roger_lew's Profile

Don't forget about daylighting! Careful planning can substantially reduce the need for electric lighting.

For task lighting high efficiency halogens can be an efficient option. Because they better approximate a point source they work better in reflectors to put light where it is actually needed. In contrast CFL PAR lamps are much more diffuse.

Tube fluorescent lighting technology is also advancing. Newer electronic ballasts run lights at much higher frequencies. This makes them flicker free. Newer tube florescent bulbs (T5 and T8) are also more efficient than traditional T12 bulbs. Neon T5 lamps are also starting to make their way onto the market. They can put out about the same amount of light as their florescent counterparts, but with less energy.

LED technology is getting better, but for now I think it is only suitable for ambient and accent lighting. It is difficult to design economical high power LED bulbs because as the power increases the amount of heat that has to be dissapated requires larger and larger heatsinks.

@joe
Umm, I don't think so. Two C cell batteries yield only 3 volts DC with limited current capacity. With a penny in a fuse box you are looking at 120 or potentially 240 volts AC and thousands of amps. A penny in a fuse box is overriding a safety technology in contrast to the quarters which aren't fundamentally changing how the device functions.

I would say if putting a penny in a fuse box is driving drunk while texting then this technique is more like driving 5 miles over the speed limit.

I would suggest wrapping the quarters in aluminum foil to reduce resistance and keep them from coming apart.

I'm with Phil. You might pay a bit of a premium at the specialty audio stores but you get to compare several different headsets. My tack is to go to the store knowing what the internet prices on the various models are. If I find something I like I can say something to the effect of "I can get model X from store Y for Z dollars. Can you come close to that?" You probably won't get an exact price match, but if they can come close I don't mind paying a bit of a premium for the customer service, piece of mind, and not having to wait.

The AKG versus Beatz sentence also cracked me up. I've done A/B comparisons between my AKG k171s and my friends in ear Beatz. The Beatz sounded horribly distorted through the midrange compared to my AKGs. I started interrogating him about the codec and bitrate of his source files before I plugged in my AKGs and realized just how horrible the Beatz were.

Never mind, it has 6SN7EH tubes. http://www.futatsumata.com/

Must be a spud amp.

Why in the world would you want a remote without tactile buttons?

Props to whoever made that. The execution looks top notch.

Linkwitz says they are less sensitive to room placement because the indirect sound will have the same spectral pattern as the direct sound.

I don't know what omnis you have heard, but the Plutos are definitely not lacking in the imaging department. And I make that claim from numerous subjective impressions including my own. They could have more headroom and better dynamics, but those are different issues. Besides being omnidirectional, their design incorporates other desirable characteristics such as having a very small acoustic point source and limiting diffraction artifacts.

It might be true that some omnis have poor imaging, but I don't think if it is fair to generalize. If you have heard the Plutos I would argue that your experience is valid (It is hopelessly illogical for me to argue with what you perceive) but perhaps an exception given available reports.

Or at least have GFCI outlets in your bathroom,

Looks interesting.

Usability might be a bit better if they made the input selector knob on the left smaller than the volume knob on the right. If you own it, it probably isn't a problem to remember which is which, but if your unfamiliar your going to have to read to figure out which is which.

It would also be good to find the most efficient speakers possible. Those Tang Band FRs are only rated at 85 db/w (http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=264-815).

If you could find a driver with 9dB more efficiency (Fostex) you could play at 94 dB with 1 watt instead of 8 watts. Which means you can play longer on the same charge.