STAN'S LINKS PAGE!
WHAT'S ON THIS PAGE, YOU ASK?
STOP!
version 5
September 2021…please understand that this page was last updated January 2020, but before that July 2004, so yes it is dated, but now it is upupdated!
READ THIS: OK, it is self-indulgent for me to ask this of you, but
please....
I want you to take few
minutes and FOCUS.
Focus on what.... ?
Reading this page!
If you just read it,
without stopping, you may get the entire gist of the goings-on here.
But, it is really
long....MUCH too long in fact. Browse it, then!
Then feel free to go
back and explore the various links. But FOCUS, dammit! Thanks for "listening".
(prepare for maximum verbiage)
I'm a native to the
what can I tell you, other than this large page of LINKS refer to people and places and things I know about....
friends and lost friends
work-related experience * rock & roll
my audio/video electronics *
audio/video content
pinball * other
electronic doo-dads *
still more links!
_________________________________
Do you
have any curiosity for what it is like to be an aging baby boomer, bachelor guy
living in a middle class suburban setting in the
21st century?? Well, it's kinda like this...
Gosh, I have
some friends.....
·
Whoa! There's my
best buddy Tom Semans,
who worked with me as Lighting Technician and Production Manager for many years
at the Scottsdale Center for the
Arts (SCA). He was living in
·
Of special note
is my very good friend, John
Berkheimer who was formerly Chief Engineer at GoVideo. He also
worked with me at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts
(SCA) as Lighting Technician, and has always been a really good friend and a
true inspiration for things electronic and hi-tech. Plus his awesome
wife/author (LOL) Deb! The two of them make a great couple to be envied for
sure. Still being very technical, keep it up, man!!
- It's
a bit sad to visit Big Bird’s own
homepage; Brian Beinlich, his son Mason and his late wife,
Sharon In 1995 they got hitched, and....budding baby Mason
actually grew up to be a young
man, making it now in the real world! Sadly
- Robert
Mahler is a guy I met in the previous decade through Craigslist selling
and stuff. He’s an interesting guy who is an artist with mechanical
things. He’s created a lot of sculptures, has some interesting audio
stuff and works on some nice automotive projects- impressive. Plus he has
some cool audio stuff, too! I miss his big ol’ dog Jaspher. I know
he does too. But he’ll come visit and pet my pussy cat Kiki!
- A
few years ago I became reacquainted with a friend way back in the old
days, fellow “Park Scottsdale” neighbor Chris Coffin. Chris is
retired like me, and spends his copious free time working on Raspberry Pi
type projects and other computer stuff. Plus, Chris runs sound for the
very cool series of varied jazz concerts at the Sacred Grounds
Coffeehouse every Thursday
night at 7PM at the church on Granite Reef! $5! Yo! Chris!
- Dan
Dik is still a friend of mine that comes in from
- My
friends are varied, and Florie Freshman is a good example of variance!
I’ve know her this past decade as a friend who has some strong
counter-cultural beliefs such as: Dangerous and deadly digital power
meters in everyone’s homes, electromagnetic energy poisoning the
atmosphere through wi-fi, autonomous lidar-powered vehicles, airplanes
everywhere spilling out dangerous chem-trails, etc. etc. Keep that copper
hat on, darlin’! Plus, her roommate, the artistically bent persona
of Norman!! He maintains
his own wacky news aggregator site “attitudestreet”! Love that
name! Plus he does art and karaoke on YouTube
- From
working quite a while at GoVideo, I had several really great friends that
I met and will always cherish-such as:
- The infatigable Art Berger (who I met at
Go-Video) and his demented Woody
Allen-esque world. On a never-ending search for the highly
overrated...what a nebbish, what a guy! He used to repair TVs with his
dad, and quizzically just as his dad passed away around 2016, he had
finally just finally meets his destiny in the love of his life, the
lovely Linda. I am so happy for him (and her)! A lucky pair!
- I guess I should mention John Berkheimer again, as
he has been fundamental in so many things during my life
time…Scottsdale Center, GoVideo, Mesa Research/Tyrell
project…he’s just been there as a great friend and a great
guy, plus he’s an understanding sweetheart, too! Very smart,
indeed!
