Open Thread

1. Not only does KFC give you the shits it is also hazardous to your microwave.

   http://www.argusleader.com/article/20090407/UPDATES/90407062

2. Well, at least KFC is doing the suing instead of people having to drum up a class action suit. Things tend to change more quickly that way.

3. Sid’s $3.99 Boone’s Farm breakfast bargain.
   Screwtop meals are the BEST!

4. I love screwtop wine bottles, especially when you are bartending. Cuts the presentation time by 75%!

5. Did you know that studies have shown screw top wine bottles are actually superior to corks in preventing air infiltration both before the first opening and afterwards?

   Problem is – wine snobs prefer cork and refuse to accept screw tops on their bottles.

   Sort of like people who listen to Records and claim they “sound better” than CDs.

6. I first heard that while touring the winery out in Hill City. They switched over a few years back.
   I think the records vs. CDs thing is bs. The speakers have more to do with it than anything else. Plus, depending on how worn the master record was at the time of pressing, the record may be a bad copy anyway. Hard to do that with a CD.

7. I always make sure the MP3s I’m downloading are of the highest possible quality.

8. And DRM free

9. Costner, you are right about the twist top. The reason many wines switched over to twist tops is because wine drinking is bigger then ever and older cork trees (the best) are running out. I predict within 10 years most wines will be twist top.

   CD’s are better ‘quality’ the difference of course between vinyl and cd’s is pretty basic. Records are actual sound waves engraved into the vinyl, while CD’s are digital. It’s kinda like continuous tone photography vs. digital. The naked ear and the naked eye probably cannot tell the difference, but I know when I used to have a record player and listen to my Zeppelin albums they seemed to have a richer sound. I do believe that any classic live ALBUM you can get your hands on is way better than a CD. And I am not some purist asshole, but I do love music, and live music on a CD – digitally made just seems fake to me.

10. Don’t get me wrong – I like records too, but the “warmth” or “richness” that people enjoy is typically due to the hisses and pops and grain that we subconsciously hear.

    In truth, a CD is more faithful to the real music, but those of us who grew up with records still desire that old sound.

    One of my degrees is related to electronics, so you should get me going on vacuum tube amplifiers vs. modern solid state / digital amplifiers.

11. Sounds fascinating. ZZZZ…
    One of my degrees is related to poking douchebags in the eye, so you should get me started on how pretentious it sounds when you fit into the conversation how intellijunt you is. Good job. We’re all very proud of your suckcess. Don’t get me wrong.

12. “vacuum tube amplifiers vs. modern solid state / digital amplifiers.”

    My geetar playing friend would LOVE to have that debate with you. Tube wins everytime. Hands down. You can buy an I-pod stereo that uses vacuum tubes, it looks like an espresso maching.

13. Tube wins everytime. Hands down.

    Except when it comes to you know… things like distortion and noise being injected into the signal. Check out the THD of a $15,000 tube amp and compare it to a cheap off-the-shelf Sony receiver from Best Buy and you’ll find the Sony actually has better specs.

    Tube amps survive for three reasons. 1. nostalgia – because some people think anything that was used decades ago or during their childhood is somehow magically superior. 2. because of snobs who don’t understand electronics and 3. people with more money than brains.

14. He has two hand made custom tube AMPS. And I will say nothing holds a candle to them.

15. But I’m guessing “custom” amps don’t have any specs, so it is hard to know how much noise they inject into the signal. Doesn’t matter though – tubes product heat, heat results in noise. Thousands of dollars worth of filters and noise circuitry can be used, but at the end of the day even a $20,000 McIntosh tube amp will often have worse THD than a $120 Sony or Kenwood.

    For electric guitars that are designed to product such distortion they work well (in fact guitar amps are commonly used with tubes specifically because of the distortion they create), for the true reproduction of music… not so much.

    Last time I went to the Symphony I don’t recall hearing any buzzing or hissing between acts. It just isn’t natural.

16. I’ve heard guitars thru both kinds of amps, and do like the tube better for the reason you bring up – distortion. In fact, I can tell when they play thru a non tube amp because it sounds wussy. I like heavy low-end guitar sounds.

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