prev non-boring day next non-boring day
On Wednesday I had a whole day dedicated to buying a new stereo. I went back and forth between two stores on that day, after having seen many others. It's such a pain in the neck. I didn't know that the audio market is so complicated. I had settled on B&W speakers already, and just had to choose a receiver and CD-player. I was actually thinking about Onkyo for my receiver, because it was the best from what I had heard, and I figured that for what I'm going to spend (about $600), that's the best. And then I heard NAD. Now this may seem like an advert for NAD, and I really don't care, because it just blew me away. But, NAD and the store I wanted to buy from seemed to be, let's say, not chummy chummy. The store said that they keep breaking down, and have technical problems, and I also saw a letter, sent from NAD to other stores, that the store I bought from will not be supplied to by NAD anymore. How complicated! But I went back to the store, and asked to compare NAD with Onkyo. They told me they could get me NAD, if I really wanted it, but they don't recommend it, even though, admittedly, it sounds great. So I checked. I even checked "blindfolded", i.e. not knowing which was which before I heard. And NAD won on every type of music, from Jazz to Classical to Depeche Mode to Faith No More. It was unreal. They even wanted to sell me the Onkyo receiver which is supposed to cost double the NAD for half price. It still didn't come close. So they agreed to get me the NAD, but I have to wait until Monday. I will, because they gave me by far the best price. It's funny, I didn't know how competitive the audio market is, until I was in it for a whole day. My tip of the day: always haggle with audio salesmen, even in a store where you think there's no chance of getting a discount. Say you saw it cheaper elsewhere. You'll be surprised.
And my ear grew tired as hell that day. Yesterday I just practiced my bass the whole day.
Today is Rosh Hashana, Jewish New Year. How exciting! (that last remark was cynical). I'm going to my dad today, and to my mum tomorrow. Having divorced parents really sucks during the holidays. I remember that when I was in the army, I always wanted to stay in the holidays (everyone thought I was a sick bastard), so I wouldn't have to choose between them. Oh well...