- Long time associate, Chris Porter who I was
there with as he made a smooth landing of the faltered GoVideo company to
the last days when we locked the doors. He moving up the corporate
ladder. He then helped found and run TV company NuVision. After it
faltered, he then landed a great job with and relocated to Hisense near
- Then there's Chris Chevalier...(as always, I
will forever be indebted to him for picking up my Betamax SLHF-1000 in
- Martin Elmers has been
a friend for a long time…he used to be part of the Mesa Research
group of guys with Chris Porter and Mike Wood (who is now living in
- Hey!
There's Mitch Simons with his loverly wife Beth I've known Mitch for a
while, too...he used to manage the Sundome a looong time ago and has had
his hand in many hi-tech ventures such as originally wiring up the
Phonecian resort with audio/video/data distribution, some educational
video production, digital video recorders, and I believe most recently
still doing a/v consulting for new hotel builds.
- Jody Goldfield is
a reclusive but very smart electronics guy who I've known a verry long
time. He’s done a variety of independent industrial electronics
jobs, headed towards full retirement with his wife Gao in
- Brian
Morphew...a buddy I've stayed in touch with over the years....he's my
friend and a backyard mechanic. He got into herbal
medicine….still divin’ for golf balls, Brian? Oh, guess not.
- Iris
Finklestien (no relation to Steven or Richard) used to live across the street
from me, but she got married and moved and then divorced...she's now an
ex-neighbor but still a friend.!
- There's
Diane....a good friend, she's a bit of a movie hound. She's generally low
key but opinionated, however that is possible. She's an overall nice
person that I enjoy hanging out with. Smile, Diane!
- Honorable
mention goes to Ralph Mueller (from the SCA), who used to also work at the
City of Scottsdale's Cable Channel 11, but retired...what are you doing
Ralph.... rite on, Ralphie baby!?!? Oh yeah,
- Hey
hey hey U2 and music person Laurie Mayhew has been a friend for many
years. She understands the soul of the music and is U2’s biggest
fan! Achtung, baby!
- Hal
Fogel and his wife Jan have been from here to Gualala and back. He’s
just a swell ol’ friend. Good to have you back here, Hal & Jan!
- Back
from the
- Speaking
of the good old days we used to hang out with Cornell Smith…the
“Audio Doctor”. He
has been servicing audio equipment for decades and was at Mesa Hi-Fi back
in the day. Love ya, man.
- I’ve
had the pleasure to interact with a few notable Phoenicians-
- For starters there’s Johnny D!! The Arizona Music Dude-Johnn Dixon,
curator, purveyor and displayer of all things
- Oh, I sorta know local
- And I sorta know Dan Harkins from Harkins
Theatre chain…hardworking and successful here in the valley for
decades!
- Jack Alves
and Hans
Olson are a couple of great
FRIENDS, Missing In
Action....
My God. As I get older, (at the time of
originally writing this I was 51, NOW
9/2021 I am 70!!), I have lost too many friends in the last few decades.
I would like to dedicate this space to friends past who have either died or
stayed out of contact. Before I continue, I offer these words, let's take
advantage of our friendships now. Take a good friend out to dinner or
vice versa, spend a little time and do something special. You just never
know....
- Brent
Gabrielson. A fellow peer with a similar passion for audio &
electronics. For years he worked at ASU’s music theatre department,
and had the famed Gabriel
Engineering. We started work on creating SpectraSonics 610 Complimiter
Clones…. He was known for involvement with KDIL pirate radio, the
Beans and Tubes!
- Dick
Robinson was a good buddy who passed away recently in October 2019. In the
past he lived nearby, used to sell beds and did some bar tending, while
doing magic tricks. Mr. Magic! Slick! He' had lots of great stories!
He’ll be missed.
- There
was Deadhead Emeritus, Bob Kirkpatrick with his psychedelic family. A
veteran, perhaps a casualty of poor veteran’s admin care…gone
around 2012. He's was my personal netguru..he was the first to get that
netcam thing going and took our personal pics (and a bonus) so very long ago)!
- Stephen
Finklestein. Twin brother of Richard, they are (were) electronics
wheeler-dealers. I just hate it when people do too much crap and it
catches up with them. What more can be said. So sad.
