Knuckledragger

Sauce.

What I've been up to recently: Molly, giving me a taste of my own medicine and haranguing me with her point and shoot. DJ Sinistarr is visible in the background. EF 50mm F/1.8 (Mk I) @ F/2.8, ~2 minute exposure, ISO 100. WB was set to tungsten, IIRC. 76 second exposure, other settings as above. I love my old non-USM primes because they have a hard stop at infinity focus, which is essential for nighttime long exposures. Trying to set a USM lens to infinity in the dark is enough to drive one mad.

Those shots are excellent, Ironed Reamer. You should post some more in the photography thread. I have been battling these masked bandits: Cute little bastards aren't they? They're not nearly so endearing when they chew a hole in to one's building, make a nest and produce epic quantities of shit. I've spent the last week patching holes and laying traps These two were the first that I captured. I thought I was lucky to catch two at once on my first go. The next three nights I didn't have any luck, but several sweeps of the building showed no new evidence of raccoons. I am thinking (hoping) they have split for good.

Click for sauce.

Seource.

I now have more speaker cabinets than I know what to do with. 4x Yamaha NS-1000s, some 15 years old and decidedly quirky. These served as the fronts and surrounds in my HT system for over 7 years. 2x Unisound AU265s, I'll get around to modding these at some point in a utopian future. 1x B&W CDN-CNT, center channel. There's also a pair of Pinnacle <mumbles> upstairs that were my father's and were re-drivered at some point. All of the above have been driven by my Rotel RMB-1075 since late 2003. It puts out 125W into five channels. It's a decent amp for flinging movie noises around the room, but it's not exactly what I'd call musical. Having just purchased an Outlaw RR2150, I have concluded that I am an idiot and spent entirely too much money on audio equipment I'd like a better amp for 2.0 listening in the living room. The outlaw hasn't even arrived yet, and when it does, it will go upstairs for the next year or so. After that, I'm installing it in the house mum is building on MV. As it turns out, a lot of companies are putting their gear on sale right now. I've been looking at the Emotiva site a lot in the last few days. I have considered the XPA-2 at length. It puts out 300W x2 into 8 ohms and right now it's $719 with free shipping. I have never heard Emotiva gear, but what reviews I've read have been positive. The downside is that it is kinda ugly and not in a charming, homely fashion. Also it has wretched blue LED meters, which I'll bet are overly bright and hugely distraction when watching a film in a darkened room. Seriously, look at them, there eye-gougingly bad. If they can't be disabled or dimmed, those meters might be enough to make me skip Emotiva all together. If I get a 2 channel amp, I'd still use the Rotel for the remaining 3 channels. At some point in the future, I'll get a new HT pre/processor which will doubtlessly be be 7.1. If and when that upgrade happens, I have the speakers for the extra surround channels. There are quite a few solid state amps on the 'gon under $800. A few of the better ones: Adcom 5800 for $600 Adcom GFA 5500 for $600 Adcom 585 for $535 Odyssey Stratos Plus for $800 obo. Wasn't there at least one H-Cer who quite liked Odyssey amps? Odyssey Stratos for $750 Bryston 4B for $700. Really nice looking amp, the few Brystons I have heard I have really liked. I could jump on the class D train with this Hypex Ucd400ad Amp for $700. I wouldn't actually buy it, but this Yamaha MX-1000 would probably mate with my NS1Ks very well. I have also considered getting a 3 channel amp. Certainly my B&W would benefit from better amplification, and the center channel is the most important one in HT. Emotiva has their XPA-3 on sale for $539 + free shipping right now. It puts out 200W x3 and appears to have fewer LED beacons on the front. There is a really nice Adcom GFA 5503 3 channel for $550 obo. I don't know buch about the maker, but this B&K 4430 for $525 also caught my eye. If I can get past the blue LED strobe show, the Emotivas have the advantage of being new, having a full warranty, and free shipping. Of the used amps, the Odysseys are promising, but I have a soft spot for Adcom. I love my GCD-750 CDP. On the 'gon, I take my chances, and have to pay shipping and PP fees. So.... Got any thoughts on this H-C? I know a couple users were conisdering Emotiva (Reks?) but I don't recall anyone actually buying from them (cue chorus of "Dew Eet!") Barring things like leaky caps, I'm quite comfortable with vintage Adcom. I really need to do more research on Oyssey. Likewise, I know nothing about Hypex and their class D work. Apparently they are a Dutch company?

or is that

After the insanity of the last 10 or so days, today I take it easy.