Miscellaneous

Do you guys have any recommendations for spill proof travel mugs? I have a few spilltastic mugs but they don't perform to hot in my backpack while riding a motorcycle. Currently I'm using a Contigo. I love the thing except it's starting to lose it's seal after 4 months or so of off and on use. The mouth valve bit leaks sometimes as well as the threads for the cap itself.

I live on the top floor of a poorly insulated building in Chicago with southern and western exposure. Even when it is not that hot out, it is hot in here. Does anyone have personal experience, or access to reviews, to suggest brands and/or models of window AC units that are quiet above all else?

I'm setting up a listening room and need to run a dedicated power line to it. So I'm starting this thread to talk about how to do that. I assume I have to ohm out the lines going to my breaker box and then figure a way to separate some of the power lines going to that room. Then I have to install a new breaker for that circuit, and wire the ground differently for that breaker to a ground rod outside hammered into Mother Earth. Is that right?

I've got a Studer amp to keep my Stax menagerie under control via the SRD-7 Spritzer. It has always had quite marked mechanical hum when run at 240V (Australia's mains voltage). I have a 240 -> 110V transformer and the Studer is able to be configured to almost any possible mains voltage via a rotary switch and with a change of fuse. Did that. NO FREAKIN' HUM! $2.50 for 2 new fuses! Love it.

Yep, It's now official Available direct from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Fire-Phone-32GB-AT/dp/B00EOE0WKQ etc http://online.wsj.com/articles/amazon-unveils-smartphone-1403114271 http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/18/amazon-phone http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/18/5819516/meet-the-fire-phone http://gizmodo.com/amazons-fire-phone-is-here-at-last-developing-1592702508 http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/06/amazon-announces-its-first-smartphone-the-fire-phone/ http://time.com/2895275/amazon-fire-phone/ http://m.t3.com/news/amazon-announces-the-amazon-fire-phone Firefly:"It's basically the easiest way to spend your money you'll ever find."

I've been thinking of expanding and moving my office rig. At the moment I face the back of my office (back to windows) with my rig set up as Headroom style rig using the Headroom stands. For pretty much my entire day I fact the back corner of my office looking at the computer screen with my back to the window. As a result, I rarely use the actual desk portion of my office furniture. Here are a few pics of the layout and one with a crude drawing of what I am considering. Current layout: Proposed future layout: I question whether this is overkill. I already have the speakers, I would just need stands. Either the low gain beta I have in my office now or th…

For those vinyl users, what online vendors do you use and trust? This would be for mostly new releases, I've got a few places around here that have bargain used bins but mostly the older stuff.

I am in the process of finalizing some wood choices for a custom ukulele to be built for me, and have settled on myrtle for the back and sides, and port orford cedar for the top. Both have excellent tonal and resonance properties, and both (at least on paper) offer the right combination of a heavier, denser hardwood for the back and sides, and something light but stiff for the top soundboard. Any guitar people out there can probably chime in, as well as any woodworkers. The builder has even sent me some pics of some wood choices he has available. I like the look of this particular one for its consistency and striping and overall lighter hue (see image2) Ho…

Anniversary is coming up. In addition to the new car I bought her yesterday, I plan on also getting her a nikon d3000. Just wanted to know which online vendors you guys like to go with.

I've been considering the purchase of a pair of C-pads for my ms2i's but am have trouble finding any opinions of them or descriptions of how it changes the grado presentation. Do you or have owned a pair? How did you like them?

So I realized that my LP Custom and Guid JF30 are just rotting under the bed, so I was thinking of getting cans for them at first, then I thought "hey, why not do a 2-fer and see if anyone might trade these two for one stompin' dreadnaught?" So I find a 1970's Martin D-41 and the guy might do it... Uh oh. Gear Acquisition Syndrome in effect!

I've decided it's time to get rid of cable TV. I'm currently paying Time Warner $190.00 per month for HD cable, 2 DVR's, Phone service and 7 MB Roadrunner service. For now I'll keep Roadrunner and the phone service but plan on transitioning to the following: Mac Mini hooked up to our 2 TV watching areas in place of the DVR. I already own one and just bought another. I have an Elgato Hdhomerun box on the network and I'll watch and record OTA HD broadcasts through that. We have all the major TV networks available in our OTA broadcast area. I've been using Hulu for shows I can't get OTA and that seems to be acceptable. You can also go to the broadcasters direct web sites …

In the spirit of last year's thread I decided to see what everyone else is thinking for the year My major goals are the following two Gran Fondos: Diabolical Double (16k+ ft, 125 miles): http://www.winthefight.org/granfondo/diabolical_double.htm The Alpine Loop Gran Fondo (11.5k+ ft, 107 miles): http://alpineloopgranfondo.com/ Plus I think I will probably do the Tour de Cure in Northern VA (6/1/14) with Jeff. I'm also loooking at: MS Ride The Riverside (6/7/14-6/8/14) Airforce Classic (6/8/14): http://cyclingclassic.org/ Total 200 Double Century (6/14/14): http://www.total200.com/ Edit: It's not a "goal" really but I'll probably do a few 5k races w…