- Years
ago I had a friend. A really good friend. Jan Tucker. A was a special guy
who was just coming in to his own and a real character with great taste in
music and art and a love for the movie industry. He lived and worked in
LaLa land. Even worked on the set of Scorcese’s Raging Bull once
upon a time. He had to get out of the city one time and stayed here with
me for about a year around 1992. He returned to LA. He was diabetic and it
caught up to him in in June of 2001 then a few months later, gone from
heart failure. He was a really cool guy, and everyone that knew him still
misses him. I have a picture of him here as
well one with me. Still in contact
with mutual friend Dennis
Young.
- I
knew Andy Carrol for almost 30 years...from a
long time ago at "Audio Lab" 2412 W. Indian School Rd. circa
1970....to later ventures with Car Stereos Unlimited (he installed a car
stereo in John Bonham’s vehicle!) and then tattoo equipment. He
was a good guy, and he is missed. When my mom moved out of their
last house, he was the Realtor that sold it for us. For a finder's
fee, he took me to Durant's for an unforgettable dinner; it was the last
time I saw him. Thanksgiving, 2000. We think some things caught up with
him.
- Pat Oxford- was a good old friend; I partied with him
for many many years, and would listen to his rants and raves....he was a
self professed "tube guru" who had been building custom power and
pre-amplifiers from scratch for many years. Died Jan 4, 1999.
Hepatitis C. RIP, Pat. Folks like friend Sean Brady will never
forget him.
- Khauri Munns. A
fiercely individual spirit I was with in days past in the 80's at the
Friends who I haven't heard from or seen for a
while...
- On
the other side of that World Wide stuff, there's my "littl'
buddy" Kari Hatamuki-where are you, buddy? Oh ya, Facebook!
- Closer
to home, there was my neighbor,
Steve Gonnella and his lovely wife Debbie. He was a very good
friend. Geez...WTF happened there?!? Just a cluster fuck of
non-communication. I respected him, but….nothing now. Whatever. It hurts my heart.
- Thomas
Chan from Beautiful Electronics in Shenzhen
- Then
there was Barry. Barry Lyon was some kinda
networking/hardware/beer brewing/customer service manager/subordinate type
thingie person, but all I know now is that he has he went off and got
married and toured the world sailing and what not with his newly beloved,
Gail. Hope you are happy Barry dude!
- Let
us pause for a moment for decades past with Simone
with her Sun Buddy - she is was offering sun block in individual use
packages purportedly made from pharmaceutical grade ingredients by a
French laboratory. The Simonestress!! {Hey Simone, where is that missing
$100 for your car rental?? And you got married without ever telling
me???}. People warned me about people like her, and did I listen..? Nooooo
- Jerry
Ferguson, was a friend of mine this past decade but his conspiracy theory
ranting about everything more than got on my nerves. I found playing chess
with him interesting, and it was fun to see some of the magic stuff
he’s involved with. But…dude, enough is enough! No want or
need to elaborate on that.
I've been known to Work
Oy, here is my complete work history! The last place I
held a steady job was Adcom, in
As you may have read above, back in the day I spent a
lot of time at GoVideo (originally called Go-Video),
formerly Sonic|Blue, formerly Sensory Science, formerly GoVideo.
·
GoVideo was best
known for the invention of the Dual-Deck VCR in the 1990s. They continued to
have some firsts in the marketplace.
·
They changed
their official name to SENSORY SCIENCE, but in September 2001, the company was
bought up by SONIC|blue of Rio MP3
player fame (in Tigard
·
My responsibility
as QA Engineer was to ensure that products assigned to me were manufactured to
be of acceptable quality before mass production. I travelled to
·
SONIC|Blue (very reminiscent of Hooli
from Silicon Valley,
LOL) went bankrupt, and then GoVideo splintered off to have its controlling
interests financed from TCL a very large Chinese electronics manufacturer,
known for large domestic Chinese sales of TVs and Cell Phones, then finally
getting into the US market with their Roku enabled TV sets.
