8-05-08

Hoping that I haven't come off too arrogant about cheap stereos - they do fill a need.

My wife was in a nursing home for many months recently recovering from a broken pelvis.

There's not much to do besides watching TV and reading when you are bed ridden.  So I bought her a neat 5-CD, AM/FM, cassette unit with speakers and a remote for $69.  What a deal! In the nursing home this unit was perfect because they don't give you room to swing a cat and it fit right on top of the dresser.

The sound wasn't bad either as there is so much background noise in places like that.  It was very much appreciated.  I still don't think it has 100W per channel though as the box stated. :)

8-05-08.

Just a few notes on THD which is one of the significant noise specs to consider.  Most of the receivers and separates from the 1970's like the Pioneer Spec 2 power amplifier show the worst-case THD at full rated power and across the frequency spectrum.

For example, closer examination of Pioneer's specification graphs shows that at 125 wpc, the Pioneer Spec 2 has 0.05% THD which is half the rated 0.1% THD for the amplifier at the rated maximum output of  250 wpc. It gets even lower at normal listening levels.

Companies were much more conservative in their claims back then, probably because the FTC hammered them when they were supposed to.

I generally am not a big fan of government regulation but in some areas like consumer products or pharmaceuticals, it's almost mandatory having it to keep from getting hosed by some of the companies out there.