HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: yen@stsci.edu (Felix Yen)
Subject: Re: Stereo Review (was Re: Very expensive cables)
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 15:22:26 GMT


Shiv Naimpally (shiv@bnr.ca) writes:
>  As I have mentioned many times before, I am sceptic when it comes to
>  anything , and especially audio claims. I bought some speaker cable
>  at $1 a foot - OFC, thick stuff - spent $15 in all. I had hooked 
>  up one speaker (the other had regular speaker cable - the cheap stuff
>  you get at Kmart that they use for lamp cords), I left the room
>  for a minute and my wife turned my stereo on. When I came back
>  the diff was obvious - the speaker that was hooked up using
>  thicker cable had clearer highs. I was not expecting any diff, so
>  there was no 'psychosomatic' effect. I was in fact quite amazed at
>  how big the diff was. I think it was $15 well spent. It is not
>  a rip off and the results are audible.
>
>  [...]
>
>  Try it out. Buy $5 worth of thick cable (you can even get it Radio
>  Shack) and hook it to one speaker and keep your 10 cents a foot
>  lamp cord on the other and LISTEN ! It will only cost you $5 to
>  find out ...

You could also go to a good hardware store and spend 3-4 times
less on thick copper cable that is not labeled "oxygen-free" and
conduct the same experiment except with one less variable.  Make
sure you clean the thin cord's connections too, preferably by
cutting off the old ends and making new ones.

Another comparison is oxygen-free cable vs. hardware-store cable
of the same thickness.  Any takers?


Felix
yen@stsci.edu
Newsgroups: rec.audio,rec.video,misc.consumers
From: berger@atropa (Mike Berger)
Newsgroups: rec.audio,rec.video,misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Problems dealing with this mail order outfit
Keywords: Electronic Wholesalers, Mitsubishi U57 VCR
Date: 9 Oct 92 14:46:08 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.Bvuzoy.4pB
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

forman@ide.com (Bonnie Forman) writes:
>   One of the items I bought was a Sony walkman for $99.
>   Because I was using it for my business, I didn't want
>   to risk it failing on me, even though it was not that
>   expensive.  I got the extended warranty (maybe $12 for
>   two years).  Oh yeah, this was from the Good Guys.

>   Sure enough, 10 months later, I started having a serious
>   problem with one of the connections (cackling noise).
>   I brought it back.  They listened to the noise, and
>   gave me another one with no other questions asked.
*----
In your case it was probably wise.  Most regular warranties
exclude commercial use of consumer grade equipment.  A lot
of extended warranties don't.
--
	Mike Berger
	Department of Statistics, University of Illinois
	AT&TNET     217-244-6067
	Internet    berger@atropa.stat.uiuc.edu
From: jj@alice.att.com (jj, curmudgeon and all-around grouch)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Stereo Review (was Re: Very expensive cables)
Date: 13 Oct 92 14:35:07 GMT
Article-I.D.: alice.23871
Reply-To: jj@alice.UUCP (jj, curmudgeon and all-around grouch)
Organization: NJ State Home for Bewildered Terminals

In article <183864@pyramid.pyramid.com> lstowell@pyrnova.pyramid.com (Lon Stowell) writes:
>  4)    Guy IV who designed the @!#$%@#@#$% Porsche and is aware of
>	how few drivers REALLY know enough about driving to know the
>	difference in 0.5 lb tire pressure and how many drivers
>	THINK they do.   

>  5)    Guy V who owns a Diablo and snickers at Porsches.

6) Someone who drove and old 1969 Pontiac Catalina ex Ohio State Patrol
interceptor, with new hi-rate suspension and a well-tuned and unrestricted
powerplant who would leave people in Porshe's far behind driving up and down
and around the hills of West Virginia, on his recapped Denman's, with
lotsa slip all the time.  The guy in the 914 probably got better gas
mileage, though.

>    Ummmmmm, nobody said that ALL cables are alike.
Now, Lon, Kurt has said very distinctly and outright that that's
what we all claim, that all cables are exactly the same, and of
course Kurt is never wrong... :-(

>    To make it valid, record the CD multiple TIMES using the same
>    cable and see if a 'diff' of the resulting DAT files shows a
>    difference.  

>    Don't bet your shorts that they'd be the same....
It won't matter how many times.  Until you sync the clock doing
the sampling in the DAT, you'll get different numbers each and
every time.  It won't matter which cables.  You'll sample the
signal at a different place, and get a different representation
of the same information.

