]

For blind testing, I think we have 12 spots pretty much filled although a few parties still haven't confirmed initial interest, but I am giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Then we have on the waiting list:
Fredrick
Rene and wife
and Greg R.?

My thoughts for the testing portion is that we keep the number to twelve for the actual testers that will be blindfolded and sitting in the best listening locations. I am guessing that these first few folks on the waiting list could attend and either just not be an official tester or they could be judges or assistants, etc. I think if we get about 16 attendees to the blindtesting portion then we can probably easily divide up between the 12 that really want to do the blind-testing and other that would rather just assist in any way. For example, I am there, but I really am not insistent on having to be a blind tester, in fact I will be the first to volunteer as a judge to run or assist in running one of the tests.

 

[Steve Stogel]

Hey, Jacob. Sounds like your fiance is okay. Sorry about the Xterra, but that's what insurance is for. I'm RSVPing for the party afterwards, not the blind testing. If you and/or your fiance are up for poker, though, Stogel house, every Tuesday until further notice, 7:00. Bring lots of fives (buy-ins are $5-10)

Steve

 

[Colin Dunn]

Scott -

I wasn't planning on doing the blind test portion of the meet, just the store visit / lunch / shop talk part. You may give my spot for blind testing to someone else who is more interested in that part.

 

[Jacob Aaron]

Gomez- Why do you want to replace your 3805 with a Pre-Pro? Your 3805 is only decent for its processing, its amplification is its weakest point. I'd suggest buying an amplifier or a GOOD DVD player. DVD player because you can improve your picture and better yet the sound you want from stereo listening. A NAD T533 is IMHO the best buy for under $500 out there. Its a great DVD player and has good DVD-A abilities as well. With the NAD you would be playing CDs again. However next year's NAD players will have HDMI outputs so waiting isn't a bad idea either.

OR

Buy an amp. A really big powerfully clean amp that you wouldn't plan on upgrading would be your best bet. This will all be up to your ear, but I'd suggest listening to any of the NAD, Sherwood Newcastle, Anthem, Linn, Cinepro, Theta, or Classe amps. Some people might suggest Rotel, Krell, Lexicon, but I suggest staying away from gear that gets sold at discounted prices to protect your investment if you ever need to sell your EQ on Audiogon. Anthem, Cinepro, and Theta are some of the best amps right now at holding their costs.

If you LOVE 2 channel but just haven't been able to give it what it deserves I'd suggest buying a stereo amp for your fronts or two Monoblocks, and then adding a multichannel amp for the rest. This would give you better sound for CD listening, and still give you great sound for your movies.

I'd wait 2 years to upgrade your LCD too. HD2+ quality DLPs will be priced in the $2k and under category in 2 years. You already have a good LCD that will holdup in that time frame. 2006 will be the year that HDTV prices and HDTV projectors will drop drastically.

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Jacob, good advice on future projector prices. I know T.I.'s future chip roadmap, and there's good stuff ahead!

BTW, who is Frank?

 

[Gomez]

Sorry for the confusion, I do not want to replace my 3805, I was just wondering if adding a pre-pro would add to it? sounds like I can get away with buying an amp which may be cheaper. I do want to upgrade my dvd player but sounds like I should wait a year before I make that purchase. I'm definitely going to wait on upgrading the pj as well. Thanks for the great info Jacob this definitely helps!

Hank look for an email from Frederick, I may need your input/assistance (if you're interested/willing) to build an arm rest for my new Tx Hold em poker table. I have an idea as to what I want but I just don't have the tools/carpentry skills when it comes to building things. I would ask the guy that built my table but he's working on another project. Sorry to switch subjects but I just wanted to give you a heads up.

Gomez

 

[Mark J]

Guys,

I have a friend who wants to come along. Is there room for one more (for the party afterwords, not the blind listening)?

--Mark

 

[Scott Oliver]

Bring him Mark there is still room.

As for the Blind-testing it is full.
I will make a roster of RSVP's for the open house porion but I think we are at least ten away from our max.

 

[ReneZam]

hey chad..hope you and yours are ok im watching the news here at work and i see a plane just crashed in or near lakeway...how about a radio check..make sure youre still with us...

