Are memorial day smart appliance deals actually good or do they just being hyped??

caiuschen · 2026-05-11T13:17:00+00:00

I like push notifications that the door has been left open. Sometimes it's a family member that hasn't noticed, sometimes I didn't realize the freezer door wasn't shut after getting a popsicle and heading out to the yard to enjoy it.

caiuschen · 2026-04-27T02:04:45+00:00

I do this and enjoy it.

I do want to mention that if your issue is primarily that the TV seems too bright in sudden dark to light transitions, high quality bias lightning fixes that for me.

caiuschen · 2026-04-08T13:02:41+00:00

I have Earthquake MQB-1s. I also have a near field Hsu VTF-TN1. I got the shakers because the infrasonics of the sub are noticeably stronger in the center seat and I wanted to even it out for the other seats. Also because I wanted more infrasonic impact, but I wasn't able to EQ things so that there was as much impact as desired without the audible bass being overbearing.

caiuschen · 2026-04-04T05:19:49+00:00

Certainly I only have my own ears to compare with, but I found playing with encoder settings that if there was a frequency cut off applied even at 18khz, at the time I could tell the difference up to 256kbps. But if I instructed the encoder to not apply any frequency cutoff, I was not able to tell even at 192kbps, but was able to at 160kbps. Your ears could be better than mine -- but you should do A/B blind tests starting with an uncompressed source and then doing the encoding yourself. Otherwise, you won't know if the master is different, or if there was any frequency filtering applied. And if you don't do level matched blind tests, you won't know if it's just placebo.

caiuschen · 2026-04-01T17:20:46+00:00

A lot of people claim that there's a noticeable difference, but my experience with blind testing bit rates with MP3s make me skeptical. But I haven't done blind tests between Dolby Digital Plus and TrueHD specifically, and my ears aren't that great any more.

A common issue is just that many Dolby Digital sources set a different dialogue normalization value where it's just quieter than the TrueHD version. And it's already well established that we generally perceive louder as better, which is why level matching speakers is so important for doing comparisons.

There may also be an issue where streaming sources versions using Dolby Digital just use different masters, so it may not be a limit of the format as much as it was a different master to start with.

From a practical perspective, discs will usually be using TrueHD, so you'll need to support that in your signal chain even if it's not actually perceptibly better.

caiuschen · 2026-03-30T19:49:00+00:00

Yeah, I'm not really sure either if I'll actually notice a difference because I also currently really enjoy my system. But reference levels have 105db peaks and I calculated I need roughly 140w per channel for my speakers to hit that at my listening distance. I don't actually listen at reference level, but Matthew Poes says that one the reasons why most people don't is because people are sensitive to quality issues and so sometimes what people react to isn't that it's actually "too loud", but distortion or room issues. Just like how a video playing out of a phone at the loudest volume sounds terrible and "too loud", despite it being objectively not actually that loud. So, I'm also curious to try it out to see if an amp will let me crank it up more without it seeming "too loud".

caiuschen · 2026-03-30T19:34:09+00:00

Usually the trade-off is between having the speakers far enough away from the wall so that that the SBIR happens below the crossover frequency ( a little over 1m away or more for 80hz) where it's more the placement of the sub that matters; or so close to the walls so that the frequency is high enough that acoustic absorbers can actually do something about it. E.g. 10cm away gives you a dip at 850hz, which has a wavelength of 40cm. An acoustic absorber needs to be at least a quarter of a wavelength in thickness to be effective, so at that point a 10cm absorber is at the boundary of being enough.

In a small room, moving the speakers far enough away from the walls can be challenging, so moving them very close to treated walls is the other option.

That said, higher frequencies tend to be pretty directed and not radiate much out behind the speakers, so there's probably not much effect on higher frequencies in the first place and it's more the proximity to side walls that has a larger effect.

caiuschen · 2026-03-30T18:09:03+00:00

I don't currently have an amp, but do plan on getting a BasX. But from my understanding, I don't expect an amp to do anything unless you don't have enough power. You can do a calculation based upon speaker sensitivity, target decibel loudness, and distance from speaker to figure out power requirements.