I'm sure that some Luddite will now carefully fail to understand the
simple and well-understood fact that different values don't mean
something was lost in the process.
-- 
Extremism *Copyright alice!jj 1992, all rights reserved, except transmission
   in the    *by USENET and like facilities granted.      Said permission is
  defense of     *granted only for complete copies that include this notice.
 liberty is no vice.  *Use on pay-for-read services specifically disallowed.
From: smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Prewiring a new house for sound...
Date: 14 Oct 92 16:01:27 GMT
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol

In article <1992Oct13.221336.8216@tandem.com> Brady_David@Tandem.Com (David Brady) writes:
>completed.  Most of the frame is up - but that's it.  What I want to
>be able to do is expand my system into other rooms when my finances
>permit.  Since I have access to the house framing now I'd like to put
>some pre-emptive wiring in.  What can I do now (at a minimum cost) to set
>myself up for the future?

Skip the wiring, there's no way you can POSSIBLY put in enough.
Instead, try to get them to put in a full set of cable ducts with
access points arranged so that (a) you can get at the ducts in any
corner of every room and anywhere else that looks like a likely place
to put things near, and (b) any pulling of wire through the ducts can
be done as a series of straight pulls from one access point to the next
-- i.e. if the duct has to go around a corner, make sure there's an
access panel there.  This can be done neatly, either internally to the
walls/floor, or (for a bit more money) you can get stuff that looks
like baseboard (you know, that decorative bit at the bottom of the
walls, a bit rare in modern housing) but is actually ducting.

If you do that, you'll never find yourself in the spot of needing 'just
one more wire' and not being able to get it, both for all currently
predictable needs, and for all the things that're going to be invented
(and you'll want) over the next 20-30 years.

-- 
Paul Smee, Computing Service, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, UK
 P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk - ..!uunet!uknet!bsmail!p.smee - Tel +44 272 303132
Newsgroups: rec.audio,rec.video,misc.consumers
From: mpalmer@encore.com (Mike Palmer)
Subject: Extended Warranties
Organization: Encore Computer Corporation
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 15:17:06 GMT
Keywords: Electronic Wholesalers, Mitsubishi U57 VCR 

chrisp@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU (Chris Pelkie) writes:

>In article <1992Oct5.071317.25768@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>, dpunjabi@nyx.cs.du.edu (DINESH PUNJABI) writes:
>|> I recently purchased a Mitsubishi U57 VCR from Electronic Wholesalers,
>|> a New Jersey based mail order company. I was quoted $89 for a 5-year extended
>|> warranty on the unit by the salesperson.  I bought the extended warranty 
>|> on the unit but when I received the sales invoice it read 3-year warranty for
>|> $89 instead of 5-years. 
>|> 


>Consumer Reports determined a couple years ago that extended warranties
>were darn close to the biggest scam going. Generally speaking, electronics
>gizmos break on warranty or not til they are real old, and you probably
>want the new thingee anyway. Save your money. Look for a consumer
>product with no less than a one-year warranty and buy it (make
>sure it's USA warranty if that's where you plan to have it fixed).
>The extended warranties are rarely needed, and represent a 
>juicy pot of extra money for the dealers who sell them.

>In fact, has anyone ever got a dealer to honor one? What
>were your experiences? Was it worth buying?
>I can "trust" Consumer Reports without having
>to believe they know everything.

I bough a canon camcorder with a 5 year ext warranty from Electroin Wholesalers.It developed a problem, so I sent it to Canon for repair.  I sent the bill to
the Warranty people & they paid it (less shipping costs). The repair cost
was more than the awrranty cost.

As long as the warranty company in bonded, $100 for a 5 year warranty on a
$1300 camcorder is not a bad deal.

I also had an 5yr ext warranty on my Honda Prelude.  After 4 years & ten months
I was thinking this was a waste of $500 - especially on a Honda!  But then the
A/C system blew.  $950 repair cost.  I had to pay $25 deductable.  15 months
later it blew again - it's a pity it wasn't a 6 year warranty.  Honda refused
to do anything about it.  I paid!
From: hhtra@usho21.hou281.chevron.com (T.M.Haddock)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Speaker Design program (was Re: Xover design programs)
Date: 16 Oct 92 16:29:03 GMT
Organization: Chevron

In article <1992Oct16.143813.17197@bmerh85.bnr.ca>, shiv@bnr.ca (Shiv Naimpally) writes:
|> I recently read about a Mac program for designing speakers called
|> MacSpeakerz by True Image Audio 1-800-621-4411. They have a free demo
|> disk available. If you are into computer aided loudspeaker design,
|> you might want to check it out. I have no experience with it ...

