mattsk8

Another back-out to the question I asked you. I never said I think the Republican party is fine, I've actually posted the exact opposite here in response to you, so I'm unsure why you'd say that. But I also don't share your assumption about Reagan's stance on "science, evolution, and climate change", that's actually laughable.

I don't have time to answer all those questions, but he was a little wishy-washy on some of those subjects (which is a fantastic opportunity for some liberal, historical revisionism), he was actually a democrat until the 60s. But I'm honestly not sure if he was a democrat like you're a republican, or what changed that made him change parties (if anything?). And give me a break... climate change wasn't an issue when he was president because it wasn't dreamed up yet, but I'm sure the liberalized version of history probably has a reason for why Reagan would be all for spending billions of tax payer dollars to keep FL from vanishing into the ocean... right? Was Reagan for socialism too? A Prius for every citizen of America!! Think of the fracking you'd prevent. And his views on immigration... things were different then. But I do know he was willing to sacrifice American lives in order to prove a point to the scumbags that hijacked that airline. And technically, I think Trump would be considered a moderate conservative as well. And also, since when is Reagan the absolute example for all republicans? Either way, kudos for the ultimate politically crap smeared answer to the question I asked. Please, enlighten as to Reagan's approach to science, evolution and how he addressed climate change back in the 80s... this should be fun.

I'm curious which principles you're referring to that have shifted so extremely to cause you to withdraw from the Republican party...? How did it "used to be" vs where it is now? And... how are those differences any different than what the democratic party is doing?

No remote can be a killer, but honestly for 2 channel audio how much remote controlling do you really do? And 1 aux yes, but are you going to hook a cassette player to it? That's 2 more. IMO, it's the sound and the looks of the old ones. They have TONS of headroom and sound incredible compared to some of the thin sounding new options. Obviously there are options out there today that would sound as good and maybe (debatably) better, but you said you were trying to save some money and you already have the Pioneer. I had a Pioneer SX-1050, and I had to go to a B&K preamp with a Adcom 5500 amp to even compete with the headroom and sound quality. Before the Adcom/B&K, I tried a Harman Kardon HK-3490 receiver first and it was a sad joke compared to the power and sound of the old Pioneer.

It's easy, all your issues are typical of simply needing a good, thorough cleaning. I'll help walk you through it if you want. Start by ordering these 2 cans of Deoxit. I know that's pricey, but that will fix your Pioneer. Basically, to do the job you'll first pull all the knobs off, then remove the wood case, then remove the silver face (good time to clean those as well). Then, all you do is spray the Deoxit D5 into an access hole in one of the pots (the knob) and rotate the pot from one end to other MANY times. You'll do the same with any buttons or switches as well. After you clean all of them thoroughly with the D5, you spray a little of the F5 lube in them and that protects and lubes them. FWIW, the left channel in that Kenwood in my pic didn't work at all, and the right channel was super scratchy. In addition to that, every time I moved the selector it would pop like crazy. I did the cleaning (took about 2 hours) and it's good as new and silky smooth.

IMHO, I'd stop looking for an integrated and fix your QX-747, that is BAD ASS!! 40w/ch might not seem like enough, but 40 watts in 1975 compared to 40 watts today aren't the same (at all). What's wrong with it??

Have you considered vintage? Some of the vintage receivers had great phono inputs, and they sounded incredible. Pioneer, Sansui, Yamaha, Kenwood... etc. The Pioneer SX-950 is a personal favorite. If you're looking for something right now for cheap, I have this Kenwood I'd sell cheap (like $50), don't remember the model and I'm at work. I picked it up at Goodwill and cleaned and lubed all the pots and switches, so no more scratchy balance/volume/bass/treble/etc. Shipping to Canada might be spendy though, guessing at least another $50 cuz they're heavy. It cleaned up very well, looks new. If you're interested I can get you better pics; if not I totally understand.