·
Our retailers
included Best Buy,
·
For a while,
Sensory Science was importer for Loewe TVs. They are a high end German
manufacturer, and they manufactured some beautiful high end direct view CRT
high definition televisions. The Arcada was large a 38” 16x9 CRT with
1080p resolution. So, I was a specialist
at "Go-Video" for the on-screen system development and remote control
customization for Loewe digital TVs, but in January 2002, they (including Mike
Aiken) moved to
·
At the beginning
of GoVideo, circa 1990, I was employed to help test and align the linear audio
tape path of the first generation dual deck VHS VCR, the GV2000. Funny, the
first large GoVideo building in the Scottsdale Airpark is now part of the Go
Daddy headquarters.
·
GoVideo
eventually made a “soft landing” and went out of business in the
early 2000’s with a skeleton crew of Chris Porter, Muriel Burney and
myself.
·
I completed
consulting on a large project for the City of
·
Several years
ago, I finished a working stint with JOS Projection Systems-which is now Technology
Providers (David Barazoto is de man!). I consulted
constructing several large Audio/Video systems for them; a classroom at the College
of Law at ASU, an A/V system at Sun Lakes, and the then new St. Joseph's'
Barrow's Neurological Institute facility: a video conference room and
auditorium.
·
For many, many
years I've known the good people at EAR
in
·
For ten years, I
worked for The City of Scottsdale at the
Scottsdale
Center for the Arts. It's still a progressive city with an ~750
seat performing arts center, I was the Sound Technician there, working many
diverse music artists such as Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, etc. They still
have the annual Arts Festival every spring... ahh...the good old days.
·
Speaking of the
good old days, a long time ago, in a place here in
·
It’s
exciting that finally, I scanned and you will find right here: a
really nice large collection of hundreds of Celebrity Theater program handbills
and pictures!! Jerry Riopelle to BeBop Deluxe and much much more! As a side
note, after I quit the Celebrity to move on to the Scottsdale Center for the
Arts, local peer Brent
Gabrielsen replaced me in my monitor position to wrestle with the next
string of musicians to perform there. Although he passed, I’m know he had
some great stories to tell too!
·
Also, when I
first scanned a few autographed Celebrity handbills, I also found a few
pictures-one of my idol, the late “Little Willie” Bill Compton with
Tommy Vascacou and a photo of The original Circle Star Theatre (with copper on
the sides) from the air. Here
they are…
·
Last but not
least I have a variety of pictures of artists and personnel I took before and
during my tenure there including some backstage pics. You can see them here.
·
Prior to working
at the Celebrity Theatre, I worked several years in the audio repair shop
Kirk’s Electronics, on
·
And getting down
to the real early days, Andy Carroll (read about him above) had a small stereo
store- Audio Lab, that I had the service department in on west Indian School
Rd. Andy had his small staple of brands: Cerwin-Vega speakers, Garrard
turntables, and Kenwood receivers…we also had a few cheapie Rotel units
too!
·
My very first
business was inside the record store Bullfrog records, at the north east corner
of
Do you like Rock & Roll? I like it!
- Watch
TV? (Don't we all) like to see your favorite music artist perform on TV?
Just spend some deep diving time on YouTube for the music artists you
love! You can go down the rabbit hole pretty easily. Can’t say
I’m big on much modern rock music-I need my friends like you to
suggest what is worth listening to in the last two decades! That’s a
long time! Last decade I got turned on to a few artists (like Kings of
Leon) who had a few tunes I could relate to, but I need MORE!
- If
you haven’t already experienced him, I highly recommend Puddles
Pity Party! If you haven’t heard him, he needs some
explaining…Puddles is a talented, eloquent, ironic, tasteful and
quizzical interpreter of a wide gamut of pop/rock songs. Give him some
time and focus to enjoy his exceptionally intelligible vocal stylings.
Every word is heard.
- Howzabout
concerts? Want to know the where your favorite band is playing on the
road? How about what's going on in your area this week? Or who’s
playing in your favorite venue. Man, these guys are the best, they have
been around for a long time online-check out Pollstar
and do a search for your favorite band, venue or city. Amazing that after
20 years they are still the best!
- Geez,
do you REALLY like rock and roll? The internet has changed over the years,
but there still are some pretty good music links that seem to be
consistent in this ever-changing world:
- Wiki gives you all the details on every artist
and every release and member. I love Wikipedia, for fact checking and
especially deep diving about music artists!
