Computer Speakers

It was a sad day when my trusty Cambridge Audio Soundwerks speakers broke (well, not really break - all of the springs that apply tension to hold the speaker wire in place broke, leaving me with the only option of soldering the speaker wire directly into the holes). I jumped over to Amazon.Com and researched a new set of $150-$200 speakers. After reading all the reviews, I found people raving about the M-Audio AV 40 monitors (which is a 2.0 setup - no subwoofer included). A few days later the speakers arrived - definitely very high quality construction. However, a few minutes later of listening and I knew these weren't the speakers for me. Very bass deficient; very good tweeters, but not a lot of warmth and there was simply no way to EQ in enough mid-bass frequencies without making the speakers sound much worse (and actually distort the sound). I expanded my research - however, the current manufacturing trend is 5.1 or 7.1 speaker setups, and I don't want or need that many speakers for remastering audiotapes or listening to music on my PC. I bit the bullet, opened the wallet wider, and decided upon the Focal XS Satellite speakers, which are a 2.1 setup whose construction strongly resembles the Apple iMac computer. Having installed Focal speakers in one of my cars (and loving their tonality and accuracy), I lucked out and found these $600 speakers on Amazon that were in like new condition for roughly 20% off. The speakers arrived today - absolutely beautiful construction, with top quality construction. I wish the connector cables were longer, but they (barely) stretched on my wide desk. The sound is AMAZING - very airy, with excellent instrument separation. These will make remastering audiotapes a much easier (and accurate) process. Lesson learned - don't skimp on PC speakers (even if the price is approaching bookshelf speaker prices).

Cuisinart Keurig Coffee Maker

I love Cuisinart kitchen stuff - the stainless steel finish and sturdy construction looks, and feels great. I bought the Kuerig B-70 single-serving coffee machine from Costco and loved it. I then received the Keurig Mini Brewer coffee maker as a gift and promptly took it to work to enjoy... what a piece of junk - this machine leaked all of the water in its water tank every time I used it, so back to the store it went and traded in for the Keurig B60 - what a piece of junk that machine was too, because no matter what I did it would not fill a coffee cup with coffee (kind of a basic requirement for a coffee machine - color me crazy). That machine went back to the store and ultimately replaced with the Cuisinart SS-700 Keurig machine. While it looks great on the kitchen counter, there is a serious design flaw - it has repeatedly sucked an air bubble from the water tank which prevents it from doing much more than spitting 1/16" inch of coffee into the coffee cup - and clearing that air bubble is a pain in the @ss. The Cuisinart is still on the counter and has worked well for 3+ weeks now; but every time it sucks in an air bubble I am tempted to toss it into the trash can and making a trip to Costco. Lesson learned - stick with the Keurig B-70.

eBay Selling

I decided  to sell some of the excess SAE stereo gear that has been stacking up in my house. At the last moment, I decided to sell a Nakamichi CD Player (6 disc) that I had refurbished, but never listened to. After posting them onto eBay they all sold pretty quickly - I carefully packed them up and mailed them USPS Parcel Post. And then the trouble started. USPS is apparently pretty rough on boxes - my SAE EQ got badly beaten up in shipment, but thankfully the customer understood, and once my USPS insurance payment arrived I reimbursed him. However, a customer in NY that bought this CD Player was an absolute nightmare - two days after I mailed him the box he decided that the CD Player should have already arrived at his house and then started an email war with me. He placed a hold on his PAYPAL payment to me for the auction and then posted negative feedback on my eBay account, claiming I never mailed him the CD Player. After the CD Player arrived at his house (and keeping in mind the daily emails that are slandering me and calling me the "worst human being on the planet"), he then claimed the CD Player arrived damaged and forces PayPal to begin an inquiry into the transaction. I learned via numerous conversations with eBay Customer Service and PayPal Customer Service that sellers have ZERO rights - their stance is that the customer is ALWAYS right, and a seller is obligated to fully refund the buyers money and have the item shipped back to them REGARDLESS of what the seller's auction terms said. For this auction I took pictures showing the CD Player turned on (and LED's illuminated) and the tray ejected; that it was USED (not new); no returns; sold as-is; no guarantees... and even though I provided a 10 page affidavit to eBay and PayPal that documented everything about this auction and this customer's hostility, PayPal reversed the transaction and gave the buyer back the money. End result: I have my first ever negative feedback (that eBay REFUSES to remove, even though the buyer's comment was proven wrong); I lost money on the eBay post; I lost money from the PayPal transaction fee; I lost money on shipping and insurance. Lesson learned: I will NEVER sell ANYTHING on eBay ever again.  And I highly recommend you don't either.

Volvo S60 T6 AWD Sedan

Here is an example of not taking at full face value a car magazine's review - and why I even more strongly wish that car manufacturers would either offer a 30 day money back guarantee (like so many other products do) or allow you to "live" with a car for a couple of days in YOUR environment. Volvo has some great ads on TV for this vehicle - gorgeous "tan" colored car doing 180 degree spins to get back onto the semi-truck. I had decided I needed a more practical, more fuel efficient car, and I didn't want to go back to BMW - nothing "domestic" did much for me (it's a shame that the Pontiac G8 sedan isn't around any longer - and it didn't have a manual tranny anyway). Volvo offers a five year free preventive maintenance plan on a new S60 - this fact, combined with better gas mileage and great TV ads inspired me to take the plunge, so I traded in my sexy 2010 Dodge Challenger R/T and drove the Volvo home. And then the REAL car started to emerge. The S60 is an absolute PIG in cornering, with so much body roll that I would literally grab ahold of the center console while making a 90 degree corner turn. The brakes and headlights were phenomenal. Interior material quality was top notch; however, there is so much "stuff" inside the front door panels that the passenger front door would buzz horrifically when the bass control was set past 30%, which REALLY detracted from the sound of the stereo. Oh yeah - that highly touted stereo (mine had the $2700 stereo package) was a HUGE disappointment - and I read plenty of positive press about the Volvo's top of line stereo (which was a huge consideration I made in deciding on the S60). The system had great tweeters and proper tweeter placement, and the center speaker did a great job of pulling the soundstage forward and upwards - however, the absence of a subwoofer really detracted from the musical experience, and the surround sound mode was simply horrible - the soundstage would literally fall backwards and all you would hear was the REAR door speakers (so now the sound is coming from behind you about butt level) - all THIS from a $2700 stereo!! The cars acceleration was quite startling WHEN the transmission was in the correct gear, but that rarely happened - the tranny wanted to shift as quickly as possible into the highest gear possible (to save gas?), which really detracted from the car's fun factor. The driver’s side foot well was very cramped - my left foot wanted to about 6-8 additional inches to the left to be comfortable. And the seats - OUCH! They look gorgeous, but they SUCKED - I could not find a comfortable position to save my life, and I spent hours pushing buttons to try to find a comfortable setting that forever remained elusive. The A/C was fairly effective, but because the car was a dark color, with an ambient outside temperature of 80 degrees the interior was already in the mid-90's, so the A/C was working overtime to make the inside comfortable. The color of the car (which wasn't the color I wanted, but attractive when the sun caught the metal flake) must have had the SOFTEST clear coat on the planet - every "door handle scoop" located under each door handle has a severe number of scratches - the top of the car had scratches - there were scratches literally everywhere on my 6-week old car - simply UNACCEPTABLE! The S60 also suffers from "odd" styling lines - the front end of the car looked like it was a stylist's afterthought and grafted onto the rest of the car - from the side it was extremely ungainly looking. I was hugely disappointed with this EXPENSIVE car.. and I've not even talked about the dealership yet...