Music Direct is awesome for new records, their "wish list" is cool. http://www.musicdirect.com/ Just curious and not that there's anything wrong with it, but why integrated? IMO, if you're looking at used, best bang for buck and reliable... Adcom amps are the way to go. Preamps would be different; bang for buck used 2 channel preamps (IMO) would be B&K, Rotel, Perreaux, NAD (but check reviews, NAD also had some hits and misses), Bryston (but these can be hard to come by on a budget), some of the Adcom pres review well but I personally don't have experience with them. I'm sure others here have other good options too, these are what come to mind at the moment.

So far (knock on wood) the eBay record purchases have worked out well. Except (and I hope Mike responds cuz I know he's a guru of sorts)... Do all the mid 80s records sound thin and bright? I thought it was just the used records I bought, maybe they were played a lot, but I don't think that's it. I have 3 that sound thin so far... REO Speedwagon, High Infidelity... Van Halen, 1984, and Bruce Springsteen, Born In The USA. Is this just how records of that era sound?

I wasn't asking you to apologize for anything, and "my panties" aren't in a wad because of your political views. I'm curious, since you seem to think I don't understand why I would choose Trump over Hillary... and also since you've mentioned your "deep experience and constant research" plenty here.. What is it that you think Hillary is going to do for this nation? Why does she have your vote?

Another option too is try to find a local electronics repair place and call them. Odds are they'll have what you need.

I think the shipping charge here is a tad steep for something that small. You could try Amazon too if you know exactly what you're looking for... http://www.parts-express.com/cat/fuses/1414

I could ask you the same question about why you'd choose Hillary. So you know Hillary eh? You know what she'll do? How she'll respond? Because all I've seen so far from her is a bunch of BS. Everything you just said about Trump can be applied to Hillary too. Except Trump hasn't gotten anyone killed yet so this is why he would probably get my vote. The fact that you think you "know what to expect" from Hillary is laughable proof of your arrogance. I guess we can all say we expect to her to lie about everything; if that's what you mean you are correct. And if I'm wrong here, please correct me. Since you've already stated it's your job to enlighten and protect us all, please let me know... what is it Hillary is going to do to better this nation?? Nailed it, that's right. Now you should get on board too. FTR, you guys getting worked up over my responses is semi-retarded. My opinions of either is about 55/45 Trump/Hillary... shit in one hand/turd in the other.

I'm curious... you're doing this in hopes of accomplishing what exactly?? To help others see what light? That Trump is a greasy salesman? Is this a surprise to anyone? There is no light, this election is a train wreck. But even still, I'll take Trump over Hillary.

Both. I'll buy used for the ones I just want but I'm not a huge fan of. eBay is where I've picked a few up but I just started buying there last Friday so I'm not sure how that's going to work out. I only buy records listed either "excellent / like new / near mint" condition, so at least I have recourse if there's an issue. Time will tell, my first used eBay purchase showed up today but I won't be home to look and listen to them till later this eve; I'll report back on how eBay has worked out. We also have a resale/consignment store, I spent a good bit there on used records. That hasn't really been all that great, about 3 of the ones I got are good for wall art, that's about it. I figure I wasted about $40 there, but I also got quite a few good ones. There are a few record stores here in Grand Rapids, but they're a bit of a drive from me and I haven't been yet. I think for now I'm going to hold off on anymore purchases because there's a HUGE record swap this April at Axpona in Chicago, plus Mobile Fidelity will be there selling new records so I want to save some coin for that. What integrated amp did you get? If you want to have some fun, make a list of "want albums" by going thru this... Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums Of All Time Here's another top 500 albums list, this one is a tad more eclectic than the RS list. NME Top 500 Albums Of All Time

The Music Hall is amazing. I haven't had my main music system set up because I mailed my Carver amplifiers out to Hi-Tech in Portland, OR to have him upgrade and completely rebuild them. Once the Music Hall showed up I took the Adcom amp I use in my garage down there; the sound quality is unbelievably good. It's a tad hot in the highs, not sure how I'm going to address that yet. That area of my house has tile floors and a brick wall where my woodstove is. I'd alter a few things in my tweeter's xover to pad it a little, but I plan on remodeling that area of my basement pretty soon so I'll wait for that. I have a good EQ that'll work for now. I need to slow down on the record purchases, I have 68 so far. I'm going to Axpona in April and they have a record swap there, plus Mobile Fidelity is going to be exhibiting. Still... so many records I want to get.

