John Cowling's Blog

Stereo Equipment Recommendations

Oct 212011

Here is a collection of recent information provided to friends looking to buy stereo equipment. Maybe someone will find this useful.

Speaker selectors with volume controls:

A friend wanted to hook up two sets of speakers to his Sonos unit.

Niles Audio: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_190SSVC2/Niles-SSVC-2.html?search=niles+speaker+selector

Monoprice: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10903&cs_id=1090305&p_id=8231&seq=1&format=1

Niles is a quality brand with a circuit to protect your amp, but the Monoprice should be fine too for only $50.

Cables:

Don’t be fooled by overpriced audio cables and speaker wire. Electrons are not picky. I buy cables at www.monoprice.com and use lamp cord from Lowes for speaker wire.

Bookshelf Speakers:

You can’t get much better than Dynaudio.

http://www.pearlaudiovideo.com/products/speakers-products/bookshelf/dynaudio-dm-26/

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/dynaudio2/dm.html

KEF makes great speakers, as does NHT.

A friend wanted white bookshelf speakers:

Usher S-520, $479 a pair. http://store.audioholics.com/product/2565/0/usher-audio-s-520-bookshelf-speakers–pair-white-. I have a pair of these. Very nice.

NHT Absolute Zero ($400 a pair) or N-2W ($600 a pair): http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=nht+speakers+white&x=0&y=0

Audioengine P4, $249 a pair. http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Audioengine-P4#buy-now

The Ushers have no mounting holes. The NHT and Audioengines have mounting holes.

Outdoor Speakers:

I am partial to Klipsch for outdoor speakers.

In-Wall Speakers:

In the reasonable category, Klipsch R-3650, $299 each; Klipsch R-3800, $349 each; Polk TC65i, $280 each; Polk 65RT, $249 each; PSB CW26, $450 a pair; PSB CW28, $499 a pair; NHT iW1, $199 a pair; NHT iW2, $299 a pair; NHT iW3, $399 a pair.

http://store.audioholics.com/section/66451/1/klipsch-in-wall-speakers

http://www.crutchfield.com/g_12600/In-wall-Speakers.html?tp=192&avf=N&nvpair=FFBrand|Polk+Audio&evar36=Header%3aIn-wall_Speakers

http://www.crutchfield.com/g_12600/In-wall-Speakers.html?tp=192&avf=N&nvpair=FFBrand|NHT&evar36=Header%3aIn-wall_Speakers

http://www.audioadvisor.com/products.asp?dept=51

The Klipsch are probably the best bang for the buck. By the way, all of the brands carried by www.audioadvisor.com are good.

Compact Receiver/CD:

A friend wanted a simple compact system with a a received and a CD player.

For $999, I like: http://www.crutchfield.com/s_776SOLMINI/Arcam-Solo-Mini.html?search=arcam+solo

It combines a CD player, AM/FM radio and amplifier in one small package. I have an Arcam integreted amp that I like a lot.

If you want separates, I like this for $828: http://www.wildwestelectronics.net/cambridge-audio-ar30-cd30.html

Going down in price, this would be fine for $400: http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NAC715

The lowest I would go is the Yamaha mini systems for $250: http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-CRX-330BL-Component-Receiver-Player/dp/B001P05NGA/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1316716130&sr=8-7

I don't understand the Greece effect

Current Events No Responses »

Oct 052011

I have trouble understanding how a small country like Greece can wreak so much financial havoc on world markets. Greece has a population of 11 million and a GDP of $320 billion. That is a GDP less that the State of Washington and population the smaller than Ohio.

Greece is admittedly a mess. The Greek government spend is $150 billion. That’s about $13,600 per capita. This is astonishing compared to the per capita GDP of $29,600.

Show me the numbers please

Current Events No Responses »

Sep 182011

I am endlessly disappointed at the political rhetoric on US Government spending and cutting the deficit. I would like to see the numbers please. The 2011 federal budget calls for 3,832 billion in spending, 2,564 billion in revenue for a deficit of 1,268 billion. We are spending 33% more than we are taking in. This is a big number and belies easy solutions. It can be solved, however, in many different ways. I started playing around with some options using the numbers as a way to try to understand the issues. 2011deficit is a spreadsheet containing the spending and revenue numbers for the 2011 budget.

