The best equipment you ever bought - Page 2

TiVo, Fuji P63xha51

Boy...Hard to say....I have some good stuff.

But easily, it is my new RTI T3 remote. I have been so happy this remote control, It is right up there in importance with my more sophisticated electronics.. It has beautiful graphics, RF that is bullet-proof (does not mess up or miss a command in a macro), it is easily programmed, RS-232, and can control my system without a hiccup. Crestron for a fraction of the cost and you can program and tweak yourself. In fact, my remote has 40 pages of commands and a 'locked' area that only I can get into for those rarely used commands....

In fact, one button press can open the drapes, resets the screen masking, turns on the projector, switches to proper input, fires up the Lexicon, trips the amplifiers on, goes to the selected source input, bring down the lights, turns on the DVD player (or what ever you selected), switches the HDMI switcher to the right source, turns up the bulb brightness on the cable input if watching with over-head lights on, etc., etc... In fact, my 9 year old can maneuver and manipulate my super sophisticated system with aplomb. Macros incorporate delays on the touch screen (shows an hour glass) so you can't start another macro until the first is finished - keeps the novice (and expert) from screwing things up. Shutting down the whole system is just one button press (in fact, I have it programmed to prompt you with a 'Are you sure you want to shutdown the system?' message to avoid accidentally powering down the system)..

Just a great piece of equipment that works as advertised. Turning on my system is no longer a hassle and best of all, you don't have to point and hold the remote towards an IR eye....

Sure sounds like you like that remote Jeff ! Did you say it will have two way upgradability down the road ? I look foward to seeing it at your meet this fall.

Art

The two way upgrade is coming at CEDIA.

Yeah, I'm a big fan. Works consistantly as advertised... A rarity in electronics.

So how does one go to CEDIA if they are not employed in AV?

1/ Meridian 565 processor in 1994; this product was 6 years ahead of the competition.
2/ My first htpc with the 3Difusion card, 720p for $900... in 1997-98. Faroujas were selling for $20,000! Then the htpcs with the Radeons; 16.9 @864p.
3/G70. Much much better than the low bandwith Runcos at a fraction, better than the Barcos.. Much better than any 7" projector except the Electrohome which was sensational.
4/61" HLN Samsung; better than the Ps and the Rs. With that the 720p Momitsu CD player.

Meridian 861. Boy is it good!!!

RTI T3 Remote and K4 touchpads here as well: I became a Level Two programmer just so I could do my whole house myself

My other choice would be the much criticized Toshiba HD DVD player: even with all its quirks and faults, the video and audio this thing produces is stellar: and at under $500.00, it is a steal

(I have the XA-1 which sells for $800.00)

forgot to add:

Impressa Z5 coffee maker thanks to OB

Now now Jeff, I have seen you become a tad sarcastic when seeing other people making such claims ("as good as a Qualia for a fraction of the price") .

The T3 is a nice handheld remote control:



Not my cup of tea for a *handheld*, but nice. If you want to make that comparison you should at least purchase their upcoming T4:



p.s. Since you've been accused of others here at times if being arrogant, hopefully you'll appreciate my (arrogant) sense of humor when I tell you that you went the poor mans route .

Well that would be my Lotus Elise.

On the video/optical side she's the curviest and sexiest thing on 4 wheels.

On the audio side, the little 4 cylinder screams (right behind your head) an 8,600RPM song that is addicting and mesmerizing. Add to this the cold air intake that resides right behind your left ear and threatens to suck your brain through your earhole

On the feel sense, the tiny MOMO feels perfect while hugging the curves at insane speeds. This puppy grips like a fiend and will let go if your foolish enough to get scared mid-corner and let off the throttle. Mid engine setups will do that. The suspensions is taut and 'huggy' without being harsh and the brake feel of the Brembos will detach your retinas.

Most fun with clothes on bar none.

Best purchase - my Genesis 200 speakers. They are about as room friendly as a Sherman Tank, but boy do they sound great!

Simon

Andrikos, your well written spiel motivated me to learn more about the Elise.
What is your two cents on the Exige vs Elise... ?

It's a personal call really.
The Exige is a bit heavier (1985 vs. 1925 lbs) and has better aerodynamic aids (splitter/wing) to give it more downforce at high speeds. It also comes with the optional (for the Elise) sport package as standard. It definitely looks more aggressive.
It has a fastback design which makes rear visibility even harder.
Plus it has a 'fixed' roof while the Elise is a Targa with an optional hardtop.


The bare bones phisolophy is apparent on both. Don't expect luxury, cold A/C, (afterall, it's British ) sound insulation, massaging seats or a decent radio (I'd like to remove mine, the engine sounds so much better). It's noisy, low, small, fragile (no DOT approved bumbers!!!), the factory lights suck (Euro light pattern, another DOT exception).

