Trouble Maker

http://www.lolroflmao.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/scumbag-whitney-houston.jpg

I don't like the idea of their FS bikes, as I don't like the idea of any cheap FS bike. But Carl's Forge hard tail is speced about the same as my $500 (msrp) Giant hard tail. They are NOT your typical wally-world bike. They are great bikes at a good price for someone looking to get into the sport who knows how to work on their own stuff. Which I would hope most people here could work on a bike. If you can't work on most things on a bike you should never touch your own car. EDIT: Hmm, looks like they've jacked the prices up on the Forge's since I last looked, the hard tail's don't seem to be priced much cheaper than the big brands. I still don't like that FS bike, the parts spec is not very good (worse than their HT bike), and they suspension design is... well it looks like they just threw it together. Not a new FS bike. I would guess that's why he is here, to see if anyone has something used in his price range. Unless he knows that he is going to ride at night or on the road, I don't suggest to worry about lighting. If he's going to ride on the road, then I would say he should get an inexpensive light set. You at least need a white light out front and red in the back for the cars to see you (and be legal). Planet bike has some nice stuff for good prices, you can get it online or at Performance. If you want to ride at night on trails I would say to worry about a light later as they can get expensive to get one worth a shit on the trails. But I agree about other 'goodies', he will at least need to buy a helmet. Not only is it mandatory at most trails but it's really dumb to not wear one. Lock if he's going to use it to run errands or whatever else and needs to lock it up. Maybe some clothes. Maybe some shoes unless he has something suited that he doesn't mind getting dirty. These little things add up.

We've always rocked T-series at work, we are VERY hard on laptops and the new and old ones have always been rock solid. I've got a Dell at home. I would have got a Lenovo in a heartbeat, but Dell's are a better bang-for-your-buck and at our price point we couldn't get a Lenovo.

Nice Fossil :gabe:

Thanks for all of the info, it's extremely helpful to hear directly from someones who's been to some of these places. :megusta: I would love to hear about any other tips. What do you think about the local used rental car places? IIRC the one place we found had a 7 day minimum and we are only going to be on maui for 5 days. That might kill any savings with them compared to 5 actual days with a normal rental car company. I'm looking forward to some good food, so any food suggestions are appreciated. We eat just about anything, but being in Hawaii I'm looking for some good seafood. Anything local or you can't typically get here would be great too. We are thinking to do a bike ride 'down the volcano', one of them stops at a winery after (on the big island). Thinking about the helicopter ride. We are getting gear to go exploring and snorkeling our-self, but we will also probably do 1 guided excursion. Will probably do the sunrise on Haleakala too. Yes, it's our first time out. This is one of those once in a lifetime things. There are so many places we want to see and things we want to do, I don't see us going back there again, at least not soon. So if there is anything we must do, let me know!

Really at this point anything you spend a decent amount of money on will 'sound' good. Just don't buy a piece of crap for $100. Spending a few hundred will get you 99% of the way there, for sound quality and features. The final result of the sound is MUCH more dependent on the speakers. Spending more on speakers (all other things being equal) will usually get you 'better' sound quality at just about any price point. Spending $1000 instead of $500 on a receiver won't really net you any gains. The quality and features that have trickled down into relatively inexpensive receivers is phenomenal. For around $500 MSRP (cheaper street price) you can get a receiver with enough clean power for a vast majority of applications, at least 7.1, more HDMI inputs than most people would ever use with a pretty decent scaling chip, pretty good autosetup (channel levels, filters and sometimes EQs) and 'bonus' features like networked audio i.e. AirPlay and/or DLNA and multiple types of streaming, . IMHO anything beyond that is usually a very scant want. You can spend $500, $1000, $2500, $5000.... on speakers and get better SQ every day of the week. Every speaker will sound different and every person will like a different sound. The final product is very sensitive to quality of design and materiel. To put it in simple terms the job of an amplifier is to simply amplify the signal. If possible it should not distort in any way. Most receivers that cost more than 1 or 2 hundred dollars will be able to do this to sound levels beyond what most people will ever want.

Not sure if serious.

The treehouse is in Hana so that will be one of the first things we do. We will probably drive around the other way on the way back.

We already have our plans made and flights booked. The only major thing left to do is our hotel on Maui the last 3 nights and booking a few excursions... which we basically know what we are going to do, just need to make a final decision and book them.

We are staying for 11 nights total, 6 on the big Island and 5 on Maui. We already have an average sized condo on the big island within walking distance to the beach with a nice ocean view on their sun deck. We are staying here for our first 2 nights on Maui, which is also reasonably priced. http://hanalani.maui.net/Treetops-Bedroom.jpg Yes, that's a tree house. :fuckyeah: I want to splurge a little and stay somewhere nicer on our last 3 nights. I want my 'own' slice of the beach.

