[Bob in St. Louis]

So my neighbor thinks their receiver and speakers are messed up, right?
So instead of asking someone for help (me?), they decide the best way to repair the problem is to go out and buy all new stuff.
Yea, that'll fix it alright.   

Knowing I'm the local electronics geek, they ask if I'd like to have their "junk".
"Sure, of course I'll take your stuff, whatcha got"?
Seems they've got a pair of vintage(ish) Yamaha NS-A100X7 speakers and a Pioneer VSX-D814 AV receiver.

Nice.   
Yea....I'll take that.

So I hook it up in my workshop using some zipcord (after popping the hood and blowing all the dust out of the innards) and hook things up.
I'm using an old mobile/portable DVD player as a CD transport (one of those deals you strap on the back of your car's headrest for the kids to watch) to test things out. Works great, and has been working great at high SPL for the past hour or so.


Excellent.

Of course, I'm VERY happy with my HawthorneAudio speakers, so if this rig turns out to be operational, I'll be installing all of it in my sons room. Should look nice flanking his 42" LCD.

[satfrat]

You're a good neighbor Bob to take those folks gear off their hands for them.    It's a 2-fer situation for sure as now you're the worlds best dad too (if you weren't already). 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[Big Red Machine]

Do they have any junk steaks?

[lonewolfny42]

So instead of asking someone for help (me?), they decide the best way to repair the problem is to go out and buy all new stuff.

.... ....That helps out the economy....everybody wins.

Have fun Bob....

[richidoo]

Lookin good Bob. Is that the same neighbor who gave you the facial sand blasting machine? I think you have some good mojo going on right now. Time to buy a lottery ticket.

[Doublej]

Perhaps he just wanted new gear so he convinced the wife that the gear he had was broken.   

[eclein]

Bob's kid has better gear than I do---LOL...Little Big Planet 2 on steroids in his room..

[JohnR]

Good score What's not working?

[Bob in St. Louis]

Robin- Yes, it was quite the sacrifice to drive the 400' across the street and pick up the equipment.
Yes indeed. I think I'll be able to recover. 

BRM- Not sure if they have any steaks, but the guy is a self proclaimed excellent chef. So I'll be on the look out, for sure! 

Double- That's a VERY plausible scenario. Although, he's admittedly tone deaf, so I'm doubting he's got a case of "upgradidous".
But you never know. ha ha

Ed- All my son needs now is a kickass subwoofer. That way, the LFE's can shake the house! 

John- So far, everything is working just fine. Without any "audiophile persnickety", the rig seems to be capable of pumping out some nice SPL and decent quality for extended periods of time without fail. Not sure what problem their having. They said after a couple minutes of 'on time", the unit would shut down and display "overload". Seems to me they had a problem with the speakers? Maybe a mouse chewed a spot on the wires and created a dead short? Either way, the message they received has not shown up on my "load test". And trust me, I've made it stretch it's legs. 
I double checked with them to make sure they really want to give it away, and they said they've already bought new stuff.
Oh well. Their loss, my gain!! 

Bob

[JohnR]

They said after a couple minutes of 'on time", the unit would shut down and display "overload".

You said you blew a lot of dust out of it, maybe the output stage was overheating. And/or they had it closed in a cupboard.

Anyway, you can't do better than free

[jtwrace]

I'll be installing all of it in my sons room. Should look nice flanking his 42" LCD.

 

[Bob in St. Louis]

You said you blew a lot of dust out of it, maybe the output stage was overheating. And/or they had it closed in a cupboard.

Anyway, you can't do better than free

Exactly. If you can imagine that I'm feeling pretty lucky right now, you'd be right.
Given that, you may not be able to comprehend how lucky my son is feeling right now. 
Today is Sunday. I told him that I'm going to perform a "load test" on the equipment until next weekend. If it holds up until then, that's when I'll put it in his room. I do NOT want to go through the crap of wiring this all up only to find out the neighbors were right and there's something messed up.

I've got a DVD playing "loop" in my workshop as the test. We'll see what happens after seven days.

Yea, again....my son is one of the luckiest kids on earth.
See below.
He's got a highdef PS3 on the Sanyo LCD.
Now imagine that receiver and those Yamaha speakers flanking that LCD.
When I was his age, it was 1982. 
Seeing the room I've built for him make me want to be 12 years old, all over again.

[Noseyears]

You're lucky Bob...your speakers looks amazing, and i'm sure they sound as good as they look.

Im jealous. 

oh, and your son will be happy..

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thank you Mr, Ears! 

My son will be happy tomorrow when "sawdust happens".
That's when I build the shelf for the TV to sit on. The PS3 and Pioneer receiver will sit below the TV on either side of the base I make.
Then the Yamaha speakers flank the LCD......THAT is when he'll be happy. 

Pictures to follow......

Bob

[eclein]

Bob--I hearby put myself up for adoption-can I come live there..POP!!

The little man will have a kick ass rig to kick my ass in GT5!! Nice!!!

[Bill O'Connell]

That is one lucky young man.
Was the photo taken in anticipation of his new stereo? He looks pretty happy now.
 You'll have to post a photo when all is set up. he should be grinning from ear to ear.

 Nice score!

[Bob in St. Louis]

Ed, the house is getting kinda full with all of my newfound adopted children at heart. I've taken in three or four other "middle aged children" such as yourself, but of course I can always make room for you. 

Bill, that picture was taken only a few months ago. The boy managed to save (almost) all of the monies needed to buy that LCD. He wanted some of the gaming guys online to see his new toy, so I shot that photo for him. I suppose I'll take another this weekend with the Yamahas flanking it. 
I do need to build a stand for the TV, so the PS3 and receiver can sit under it.
Suffice it to say, there's a little sawdust in his future. 

Bob

EDIT: Horrible spelling mistake. 

[eclein]

Bob in your house with your skills, sawdust is a good thing..get cuttin...oh Killzone 3 found a used copy on CL local and the guy delivered it, I'm not even goona tell ya how much, he bought it for his kids and was appalled at the violence- I guess the title didn't make him think- anyway its mine and my son will aboslutely have a  fit when he comes to visit in a few weeks..I'm not telling him and just gonna toss it out on the floor in front of him and that glazed over gamer in action look and watch him go nuts!!! I'll take photos as you should when your son gets all hooked up.

Sorry for the aside that was supposed to be quick...oops

[firedog]

And when I think what I scaped and saved for in 1974 to listen to music. Kids today definitely don't know how they lucky they are with such good sounding stuff for such small amounts of money...BTW, the PS3 has been used as a disc spinner by some hi-end companies at audio shows, because it gives excellent performance as a digital transport.

On the other hand, I was pretty happy with that 1974 rig back in the day.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Come to think of it, I'm not sure I even had a TV in my room when I was twelve. 

Anyway, it looks like everything works, so last night we got his rig up and running.
All that's left is to hid the wires hanging below the TV.
Gave up on the idea of building a stand for the TV and just bought a wall mount.

As you can imagine, he's pretty happy. Duh....