Playing with the numbers indicates to me that some of the rhetoric about growing our way out of the deficit by cutting taxes to spur economic growth (republicans) or increasing taxes on the wealthy and cutting corporate tax loopholes (democrats) can’t work with any reasonable assumptions. For example, increasing total income tax revenues by 10% and increasing corporate income tax revenue by 10% only yields 142 billion dollars, leaving a 2011 deficit of 1,126 billion. If these tax revenues were increased by 50%, the deficit would still be 559 billion for 2011. When you start adding the annual deficits going forward year by year, the cumulative total just gets bigger.

You have to drastically reduce spending or significantly reduce spending and increase revenue. For example, if you cut spending 10% across the board except for interest payments and impose a 9% VAT tax, the deficit is eliminated.

I doubt that we have the political will to address the problem head on by actually looking at the numbers. Take, for example, the fact that over the last ten years, federal spending is up 53% and revenue is up 8%. On the other hand, many state governments balance their budgets, more or less. See http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=12651

How would you do it?

Interesting record review site: warr.org

Uncategorized No Responses »

Jul 202011

Short, opinionated and smart reviews of 2,300 records: warr.org. Covers lots of ground with mainstream as well as lesser known artists.

For example, I stumbled on someone I have never heard of: Martha Redbone. Wow, what a voice. Check her out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7cFBeevSdA

Livescribe Echo Pen is Very Useful

Computers, Legal Tech No Responses »

Jul 152011

I use my Echo pen often. It records my notes in Moleskin style notebooks that I can upload and convert to PDFs. It also makes audio recordings that are time synched with the notes. For example, I recently recorded a lenghty meeting about what needed to be done to complete a complicated financing transaction. One of the lawyers that was doing a lot of the work could not be there. After the meeting, I forwarded him my notes synched with the audio. Once he downloaded a small free viewer to his PC, he could play back the portions of the audio that went with the portions of my notes that he were not clear. Without this tool, we would probably have had to have several conversations with me about what my notes meant. I may or may not have been able to remember what was said with enough detail to provide him the correct information. If I had an audio recording without the synched notes, it would have been a laborious process to try to find the relevant portions of the audio without any synchronization with the notes.

The audio quality is surprisingly good.

There is a third-party handwriting recognition plug in for $30, that I have not tried.

The battery life is very good. I plug the pen into a USB port only once every couple of weeks.

You do have to buy or print the special paper needed to record the text. I like the post it notes and the Moleskin style notebooks.

The desktop software is well laid out. It is simple to send notes by email or to Evernote, which I do frequently.

The Echo pen does work with Macs.

Available at Amazon of Best Buy starting at $99 for a 2gig version. I have the 4gig version, which has been plenty for me.

Lots of new music added to jcow

Music No Responses »

Apr 242011

David Byrne, Actress, Sufjan Stevens, Gary War, Dan Deacon, No Age, Zs, Thinking Fellers Union Local #282, Pelican, Bearkat, and Joanna Newsom.

Enjoy.

Squeezebox App is slick and wicked fast

Computers, iPad and iPhone, Music No Responses »

Apr 242011

I am a huge fan of the Squeezebox network music players from Logitech. You can stream music from your PC, play internet radio stations, and stream from Pandora, Rhapsody and other services. Logitech has released free Android and iOS apps to control your Squeezbox players. They appear to be complete, attractive and wicked fast.

I have used the iPeng app for several years and have been very satisfied with it. The Logitech app feels much faster than iPeng. I will do a more detailed comparison and report back.

Time to get in shape with Couch to 5K - There's an app for that

Fitness, iPad and iPhone No Responses »

Apr 172011

OK. I am out of shape. Spring is a good time to do something about it. I decided to start with a little running.

The Couch to 5K approach looks like a good way to start from my rather complete slothdom. The idea is to run/walk for 25 to 35 minutes over nine weeks, increasing the amount of running each week, with the goal of being able to run for 3 miles (5K) at the end of the nine weeks. The routine starts out with alternating jogging for one minute and walking for 90 seconds in the first week and slowly increases the amount of running. By week nine, the run is 30 minutes with no walking after the 5 minute warmup. If you can run 10 minutes a mile at the end, you can run for 5K in 30 minutes.