 I just called them and spoke with John Murphy.  The version currently
 shipping is 2.52 with the next version, 3.0, expected late 1 qtr 93.
 The price is $249.  Minor upgrades (to 2.53) are free but 3.0 will
 be approx $125 to current US owners.  The program will do all sorts
 of plots: Frequency Response, Phase Response, Group Response, Cone
 Exursion, Impedeance, etc.  It has a library of over 600 drivers and
 growing.  It will handle Sealed, Ported, and Isobaric enclosures.
 Version 3.0 will do bandpass enclosures.  There is also a Crossover
 Calculator, Box Dimension Calculator, Tweeter Attenuation stuff, and
 version 3.0 may include Active Filter stuff.

 It's a bit expensive for me so I didn't feel right asking for the 
 demo disk but John said he'd send me some info anyway.

 TRAVIS
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: ianchan@leland.Stanford.EDU (Ian Hin Yun Chan)
Subject: email address
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 92 04:45:47 GMT

There was a guy who was selling second hand stuff, including Acurus amplifiers,
whose email address apparently is "off-limits." His address was
mark@austin.ibm.com. Apparently "Mailing across ibm boundaries is not allowed."
How does one reach him?
- Ian

Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: monta@image.mit.edu (Peter Monta)
Subject: Re: Very expensive cables
Organization: MIT Advanced Television Research Program
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 18:11:06 GMT

In article <1992Oct13.114152.25877@edscom.demon.co.uk> rpt@edscom.demon.co.uk (Richard Tomlinson) writes:

> I know that a rusty piece of metal near a transmitting aerial can cause
> interference to nearby receivers. This happens because the rust acts like a
> semiconductor diode causing non-linearities that produce harmonics. If a
> length of cable carrying an audio signal contains impurities then maybe it
> effectively contains diodes that may cause distortion. Presumably, the
> manufacturers believe that oxygen free copper and crystalline structures
> avoid these effects.

This is a reasonable question, and it turns out to have some interesting
answers (although not for audio/large-signal-electronic wires and
junctions, for which the effects are negligible).  Things that act
as junctions are ubiquitous---any metal-to-dissimilar-metal contact,
metal-to-insulator-to-metal sandwich, metal-to-semiconductor contact,
etc. will show junction-like behavior.

The catch is that cryogenic temperatures and careful measurement are
usually required to show anything at all.  Contacts are complicated;
pretty much anything is a "device", if you look at it hard enough.

The situation with oxygen-free copper is pretty simple, as far as I
understand:  it has slightly higher bulk conductivity, it's more
ductile, etc. than copper that is less pure.  If your application
is electronic, it's probably not worth paying for.

Electrolytically-refined metals are still very impure in comparison
with modern semiconductor materials.  I sincerely doubt that
manufacturers of such cables believe their own claims; "crystalline
structure" (all metal wires are polycrystalline) and "high
conductivity" (hundredths of a dB more signal!) are snake oil.

One thing that is worth worrying about is the connectors; you
generally want a good mechanical contact and platinum-group metals
for corrosion resistance and durability.

Peter Monta   monta@image.mit.edu
MIT Advanced Television Research Program
From: n8842401@henson.cc.wwu.edu (Matthew Stearns)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Mail Order for Nakamichi?
Date: 14 Oct 92 04:28:50 GMT
Article-I.D.: henson.1992Oct14.042850.22727
Distribution: na
Organization: Western Washington University

Hi!  This is probably a tired question, but can anyone tell me of 
a good mail-order place for Nakamichi equipment?  
(Particularly their tape drives?)

Thank-thank-thank you, 
Matthew
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: wjin@cs.uh.edu (W. Woody Jin)
Subject: Re: Speaker recommendation ($1500/pair)
Organization: University of Houston
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 07:53:54 GMT

In article <1992Oct2.143138.29146@cypress.com> ssr@cypress.com (Bapcha/FPGA) writes:
>In article <1992Oct01.111513.4722@einoed.in-berlin.de> alh@einoed.in-berlin.de (Adrian Le Hanne) writes:
>>Hi,
>>i'm looking for a pair of speakers, obviously. I don't want to spend
>>more than $1500/$2000 a pair. Speakers, that i already put in a closer
>>selection (still have to listen to them, though), are the B&W DM 640 and 
>>the Infinity RS60. Other recommendations are appreciated, but keep in mind
>
>Apogee Centaur Minors dude..... best speakers if you cannot afford the
>Apogee Stages.....   The minors cost $1200 list (you can get them for
>that including the stands and shipping. 

