Monthly Archives: August 2004

The History of the Internet according to, ahem, me

Posted on August 30, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

For some years I’ve been writing for the magazine Geare, usually just reviews of the assorted bits and pieces that I review. I was always a bit ambivalent about it because Geare is one of those ‘guys’ magazines, in which … Continue reading →

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Deep, deep bass from Whise Profunder 319A subwoofer

Posted on August 26, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

My review of the Whise Profunder 319A subwoofer ($6,499) appeared in Wednesday’s ‘Connect’ section in the Melbourne Herald Sun newspaper, unfortunately under someone else’s name. No matter. The graph herewith is something I couldn’t put in the article. This shows … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Equipment | 3 Comments

Philips releasing (at last) a hard disk DVD recorder, plus the largest LCD TV in Australia

Posted on August 26, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Philips Electronics flew me up to Sydney today to have a look at some of its forthcoming products. It was focusing on its new, expanded, Flat TV lineup, but there were some other interesting products there as well. The Flat … Continue reading →

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DVD Recorder hard disk drives getting bigger

Posted on August 20, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Sharp has released the DVHR350X DVD recorder with a built-in hard disk drive (RRP: $AUS1,769). What’s interesting here is that this raises the hard disk size. Previously all DVD recorders incorporating hard disks have used 80GB models, but this one … Continue reading →

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What advice do I not give?

Posted on August 18, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

From time to time people write to me asking various questions about home entertainment matters. Generally I am happy to help, time permitting, and if I think the matter interesting I may include it here. However I have had a … Continue reading →

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DVD recordable prices continue to fall

Posted on August 18, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

The other day someone in the hi fi industry was telling me about concerns regarding the longevity of recordable DVDs. Some cheap brands, he said, are not properly UV finished so they can go off in a relatively short time … Continue reading →

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Amplifiers and Speakers in The Herald Sun

Posted on August 18, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

I’ve switched over from ‘Livewire’ in the Thursday edition of Melbourne’s The Age newspaper, to ‘Connect’ in the Wednesday edition of the Herald Sun. Today’s ‘Connect’ cover story is mine: how to get lots of volume from your speakers without … Continue reading →

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Accurate timing of videos

Posted on August 17, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Rod, who runs the excellent The Chopping List, has asked me: I was talking to a friend who has also adopted a censorship watchdog role about VHS running times for movies. To get a duration for a film on tape … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, How Things Work, Video, Video tape | Leave a comment

What does that subwoofer ‘phase’ switch do?

Posted on August 16, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Most subwoofers have a switch on the back that’s labelled ‘Phase’, and has positions of 0 and 180 degrees. What this switch does, electrically, is the second easist thing to understand on a subwoofer’s wiring (the easiest is the ‘on/off’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Equipment, How Things Work | 3 Comments

DVD Giveaway upgraded to the Great DVD Giveaway (hah!)

Posted on August 14, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

Okay, I’ve done some sorting out. Here is a full list of DVDs I’m giving away. Again, none of these have the printed slicks, although all have properly printed labels on the discs themselves. All are stamped ‘Not For Sale’. … Continue reading →

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