Citizen Gain's Profile

Some sweet vintage audio gear might help. An old McIntosh amp, say, or one of those blocky silver Kenwood receivers from the 70's...

I tried to take a regular block of wood and twist it into that shape using only brute strength. It did not work.

Keep your eyes on ebay for older beocom phones. I know it's cordless, but the beocom 1 looks just stunning, and would be right at home on a desk. Plus, it can probably be had for around $60, all told.

But they would be facing straight up, so all the people using google would still be able to see them... right?

I'm totally going to gut the closet in my parlor and turn it into a hideaway bar.

Sealed cans offer the best isolation, and the AKG k271 is my personal favorite of the sealed cans. They're fairly affordable, too, for the quality.

>>ekoshyun

A company called NuForce has recently released a solid headphone amp called the NuForce Icon Mobile. It's a combo of headphone amp AND DAC, which is perfect for laptops. It's also a tidy $100, which is GREAT for that kind of combo, in it's quality. It was reviewed quite favorably by 6moons recently: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/nuforce10/mobile.html

Grado SR80. Inexpensive, small, comfortable... perfect.

Easy to drive without a headphone amp.

Classic looks.

Powerful, smooth, warm sound.

YOU CANNOT GO WRONG WITH GRADO.

Right now I'm enjoying a wine called "Praxis." It's a Pinot Noir. The only (ONLY) reason I bought it was because it shares the same name as the Klingon moon of Praxis, which exploded at the beginning of Star Trek VI.

The wine is OK. The chance to associate a glass of wine with a fictional moon-based mining facility is spectacular.

I have this technique to make portable acoustic baffles and isolators... It uses hollow-core doors, I just don't use them as actual doors. You could, and they would work fine.

If you don't have one already, buy an inexpensive hollow-core door (they're typically only about $20). Remove the support board along the bottom, to expose the hollow area. Yank out the corrugated cardboard within, and fill the door with that expanding "canned foam." Replace the board on the bottom. Then, on the front and back sides of the door, put a layer of Dynamat, Sheetblok, or thin Neoprene foam. Any finishing touches beyond that are up to you. If you REALLY want to absorb sound, use some kind of protrusion baffle like an egg crate foam, or line the door with slats of wood. Anything to trap the sound.

I think it looks pretty cool. It really isn't that unsafe, in terms of a fire hazard, so long as you the right gauge cord, and the proper dimmer.

The energy thing is an issue... At 1,000 watts, I might as well just light my house with ETC Source Fours. Hell, why not just get a 14K HMI!?

Could this be done with compact fluorescent bulbs? I know you can't dim them, but there are 3-way CFLs that could possibly work.