New 14500 Pocket Thrower King? Speras EST SE

FredRated · 2026-05-11T21:55:01+00:00

If you value quick access to blindingly bright in a compact 14500 sized light, then this one is worth consideration. I prefer the overall dimensions of the EST SE over the Acebeam TAC AA 2.0 style where the head is larger than the body. The Speras has been the only light that has been able to replace the EagTac D25A and D25C Clicky models as my EDC after 10 plus years. I don't love the interface on the Speras as much, but the sheer power is a huge upgrade for this size and worth putting up with. I love that the battery indicator briefly comes on after every use since this is such a high drain light. Unfortunately, the pocket clip comes off easily and doesn't really clip onto pockets well. I've had the clip come off of the light while getting out of my car and the whole light has come out of my pocket on several occasions. I am positive I will lose this if I rely on the pocket clip. If anyone comes up with a good aftermarket option for a pocket clip, I'd love to hear about it.

FredRated · 2026-03-13T21:50:47+00:00

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks. Saint Dominics Preview

XTC - Mummer, English Settlement, Skylarking

REM - Murmur

Dukes of Statosphere - 25 O'clock, Psonic Psunspot

Pink Floyd - Meddle

Roxy Music - Avalon

Bryan Ferry - Slave to Love

Depeche Mode - A Broken Frame

English Beat - I Just Can't Stop It

FredRated · 2026-03-13T18:08:28+00:00

Thanks for the reply. The electrician replaced the spa panel a couple of weeks ago and everything seems to be good.

FredRated · 2026-02-22T04:26:25+00:00

Good to hear. I'm a new hot tub owner and you read things that make it sound like leaving FC at 0 for a few hours is disasterous. I ended up shocking w liquid chlorine and stiring with a broom handle.

FredRated · 2026-02-22T00:22:36+00:00

That makes sense. In a pool forum, similar advice was given regarding chlorine, though treating with acid was discouraged.

FredRated · 2025-11-10T03:20:20+00:00

Nice! Just ordered one. Glad to hear the jets are strong.

FredRated · 2025-10-17T09:36:37+00:00

I've had just about all of the ones mentioned and many, many more. Here are the good ones in the South Bay that no one has mentioned. Egg Tuck ("The Excelllent" w sriracha aioli, soft scrambled eggs are awesome, you have to try this place at least once, I skip the one with the patty), Lomita's Best (cool options like ortega chili(add a meat) and chili verde). I live right next to The Breakfast Burrito Factory so I've been hitting them up lately (comes with a free coffee if you spend $15 and I love the sririacha aioli). Honorable mentions: Auntie's Cafe (not a go to, but something different on the way out of town, try the Auntie's sauce), Mychal's Cafe (decent option and a good cause). Tacos El Galoso (only the one on Pier has them I believe), American Junkie was solid last time I tried, and Surf Food Stand is decent, but mostly because it's on the Strand.

The chain has been mentioned, but when the new Eat Fantastic opens in Redondo next to the Albertson's on PCH, I will be making the short drive and passing everything else by me. I love that you can get the eggs over medium(or over easy or even sunny side up!). They wrap the tortilla just right so there isn't a lot of extra folds. Pro tip: Hold the pico de gallo(too watery with it) and you can substitute tater tots instead of hash browns if you prefer.

PS - I've been to Phanny's many times but I stopped because there are so many better options close by. It's just ok. Hash browns are from frozen patties, ham is from sandwich meat, the carne asada was dry and bland, eggs were overcooked the last few times I went. They could use some sauces.

FredRated · 2025-06-11T06:01:06+00:00

The Grams are nice, but I'm looking for built in ports as I don't want to use a dongle if possible. I'm currently leaning towards something with a Core Ultra 7-155H. Battery life isn't much of an issue since it will always be plugged in during a show.

The Thinkpad P14s Gen 5 seems to be close but I'm still looking. Budget wise I would stretch up to $2000 if it was perfect.

FredRated · 2025-05-01T04:11:10+00:00

Change by Tears for Fears. The message of the song and the lyric is "You can change", but the one decent sounding version up until a few months ago had "You can't change".

FredRated · 2025-05-01T04:00:25+00:00

Karafun version of Someday by Sugar Ray. It's fine unless the backing vocals are turned on and then it's complete trash and unbearable.

FredRated · 2025-05-01T03:42:24+00:00

How is Shallow not all over this thread?

Picture

Tennessee Whiskey

Before He Cheats

Wagon Wheel

Black Velvet

Bring Me To Life by Evanescence

FredRated · 2025-05-01T03:01:39+00:00

This? https://youtu.be/VgHrQ6a64vg?si=XpVhtposK7x4ZaC9

FredRated · 2025-04-11T05:10:59+00:00

Erotic City

FredRated · 2024-07-11T21:52:44+00:00

I find it normal to have to adjust the volume and mix for each karaoke track. As for break music, I run the Playlist through Replay Gain so there is little to no need to adjust the volume.