- AMG (All Music Guide) has a really good description for
most every rock band that has existed.
- setlist.fm is a great website that shows who played where.
So you wanna know when the first time the Monkees played at the Coliseum
in
- MTV Classics. Is it all good?
Mostly...
- Then, there's some favorite local stuff...
- KCDX this awesome radio station (103.1) has been on
the air for over 15 years playing commercial-free, yes that’s
right, commercial free music from their relatively low power 3KW station
in
- Also worth mentioning is Gulch Radio station that streams
from Jerome. That’s right-ghost town radio. Just a hop above on
all of them thar
Audio/Video and Electronics
There are lots of things I like to mess with
during this electronic media age...audio, video, electronics, pinball, video
games, and computer stuff. If you know
me, you know I enjoy the entire electronics/media thing...I've been servicing,
assembling, buying, trading, selling, operating, documenting audio and video
equipment for about 50 years, so naturally, I have a large audio/video system.
After Thanksgiving of 2000, I began my trek
to integrate my old AV system into an updated essentially easy to use full
system. (hahahaha) It is installed into a 72" tall, 19" wide x2
rack with all equipment properly installed. It is still commanded by a Pronto
system that has a very large integrated software program I've created to work
the whole thing. It is cool!!
My system has been fully mapped out and
several recent pictures can be HERE
for reference (and a ten year older page). There is a
lot of crap connected, but it seems to work pretty well. WOWY WOW WOW WOW! I have been working on this
MF for over 15 years, in hopes of completing it before I die, LOL!! When it
(and CV-19 is done, I will definitely have a party!! Recently (9/2021) I have
gotten the system mostly completely properly connected and working!! (With the
help with CC). It sounds really good, I am surprised! It shoulda and it does!
Next step is to check and adjust all speakers with my RTA/impulse polarity testing.
There seem to always be details I want to improve upon…never ending
quest.
Here are some of the features of this large
sound system:
- Control
system:
- Most everything is controlled by an army of (7)
Pronto TSU1000/2000/7000 remotes with the following exceptions:
- LG Remote required for Netflix, Amazon, HBO
operation
- Cell phone or PC operation for Chromecast
- Reii H9 (plus) Wireless Compact Keyboard
accessory for Tiger Stream Kodi Box (works well)
- PC Currently Required for surround music
playback from Network Attached Server
- LG
65EF9500 65” 3D OLED TV
- Emotiva
UMC-200 surround sound processor. It features 4 HDMI inputs as well as an
analog multichannel input for SACD playback.
- TeslaSmart
8x8 HDMI Matrix Switcher
- Video
sources:
- Dish Network Hopper satellite receiver DVR with:
- (2) 2TB drives for increased archive storage
- OTA USB dongle for receiving direct off the air
reception
- Oppo BDP-93 3D BluRay player with SACD-R
playback capability via 5 channel analog output.
- Dune Base 3.0 Network Media Player
- Dune SmartBox Network Media Player
- WDTV Live Network Media Player
- TigerStream Media Streaming Kodi Box
- Sony BDP-S6500
3D BluRay Player
- Chromecast II
- Sony DVP-CX985V 400 Disc DVD Player
- PC HDMI external connection
- GoVideo VR2940 DVD-R/VHS Recorder
- Audio
Sources:
- Nirvis
Slink-e system:
- 5 Sony 400 Disc CD Players (2000 disc capacity)
- PC program “CDJ” serial port
controls sequencing of players via integrated library and playlist
control with artwork display
- DXS digital audio switcher
- Behringer SRC2000 Sampling Rate
Converter/Buffer
- PC audio HDMI/optical out with splitter to
Emotiva and local DAC
- Sony RCD-W7V DVD player and CD-R Copier
- Sony DT-75ES DAT Recorder
- Nakamichi 680ZX Cassette Deck
- Power
Amplifier System:
- Control
- Ashley Audio/Pioneer D-23 Electronic Crossover
(quad amp mains)
- Rockville/Biamp SM23 Electronic Crossover (triamp center)
- Rockville/dbx 223 Electronic Crossover (biamp
rears)
- Klark Teknik DN360 Stereo 1/3 Octave Graphic EQ
(mains)
- Crest
CPQ-1131 1/3 Octave Graphic EQ (center)
- Biamp MEQ152 15 band stereo EQ (rears)
- Velodyne SMS-1 Subwoofer Processor (sub)
- Amplifiers
- California Audio Labs CL-2500 5x 500WRMS Power
Amplifier (4x 15” LF mains, 1x 12” LF center)
- Crown Audio PS-200 (2x 12” LF)
- (4) Ramsa WP-9055 (2x MF, 2xHF. Center MF/HF,
2x rears HF)/Rotel
- Adcom GFA-555II (2x rear LF)
- Crown K-2 (subwoofer) 2.5KWRMS into 4 ohms
(fuuuuuck)
- Loudspeakers:
- JBL 4350, 4-way studio monitors (mains, 2x
large):
- Stock bi-amplified; one amplifier for the two
15” woofers, and one amplifier for the passively crossed over
12” woofer, midrange horn and slot tweeter.