Since Adrian is looking for $1500/$2000 range, Apogee Centaur (Regular)
should be more appropriate (with stands and cones, it is about $1800).

BUT beware of these speakers !
You must have a relatively big room and an expensive amplifier (i.e. high
current, ex. Aragon 4004 II).

-- 
____   ____  ____ ____________________________________ (___) _________________
|  |   |  |  |  |  W. Woody Jin (wjin@cs.uh.edu)       (o o)      Moo.... 
|  |   |  |__|  |  PhD Student. Research Asst.  o=======\ /  I'm  a Cow Lover.
|  |   |        |  Dept. of Computer Science   / |     ||O   My wife  was born
\  |---|  |--|  |  University of Houston      `  ||'---||    in Cow year. Mooo
 \____/|__|  |__| _______________________________^^    ^^_____________________

Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: smv3@po.CWRU.Edu (Sean M. Vadas)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: cd player recommendations?
Date: 9 Oct 92 03:32:49 GMT
Article-I.D.: usenet.1b2uh1INN6a1
Reply-To: smv3@po.CWRU.Edu (Sean M. Vadas)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc12.ins.cwru.edu



I am wondering if anyone could recommend a good cd player.
I'm interested in updating my old Sony carousel which was
junk.  I have a Denon receiver, a Nakamichi cassete deck, and
Pinnacle speakers.  What would you suggest?
Newsgroups: rec.audio,alt.flame
From: goldberg@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Mark Goldberg)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Good portable Disc players?
Date: 8 Oct 92 17:59:16 GMT
Article-I.D.: oasys.26178
Reply-To: goldberg@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Mark Goldberg)
Organization: Naval Surface Warfare Center, Annapolis, MD

[Deleted elaboration of skipping problem with other portable.]

My personal recommendation is for the Car Discman.  I own the Sony D-802.
It is their current no-frills version.  It uses 4 AA batteries and has
the MegaBass feature.  REchargeables can be used.  It is excellent.
It even does a great job with scratched discs.  I recently borrowed
one from the library that has many circular scratches.  It caused my
Sony "ES" non-portable to cough, but the Car Discman played it flawlessly.
The Car Discman has several sets of internal showck absorbers designed
designed to cushion out road bumps. In my experience, it is the only
kind of CD player that truly plays we;ll when carried.

   /|/| /||)|/  /~ /\| |\|)[~|)/~   |   Everyone's entitled to MY opinion.
  / | |/ ||\|\  \_|\/|_|/|)[_|\\_|  |      goldberg@oasys.dt.navy.mil
========Imagination is more important than knowledge. - Albert Einstein=======
From: wleeper@en.ecn.purdue.edu (William A Leeper)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: CD skipping comment
Date: 15 Oct 92 20:55:08 GMT
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network

A note on the skipping problem facing many "worn-down" CD players. 

The data is encoded from the inside out.  If you open the CD player and
insert a disk you will see that as the disk spins on the playhead the uneven
parts of the disk go up and down.  This requires the read head to adjust very
rapidly to the motion of the disk.  If the read head has dust or is slightly
damaged it will not be able to keep up with the motion.  The only recomendation
for CD players with this problem is to have them cleaned or to clean it yourself
This newsgroup is abundant with cleaning suggestions.




