The Manic Mechanic

I'm posting this via the new (or shall I say, new-ish) home theater setup. Jeff and I picked up a new plasma teevee on Saturday, a 50 inch LG, full 1080p, lots of extras, but a dearth of direct inputs. For the time being, I have the home theater PC and the DVD/HDD recorder patched into it via the only two HDMI inputs, and the satellite box has to make do with the standard-def, low-res composite input. The latter picture sucks donkey ass, but will eventually be upgrades. Today's Cowboys/Redskins game was total awesomeness in HD, as Jeff nearly bonered upon seeing his favorite Cowboys best the 'Skins by a point. In between times I was able to pry him from the set, I futzed around with settings, connected gear and got my geekgasm going. HD YouTube vids look better than DVD quality and porn will be larger than life (not that I tried that. Yet.)

But with every such addition to the geek's arsenal of toys, there's the inevitable wave of upgrades and new stuff that has to follow right thereafter. Case in point, the old Analog Denon A/V receiver is worthless here. So, a new HDMI-switching receiver with multi-room capability is next, as is a set of front speakers, a sub, HD-capable satellite or cable, not to mention an articulating wall mount, requisite cabling, drilling and cutting holes in walls, etc, etc.

There goes my savings.

Yesterday I dismantled my stereo system/home theater setup. The 35" Toshiba console TV (yes, an actual console, floor-standing oak veneer cabinet, 350 pounds worth) had not worked properly for many years, defying all of my attempts to make adjustments to correct linearity and convergence issues. In the last couple years, it gave up entirely. Since no one around here watched much TV, it was no big deal. I finally hauled it into the basement, along with the Denon ProLogic receiver, the Sony cassette deck, Yamaha CD changer, Akai DAT deck, the JVC S-VHS VCR, Sansui and Polk speakers, the upright rack and other sundry bits, cables, power controllers and such that filled two decent sized boxes and sequestered it all in the basement for the time being. The receiver, the DVD player and satellite receiver will be the only holdouts from the old setup as I slowly assemble something new. It seems the longer I wait, plasma and LCD televisions get better, cheaper and supposedly longer lasting. I've waited long enough I think, and perhaps over the holidays will pick up a new set. Not sure which brand or technology yet, but I do want something 1080p capable. For those in my readership who are into such things, advice, personal experiences and recommendations are welcome.

The highest resolution TV is desired not just for television/movies, but it will also act as a display for a home theater PC which I have put together recently. The PC will act as the main DVD/CD player as well as a dual-tuner HDTV PVR, video/audio jukebox, multi-room audio source and PC gaming system. It's already proven itself capable of time-shifting television programming while giving good framerates in Doom 3. :)

I acquired a gorgeous, solid walnut credenza/sideboard several years ago when friends of ours moved out of state. The credenza has been sitting in the basement without a proper place upstairs to make use of it. I will attempt to use it as the equipment cabinet, but I hate the thought of cutting into the thing to make way for cabling. Also, it's not deep enough for the receiver or the HTPC. These will have to live out in the open, which overall is fine, since they are the items needing the most ventilation. The rest of the goodies can live inside the very roomy cabinet with the end result being a very versatile system that does not look like my studio setup piled into the living room.

In other news, today was to be the brake upgrade for the Stratus. Unfortunately, I received the wrong brake rotors for the front and had to bail out on that project. I also discovered that the musty smell occasionally inside the car was due to a veritable lake that had formed in the spare tire well in the trunk. This was not the case a few months ago, and damn if I could find out the leak source. Luckily nothing is permanently damaged save for perhaps the carpeting if I cant get the smell out from drying it out and shampooing it. To top it off, I left the ignition on and killed the battery. Being that it's the original, six-and-a-half plus year old battery, most likely that will need a replacement sooner than later. I guess an Optima Red Top battery is in order, since the car will get a nice, killer Alpine system over the holidays. Next up: Car Theater. Go me.