Folks, My apologies for using this public forum for a private request. I was wondering if someone here could ask NwAvGuy (creator of ODAC and O2) to contact me. I tried contacting him, but his blog contact-form is full. We have a project at MIT that may relate to his work. My private email is: tom [at] findthomas [dot] net. I would be so grateful if NwAvGuy could reach me. Thanks in advance. Tom Hardjono @findthomas

link My attitude on "less than an hour a day of listening" (which seems to be the takeaway on Facebook, although it should be "...less than an hour a day of too loud listening...") is this:

Because of my mold problem, I am looking to get another air purifier. Right now I have the Winix Plasmawave but I am going to keep that in the room with mold and put the other one with in the room I sleep in. Any recommendations? The Winix is good but doesn't have activated carbon filters so I don't know if it is as good as some others. The mold specialist said that Honeywell makes good ones. Anyone tried those? What are the important qualities. I know that a good HEPA filter is the most important. Should UV sanitizer be avoided because of Ozone? Avoid ionizer (the Winix Plasmawave has this)? Are activated carbon filters a lot better than regular carbon filters?

Here's something new for HC. I love to wear sandals. For the last 10 years or so, I've been very happy with Birkenstocks. Recently though, I've started suffering from shin splints even though I've been wearing Birkenstock sandals. This is a basic version with no cushioning and I think that the lack of cushioning is the problem. So can anybody recommend nice, supportive (I have a high arch) sandals? There are enough geeks (like me) here so I'm hoping to get some excellent responses.

My mom is wanting to get a small laptop (bigger than a tablet) to use at home, primarily for Skype to be able to do video chats with her grandkids, downloading pics, Microsoft Office, and basic internet browsing. She wants a built-in camera, moderate budget maybe $500 to $600. She's computer literate, but not at all tech savvy (kind of runs in the family). She's thinking about a Macbook Air such that she can avoid the hassle of viruses and such but isn't cray about spending $1k when she can get the same for $500 or less for her basic needs. Any suggestions?

I have a 2 year old staying at the house this week and I am afraid she is going to want to put legos or some other toy in the front port of my Monitor Audio 6 (for some reason Tim wants to have her play right next to the speaker system). The speakers have front ports. Would it be ok to cover the front ports with some sort of light cloth for the week (while the system is on). This is the main tv setup so I can't put the speakers in a different room. I'm not so concerned about the sound but whether it could damage the amplifier. My guess is that is probably ok but will look like shit. I was thinking of using thin like a disposable dish cloth like this.

So my girlfriend's birthday is coming up and I was going to get her some books and wine, but this past weekend while we were at the grocery store she specifically mentioned wanting an indoor herb garden. Now I'm barely capable of cooking for myself and quite honestly don't know shit about herbs, let alone herb gardens... but I was looking around and something like this seems to be pretty much what she is looking for. I'm a little concerned about this particular unit's noise and lighting, but otherwise it looks like a decent product. Anyone used anything like this or have suggestions for alternatives? The extent of additional info I can provide on what she wants is tha…

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My Pop has asked me to recommend a home theater for him. $10k budget including HDTV. Any ideas, suggestions. Anyone with similarly priced setups out there?

I picked up my McIntosh MC2100 from the local repair guy. He measured it at 150 Watts/ch with low distortion (in his words a "righteous" amp). That was good! While in the shop I saw a Marantz 8b, Mc2300 (rated 300 Watts/ch, but probably hits nearly 500), and an Mc40 among others. Helped move the behemoth mc2300. That was cool! I put 4 hockey pucks in place of the missing rear spikes for my Tannoys. Feels more solid, works good! I replaced the crooked-bottle Electro Harmonix EL34 tubes in my Eico HF87 with some new Teslovak EL34ls (same as the Groove Tubes version, and made in the JJ factory I hear). The new tubes look great (much better built) and sound very clean,…

Some of you know stuff about car audio -- Samich? I forget who else. I'm going to be living with this car ('03 Lancer ES, non-Evo, non-wagon, non-anything really, completely entry-level) for a while, so want to upgrade the sound system, but don't want to spend thousands of dollars doing so, as it already has > 120K miles on it, and I'm about due for a car-totalling. So the current system sounds crap. Lots of distortion, doesn't go loud well at all. Replace the whole system (including the head unit)? Buy a new car? Or go piecemeal: sub first, head unit and speakers next. I'm not a complete dumb-bass-head when it comes to cars, but poprock just doesn't sound ri…

Hi, we are a potential problem. The specific problem concerns lying.