This^^... so much of this. I agree 100%. But, the pessimist in me thinks it'll never happen. They'll just keep on using gay rights, abortion, and that poor lower class that gets walked all over to tug the heart strings of the voting mo-tards so they can get in and actually do what they really want to (make shit tons of money at a nation's expense).

Let me also add that not only is he going to steal the money of the hardest working people in the country... he's going to apportion it in the dumbest possible way. We CAN'T afford to do this. I actually agree that this nation has to tax the crap out of everyone (fair tax, end lobbying), but not so we can give it to the "less fortunate" so they can buy a new TV and sit on their dead asses in a college course and listen to some liberal douche explain life to them. We need to get out of debt as a nation, that is going to blow up VERY soon and no one seems to care. But... I would've rather seen Sanders in there than the shifty, lying, worse than 2 faced alternative that we'll be stuck with. I actually think I'd rather see Beavis in there than her. You'd think there would be a rule of some sort that if you're under federal investigation, that would disallow the option to run for president. But... I guess that doesn't matter... because live and let live; right? It's only a nation of people.

I agree completely. It's scary to see some of the posts on FB from people that I used to think were intelligent, saying things like "you rich people didn't earn it, you had to use our roads... blah, blah, blah..."; literally pulling for socialism. I honestly can't believe that just in the past 10 or so years, all this has even become an acceptable conversation. And don't get me wrong, while I positively lean toward the republican end, I'm not so delusional to believe they're saints; I think all these ass hats are just a bunch of money grabbing thieves and liars, using the heart strings of buffoons to win elections so they can further their own personal agendas. And we sit back and watch it unfold, or even worse than that we actually hope it unfolds. None of those candidates looked good to me, except for maybe Carson and that's only because I didn't know much about him. But this is all just a game now, a game of pure bullshit. Nothing they say is real, all they do is win votes by smearing shit in the faces of stupid people that really believe they'll do what they say they're going to. Pretty cynical on my end I know... but that's honestly what I think about our current situation.

This is a train wreck. The Clintons are partially responsible for selling this nation up the river in the first place, and Hillary has less integrity than the wicked witch of the west; she's a lying POS. And the Don is going to have us in a 3rd world war before 2018. What an absolute disaster. I can't fathom that there are people this stupid that make up the majorities in this nation.

Why not Rubio? I agree JK would be a good candidate.

I honestly didn't want to get involved in this, but I can't let this go anymore; kids these days are so f'ing dumb. Where is all this money going to come from to pay for all these poor souls that can't afford college? Are you going to pay for it Kevin? Look at the national debt... how long do you think we can keep this up as a nation? We're already playing in a facade that'll blow up any day now. Reality... life isn't fair. Get off your fat ass and work for it. I didn't finish college and mommy and daddy didn't pay for shit for me, and I still managed to pay my bills while my wife stayed home with our 4 kids. Now I have a phenomenal job making fantastic money, and it's not because I looked to government to solve my f'ing problems for me. All you're going to do with your idiotic gov programs is make more excuses for lazy, stupid people to sit around and get fatter while they piss and moan cuz their check was late.

Adding more of these programs is only going to make situations like these worse. Out of curiosity... how did my earlier response end up above all the later responses?

This actually makes sense, paying for a mortgage over their college tuition. I was paying for college when I went and didn't care a whole lot. I never finished my degree because I started doing well in construction, and I've been focused and driven ever since. Looking back, I still think that piece of paper would be nice, but that's the extent of any regret I have. I was going for criminal justice, really glad I didn't stick with that at this point. Curious exactly what you mean here... "the screw everybody attitude"? Who is it that has this attitude? And I can use the same "we could've had a cure for cancer... but..." argument on the other end just as easily, if not easier.