- Modified-back mounted banana binding post box
that allows for quad amplification with:
- Independent woofer access
- External jumpers/termination of crossover
network inputs and outputs
- Walnut cabinets
- Grills with cloths and original badges
- Midrange horn lenses
- JBL 4312, modified with horn and 2405 tweeter
(center, 1x)
- JBL Control 1 …sometimes (mid, 2x small)
- 2x JBL 4320, 2-way studio monitor (back, 2x
large)
- 15” woofer, 1” horn
- Bi-amplified
(crossover network is in place, unused)
- Danley DTS 10 kit subwoofer (2x12” long
excursion woofers “in a tapped horn-patent applied
enclosure,” large ported tuned box). The sales literature says:
“It makes an outstanding home theatre solution and is guaranteed to
make any home theatre enthusiast drool!”. Just sayin’, they
don’t need to guarantee that…I already drool! LOL.
- Other
Misc equipment (not connected)
- Phase Linear 8000 turntable, with Ortofon concordecartridge
- Sony Sony SLHF-1000 BetaMax VCR
audio/video
content
As it is necessary in modern times, I have a VERY
large collection of music and movies which is collected in a variety of mostly
digital formats. Here is a list of what I currently view and listen to:
·
CD collection is
currently around 1750 discs, each individually housed in one of 5 Sony 400 disc
changers.
·
26TB Network
Attached Server (NAS) for media storage and playback.
·
26TB Direct
Attached Server (DAS) for media storage and backup.
·
12TB External
hard drive storage of DSD files (ripped from the SACD-R discs).
·
This storage
features:
o
A large repository
of pop/rock surround sound music ripped and downloaded from a wide variety of
sources (BD, DVD, DTS disc, and captures from CD4, SQ, etc).
o
The above
repository (and additionally any multichannel SACD music) that has been
transcoded to consistent multichannel FLAC formatted files (!) This herculean
task was done by the fabulous Larry W. This is a unique and flexible solution
to playing back all available surround sound music easily. The size of this
collection is about 1TB.
o
A large
collection of FLAC and MP3 audio which includes discographies of artists, as
well as various genres of music beyond modern pop/rock music.
o
A large (700+)
collection of SACD-R discs/images. When burned, these discs supply superior,
pristine audio fidelity that may be played on the Oppo BD-93 player for
(multichannel) DSD DAC analog playback. 100+ discs are already burned for
playback.
o
All of the SACD-R
files are also ripped to DSD DSF/DSS files for possible Foobar 2000 playback.
o
A very large
collection of music video content such as artist concerts, greatest hits
packages and compilation and various artist concerts, often in surround sound.
o
A fair amount of
movies.
·
I have about 400
Beta & VHS tapes in storage, cataloged.
·
I have some
remaining reel to reel tapes.
·
I also have some
remaining vinyl.
·
Streaming Video
Sources
o
Netflix
o
Amazon
o
HBO (via Amazon)
o
Tiger Stream Kodi
·
Dish Network Top
100 Package
o
XM Radio
o
Off The Air local
broadcast
o
Cable TV
programming
o
HBO –
dammit!!
Audio Video
Servicing
- I
service consumer and professional audio equipment freelance and have
constructed and repaired many audio and video systems. Here
and here
are some pics of my shop.