It sounds like a terrible car on paper, but drop in (literally!) racing style into the pefect (for my 6'2" 185lbs) seat and all is forgiven.
The palms sweat, the heart starts racing and the breathing is fast and shallow.
Push the start button and the little 4banger has a surprisingly bassy song at idle.
Putt around the neighborhood till the engine warms up or it won't let you go past 6,000RPM.
Once the Engine is warm, the standing start is one of the fastest due to its mid engine design (rearward weight bias), sticky tires, and low engine torque.
It will leave pretty much every supercar behind it... for a while until the torque monsters stop burning rubber and dig in. Of course, 190HP will not get you past many fast cars on a straight line but find a curve and you make up for a lot of ground. Plus you can outbrake pretty much everybody. The Brembo brakes have retina detaching powers, very impressive.

Do all that in the Lotus, climb aboard any other car and you'll think you just boarded a bus. That's how I felt when I traded cars with my friend's 993 911.
A truly special experience that requires different thinking (i.e. sacrifice creature comforts) but rewards you in so many ways. I love my little car!

If you're intrigued, I'd recommend a test drive.
You'll either LOVE it or HATE it.
There are not many people in between.
There are plenty of Lotus dealerships in Cali.

For you High-End guys, a Lotus is barely pricier than a set of interconnects...

Salk HT3a's. Not 20k but by the time I added 6 channels of amplification, well we are starting to get there plus I know Jim Salk way underprices his offering because he is getting established.

My cables. Definitely my cables.

Probably all my gear for the new HT. YES, I WILL POST PICTURES SOMETIME IN ANOTHER THREAD, I DON'T KNOW WHEN. I KEEP FORGETTING MY DIGICAM @ WORK.

After reading all this car talk, now I'm thinking maybe I should've settled for something a lot more economical and just put the money towards a 997 Turbo instead or maybe trade in the 04' Cayenne Turbo for a Turbo S... decisions decisions.

I wonder what would happen if we bolted the Cayenne Turbo's engine to the Elise... 450hp, 460lbs/ft torque, can't be all that bad. Weight distribution will be a problem though. BTW, out of the vehicles in my driveway, the CT is my favorite even though I'm not too big on SUV's as a daily driver. But it goes and handles like a performance sedan (RS6 anyone?) and it is the all-season supercar, I can vouch for that. Cheers everyone.

Best regards,
Chris

Jeff -

You have a PM.

- Jim

Hi Rene..

Sorry I don't know anything about the T4 - My head is spinning wondering how you will pull this off doing surround with 3 preamps..

Can't say I have ever heard anyone attempting this before..

All I can say is good luck!

How about starting a new thread and sharing what preamps you are using and your plans?

I'm intrigued for sure..

You can control the volumes at one time. However, unless your receivers have a serial command for specific volumes, you will not be able to easily do the second part.

CJ

you should be able to do this : currently RTI only supports one-way RS232 so you will not get any confirmation back: they have a new processor (XP-8 is the model ) that will do two way by the end of the year

look at CJO's post above as well for more comments



I use T3 remotes with RP-6 processors with a combination of RS232 and IR control; and K4 and RK-3 Touchpanels throughout the house (also a U1 waterproof remote for outdoors)

the T4 is just being released this month: I have one on order: this involves level III programming training

RTI provides web based training to dealers as well as classroom training

feel free to PM me for any help

Thanks for the explanation...hope you are happy with the end results..

Wilson Whams.

Electrohome 9500LC Ultra

4 way Electromask Stewart Screen.

My three favorites.

My Ex's boobs, god I miss them...

I've bought and sold quite a bit of equipment (mostly Linn) and I recently acquired some Aerial 10T's. These by far are the nicest items that I've had the pleasure of owning (got a great deal on them too!). I plan on keeping these for a very long time.

I really liked my Lexicon MC-1 too.

there's a euro version of the elise/exige with >260BHP and also a shop in california that does lotus tuning - I think they have a ~300HP version of an elise.

If you haven't seen an elise or exige in person - you're missing out.

For the more "hands-on" types, there's usally a salvaged elise or two on ebay for around $15,000.

google "exige vs. apache" for a good video clip

Haha. Very funny.

Well, this is tuff. I would say that these three are the BEST equipment I have ever bought.


1. Pioneer HLD-X0. A 80 lbs heavy, single side laserdisc player with a pricetag of 7000$
Truly the best made equipment I have ever had, with much superior picture quality over every other player. So good I bought a second one as back-up



2. Tube Technology Synergy. A 110 lbs, 2x150 watt tube amplifier that are as good sounding as it's looks (to me). The price? Well, it was worth it


3. Sony VW-100. Finally a digital projector I can look at and gives a damn good picture. A little sharper, more native CR and higher ANSI CR, and I would say it is perfect, not just almost perfect.


/Mattias

b&w 603's with their 1000 sub and their thx rears (cant recall the code)...couldnt fit the sub into the car! never realised how big it was. when i played SPR on it the doors rattled LOL!!!

and the primare dvd player...v25...great great player....

i had the chance to listen to the B&W shell speakers and they were a friggen fortune ...and i have to be honest i was so so disappointed, coupled with they were ugly IMHO

still if i won the lottery, it has to be done....doesnt it...