Of course, I have to have an iPhone app to get me motivated. I looked at several,** but settled on Interval Run ($1.99), which has Couch to 5K intervals built in (as well as Gateway to 8K, a similar program to Couch to 5K, but with a goal to run for 50 minutes). I wanted to be able to listen to music and run the app with voice prompts. Interval Run seemed to fit the bill. Start a music app such as iPod, Rhapsody or Pandora, and then start Interval Run. The Interval Run voice prompts will come in over the music.

The Run Keeper app (free or paid versions) will do the same thing, but you have to create each routine for each week of the program. Run Keeper will do a lot more than Interval Run such as GPS tracking and uploading your running stats, but it was worth 2 bucks to me not to have to create all the routines that are built into Interval Run. (You can create custom routines on Interval Run too, so both are good for interval training, which is all the rage: see http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17exercise-t.html?_r=2&ref=magazine)

One other note. Supposedly declaring my intentions publicly might help keep me committed to my goal. So, thanks in advance to the two or three people who actually read this blog for helping me out.

Well, its time to put on my shoes and get out on the road.

I will report back during my progress.

** I looked at: ITGO – Interval Training ($3.99). ITGO would not work because the maximum interval is 90 seconds. ITGO is designed for High Intensity Training and looks good for that purpose. Get Running ($1.99), C25K ($2.99) and Couch to 5K ($2.99) looked good, but the only thing they can do is Couch to 5K. Interval Run and Run Keeper allow users to create routines, so they can be useful after you finish Couch to 5K.

Ode to the Rhapsody music service

Bonnaroo, Music 1 Response »

Apr 162011

I have been a fan of the Rhapsody music service for several years. For less than the price of a CD each month, you get access to 10 million songs from your PC and most mobile devices including the iPhone, Android devices and Blackberry phones. You can save whatever albums or songs you like to your music library or make playlists and access them on your devices. You can now download songs onto your mobile device, so you do not have to stream the songs every time you play them.

Here is why I am crazy for Rhapsody:

Exploring new music. If you hear of a new album from a friend or read a review on Pitchfork, Metacritic or other review site, go over to Rhapsody, add the album to your music library and listen to the entire album, not just a snippet. I used to buy a lot of CDs without hearing them and ended up not liking quite of few. No more. If I really like an album after listening to it on Rhapsody, I will buy the CD or vinyl (I still like to listen on my good stereo).

Rhapsody is also great for checking out whether you want to go to a live show. Even if it is an act I know, I can listen to the newest release before I decide to go to the show. I have been going to the Bonnaroo music festival for several years. One of the great things about Bonnaroo is that there are many acts I am not familiar with. The vast majority of the acts are on Rhapsody, so I can listen and decide who I want to see. I also make a Rhapsody playlist of the upcoming Bonnaroo acts and download it to a Sandisk music player. I can listen to the playlist anywhere, including in the car, without an Internet connection.

Whole house music streaming. I am lucky to have a whole house music set up, including speakers on the patio. I use a Logitech Squeezebox to stream my ripped CD collection and Rhapsody to the whole house system. With the iPeng app for the iPhone, iPad and iTouch, I have full control of Rhapsody from anywhere in the house. For example, I can sit on the patio, read a review of a CD on my iPad, switch over to the iPeng app, search for the artist or CD by title and play it on the outdoor speakers. This is the holy grail of music listening.

I have no affiliation with Rhapsody and have not received anything in connection with this review. I have been a paying customer for years. While there have been some rocky times over the years with the Rhapsody service, I have had no significant problems for quite a while. (I think Windows 7 did help with the stability of the PC client.)

I do buy songs or albums occasionally from Rhapsody. They are in MP3 format without any annoying DRM or the headaches of using iTunes.

What is your experience with Rhapsody or other music services? Do you like the combination of Rhapsody and a Squeezebox? Is the user experience the same with the Sonos streaming system and Rhapsody?

www.rhapsody.com

Squeezebox link: #mce_temp_url#

iPeng link: #mce_temp_url#