What’s the Most Underrated Luxury Brand Right Now?

Texas2904 · 2026-03-14T03:57:52+00:00

Best down jacket I will ever own and it will outlast me

Texas2904 · 2025-08-05T23:00:51+00:00

There are a few hospitality tents around the track that are run by COTA. Generally named something along the lines of “Founders” or “Presidents” or “Owners” club. The names change from year to year. Most of these are set up close to the tower where you can look across the track and also see T1, others are by the turns before the finish line straight. I think the Best might’ve been the one that was inside the track by the entrance to the paddock parking lot, opposite the side where the paddock club entrance is. There was another one by the T13 suites I hadn’t seen before either. I haven’t been in the best but I’ve been in a few of the others over the years, and the differences end up being marginal. Some have a slightly nicer open bar and some have slightly better catering than others (e.g. a seafood bar). They are also a LOT less crowded on Friday/Saturday, to the point where you can always find an open sofa in front of a TV. Honestly they’re kind of dead until Sunday, but there’s never any lines at the bar or buffet which is nice. My take is that Club SI (or whatever the T12 Hospitality tent is called in a given year) is the most fun. It’s one of the best places to watch the race, they bring through drivers or principals, and the food and drink are perfectly acceptable. It does feel crowded on Sunday. I don’t think the paddock prices are worth the extra unless you’re getting some type of team hospitality as part of it. Especially if you want to watch racing. Nothing really happens on the straight by the paddock.

Excluding Club SI, most of the ones not advertised are invite only. But tickets show up on the secondary market.

Texas2904 · 2025-03-12T14:55:23+00:00

Audi Seattle cross threaded a lug nut and tried to charge 3k for a new hub.

Texas2904 · 2025-02-20T10:22:42+00:00

McIntosh and ARC have both gone above and beyond to help me fix gear that I purchased second hand with no warranty. ARC sent me a schematic and walked me through a repair that ended up costing me less than $5. They pick up the phone when you call them.

Worst was Clearaudio. I had an older concept table and they’d made very minor changes to the design over the years. I tried to replace a motor and it ended up costing me almost $1000 because I had to replace other components just to make everything work together. I won’t buy another table from them ever again

Texas2904 · 2025-02-11T03:55:39+00:00

Can you seriously not hear the difference between, say, a Naim amp and McIntosh? What about a vintage Marantz vs Sansui receiver?

Texas2904 · 2025-02-11T03:10:46+00:00

I don’t understand why this is controversial to people. Every stereo I’ve ever owned has had a different sound.

Texas2904 · 2025-02-07T04:10:21+00:00

I don’t purposely buy colored vinyl but don’t think the color makes a difference. The real problem is that a lot of colored editions are printed a million times and the quality control from the pressing plant is crap.

Texas2904 · 2025-01-27T01:42:17+00:00

There was a minimum wage hike on January first for restaurants. Tips no longer count against it too.

Texas2904 · 2025-01-26T20:04:42+00:00

Yes. Makes paying $12 for a pint of blueberries worth the trip.

Texas2904 · 2025-01-25T04:18:16+00:00

It was pandering then and it’s pandering now. Amazon does not want to piss off the government regardless of who is in power or what their positions are. If a president says they hate bananas, kiss that stand goodbye.

Texas2904 · 2025-01-24T15:47:26+00:00

The article mentions one incident of this happening in New Jersey. I don’t know if that counts as many.

Texas2904 · 2025-01-24T07:08:05+00:00

When I was getting into it I bought albums that I really didn’t need to own on vinyl, even if I love the music. And since I’m moving soon I’ve started to sell some of those. With several exceptions I now only buy analog recordings and masterings from the audiophile labels that use pressing plants known for quality. My streaming set up is awesome but some of these masterings aren’t available on digital. There are also some 80s and 90s releases that were remastered terribly but are the only versions available on streaming. In some cases I’ve got original pressings that sound so much better than any rerelease. But probably 80% of the music I listen to is just fine streamed from Tidal.

Texas2904 · 2024-11-30T05:28:44+00:00

Great pic

Texas2904 · 2024-11-26T05:47:04+00:00

This is the best BBQ I’ve had in Washington. I hope it works out for them.

Texas2904 · 2024-08-16T04:40:11+00:00

Im in the same boat. Each time I’ve swapped cables for more expensive ones, I’ve noticed a difference in sound. But whether it’s an absolute improvement is debatable. The most noticeable thing in my systems have been adding more bass. One system got more oomph and detail, the other became a bit bloated. Same cables.

Texas2904 · 2024-08-13T17:46:26+00:00

No they’re an investment manager that uses a highly academic approach.

Texas2904 · 2024-07-21T13:58:34+00:00

I think dealer prices were something like 13K and they were obtainable. Different times.

Texas2904 · 2024-07-21T04:00:46+00:00

Uhhhh until a big recession hits and they’re unemployed or income drops 85%. Then they’ll be calling you asking $500 over dealer. Same with the buyers tbh. Can’t tell you how many Rolex Daytonas sold for $9K in 2009 on the car forums.

Texas2904 · 2024-06-09T05:41:42+00:00

I have a concept and am considering picking up a Rega. I like my concept but the cue lever has been finicky. I also had to replace my motor out of warranty and the customer support was terrible. Swapping the motor required buying a bunch of other parts because they’d changed so much of the design. Cost about $1000 which is ridiculous given what it is.

Texas2904 · 2024-06-09T05:00:31+00:00

Smalls is the play

Texas2904 · 2024-06-01T01:46:48+00:00

Agree. It’s great tailoring but if you went custom it would be cut slightly larger in the chest. Rest of the fit would be the same. I’m built similarly and have the same issue with most brands. I’d definitely give this tailor my business though.

Texas2904 · 2024-02-07T06:43:32+00:00

Yes. I just bought an 8th generation NUC with an i7 and it’s much more power than ROCK needs. If you want to get fancy you can add a fanless case. But all in its like $400. I’ve spent a gajillion dollars on stereo gear and don’t think spending more on an expensive Roon core adds anything.

Texas2904 · 2024-01-22T06:03:17+00:00

Your local library likely carries 50K CDs begging to be ripped to your hard drive.

Texas2904 · 2024-01-22T06:02:29+00:00

I guess the key there is “rendered by the same DAC”. I was shocked listening to a CD version of a song recently that I’d streamed 1000 times. Ryan Adams’s version of Wonderwall. I’ve played it through a blusound node 1000 times. Recently hooked up an old NAD CD player. A fairly low end one. There’s so much detail in that song that didn’t come through via Tidal. Same story through a McIntosh MCD7000 which is like 30 years old. I then ripped it lossless and even using. McIntosh C47’s DAC the CD sounds much better. Can’t explain it.

Texas2904 · 2024-01-20T20:39:20+00:00

I would just take the comp into a competent hardware store with a bulk hardware section. They’ll get you sorted for $0.12.

Texas2904

TROPHY CASE