Looking for some suggestions on places to stay. We are going in a few months and are having a hard time picking out our final hotel. We are looking to stay, probably on the West side of the island for our last 3 nights there and splurge since the first 2 places we are staying are reasonably priced. I'm thinking somewhere ground level where we can walk right out onto a beach. But I'm open to any suggestions.

I have to disagree with you disagreeing. :fa: So many of what I own had the same problem there are video how-to's on fixing them. https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=onkyo+tx-sr606+hdmi+board IIRC it wasn't just the 606's that had the problem but this same HDMI board was used in multiple variations. Maybe my old one was a fluke or I used it too hard. It's a general consensus that lately they stopped focusing on quality and focused on quantity (of mostly useless features). At any rate, I spent $500 on my first one and $350 on my second one (MSRP much higher) to have them last a combined 6-7 years. I will never again buy one and I'm bound by my common sense to relay my story anywhere someone talks about buying one.

IIRC the OP is a shop/woodworking instructor. If so, I would think this is definitely an option for him. I would suggest him to get a 'pre-built' solution so he doesn't have to bother with speaker design but can make himself some very nice enclosures. http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=302-853 Just to get an idea.

This is probably true... that's a lot of volume to fill. Though it really depends on how 'loud' he wants to listen to movies/music. Most people don't even want to listen to 'reference level'. I think a friend of mine had these in college... at least the towers and he had a 5 channel setup so probably the same center and surounds. It was a nice setup... from what I remember. I think he still has it, 10 years later. NO! :no: Sorry, read my post above. I've had 2 die what I consider pre-mature deaths. I will 'bash' them until the day I die. To the OP. If you are dead set on in-walls, I just ran across this company again. http://www.axiomaudio.com/in-wall-speakers.html They make some nice looking (sealed) in wall speakers. They even make a their 'mid-tower' (M22) in wall so it's a decent sized speaker. Any of their in-wall's will shoot your budget with a sub and speaker though. I've never heard their speakers, but the online community raves about them. And IIRC they have a money back guarantee. Don't like them and send them back, you only pay for shipping. While I'm not a big fan of in-wall speakers, it's not the worst solution for the fronts it's still a far better than a sound-bar or your TVs speakers. For the rears, especially with your room setup I would highly suggest some small bookshelf speakers mounted on the walls with some pivoting mounts. That way you can aim them towards the seats. I really wouldn't want to see you mount them in that back wall (far from the seats) or in the walls next to the seats (not at all pointed at the listening area).

Better version

I don't think you need to spend that much. I probably spent around a grand and feel I have a nice system, especially for non-critical listening like watching TV or a movie. You are welcome to come over and listen to it. Unfortuantely (for you) I got the speakers on a deal, the company doesn't make them anymore and the new version are bigger and more expensive. So I can't suggest them since you can't buy them, but I will do some more research and see what I can find. The one thing I would say is DO NOT buy Onkyo. I used to love them. I bought a very nice (expensive) Onkyo reciever when I was in college. It died 4-5 years later. DSP chip/board died. The most recent one I bough 'died' (no longer does HDMI switching due to a know issue with the board) about 6 months ago it was only ~2.5 years old at that point. Never again. 4-5 years through college I can deal with, I beat on that thing playing it for longer and louder than I should have, moved it dozens of times. The most recent one never gets played loud and was never moved. They just used shitty caps on that board (or had heat issues in that area). Anyways, something that should have been or maybe even was found during life cycle testing. How much is the 609 going for, I can suggest something else? I will likely Pioneer or Yamaha next. All of the major companies have competitors around the same price points with similar features. IIRC the only big thing going for the Onkyo is 4K upscaling but it doesn't matter unless you want to spend $x0,000 on a display or projector. Here is a good comparison for features and relative price. Keep in mind those are MSPR and just like they Onkyo the street prices are going to be less, especially since most of them are reaching the end of their product cycle. http://www.audioholics.com/buying-guides/how-to-shop/2011-600-a-v-receiver-comparison-guide

Have fun stopping every hour for gas. :gabe: I heard the guy that runs OR is a douche canoe so I'm not going... plus I don't have a bike. :gabe::gabe:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/ssn.asp FUUUUUUUUUUUU, greg beat me to it while I was searching.

Yes, a friend had some at his place and I tried it with a few different mixers. Pretty good stuff but I'm not usually a spiced rum type. I go for the medium-dark regular rums. My favorite is Pyrat. Try some if you haven't.

Look at it this way, with their ever declining population you could buy a house in the city right now and live in the country in 30 years! :lolguy: All you have to do is buy all of those lots around you from the city for $1.

My understanding is they are buying up EVERYTHING (bad) around the new casino area. The bought all of the property at Westland mall, the apartments behind the mall, and some low income housing about a mile away from the casino.

I'm always down for a cigar and some good liquor (usually rum) too. :fuckyeah:

Look at that subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God, it even has a watermark!

Real men hug it out. That was the correct answer. You are both failures at life, and obviously not real men, for not having learned this lesson yet.

What exactly do you mean by that?