AZ BS Thread 4²0

We only stayed the one night so it wasn't too bad for them. Found the wood we needed in basically one haul and called it a good day. Once he splits it and stacks it we will know if we need to go back out or not

 

We did about 6 cords. Split it all out there too. We were done by sunday afternoon tho.

 

Keep in mind that you can get a brand new SR5 4x4 for less than that out the door (mine was less). I knew the surf was all I needed as coilovers and wheels and tires were going to be switched out pronto. If you like the cement color you can also get that on any model now, not just the pros like previous. The pros are really nice and I love them, just food for thought

 

Yeah, it would be foolish for me to trade right now. Not that it wouldn't make me extremely happy. I suppose I could justify keeping the Tacoma and getting the Tundra by saying "Hey, I was going to buy a raptor and this is still cheaper and I get 2 trucks" but I know its the wrong thing to do.

I might just buy a motorcycle to ease the pain.

 

All review websites are going to be biased towards some manufactures. I typically go with Cnet (quick and easy to get basic info) then head over to soundandvision.com, and Audioholics to get more in depth reviews.

The big questions to ask yourself is

1. How much are you willing to spend?
2. How much of an audiophile are you?
3. Will your significant other be upset because it's "too loud" (this happens more than you'd think. I ended up getting a Klipsch 5.1 full setup for $450. He had the receipts and he paid over 2k for everything. GF was pissed it was too loud and she wanted it out of the house that day. Lucky me, sucky him).
4. Do you have neighbors/roommates to worry about?

Once you get past these then you should start building the setup that works best for your room. Example, I have vaulted ceilings and ATMOS speakers just don't work well with vaulted ceilings. So if I want to run ATMOS correctly I need to mount speakers up in the ceilings. I see people pay big bucks for all the bells and whistles and then I look at their setup and laugh about how much money they wasted. ATMOS is the big thing and unless the room is setup correctly it won't work. So if your room won't work well with ATMOS don't pay extra for it.

As for brands names there isn't a lot of differences between all the major brands as long as you are staying in the same tier. For most people a $200 Yahama vs a $200 Onkyo won't sound any different to most people. When I pick out a receiver for me I look at few things. Good speakers are the key.

1. Total RMS power @2ch (or 5ch if they list it). THD% needs to be under .10 or I move on. Be careful when you read the specs, Amazon will list RMS power for 1ch. Who the hell gets a 7.1 receiver and uses it for one channel? I ended up getting one from Amazon that said 165watts RMS. I didn't read the manual and when I did the math it turned out it was about 45watts of power per channel. Returned that real fast.
2. The menu. Not a deal killer for most but if you are going to be futzing around in the menu a lot it might be nice to have a good GUI. One of the man reasons I don't buy Yahama is their menu's. They suck, they are old and clunky and they haven't changed the look of it in 20 years.
3. General reviews to make sure it's not a pile of shit. I don't like reading reviews for the most part because I don't know who is writing it. Someone may say it's garbage but they have 50% hearing loss and can't tell. But if you see a lot of reviews "Died in 3 months, screen went out, distortion like crazy" then it's safe to say it's not a great unit.

Here is my opinion on brands.

Denon - Love them but always seem to be lower on power until you hit their higher end receivers.
Onkyo - Love them as well but hate their support. They don't like to fix things and are always "It isn't our fault". But my Onkyo is outputting 240watts RMS @2ch (bi-amp'd) and it sounds crispy as hell. Also love their menu layout.
Yahama - Hate the menus but I've been impressed with every Yahama receiver I'd played with. Lots of power. But the menu from 1978 just pisses me off.
Sony - I've never found a Sony receiver that I liked yet. Just everything about their audio (car and home) has never impressed me. I know a few people who have Sony's and love them. I've heard them and they sound good as well. Just something about Sony I don't like.
Marantz - Love them but you are paying extra for the name. They are exactly the same as Denon (same manufacture) but typically a higher end build with some better components. Not all models are. Some are literally the exact same as a Denon just with a different name.

(Polk, Denon, Marantz, Boston Acoustic are all the same manufacture *Sound United*)

As for speakers, sky is the limit. Get the receiver first, speakers second. Once you know how much power/THD%/Room configuration you have then you can match speakers to that setup.

 

Also, let me know how nice it is.

 

Oh I know all that man. I'm not wasting money on a pro. I know the game sweet cheeks

 

Now we are thinking! Lol and buy my bike

 

Will do if I have enough time to swing in

 

His chats with Rich Roll are pretty awesome. Rich is an insanely cool guy and his diet works for him, but he always seems fairly respectful about it, and he and Joe are pretty good at talking intelligently about their views.

 

I actually think I want to go with the Ducati Scrambler cafe. You have one you want to sell me?

Pros are NOT a waste! I am a Professional TuRD and I have a truck to match

 

Nice setup!

 

Thanks for the detailed write up. This will be very helpful!
Right now I am thinking about only spending 1K as I am not that big of an audiophile and the room is fairly small. Pretty much anything will be an upgrade to my $300 system that I got with my last TV.

 

I have a R1 to sell you.

And a pro is a waste for me. Knowing I'm taking out suspension wheels tires. I dont need the badge. I just want the color and the v8

 

1k for speakers and receiver correct?

 

I think I am still a few thousand under msrp of a TRD even...

If you’re looking for a special color, anymore it makes sense to look into a wrap. Cheaper than paint, and definitely cheaper than a pro! Although to be fair the market for pro takeoffs is pretty crack pipe, which can be leveraged to offset the cost of mods.

 

Yeah wrap is a option. But I dont see it lasting long with me without some branch ripping part of it. And for a good wrap I'm still looking at over 2k so why not just wait and get what i want in the factory color i want? If I'm willing to drop the coin I'm getting what i want and what options make sense to me.

 

yes

 

Shouldn't be hard to get a nice sounding system for that price. If you don't want all the bells and whistles you can save a bunch of the receiver part and spend more on the speakers.

 

Cool man, I’ll check it out!