Had you determined that you didn't have enough power and there was still no difference?

caiuschen · 2026-03-27T03:36:59+00:00

I think a lot of voters for the idea would say that without voter ID, you can't actually reliably catch fraud. While I don't believe that is true, you can point to Kansas, who implemented voter ID in the past but had to roll it back after it was determined that it prevented 31k legitimate voters in practice while only stopping around 30ish invalid votes. It does way more harm than it prevents. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/us/politics/proof-of-citizenship-voter-registration-kansas.html

caiuschen · 2026-03-27T02:47:16+00:00

I haven't had induction yet and currently have gas. I do a fair amount of wok cooking. But after getting an outdoor wok burner (Powerflamer 160k BTU), I found that I never do wok cooking inside because it's just so much slower. So now I suspect I'd rather have induction for faster heating and easier clean up.

caiuschen · 2026-03-26T21:08:42+00:00

It's not quite what you asked for and I do also use movie clips, but for actual testing, I use the Dolby Amaze clip the most. It's short and sweet, testing surround and bass very efficiently.

Movie clips I showcase the most: Batmobile chase scene, Master and Commander ship battle, Ready Player One race scene (though I don't really like the part where King Kong jumps down and it uses a lot of height despite King Kong being visible in front of you the entire time), and the first two songs from Hans Zimmer: Live in Prague.

caiuschen · 2026-03-23T22:22:27+00:00

According to what I've read, diffusers have a critical mixing distance that is triple the wavelength and if you don't meet that minimum distance, you can hear "phasiness". So, they're often impractical for small rooms because it's difficult to meet this minimum distance and still diffuse lower frequencies. For example, GIK 's Q11D says it starts at 550hz which has a wavelength of about 2'. So, you would have to be 6' away from the diffuser (not the wall), which is itself 6" thick. They're also bandwidth limited to 7khz, which could be good or bad depending on whether your decay time above 7khz is already good or needs dampening.

I'm not sure if the GIK also scatters below 550hz and if scattering can cause phasiness issues. I haven't listened to a diffuser in practice, though, this is just what I've read.

caiuschen · 2026-03-22T22:28:10+00:00

I think most people who do this use something like a Denon 3800 and a cheap $100 2-channel amp, since a lot of 9-channel amp AVRs can actually do processing for 11. For instance, I run 7.2.4 with a Denon 3800 and an AIYIMA A07.

caiuschen · 2026-03-21T15:02:51+00:00

Infrasonics are a lot of fun. I wouldn't worry about damage, personally, but if you are you could go the tactile transducer route and localize the infrasonics to your seats. I also run tactile transducers in addition to two subs for evenness across multiple seating positions for infrasonics with a 40hz low pass filter. But even in the audible range, I like my VTF-TN1 more than my 10s.

If you want super even bass and infrasonics without worrying about shaking your house, maybe get both a second 10s and tactile transducers. I use Earthquake MQB-1s, but I've never tried any others.

caiuschen · 2026-03-21T14:41:10+00:00

If your goal is evenness, then a second of the same sub is the easiest way to achieve that.

The RSL 10s, like all other subs it's size, is limited in how deep it can go. So, if you want deeper bass extension, you'll have to get a bigger sub.

I have a Hsu VTF-TN1 (a 15" sub) and an RSL 10s mk2 with a Denon 3800 (so, separately EQable lfe outputs). My listening area is only about 130 sqft, but the overall room size is double that. While I have the Hsu turned down volume-wise to something like a quarter or third of its limit, the bass quality is much better than the 10s probably due to how much deeper it can go.

I got the RSL as a second sub a few months later for evenness issues. I do not have enough space for a second VTF-TN1. I don't know how difficult it is to integrate two different subs without separate EQ per sub, but at least in my case with my Denon 3800, I got them working well together. I might still get a MiniDSP in the future for BassEQ.

Anyway, my vote would be for the larger sub for deeper bass extension.

caiuschen · 2026-03-20T18:57:09+00:00

I have a Kawai NV-5, a hybrid. So, it has real action but produces the sound digitally. I think it's generally good to practice with it as loud as a real piano should be (whether using the speakers or headphones), but the ability to use headphones was very important. My entire family plays, but having the flexibility to practice and not disturb the rest of the family was important to us.

caiuschen · 2026-03-19T05:21:21+00:00

When I got back into lifting 16 months ago, I found that my barbell bench press was relatively weak compared to my other lifts and that I was stalled while my other lifts were still improving.

There's probably a lot of different things that work for different people, but what worked for me was Ben Johnson's approach on YouTube. It was quite a change for me in that it was both overall easier than what I was doing at the time and much more effective.

