Virtual Pub

[Elsie Dee]

Hi All

This is my first post here and as you maybe can guess from my name, am a big TV fan. I don't mean big TV in the sense of screen size but in my bodily dimensions and my fondness for anything on telly.

Even my sister tells me I could teach potatoes a lot about yogic stillness and couch sitting. She didn't actually use those words - she said "You fat, square-eyed, TV watching sloth".

It prompted me to ask myself whether The AudioWorks had some responsibility under the Human Rights Act or something to organise some fitness events. "Walking is the new AV and Hi-Fi" or something?

Actually, I wonder whether after becoming seriously addicted to Hi-fi, whether walking or cycling maybe be the only method of transport some of us could afford?

Maybe you can open a new market in acrylic bicycles and/or walking boots?

Elsie
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I hate plasma

[Cloth Ears]

Sorry, Elsie, I think you may have come to the wrong website.

I suspect you may be looking for the AudioWalks.
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[SAD ONE (Iain)]

[Cloth Ears]

Wasn't it Oxford University which had a 'Dangerous Sports Club' - seem to recall that its members did things like playing a piano as it slid downhill on a toboggan, you get the idea.

I quite like the idea, Saddo (can I call you Saddo?) but we need some rigour in our method or it won't be extreme hi-fi, it'll just be extreme music listening which is not the same thing at all.

To differentiate ourselves from the dilettantes who think they could participate simply by taking an iPod on a free-fall parachute jump, we'd have to make sure the fundamentals of hi-fi were properly observed.

So we need due attention to things like:

speaker placement;
supports;
mains; and, of course
cabling.

As much of this will be conducted outdoors, we'll probably have to concede that any attempt at room treatment would be unnecessary.
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What? Sorry, you'll have to speak up. I said, you'll have to speak up. What? Sorry, I said...

[SAD ONE (Iain)]

[Cloth Ears]

Of course you may, Saddo. Mind you, this project isn't going to get very far if we're going to take 8 months between each post.

As it happens, I have put the intervening time (and recent snow) to good use. Admittedly, my back garden is a little too flat, and small for toboganning, but I took the opportunity to test out the snow-tolerant capabilities of my system.

I found that, compared to the ReVo support, a snowman base-unit (assuming the standard 3-tier snowman construction technique) was about the right height for the CD player and amp, and not far off optimum for standmounting loudspeakers (I used some from B&W because I thought colour ones might run if they got damp). It was a bit tricky getting the placement right because every time I rolled a speaker stand to one side or the other, it got a bit taller, so then I had to roll the other one, to match. I decided not to bother with any attempt at time-alignment for this first stage analysis but to leave that for another day. In terms of sound quality, I'm not convinced that snow is as effective as acrylic in this regard, but it may also be that I hadn't scooped enough snow out of the middle.

One other big advantage, from a domestic-acceptability point of view is that it proved very easy to hide the speaker cables.

It's early days, and results are, shall we say, inconclusive. Perhaps if it had been a little colder still, I might have got more of a cryo'd effect as well, but I can't say I noticed a significant benefit at the temperatures I measured. But that may also have been down to the woolly hat over my ears.

Any chance you can get you, and your system, to Aviemore by next Saturday?
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What? Sorry, you'll have to speak up. I said, you'll have to speak up. What? Sorry, I said...

[SAD ONE (Iain)]

Hi Clothy

Yes, I was a bit slow in my response. I thought it may inspire you to even greater innovation and indeed it has.

During your trials were you able to confirm that the only significant difference between a Snowman and a Snowoman was Snow Balls?

I am afraid due to a prior engagement (don't tell my wives), I can't make it up to Aviemore by Saturday. I am up for Glen Morangie or Glen Livet anytime if you're buying.

Sado
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You might not realise this but in reality there are no bald people. There are only ginger haired people with initiative.