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If it makes you feel any better, I've had complete crap for luck w/ my Denon DVM-3700 lately... I've had it for years, but it was still covered by the extended warranty I got with it when it was new. For a few months, it had a problem where it would switch discs in the middle of playing. Then in the beginning of December it stopped recognizing about 90% of all discs. So I finally have to send it out. First week in December - ships out to Tweeter's service center... nobody seems to know what's going on for the next 10 weeks, as it goes to Denon and Tweeter has no idea when it might get back. Finally get it back in late February... set it up, and it seems fine. It recognizes discs and plays through. The 2nd time I use it, it jumps discs again. Time to go back out... It's out for less time, and comes back in mid March. I get it home and open it up and low and behold the unit took a major hit, with the face plate taking the brunt of the impact. Dents, scratches and the face plate pushed over a good 3/8", with broken plastic trim everywhere. I didn't even turn it on to see if they had actually fixed the problem... I brought it right back. Well, it was gone until about 2 weeks ago, and I finally got it back. Denon did a great job replacing the whole front panel and trim pieces, and the unit looked new. Which is great, because the only thing it does well is look good. I thought they might've actually just replaced the unit... but wait! Its problem jumping from the disc I'm in the middle of watching to the next disc might even be worse than before. So clearly it's the same piece. So I went in today and they say because it's over a year old, their lemon policy (3 times out for the same problem = store credit) doesn't apply. So they want to send it out again, depsite the fact that the last 5 months and 3 tries have only proved they have no idea what's going on. Why sell an extended warranty if they're not going to stand behind it... They clearly can't fix it, either because the unit is beyond repair or they're incompetent, so what do they suggest? Send it out again, go without it for another month and, in all likelyhood, get it back with the same problem. The $40 open-box buy Sony I got at Circuit City to hold me over at least works! It may not look great, or sound great, but at least I know I can watch a movie without the damn thing flipping out on me. Needless to say, Tweeter's lost my business for good.

Well, I hope you don't plan on being happy any time soon... I, on the other hand, am in a great mood!!! So keep bitchin'!!!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I heart HF-1 bitching threads... Maybe it makes me petty, but all the Head-Fi drama about the HF-1 makes me giggle like a little girl. I also heart my HF-1's... I'm glad I got them because they're definitely a step up from the 325i to my ears. And the mods have only made them better. They're a great change of pace from my 650/Zu. And because of the time and effort I've put into the mods, I don't see myself ever getting rid of them. For $200 (HF-1) + $0 (DIY mods w/ free wood) = one hell of a bargin.

I find the PPA v2 (637/627) + STEPS, paired with a source on the warm side like my Denon DVM-4800, to be a great fit with my 650/Zu. And that same Denon to my Millett Hybrid + Discrete Diamond Buffers + my woodied HF-1's also sound great. I find the 650/Zu to sound OK with the Millett, and I've grown to enjoy the HF-1 with the PPA v2, but the pairing above is definitely preferred.

I'm going to be sad when that thread gets deleted...

Well, they bury it on the page under something you have to pay for, so I'm guessing they offer it only because they'd piss a lot of people off if they didn't, but they'd rather you just download iTunes as well.

You can still get the stand-alone player... @ http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/standalone.html They hide it well, but the link is available on the right side of the QuickTime download page, under the QuickTime Pro Upgrade info.

Until proven wrong, I trust Joss implicitly.

Yeah, my other rig is a WJ... it's nice to be able to put the CJ up for the winter. I'd love to see the ZJ! A welder's on the list of things to get!

Well, this is my current money pit... my 8th Jeep in 13 years, and one of two I have right now! It's a '62 JEEP CJ-5 Universal I had shipped up from SC. I looked for months up here in New England, but there's nothing more than 10 years old that doesn't have way too much rust to consider. It's hardly perfect, but I lucked out that it doesn't need much, and there's no rust at all. But unfortunately nothing on a 45 year old vehicle comes cheap!

T.A.T.U. I enjoy 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, especially the Russian-sung songs, far more than I should!

The rig outlined in my sig...

Artist: Patty Griffin Album: Living With Ghosts, Flaming Red, 1,000 Kisses, Impossible Dream File Under: Folky Singer-Songwriter Recommended For Fans Of: Strong character-based songs with stunning vocals with a folk/blues/alt-country edge. Artist Website: http://www.pattygriffin.com/ (official), http://www.pattygriffin.net/ (unofficial) Sample Listen: ?Forgiveness? from Living With Ghosts, ?Change? and "Blue Sky" from Flaming Red, ?Rain" and "Making Pies? from 1,000 Kisses, "Useless Desires" & "Top Of The World" from Impossible Dream Music Best For: Relaxing, or just settling in for some great listening. Reviews: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jqk0ikz6bb69 My Thoughts: Patty Griffin is an amazing songwriter. Everything from her acoustic tracks to full-on rockers hits with an emotional intensity that's difficult to describe. Perhaps her strongest asset is her voice, which can go from innocent and vulnerable to angry and full of intensity on command. I cant' stand don't care for Dave Matthews, but I do have to thank him for signing her to his label, ATO, after she was dropped by her previous label. The two albums she's recorded with ATO are stunning.