 

[Rich Lowz]

Hello,

I would like to come to the open house at your new store if there is still room, I was at a meet about three years ago at Colin's house. I was invited by Greg Risley at the time.

Thank You,


Rich Lowz

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

He should be safe and sound. The only fatalities were the six people on the plane and it hit a home on Hills Drive a few miles from the Anson's. Amazingly the residents of the house were reportedly at home at the time, but managed to get out before it was engulfed in flames.

My mother-in-law flies in and out of that airport all the time and is always quick to comment how dangerously close many of the homes are to both ends of the runway. In this case, it appears the plane had some kind of malfunction just after take-off.

Also, the plane may have been fully loaded and with the current conditions the pilot may have accidentally stalled the plane trying to gain altitude following their takeoff.

It is a terrible tragedy.

 

[Jeff Meininger]

Such sad news. The Lakeway crash hits close to home. I'm currently in flight training at Georgetown Municipal airport. We share a radio frequency with Lakeway, so I hear the friendly airport chatter over there quite often. I read their airpark newsletter every month, and constantly daydream about someday being able to buy one of those airpark homes. I even keep track of the real estate listings so that I'll be prepared if I find a winning lottery ticket in the gutter or something. So I'm not a Lakeway resident, but I'm a Lakeway wannabe. The news is pretty sobering. I feel awful for everyone involved. I don't expect I'll hear any happy radio chatter on the airwaves from 3R9 tomorrow.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Jeff,

Even if you win the lottery you may want to consider a contingency plan. Apparently the Lakeway airport has been under pressure to close down for quite sometime due to the close proximity of so many homes and unfortunately this accident may be the nail that closes the lid on this very convenient airport.

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

That is a tradegy and I feel for the survivors of those who died. I'm sure that close proximity of houses had nothing to do with the crash, but Nils is probably correct, in that "officials" seem to look for a quick "official" action to appear to "fix" a problem. In this case, the fix may be closing the airstrip. I have a flying friend at work who bought a house on the airstrip at Lakeway. He's such a flying fanatic that he's a DIY-er and has been building/assembling a plane for a year. I haven't been out to see it but planned to. If the airstrip gets closed because of this accident, he's going to be one bummed-out guy.:frowning:

 

[Jeff Meininger]

Yeah, I wouldn't be suprised at all if Lakeway airpark was shut down after this. Even Georgetown airport has had to bow to the city under pressure of the residents that moved into houses that a developer built right along the fence of the pre-existing airport. They want GTU shut down, and it was there first! I don't think that's going to happen, but they've successfully lobbied to ensure that the airport is not allowed to expand operations, or even build new hangars on its own property.

The simple fact of the matter is that it will be very hard to convince people in Lakeway that planes aren't going to start crashing into their houses. There is no convincing rational argument that you can make when your neighbor's house just got destroyed by a plane. And unlike the situation in Georgetown, Lakeway residents truly have the power to shut the airpark down.

Hank: Your friend buying that house must have been an aviator's dream-come-true. I aspire to the same dream, so I can imagine how bummed he'd be. It will also have a pretty steep financial impact on him; the hangar homes all have market prices that are inflated compared to similar houses across the street (or even their own tax appraisal values). Without the runway there, the premium that those houses command (that he must have paid when he bought the house) will dissapear. I know in Lago Vista, the runway lots have deeded taxiways. Perhaps the city of Lakeway will have to compensate airpark homeowners if the strip is closed, as in imminent domain cases.

 

[Chad Anson]

Pretty scary stuff, that's for sure. We nearly bought a house very close to the one that was hit before we stumbled across our current house which had a much higher dedicated theater potential ("DTP").

I don't know what the right answer is, but hopefully the powers that be act in the best interest of the community and pilots rather than reacting rashly in the heat of the moment.

I feel for your friend Hank, but maybe you can convince him to convert the hangar into the worlds biggest residential woodworking shop? Just tryting to turn lemons into lemonaid.

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Or, Austin's biggest HT??

 

[Scott Oliver]

Jacob,

How about an update on the meet and your store?

 

[mike_frontier]

If there's still room, please add me to the MIX.

Also since I am in shopping mode for a new receiver, this might be a benefit for me and also Jacob Thanks, Mike