What's up today (bullchiting) thread.

I have made a habit of muting commercials now, no likey them, less gooder

 

Us too. We usually just watch DVR'd stuff we like so we can zap thru the ads.

 

We do the same here.. Just imagine how many hours the average American wastes every yeah sitting on the couch watching ads. I have so little time to sit and relax in front of a TV after work, kids, house chores, other hobbies, etc the last thing I want to do is spend that time being sold something.

 

Speaking of TV! Finally solved a long standing issue here. Readers of the other side may have seen my discussion in the flat screen TV thread about ongoing bad luck with home theater gear. We have a 7 or 8 year old Samsung TV that died last year (bad power supply, got it fixed free due to a recall/class action). Well in the last few months we have had more trouble, screen goes green a lot when your turn it all on, I thought it was the TV going again, but when the DVD started to not respond until it all warmed up 10 minutes I discovered it was actually the Onkyo A/V receiver going bad. Apparently the HDMI board in these units is known to die.

Pizzed me off because it was a real high end one that I got a refurb for a big discount a couple years after I bought the TV. But the bright side is its cheaper to replace than the TV. (neither are economical to fix )

So for 300ish I now have a brand new Marantz unit that's working much better. Less bells and whistles than the old one but we never used 10% of its features anyway so no loss. Ive never been a fan of all the artificial processing on these things in the past but I have to say I'm impressed with the new dynamic equalizer and volume functions now - you can watch movies at low volume without loosing all the dialog The old beast would get hot enough to fry an egg so hopefully this one will be easier on my electric bill as well.

But over all I'm still very unimpressed with the longevity of modern electronics. My audio cabinet is full of 60s vintage gear that still works great and will probably outlive all this modern junk.

 

And in other news I got the new belt and fixed the mower... self propel works again and speed selector has an effect (old belt was stretched). Got that out of the garage and with the window work finally done managed to put away enough stuff that I can fit the cars in now! Cross another one off the fall list.

Still have to get to cleaning out the stove/flues however. With foretasted high 70s all week that can wait some more...

 

Got the bacon done. Installed some lights. Sanded down a window sill for the wife to refinish...There was redwood under there. Heading out to do some stacking and splitting.

 

As you know, the audio speakers in the back of these units are terrible. I refused to buy a fancy audio system that is all digital, and instead found a converter box that lets me use our older stereo system. Nothing wrong with it... can blow the walls down... but, it really shines with the mid to high end stuff... like you said, dialog is crisp and effortless to hear, even at lower volumes. Also have a Samsung TV we bought last year, love it.

 

I agree on the longevity in today's electronics.....

BUT-Onkyo is extending their warranty due to the high HDMI failure rate. Apparently they cheaped out on a particular item on the HDMI board and it was rated at too low of a heat rating. Then they put the board in the hottest area of the unit.


http://www.avsforum.com/forum/90-re...units-extending-warrranties-until-2018-a.html


There is a link you can plug in your information and see if it qualifies. Refurbished units are included. Its worth repairing for free even if its for a backup or resale.

https://repair.onkyousa.com/na/

 

This is true. Although that girl in that older Doritoes ad can sell me stuff anytime she wants too.

 

Jealous on all those things, cept sanding window sill.

 

damm now I hear this. If I can maybe I just will fix it to sell... or even sell as is, the 7 channel amplifier section is still fine for somebody who doesn't need the video switching part. The newer smaller Marantz is really all I need anyway.

 

My speakers are all close to 30 years old and my external 5 channel amp is about 15 years old. these will stay in place for as long as they hold up: I rebuilt my main speakers 2 years ago with upgraded crossovers and new material tweeter diaphragms (they sounded like new and really opened up again for short money).

Although the older gear will last forever, its the front end electronics that are updated constantly. This is why I decided 15 years ago to go separate amp and preamp/processor. I found an amp with a sound that I really loved and now I can update the technologies with an semi inexpensive receiver that has pre-out connections (Preamp/processors are way too expensive to upgrade on a somewhat regular basis).

 

Yeah, my Onkyo pre/pro that I bought refurbished in 2009 was starting to have the green screen now and again as well.

In relation to your new unit, good move on the Marantz over another Onkyo. Onkyo's well respected name took a huge hit on the HDMI issue and what many feel will be another big blow is that they decided to drop Audysey from their new units. Again, its a cheap out move in order to incorporate the new Atmos codec (speakers in your ceiling). In order to have both Audessy and Atmos they would have needed 2 processors to handle the load. Most likely it is Audyssey Dynamic EQ that you are really liking on the new unit. It works well.

 

Yep its the DynamicEQ... honestly I bet my old Onkyo had it as well as it had all the Audysses setup stuff as well - but I dont know if I had it on. I used to be averse to any post processing other than using the "late night audio" button when watching movies while the kids where asleep. Now Im converted.

Its early to say but happy with the Marantz also. Its smaller, lighter, less power and only a fraction of the feature set of the old beast, but still does anything I need it to. Plus Ive always liked Marantz stuff, down in the basement I still have an old 90s CD63 from the Phillips days when they made some of hte best budget CD players you could buy. And I wouldn't say no if an 8b landed in my lap... Onkyo doesnt have that kind of history

 

Ummmm. Could you repeat that, a little slower please. Okay, is time for another smiley? One that gets the idea across of something going over one's head! I know we have confused. Something like this maybe.
Just kidding. I'm just amusing myself.

 

Unfortunately Marantz isnt the same anymore either. They were bought by D&M Holdings which I believe stands for Denon and Marantz-they are sister companies and share technologies and some components but many still feel Marantz is the better of the 2. cant really go wrong with either

 

A couple of my brothers use to have Polk? speakers. I think. They still making stuff?

 

Hahaha..

All the gibberish is talking about old Audio companies. Back in the early days of stereo(1950s), hifi gear was a big business in the US and some of the great classics of vintage audio gear came from great US companies like Marantz, McIntosh, Harman/Kardon, H.H.Scott, Fischer, Dynaco and others. Interestingly most all of them where based in the northeast.

Today most of them are either long out of business (Scott, Fischer, Dynaco), or have changed ownership (McIntosh, Marantz). H/K might be the only one left that still operates as an independent company.

I knew that Marantz has been involved in Japan going all the way back to the days when Saul ran the company - I looked it up and it seems D&M is what evolved out of that Japanese partnership... the Japan side of hte company changed its name to Marantz Japan and eventually bought back the parts that had earlier been sold off to Philips. Then they bought Denon to become D&M.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marantz

 

Got 4.5 cord cut split and stacked the past few days. Round pile is now gone.

 

Nice work lukem. I am going to have to throw a cover over some of my stacks. With as much tarps as I have anyway. I have not put all the wood under cover yet for this season. And we have some more rain coming Wed.,Thurs.,Frid.