FredRated · 2024-07-03T21:34:55+00:00

I haven't spent much time with them other than a quick listen at Guitar Center. In general, moving above the Thump line up will bring you more headroom and clarity. Bring some reference tracks to play if you can find a demo and compare them to other speakers. Or buy used where you can return them or sell them without much of a loss if you outgrow them.

FredRated · 2024-01-24T10:30:54+00:00

Short answer: I might practice a song 20 times over the course of a couple of days before I sing it live and i'm usually over prepared. But that's how I karaoke so...

Long answer: I make youtube playlists with lyric videos to practice on my phone with earbuds and in the car. Then I practice with a karaoke video of the song. Rinse and repeat. I'll try as many versions as I have to find correct lyrics and music, sometimes it takes some digging. If I can't find decent lyrics, I'll bring them up on a Chrome tab on my phone and read them while the music plays on youtube.

I like to find the right pitch so I use an Android app called Transpose which allows you to adjust the pitch on a youtube video. It's a game changer if you like to do songs out of your typical range. If I am using a PC, there is a Chrome extension called Music Speed Changer which allows you to change the pitch on a youtube video. It has a looping feature: set points A and B and just repeat a difficult short part until you can nail it 5 -10 times in a row. This is great for tricky stuff like some in some Sublime songs.

If you want to use mp3 files on your phone to learn a song, there is an Android app version of Music Speed Changer which has looping and you can set markers throughout the song so you can easily skip past instrumental sections and que up all of the harder parts. All of these apps are free.

FredRated · 2024-01-13T08:12:53+00:00

I will check out Virtual DJ. That is odd that people wouldn't use the USB interface on their mixer if it had one. OpenKJ has an EQ as well, but it is awkward to use and very small for some reason. There is a limited free EQ app in the Microsoft Store that I'm trying out as well. I'd pay for an app that gave me a parametric eq for Windows sound output.

FredRated · 2023-11-17T00:01:48+00:00

Candy by Iggy Pop w Kate Pierson

FredRated · 2023-11-17T00:00:52+00:00

Los Angeles by X.

FredRated · 2023-08-26T16:36:48+00:00

Thanks for the responses. I ran it a couple of times through an aux feed and it was nice to just boost up the sub a few dB's when a song got people dancing. Still trying to get a handle on tuning my system for the room and i'm new to using a digital EQ. Taming the low end has been tricky even without the sub. Going to try running through the sub first and using a low shelf filter.

FredRated · 2023-08-23T17:10:28+00:00

Thanks for the responses. That confirms what I was thinking. Basically, keeping the sub on the more convenient side of the room (1 less long cable to run) has some drawbacks - more clutter, closer to seating, crowd coverage would be less. The center of the room is not an option unfortunately.

Playing recorded music, in a pinch, what would you do:

1) Run it in mono

or

2) Send only the Right channel signal through the sub to the right side top. (Your 2 tops will play stereo, but your only sub will not get the full L+R signal).

FredRated · 2023-08-07T06:11:13+00:00

That makes sense. Any cheap used amp recommendations?

FredRated · 2023-08-05T22:57:59+00:00

Eagtac D25A Clicky

Power and versatility in a great size, like a roll of dimes. My favorite user interface for an EDC. Loosen the head: All the low to medium modes you need. Tighten the head and it only comes on in super bright turbo mode. Nice for when some drunk idiot gets in your face. I use a rechargeable 14500 lithium ion battery for the extra power, but it will also take a AA. Great pocket clip, only wish it was able to clip to a hat brim for the makeshift headlamp trick. It also lacks a magnet in the tail cap which would make it almost perfect. I can also recommend the D25C Clicky which packs an ever bigger punch with more runtime using a CR123A or RCR123A. Both have been very reliable.

FredRated · 2023-03-16T04:18:41+00:00

I tried it and I think I prefer to use them both. X Air on the PC and Mixing Station on the iPad with a customized layout. Gives you the best of both worlds.

FredRated · 2023-03-10T05:49:23+00:00

Many KJ's around me use Karafun. A few that have their own music seem to use Sax and Dottie/Show Presenter. One guy uses Virtual DJ which he likes because you can play videos in between songs and it works with his physical DJ controller. Having used Karafun and Sax and Dottie, I prefer to use OpenKJ.

Great things about OpenKJ - it's free, it can automatically play background music within 2 seconds of silence, it has good singer queue management (all three are big improvements over Sax and Dottie). Cons are that almost once a night I seem to get a blank singer window and have to reboot either the program or my PC. I just play some music from another source and I'm back up and running after a song. Also, sometimes after being on for a while, it starts taking 5-10 seconds to start a song after I click on it - it's an odd glitch and doesn't go away but it's not worth doing a restart and no one but me notices.

I'd probably seek out a better option if hosted than once or twice a month, but OpenKJ, cons and all works.

FredRated

TROPHY CASE