- I
maintain a service shop in my house, complete tools and test equipment.
Test equipment includes Hewlett-Packard and Tektronix oscilloscopes, VTVMs
and distortion analyzer, Amber audio test set, Waveforms 473B oscillator (it’s
broken and dammit I REALLY want it fixed! Schematic needed!), Sound
Technology FM generator, counter, variac/load panel, and my personal
favorite, a Tektronix X-Y monitor permanently connected to a (custom built
by Pat) component tracer with wood working stand done by John Berkheimer,
I think. I've had been servicing
equipment on and off for Esoteric Audio and Harkins Theaters, but now I
just have a sometimes Craigslist ad.
- My
service shop uses a Technics receiver and some KEF 102 speakers. I also have
a 5.1 channel system in the room for testing multichannel setups.
- I
owned several older 7' Advent Video Beam 1000 projectors back in the
day. Amazingly in November of 2001, a
- I
also have a Kloss 2000 in the garage I must get around to getting rid of
that one, too.
- Here is a very valuable resource for repairing audio
and other electronic equipment.
- I
also buy and sell some audio/video equipment. Now, I use eBay’s Terapeak
for pricing reference, I used to use the Scottsdale-based Orion Research (I met
their president Roger Rohrs) as a reference along with Audio magazine.
- Back
in the 2000’s I purchased an Otari DTR-900 32 channel digital audio
tape recorder on Ebay. I have since sold it…when it was for
sale, I think I got like $2K for it. I made a web page for it that you can
get to from here.
- I
used to follow the internet newsgroups but, alas, no more.
- A
long time ago I was Phoenix
Chairman for the AES (Audio
Engineering Society). We had some great meetings back in the day which
included Paul Klipsch, Mr. McIntosh, and Dick Heyser from Jet Propulsion
Laboratories, who convinced me that romex (solid 12ga. copper wire) is the
best speaker wire.
- I
have a penchant and knowledge of pro audio and rock music. Still reading
Mix Magazine and ProSound News to follow the development of the pro audio
biz. Used to read Studio Sound, Recording Engineer/Producer and
Audio.
- Of
course, I enjoy good, well presented movies...and I peruse the TV and
video industries.
- Metacritic has long been my go to as a movie review aggregator.
Too bad their search engine kinda sucks.
- IMDB International Movie Database is the best for
all things about movies. Links, reviews, trivia, you name it, they
have it.
- Just like for music, the best source for knowing
all about any specific movie is to Google the title along with the word Wiki.
Really great!!
- Wanna buy some DVD/BDs? Here
are some of the best deals you can find for finding movies on the
internet!
- I
must say I do like Sony components,
Why? Sony seems to have the best corporate based consumer electronics
engineering in the world; after all, they are giants in the broadcast and pro
audio industries, and I believe there is a trickle down effect in their
products.
- I was a Betamax
enthusiast and years ago I got a new (to me) SLHF-1000 - the pinnacle of
Beta VCRs. Sony has been innovative leaders in design and I like the
attention to detail. I also like the ergonomic design and useful
features they pack into their products. This is so in most of their
legacy products. Unfortunately over time, I’ve changed many out and
have less Sony equipment nowadays.
Here
are some Sony products I have owned
- TA-E2000ESD
a great digital processing control preamplifier
- 730ES tuner
- 75ES DAT deck (still have that one)
- MDP 333 laser disc player
- CDP-C545 5 disc CD player
- SL-HF1000 Betamax VCR (still have it but not
being currently used).
- APM-007AV amplified speakers (square diaphragm)
for the PC
- IT-M500 speakerphone
- ICF-260 Dream Machine clock radio.
Pinball and other games
§
I enjoy batting
the silver ball around; I have two machines and try to keep up with the Pinball
industry-it was almost dead, but it is currently somewhat resuscitated,
somewhat like the vinyl business! It was sad to watch the demise of
pinball. Williams has been out of the pinball business as of 1999. But--there are
still several pinball manufacturers out there.
§
High Speed - a
1985 Williams game (jeez, they
only make slots now) that has become somewhat of a standard for pinballing.
Although it is many generations old, it still gives good play...run the red
light and escape!
