Gadgets

ipod speakers for room

mjwarburton — Sun, 17 May 2009 03:56:10 GMT

Here there everyone,

So here's the rundown. Looking to help out my little brother again for music. He currently has an ihome for listening to his ipod in his room. He is disappointed with it. He wants a new system to blast some tunes. He doesn't have a very big budget. Like 175-200 max. Looking for good bass response. Am open to all ideas. Even a boom box. Anyhow, wonder if anyone has good ideas for this..... I tried to suggest some 4b's and save for an 8d, but obviously over his price range. Thanks for the suggestions in advance. Ready, set, go...........

Roku?

joetag — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:49:43 GMT

Does anyone have a Roku digital video player that they use with either Netflix or Amazon? It looks pretty cool. My current DVD player doesn't do this sort of thing and I don't expect to buy a new one in the near future.

Pros/Cons?

Universal Remote Suggestions

joetag — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:55:39 GMT

I was using a Philips Pronto (actually I've had 2 of them over the last 9 years or so). I got pretty good at programming the things as equipment, favorites, etc. changed. A few months ago the last one took a header off the coffee table and the buttons under the touch screen stopped working.

I bought a Harmony 880. It's OK, but not great. It's good at turning everything on, setting the inputs, etc. but getting into the functions of each piece of equipment is a real pain. I can retire the 880 to the master bedroom if I can find something to replace it.

I've looked at the Universal Remote (good name for a company!) products. They're pricey (from around $450 for their MX-900 to $1,000 for the MX-3000) but they look like they'll do the trick. The one I think would fit the bill is the MX-980.

Anyone own any of these? Are they easy to program? The manufacturer doesn't seem all that "end user" friendly; their website makes a lot of references to "your professional installer". Any help, opinions, etc. would be welcome. So would alternatives.

Thanks!

Cable Runners

Jason — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:44:24 GMT

Has anybody had any experience using cable runners to hide cables along the walls/molding? If so what kinds did you use? I've only found stuff with sticky adhesive which sounds a bit strange.

Are line conditioners worth the $$$?

McFearless — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:55:10 GMT

Hi all,

New to Aperion. Hoping to get some Aperion speakers next year. I have a question: I'm looking at a Panamax M4300-PM, surge protector/line conditioner...and I found one for a VERY good price....($150) 50% off. I currently have a $50 Monster surge protector, not a line conditioner. Will I notice a big difference between my monster surge protector and this Panamax? What can I expect? Do you think it's worth the $?

Here is what I have connected:

Samsung FPT5084

PS3 and Xbox 360

Kenwood 6.1 surround

cable box

Thank you in advance for your response.

Best regards.

Headphone reccomendations

mjwarburton — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 04:29:06 GMT

Hey guys, my little brother comes over a lot to visit and loves my Aperion's. Unfortunately, he's 18 and still lives with my parents, and cannot blow up the house with loud music. He wanted to know what the best headphones are. I personally have never spent more than a hundred dollars. I've listened to some Bose in the stores, but always feel like it's giant marketing on Bose. I've read some reviews and all but was wondering if anyone had any experience on high end headphones. His budget that he wants to spend is $175. Thanks.

Alternate Media Center

Daryl — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:07:54 GMT

Hi all,

Thought I would share a good product experience here with everyone. I know the Media Center idea is an old one. A device that would be transparent on the network taking network streams and displaying them in HD, possibly recording television shows for you to the internal hard drive, remote control, and a quite small chassis that wouldnt be an eyesore amidst your electronics.

http://www.hipergroup.com/products.php?lv=3&cate=2&type=27&pid=124

This is sold as a kit or bare bones computer. Add memory, cpu and fan.

I built a 4 gig bearing, athlon 64 x2 - 5600 cpu'd beast for about 600 bucks. HDMI with HDCP out allowing 1080p built in wifi, vfd, slot loading dvd-r dl drive and all this in the chassis thats the size of a dvd player. I think its a good deal if you can stand to put it together yourself. I found it on newegg.

I threw media center 2005 on it initially but I have serious personal and professional issues with Microsoft so I opt not to use their products. Currently I am in contact with a software developer from Novell . He and his team are piecing together a custom build of linux for my hardware configuration. MCE 2005 worked well though. Track names and movie titles showed up on the VFD. No driver issues or nightmares to report.

In comparison I have not seen a dollar to performance ratio that matches this "do it yourself" kit.

Once my custom operating system is finished I will post again on the subject and possibly link some video.

I will break out the decibel meter once things are settled as well.

Daryl

Amp Switchbox

Jason — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:40:14 GMT

I spoke with Jason Hicks the other day and wanted to see how many others would be interested in purchasing an Amp Switchbox which would let you test two amps on a single pair of speakers. I suggested that Aperion look into selling a good type like the sonance (since they're really hard to get unless you know a professional electrician). I just ordered a Niles amp switcher to do some A/B-ing with the 5T's and I remember reading that Dan also did some Amp switching by manually disconnecting. Just wondering if there was much interest. :)

Best Line Conditioners

Jason — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 22:34:25 GMT

What do you guys use for your home theater line conditioners?

I currently use: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6800786&type=product&id=1091099665894

with 6000 joules of surge protection. I really don't like the shape (long and narrow) and was hoping to get something which possibly had outlets stacked one on top of another) to reduce the width. Thought this would be an interesting question in any case.

Remote Control Extender Review

imbng — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:39:32 GMT

I recently set up my home theater which included putting my receiver in a closet. I was looking into getting a IR extender to control it as well or a RF remote to solve the problem. Then I stumbled upon this great little device that turn any IR remote into an RF remote simply and cheaply.

It looks pretty cheesy but it really works. The RF transmitter is built into the battery that you use in the remote and the base is placed in the room where you want to forward the IR commands to. You can even buy other batteries for other remotes to control the equipment from other rooms.

Hamony remotes work from my reading so you can control multiple devices via RF from one IR remote. Pretty cool!

Here are two reviews that go into greater detail.

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/remote-controls/wireless-rf-remote-control-extender/review
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/02/04/next-generation-remote-control-extender-review/

Here is the website

http://www.nextgenerationhomeproducts.com/

I got mine on Amazon for about $45 including tax and shipping which is pretty cheap considering the price of IR extenders and RF remotes and the extensability this solution offers.

http://www.amazon.com/Next-Generation-Remote-Control-Extender/dp/B000C1Z0HA

Bryan

I feel so sorry for Microsoft

alex — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 22:35:42 GMT

They sure gave it the ol' college try. It sure must suck for them to try to completely copy the iPod in nearly every conceivable way (except all the stuff that really matters) and then to have Apple turn around and completely steal their thunder:

Hello. I instantly make the Zune look like crap.

My name is iPhone. Nice to meet you.

(it's ok, Microsoft - I still love the xbox 360 quite a lot.)

Do you Roku?

Daryl — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 05:01:43 GMT

Hi all,

Wondering if anyone else out there uses any roku products? I have hooked up a few soundbridges in my day for others. I use an HD1000 for streaming video across my network and I have to say the video quality blows many dvd players that cost four digits out of the water.No up conversions to report but it does scale very well. That and a network stream over http just seems like a better transfer of ones and zeros than a laser read off a disc.

Two thumbs up.

Daryl

Help with the operation of a Pioneer BA-6110CE.

David — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 00:44:40 GMT

Help with the operation of a Pioneer BA-6110CE. or Assist me in finding an operators manual.

Thanks, Dave