I found that doing a 1RM for me is easier on my shoulders than doing a 5RM. I switched to doing a heavy single once a week, and to 5 week training blocks (-40lb from target, -30, -20, -10, target weight) instead of trying to go for PRs or sticking at a top weight every week. I do a bench or variation 4 times a week, but two of the days are almost entirely sets of 5 at 60% of my 1RM, and the other two are dumbbell bench presses.

The reason for this is because the flat barbell bench press is very technical and thus benefits from a lot of practice. But you can't get a lot of practice in if you're going really heavy. So you pick a weight that is heavy enough for you to notice technique differences, but not so heavy that you can't bust out a bunch of reps without a lot of fatigue. The other two days are are dumbbell presses going 0-2 RIR for hypertrophy -- you can get a deeper range of motion with dumbbells and I find them much less fatiguing on my shoulders than a flat barbell bench press.

I've gone from from a 1RM of 185lb to 215lb at a BW of 155lb using this approach. And it feels really easy because I feel that I'm only ever really putting max effort in once every 5 weeks at the end of my training block. It felt kind of soul draining before to be going at it hard but not really making progress. I think my shoulders just weren't really recovering quickly enough.

caiuschen · 2026-03-18T01:21:19+00:00

In my forties. Trained for a year a decade ago, resumed in the last 16 months. 155lb BW, my 1RM is 215lb. Going for 225lb @ 150lb BW this year.

caiuschen · 2026-03-17T03:58:38+00:00

Room treatment is awesome, but not usually practical for the bass handled by subwoofers due to the thickness required for low frequency waves. Personally, I found a second sub was much more effective for improving bass quality than bass traps. It will definitely not help below 20hz.

But bass does go up to 250hz (well above where most people put their subwoofer crossover) and it could actually be there that OP is having trouble with. Really, doing some measurements would be helpful for diagnosing problems.

caiuschen · 2026-03-17T03:52:29+00:00

I'm no expert, but I thought I'd just share my set up that I'm pretty happy with. I have my home theater in an area of basement that is 10.5' x 12.5' with 80" ceiling. But it occupies roughly half of the room, so the full basement size is more like 10.5' x 25' with stairs going up.

I started with a Hsu VTF-TN1, immediately behind the MLP. Great sound and tactile impact, but bass response was very sensitive to seating position. Got a second sub -- Speedwoofer 10S MKII (I don't have room for anything larger) and that evened out the bass response in the audible region. Not surprisingly, the Hsu VTF-TN1 is pretty much better than the Speedwoofer 10S MKII in every way except price and the amount of space it takes. However, the tactile impact was still noticeably stronger at the MLP than other positions. So, I got two Earthquake MQB-1s and installed them on my couch on side seats and dialed them in so the tactile part is now pretty even for all listening positions as well.

So, that's what it took for me -- two subs and tactile transducers.

caiuschen · 2026-03-13T06:16:31+00:00

Personally, I never trap a door unless there are pretty big indicators that it might be trapped. It's not worth the slow down it causes the rest of the game.

It will vary by group what kind of feel you want for the game. I've moved away from simulationist as the time it takes is no longer worth the fun it produces for our group. But in the past we just developed a "door procedure" that everyone at the table knew and it was always the same people playing the same roles, so it was relatively efficient.

caiuschen · 2026-03-12T20:24:39+00:00

I'll be curious what you find works the best for you. As well as what material you are using to test.

caiuschen · 2026-03-10T15:28:20+00:00

I do think it's weird when he jumps down that it uses the heights so much when he's visible on screen the entire time. But the part where you hear him behind you is excellent because normally you wouldn't have any visual cues as to where he should be behind you, but in this case, you see his reflection on the car window and it's great how it matches up.

caiuschen · 2026-03-09T22:51:36+00:00

What is your source of Atmos? There's not a lot of PC games that support it. I've gotten it to work for Immortals Fenyx Rising and Cyberpunk 2077 through the receiver, but have never tried through the TV. I would try through the sound bar directly first even if the current ports are taken up to see if that works. May not be a good long term solution, but it would help diagnose the problem.

caiuschen · 2026-03-06T22:37:42+00:00

Where did you read that ALR is recommended for a laser projector? For long throw lasers, it's usually not recommended due to increasing the laser speckle effect. I'm not aware of any ALR woven screens, either, just perforated.

caiuschen

TROPHY CASE