Well, after tonight, that makes a total of two rodeos I've been to. The first was the Calgary Stampede a good five or six years ago. The latest was the NFR at the Thomas & Mack Center here in Vegas where I am for the annual company Christmas Party. After standing around the concourse for a while (our tickets weren't the best), we went inside when they started the bull riding and found some seats that were vacated by the rightful owner.

We watched a few bulls and then took off two bulls before the end of the show. However, once we got outside to catch a cab, the line was VERY long. Like 30-45 minutes long. So we decided to walk to the corner (took about 5 minutes max) and hail a cab. Maybe not the most "kosher" thing to do, but we got an eccentric cabbie who kept us entertained the whole way, and we got back a good half hour before the other half of the group who stayed in the line (in fact, they probably aren't back yet as I write this post).

Off to Tao in about an hour and tomorrow we have the company dinner. Hopefully I won't lose too much this weekend. Any money I come home with goes towards the final part of my speaker purchase.

URL: NFR experience

Well, I did it. I took the TV delay as a sign that everything needs to be together before it'll all work together. So I ordered my speakers. Not all of them, but the majority of them. Ordered the tower speakers and center speaker in black. The Dark Cherry option was backordered until December 22nd, and while it might have looked a little bit better if it were near some dark-cherry colored furniture (as the bookshelves might be), it didn't make sense for the front speakers.

The center speaker will rest atop the TV and the two towers will sit on the outskirts, about 5-6 feet away from the center, providing the best experience for those in the theater. The speakers should ship tomorrow via UPS ground and make it here before my TV arrives. Then, when the TV arrives, everything will be ready to go. I'll have all the cabling done, and all I'll need to do is plug in the one HDMI cable from my receiver into the TV and we're set.

Oh yeah, my PureAV power conditioner shipped today as well. I guess the only thing missing is the TV. And if the HD-A2's come into Crutchfield this weekend, it could actually get here before my TV does depending on the shipping. The anticipation is killing me!

To complete the home theater, I just need two bookshelf speakers and a subwoofer and we're done! Well, except for the other HD-DVDs I want. I'm already up to 7 without any way to play them. My list is here.

URL: HTD Level THREE Speakers

TV stand arrived today. Just got done setting it up - looks great, but a little low. Hopefully, since the speakers are on the bottom of the TV, that extra height will put it at the right place.

We'll see what happens. I just really wanted that TV tonight so I could start playing with it and watch some shows tonight in HD (CSI, My Name is Earl, etc.).

Oh well, it'll just have to wait.

Oh yeah, picked up my receiver today. Packaged well for shipment from New York. Took it out, looks great. You can hardly see it in the bottom shelf of the Sony stand - just barely fits down there too.

Also, since I was thinking the stand was a bit higher, I thought my center speaker might have fit down there, but it won't, so it'll have to sit atop the TV. It's a big speaker, so I hope it doesn't look bad - though the TV is big too, so I'm not too concerned. Just going to have to pick up one of these. It'll rest on top of the TV somehow and hold the speaker up there. Luckily the local Circuit City has it in stock, so if it doesn't work, return will be easy. If all else fails, I can mount the center speaker behind the TV on the wall. Not the optimal position since the TV will block some of the output of the speaker, but a last ditch option.

URL: SonyStyle.com | A/V Stand

Well, we're getting there.

UPS came today, but could not leave my receiver without a signature. So I called them up and will pick it up from UPS tomorrow rather than having them try and re-deliver. I will be off from 12-5 to take delivery of my tv and tv stand, but UPS said they would deliver between 11 and 2 (they came at 11:34 today).

So I'll be picking that up tomorrow and receiving my TV and stand. That would appear to be everything except the HD-A2 HD-DVD player, but that isn't even out yet, so I have to wait on it...should be shipping to distributors the week of December 11th.

I also ordered the item linked below today. Read really good reviews of the PureAV line and the prices have dramatically dropped since they were released. And while we don't have problems with surges or unclean power, you can never be too cautious, and well...it looks cool.

So that would appear to be it, but NO! Why upgrade everything in a home theater and leave the speakers that cost less than any other piece of equipment in my new home theater? They were part of a home theater in a box by Onkyo - receiver and 5.1 surround sound system. They served me well, but the whole package was less than $200. Assume the receiver is half of that and the speakers are half...well, I spent more than $100 on cables for the new home theater. Speakers that are less than $100?

Since it's the season of giving, I'm probably going to give myself another present and buy a set of Home Theater Direct Level TWO or THREE speakers. The price difference between the two isn't small, but it isn't huge either, so why go with the cheaper speakers when I could get the best HTD offers for a little more? The difference between the two series is noticeable I've heard, and even though my home theater isn't huge, the speakers will last years, so I'm not going to skimp. It'll probably be a paycheck or two though before I can order...I'm going to see if I can sneak the center and towers in first though and then add the rear surrounds and subwoofer at a later date.

URL: Home Theater Spot: Technical Review: Belkin PureAV – Power Console PF60

My receiver was scheduled by UPS to be delivered today, but checking the status online, I saw a description I had never seen before: "ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS CAUSED THIS DELAY". So apparently my receiver is running a day late - it's still up in L.A. and not at the Anaheim station my packages are usually delivered from. No big deal really - I've got no TV to pair it with, but I had hoped to have all my components in before the TV (except the DVD Player - which hasn't been released yet).

The stand is still on time as far as I know - I should be receiving a call from them today to schedule delivery. I'm also hoping the freight company that shipped my TV will call today as well so I can schedule both the stand and TV for delivery on the same date.

Also, been researching new speakers - since what's the point of a home theater upgrade with cheap sub-$200 speakers (all 6 of them under $200 - not each). Right now I'm looking at HTD's level 2 or 3 series. Level 2 would set me back about $1000 while the Level 3's would be about $1500. I'm not sure the difference would be huge in my current listening space, but having the upgraded speakers would be quite nice if/when I move out and have more room to play with.

The other alternative is a set of Athena Audition series speakers. They run about $800 or so for a full set, $900 with the upgraded front speakers. I've just heard differing reviews of them and heard great things about the Level 3's, hence, me leaning heavily in that direction right now.

URL: Welcome to UPS