§
Funland - a fully
electro-mechanical Gottleib game from around 1968, this game's object is to target
10 ducks to light a rotating special. Old & tired, but still fun to play on
occasion.
§
I’ve been
to the Pinball Museum in
§
Dammit to hell, I
once had a jones on playing
§
Heck, I even have
an Atari Video Pinball as well as an Video Music which turns tunes to video
patterns.
§
I
"upgraded" to GT Interactive's Arcade Classics, to run it on the PC.
§
I used to own a
"Firepower" but sold it to my friend Dick Robinson. He couldn’t
deal with it and destroyed it!
Other Sundry Electronic Devices
- There
is a smattering of X-10 devices around the house that allow remote control
of various electrical devices. Some interesting devices are:
- Homeminder-
This guy allows you to control lights and appliances via a TV interface
screen, including timed events. It allows you to lay out individual rooms
throughout the house.
- Around
the house. I use the X-10 modules to control some overhead mini-fresnells,
kitchen and auxiliary lights and the bedroom TV (a great alarm
clock!). If you have any interest in X-10 products, you must check
out this link (and this one too!)...both of these guys are pretty good.
- The
thing I like best about the X-10 modules is the ability to simply turn all
the lights out, at a conveniently placed button location. I like to be in
the dark...especially with someone special! No comment at this time : (
- Speaking
of lights out, I have a custom switch system for my audio/video system,
that allows all of my components to, with the flick of a switch, go to
what I call "phantom" mode. What this means is that all of the
indicator lamps and displays on the equipment turn off, while the
equipment continues to operate. I find this ideal for minimizing
distractions, especially during movie watching.
When it comes to computers, software and the
internet, I have my preferences....I try to make these complex things do what I
want. But it gets messy and complex over time. I recently replaced my 10 year
old Alienware-cased with a new, custom designed and built PC. It is very
capable and besides being acoustically very quiet, it features 3 monitor
outputs.
·
be quiet! Pure
Base 600 Window Case
·
Gigabye Azorus
Z390 Pro ATX MB
·
Intel i7-9700 CPU
·
be quiet! Shadow
Rock CPU Cooler
·
16 GB Corsair
Vengeance LPX Memory
·
Windows 10 Pro
·
2x 256GB SSD
(mirrored)
·
3x WD 4GB HD
·
Asus GeForce
GT-1030 2GB fanless Graphics Card
·
Seasonic Flagship
PRIME 600 Titanium SSR-600TL 600W Fanless Power Supply
·
LG BD Optical
Drive
·
Sony DVD Optical
Drive
·
Peripherals:
o
2x 24 TB Synology
NAS
o
2x 10TB WD USB
3.0 HDD
o
2x Dell Monitors
U2412Mb
o
Monsoon Planar
Media 14 Speaker system
o
Brother
HL-L2340DW Printer
o
Zebra ZP450
Printer
o
Canon LDE60
Scanner
o
Hauppauge WinTV
HVR950
Monitor
system:
·
HDMI 8 input
matrix switch A output to main AV system to 65” LG OLED TV
·
Dell 24”
16:9 Monitor (main)
·
Dell 19”
4:3 Monitor (side)
·
Generic 7”
16:9 Preview Monitor from matrix switch B output
Plus there are gadgets:
CO2 Digital Splitter
CAL Gamma DAC
You can read all about my nasty old computer
system at the bottom of my old 2004
links page.
There are MORE LINKS-
§ Within most of the images on my homepage edition #1 there are hidden links, some of them were at that time, my favorites ...you'll just have to click on images 'em to find them all, there are some way cool ones there.
§ Heck, if I haven't taken enough of your precious time already, you can even check out my original (like really old - a lot may be defunct, but hey you may find some interesting stuff) my old bookmarks collection! Or howz about a mess o' links at beaucoup.com (pretty crappy these days)?
§
Can you find my
"
DOWN for the COUNT ! !
03-09-04 This page has
been updated content and links have been checked and repaired
01-07-20 I
have reviewed and updated this entire page.
Revisited and
revised again September 12, 2021. October 2022 update about my service shop.
or, if you really like to be tortured, here is a link to the 2004 version of this nasty ol’ web-page!!