AV Rant #378: Ars Estray
This week, we’ve got listener Kevin to thank for supporting the podcast. This week, we are truly international with questions from Canada, Mexico, and India. Rob and Tom tell us where they stand on movie memorabilia. Zach shares an infinite baffle subwoofer that may make Infinite Gary jealous. We get updates from Eliezer, Abby, and Michael. Rob makes some suggestions on HD audio websites. Rohan makes the classic post-buying blunder, but Tom and Rob put his mind at ease. Will’s got some questions about home automation, Paul’s BUD conversion is ongoing, and Ron wants to know how to compare speakers. David is interested in our take on Darbee while Kevin has a unique idea for a speaker arrangement and wants to know what we think. Everyone we missed this week will be covered next. Hold on folks, we’ll get to your questions as soon as we can. Thanks for listening. Now, don't forget to:
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AV Rant Listener Zach —
thought that AV Rant Listener Gary (we call him “Infinite Gary” :p ) might enjoy some company in infinite baffle subwoofer land.
Zach found these plans for an absolutely insane infinite baffle subwoofer system (Tom & Rob both think it’s ridiculous and won’t even sound good at all). But if you want to see the lengths to which some people will go to get single digit Hz bass, have a gander!
http://www.mfk-projects.com/ULF/ulf.html
AV Rant Listener Michael —
was hoping to find some websites that offer High Res Music downloads, including free samples.
Rob H. can’t really vouch for any of these, or tell you which ones offer free samples, but it appears to be a pretty comprehensive list of High Res Music download sites. Hopefully, there are at least a couple of good option for you to discover!
http://www.audiostream.com/content/hd-music-download-sites
AV Rant Listener Will —
is digging into Home Automation, starting (as many people do) with lighting.
There are a lot of different brands and protocols in the home automation arena these days. But for anyone who is just starting out, and maybe doesn’t want to spend countless hours on DIY programming, Rob H. really wanted to draw people’s attention to the Staples Connect platform:
http://www.staples.com/Staples-Connect-Home-Control/cat_SC5529
It’s largely handled behind the scenes by a company called Zonoff, and they’re doing an impressive job of integrating several different existing brands, while keeping it easy(ish) to use and program.
Of course, the better known and more established Insteon Home Automation brand, and the SmartHome website are also fantastic alternatives: http://www.smarthome.com/_/index.aspx
It should be noted, though, Zonoff is already working on adding Insteon support to the Staples Connect platform!
Continuing the Home Automation talk —
The good folks over at The Digital Media Zone – and the Home On Podcast in particular – recently did an episode with a representative from Zonoff. It’s very informative, and definitely worth a listen if you’re at all interested in Home Automation!
http://thedigitalmediazone.com/2014/04/11/home-on-021/
We’ve talked quite a bit about binaural recordings and debated whether or not we can really hear the difference between CD quality files and High Res audio files.
If you’d like to evaluate these things for yourself, there’s a new Dr. Chesky’s Ultimate Headphone Demonstration Disc for you to consider. We’d love to hear everyone’s feedback!
http://stereos.about.com/od/Headphone-Reviews/fl/Review-Dr-Cheskys-Ultimate-Headphone-Demonstration-Disc.htm
AV Rant Listener Kevin —
was interested in the idea of stacking multiple speakers for a single channel (eg. using two speakers stacked on top of one another to both play just the Front Left, or the Front Right, or the Center, etc.)
He made a very nice mock up of some of his ideas in the following PDF:
https://db.tt/cTgcjgER