-- 

:  "To many good things happen to   	:    Bill Leeper
:   good people to be attributed to	:	wleeper@en.ecn.purdue.edu
:   anything but a carring God.    "	:
Xref: sparky rec.audio:13788 rec.video:12377 misc.consumers:17846
From: CCEB001@UTXVM.CC.UTEXAS.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.audio,rec.video,misc.consumers
Subject: Re: extended warranties & bankruptcies
Date: 15 Oct 92 16:53:47 GMT
Followup-To: rec.audio
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin

In article <5641@naucse.cse.nau.edu>
  <long sad tale of vcr delted>
>  One thing to watch out for, though, is typified by another extended
>  warranty I have/had.  I bought a Pioneer CD player way back in 1985.
>  Got the 5 year warranty on that.  Fortunately I never needed service
>  because the chain I bought it from was in Texas went bankrupt.  As far as
>  I know the warranty became worthless when that occurred.
>
It is very likey you are speaking of the Highland Superstores which
pulled out of Texas and many other states.  I believe they are still
in business in other parts of the U. S.  They have an 800 number you
can call to arrange service.  (no, I dont know it)
 
They describe the thing as an extended service contract, were unable
to provide any info at the point of sale, and never sent a contract.
These things are insurance and should be regulated as such.  At the
very least they should be required to have insured backing.  When
Frisco went out of business, some time ago, they left a lot of
defrauded people.
 
In spite of all their problems, an extended warranty is probably a
reasonable buy **IF** the product purchased is trouble prone.  For
example, a portable cd player is not likely to actually last five
years of regular use.  Just make sure the adjustment they offer when
it cannot be repaired is really worth what you pay.  A power amp does
not have much to break and will most likely last till you get bored
with it.
 
Mike.coyne@utxvm.utexas.edu
 
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: rpt@edscom.demon.co.uk (Richard Tomlinson)
Subject: Re: Adcom amp. Leave on all the time?
Organization: EDS-Scicon, Milton Keynes, UK
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 11:40:59 GMT

In article <1992Oct14.165238.27293@ms.uky.edu> miles@ms.uky.edu (Stephen D. Grant) writes:
>I'm curious. I know that many people with tube amps leave them on
>24 hours a day. But I have recently been told that I should leave my
>solid-state Adcom GFA545 on also. Why? Is this correct?
>
I leave my Arcam amp and CD player on all the time (they are both fully
solid-state). This means they are warm (yes even transistors warm up, although
far less than valves!) as soon as I play something so I should get maximum
sound quality. It also avoids the parts warming up and cooling down each time
I use them, so hopefully they will last longer. Whether the effects are any
more measurable than using expensive cables I don't know...

-- 
Richard Tomlinson, EDS Scicon, Wavendon Tower, Milton Keynes, UK MK17 8LX
rpt@edscom.demon.co.uk   Tel:  +44 908 284539          Amateur radio: G4TGJ
All opinions expressed are mine, and are not necessarily those of my employer.
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: stud1b53@bnr.ca (Anshu Prasad)
Subject: Re: need recommendations for center channel speaker
Reply-To: stud1b53@bnr.ca (Vilhelm Boggild)
Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd.
Date: Wed, 07 Oct 92 14:34:50 GMT

In article <5386@gold.gvg.tek.com>, chrisc@gold.gvg.tek.com (Chris Christensen) writes:

 <<LOTS DELETED>>

|> 
|> The position where the "dipolar" speaker may be of use,  is mounted
|> BEHIND the viewing position with the speakers pointed to the sidewalls
|> and the null pointed to the listening position.

  Everything I've read or heard concerning "dipolar" speakers (by the
way, why is this in quotes?  Is it the wrong term?), stated that they
should not be mounted as you have suggested.  I always figured that
such a configuration would result in a null being created between
the surround speakers. Thus the "wall of sound" from the rear would
be lost (or at least partially diminished).  However, I haven't really
given much thought to this arrangement.  If it works, great!  This
weekend I'll try and arrange a sound demo of just this arrangement.
Thanks for the info/suggestion!  Well, back to lurking...

|> -- 
|> Chris Christensen                  The opinions I express are my own,
|> chrisc@gold.gvg.tek.com            and sometimes they are wrong!
|> 916-478-3419 FAX 916-478-3887      After all, I *AM* only human.

-- 
*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*
Anshu Prasad                                        stud1b53@bnr.ca
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
-> The opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily those of
   my employer, Bell Northern Research Ltd.
*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*/=*
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: fineberg@win31.nas.nasa.gov (Samuel A. Fineberg)
Subject: Re: Regrets to this petty newsgroup
Keywords: none that I care to type
Organization: CSC, NASA Ames Research Center, NAS Division
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 92 16:46:14 GMT
Reply-To: fineberg@nas.nasa.gov

In article <1992Oct6.195528.10437@sei.cmu.edu>, jseiler@sei.cmu.edu (Joseph Seiler) writes:
|>For all of those who have sent me mail telling me how crappy .....
Goodby, we won't miss you.

Sam