Yeah, that's definitely a great tribute album. It's a good sign when someone (Rei Toei, a bunch of Russian students at a technology school IIRC, who have since disappeared) does a cover of my favorite Tori song ("Sugar") and not only do I not hate it, but I love it... maybe even more than the original! That's a hard thing to pull off IMO. And there are a couple of other artists on there I never would've sought out, like Voltaire, but his take on "Caught A Lite Sneeze" was great. CD Baby is a great resource. I remember finding it when I was looking for Michal's follow-up. The best thing is the looooooooooong samples, so you're not forced to judge based on an entirely random 30 second clip. That's a pretty good way to describe it. I don't think I could've put it together. I can definitely apprecaite it, but can't get into it. I just find that lack of resonance frustrating at times, because I do like what their doing. I'll definitely give that a listen. I definitely enjoyed The Dividing this morning. I went right through that and then to Devour, Rise and Take Flight and it was really cool to hear her progression. She's definitely gotten more bold in her choices in both songwriting and "instrumentation," if you can call it that.

Hmmmm, female-fronted industrial/goth/experimental music? Doesn't take too much of a recommendation to get me to give it a shot! Devour, Rise and Take Flight also reminds me a bit of Artrosis' Fetish, which is fast becoming a favorite of mine. I just picked up The Dividing tonight and will be giving it a spin @ the office tomorrow... I'm definitely looking forward to it. St. Eve isn't so much a them as a her. She did a cover of Tori Amos' "She's Your Cocaine" on Cleopatra Records Songs of a Godess - Tribute to Tori Amos record a few years back and I was intriged. Her demo, the aptly titled Demonstration, used to be availble on her site (http://www.sainteve.net/site/index.html) for free download, but I guess she's selling it now. Her follow-up, Elixer, is a decent effort, too. Demonstration would appear to be out of stock @ CD Baby, but Elixer is available. I've had Kidneythieves' Zerospace for a while now and I just can't get into it. I love her voice, I love the overall sound they achieve, but I just can't seem to get into the songs. I don't know if it's the songwriting, or something else, but it just hasn't grabbed me.

Nate, Thanks for the pic, and thanks for wrapping up the wiring! I listened for about an hour last night and everything was great. And thanks for the kind words, guys... it was a fun little project, and got to spend a day with my dad hanging out in his shop, so it was win-win! NO!

Well, for whatever reason, I had gotten sick of the Par-Metals case I had housing my PPA v2 + STEPS. I had wanted to do something with wood, but could decide what. I had picked up some Zebrawood for another pair of woodied Grados, but was unhappy with working with it in round shapes. So I decided it had come time to use the wood for the PPA's new enclosure. Before: After: I'd have to say it came out better than I could have expected. Needless to say, it hasn't changed the amp's performance... it drives my HD650/Zu just as well as before. But it is a hell of a lot more fun to look at!

Wow, I just picked up Devour, Rise, and Take Flight after reading about it here, and I can't believe Android Lust had escaped my interest for so long. This album is fantastic! Shikhee is talented as hell, and very intriguing to listen to. It kind of reminds me of St. Eve, but with a lot more edge and complexity. Thanks!

Artist: Elysian Fields Album: Elysian Fields, Dreams That Breathe Your Name, Bleed Your Cedar, Queen of the Meadow File Under: Noir-Rock Recommended For Fans Of: Dark, moody music with sultry vocals... I can't think of another band quite like them. Artist Website: http://www.elysianmusic.com/ seems to be the best choice. Sample Listen: ?Black Acres? from Queen of the Meadow Music Best For: Relaxing, driving or plugging away at work. Reviews: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:6xkzu3tgan6k My Thoughts: Jennifer Charles? voice over Oren Bloedow?s music creates an atmosphere hard to find anywhere else. Also worth checking out is her work on Chris Vrenna?s project Tweaker, where her work on ?Crude Sunlight? from 2 A.M. Wakeup Call is a highlight of the album. Artist: Nina Nastasia Album: Dogs, The Blackened Air, Run To Ruin File Under: Sparse and haunting Recommended For Fans Of: Patty Griffin, Mazzy Star, Neko Case I guess... Artist Website: http://www.tgrec.com/bands/band.php?id=15 Sample Listen: ?A Dog?s Life? & ?Nobody Knew Her? from Dogs, ?Run, All You?? & everything else from The Blackened Air Music Best For: Anything, really.. Reviews: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:t2ke4j874waq My Thoughts: Some of the best productions I?ve heard, the instrumentation and vocals are perfectly suited to the songs. I would have to say The Blackened Air kind of feels like a companion piece to Bonnie ?Prince? Billy?s (Will Oldham) I See A Darkness, where there is endless beauty to be found in the dark and ominous songs. These take longer than I thought... I'll put some thoughts together on some more and write them up when I have a chance.