Hi all,   I'm moving to a new place on the east coast pretty soon, and it doesn't have A/C -- indoor temps will probably get up to 85 degrees. Am I in danger of having my records (40 or so) warp in that kind of heat, even if I keep them away from direct sunlight, store them tight and upright...

Hi all,   Just a quick question for you guys. Last week I bought a set of 10.1s, figuring I'd sort out the issue of a proper amp later. Well, as luck (perhaps) would have it, today a musician friend of mine gifted me this...

Sorry if this has been posted a billion times before, but lately I've been wondering: is there any way to combat inner groove distortion? My turntable is new, factory aligned, my stylus is new, my records are literally brand spanking new, never played before, and yet all of them turn to...

This is true: I bought RS-1s because I couldn't afford a decent set of speakers. Grados, I thought, were the closest thing to matching them (in terms of raw musical energy). But now I have a bulge in my wallet that needs de-bulging. I'm looking for some kind of 2 channel set-up with a...

Long story short: I just bought a new stylus, and want to make it last as long as it possibly can. I've read of some people using Q-Tips dropped with isopropyl alcohol to carefully remove grime every so often -- but is this really an acceptable way of cleaning? Or are cotton-swabs too abrasive...

By the recommendation of an old thread around here, I just bought an ADC 1500FG turntable off eBay. It said it was in playable condition and all that, but today I have it set up and it really doesn't sound right. I'm cranking the volume knob on my headphone amp way up, and there's still a...

Before about two weeks ago, iTunes downloads were acceptably fast on my connection - taking only a couple seconds to complete - and songs previewed instantly, no buffering required. Now, both activities are at best sluggish and at worst simply unuseable. Song previews are interrupted on a near...

This past week has proven deadly to my ER-6is. The right driver's been dipping in and out of operation for around a month now, but a distinct sort of "pop" yesterday seems to have rendered it completely nonfunctional. I'd consider getting the IEMs repaired, but to be honest I'm not 100%...

Last Monday, my trusty ER-6i's sort of died on me - the right earpiece isn't quite capable of producing recognizable frequencies anymore. Rather than send the three to four year old Ety's back for repair, I figured fate may have provided me a chance to upgrade to something a bit more serious...

I've noticed a recurring problem with iChat's alert sounds since I bought my Mac a few months ago. Immediately following a restart, iChat will follow my preferences regarding alerts: the default tone will play after each message is sent and received, and the iChat icon will "bounce" when a new...

I purchased an old 50mm f/1.4 manual focus lens last week and just now mounted it on my camera. I tried to stop it down using the aperture ring, and now my D200 won't let me remove it. How can I possibly get the lens off without breaking the camera?

The title says all. I'm getting an iPod Touch in a few weeks and need a decent pair of earphones to do it justice. In terms of sound quality, I enjoy two extremes - a mid-range heavy presentation a la Grado, and a neutral presentation a la Etymotics. Build quality is also a factor, as I tend to...

My Dell Optiplex Desktop and 17 inch CRT are starting to look pretty archaic as far as computers go. Lately, I've been noticing a pattern of needed mobility: I want a device I can bring pretty much anywhere and that still remains fast enough for my needs. Clearly, my 5 year old Dell computer...

A few of you have been perhaps watching this eBay auction, but even I'm astounded by the $4000 current bid for these PS-1s. Most can obviously attest to the quality of high-end Grados, but I think $4K is pushing the limits of sanity on these once $2-3K headphones. Laws of Supply and Demand 101...

I figured I'd make my first dive into the music forum with style: a request for recommendations. Basically, I'm looking for some new material to complement my solid collection of indie bands; from Vampire Weekend to the Apples in Stereo. Lately, I've been digging Blitzen Trapper's new album, as...

I'm taking a quick tour of Washington D.C. in a week or two, and have been itching to try a wide-angle lens in such an appropriate setting. The Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 looks most promising based on images I've seen; but Adorama (my go-to source) doesn't rent out third party lenses like Tokina. That...

To keep it short and sweet: we're redoing our basement in the coming weeks, and part of that renovation includes updating the ancient home theater system. A new TV is the first order of business; and I'm thinking plasma for color depth, contrast, and black level. That said, we're kind of on a...

Obviously with the opening of a Sound Science forum, cables will remain a heated and prevalent discussion on Head-Fi. In fact, I heavily contemplated posting in the other cabling thread already created here. This idea is different though; I'm not here to debate but to discover. Basically...

Introduction I should be clear that these GS-1000's would never have entered my home without Jason's (Zanth) dedication to the Head-Fi community. It's easy to imagine the difficulty of distributing a near $1000 item, but Jason handled the endeavor flawlessly. For the uninformed, I am the...

I got a chance to see the new Batman tonight, and frankly, I thought it was pretty awesome. The action was certainly top-notch, but as the reviews say, this movie is more about character interaction than long car chases and blowing stuff up; even if there's no shortage of explosions. Oh...

My RS-1's have fared pretty well cosmetically in the year I've owned them, but thanks to Grado's top-notch quality control, the famed plastic L and R indicators arrived from the factory damaged and scratched. It really doesn't bother me much anymore, but for the sake of resale value I've been...

This is possibly the most petty and paranoid thread I've ever made or ever will make, but here goes regardless: After my MAD EAR+ HD had some channel imbalance problems awhile ago, I've been especially picky about its placement on my desk. Currently, I'm searching for a decent equipment rack...

We've been tossing around the idea of building a simple home-theater setup for awhile (supplementary to our family room rig) but my dad has only just gotten serious about the idea and established a budget: $2000, for the whole shabang. To that end, what specific equipment should we be...

One of my Nikon lenses is suffering from an obvious de-centering effect, and I'm now exploring the possibility of sending it in for service; but I'm not honestly sure how / if they can correct such a prevalent flaw. If cost is put aside (I think the lens is under warranty, but frankly money is a...

I don't normally make it a priority of mine to comment on my medical history or on medicine in general, but the results of a recent physical made me decide otherwise. Despite my usual acing of all tests related to the physical, that is, here I was actually quite shocked to find a specific defect...