What is your favorite accessory?

[Leonard Caillouet]

So many tools and cool toys...what helps you enjoy the music or video that you love?

 

[Leonard Caillouet]

One of my favorites is my Dragonfly. Clean sound out of my computer for my analog headphones.

http://www.audioquest.com/dragonfly-series/

 

[mechman]

I purchased this quite some time ago but I just recently hooked it up and used it for the first time - eeColor 3D LUT Box. It did an amazing job calibrating my projector. The beauty of it was that the majority of the work was automated. It was my first time delving into direct display control calibration.

 

[Leonard Caillouet]

Wow, I see you can get that for under $300. Looks like a great tool to allow more control than most systems would.

 

[mechman]

When it first came out it was in the $800 range. But with limited 3D support and the fact that it's HDMI 1.3 only - no future upgrades - there's no place for the price to go but down. I bought mine for $199 back when I was still an admin at the other site.

 

[phillihp23]

Is this device similar to a Darby darblet? Or is the darblet more focus and sharpness oriented only?

 

[Leonard Caillouet]

No, the Darblet only pushes the contrast ratio. What this does is provide LUTs (Look Up Tables) to be able to precisely dial in the color at multiple levels.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

So you just plug up your HDMI cable through it and it does the rest? That sickly good man... how can that be?

Is this it: https://displaycalibrationtools.com/store/eecolor-lut-box-65-cube-3d-lut-color-correction-processor/

 

[Leonard Caillouet]

Well, it remembers the settings. You have to calibrate the projector.

 

[phillihp23]

Tell me more...this is interesting and a possible cost effective way to self calibrate verse a professional calibration.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Ahhh... okay... so you still have to do calibration. Shucks... though a miracle had happened.

 

[Leonard Caillouet]

Calibration is not that hard with the software out now. Particularly with this kind of tool to give you so much control. I still have my old meter if anyone wants to use it. I don't have the software anymore as it went when my old laptop died and since I was not doing calibration professionally any more I never bothered to install it again or update it. Maybe the software companies would give us a copy for evaluation and reviews. I was actually one of the first users to by CalMan, even before it was CalMan, but have not been in touch with them in years.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I have a complete package here from SpectraCal from 4-5 years ago... but that was seriously complicated stuff unless you are real familiar with calibrations.

 

[mechman]

When I get time I'll do a write-up. Basically you setup your calibration using Direct Display Control (DDC), run thru some basic readings/calibration, and then let the meter/software/eeColor box do the rest. I can't recall off the top of my head how I had it set up but I believe you can set it up by time, number of measures, etc. I set mine to calibrate in 2 hours and that was about how long it took. You can go longer but I'm not sure how much the results change.

I may be able to get something written up this week.

 

[1_sufferin_mind]

Staples in my analog maintenance arsenal include brushes and fluids and scales and levels, but the most valuable to me is my azimuth alignment meter. The Musical Surroundings Fozgometer is used with audio test tracks and TT cartridge adjustment to match left and right channel levels semi-automatically. Much more accurate matching is possible than by sighted adjustment alone, though the user has to be careful not to accidentally overshoot the sweet spot. Zeroing in on that sweet spot is tedious, but is also well-rewarded with high channel separation.

 

[Leonard Caillouet]

I just listened seriously for the first time to the B&W T7 bluetooth speaker that I bought for Julianne for Christmas. I had heard it in passing and thought it sounded good. But sitting in the back yard working on the computer I hooked it up and it actually is surprisingly good. It was rather expensive, $350, and I thought of it more as a nice gift than a great value, but it actually is much better than I expected it to be.

 

[Prof.]

Darby Darblet..Greatest thing since mute on remotes!!

 

[Tonto]

But sitting in the back yard working on the computer I hooked it up and it actually is surprisingly good.

I remember when we were tiling the living room, I set up my Klipsch KSF 10'.5's outside to play some music. I was shocked how good they sounded without any walls as boundaries. I suspect all speakers sound better without reflections.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Considering I probably have no need to own these with my subwoofer array... but I have loved my Auro Bass Shaker Pros. I have 6 of them wired into seating, with a lowpass 50Hz filter to keep the throaty side of voices from entering the mix.

One of the best low cost home theater invests I've made, IMO.

 

[tesseract]

I am a huge fan of my latest interconnect cables... because they are XLR, heh.

My beer-powered Spin Clean keeps records in great shape for a great price.

My sand-filled Vapor Audio stands are gorgeous and match the Sundog speakers.

 

[Todd Anderson]

That's a great looking stand, Dennis. I like it!