Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I thought you would berra with me.

Check for your electric utility's energy efficiency program rebates. For residential programs, that's often done through the stores themselves, but that's not always the case. Not all models are eligible (in many cases just the most efficient ones). If nothing else, make sure it's EnergyStar rated.

A friend of mine owned a trucking company that shipped items out of a nearby appliance factory.  It was funny, the factory supposedly was a factory for a specific brand but the boxes that he shipped out of there had all different brand names on them.  My sneaking suspicion is that there are only really two or maybe three different manufacturers out there for most of these.  Then after the basic unit is built different brands put their logos and control panels on them and sell them as theirs. 

I'm guessing your friend was shipping items out of Clyde, Ohio. There is a Whirlpool plant there and from what I have heard, they make a few different name brands.

I had Small Advents WAY back in the day.  They were famous for putting out base from a small speaker system.  The base was pretty muddy.  I upgraded to some ADS speakers when I could afford them, they were much tighter and cleaner.  I added a cheap subwoofer to use for movies when being crisp was less of an object.

I asked my buddy about better speakers when I retired and he suggested Monitor Audio Silvers.  I was surprised recently how replacing a 13 year old receiver made such a difference in sound quality.  My buddy is the dude who spent well over $2000 on speaker CABLES.  He has a very high end system, far beyond what I view as cost:benefit, but it's his hobby, he also builds speakers.

The wife likes that the new receiver is all black instead of brushed nickel, and agrees it sounds better.  I had a turntable that I left back at the house, and a bunch of records, that I probably should have brought with me.

Some of the better power bars are pretty good, and a very good option for anyone space and/or money constrained who wants sound for movies on TV.  I don't think you need some awesome sound system for movies, perhaps with few exceptions.  

I got a Yamaha RX-A1080 received "reconditioned" on line, it was really new, someone returned it maybe, and saved about $400.  My buddy told me the response time on newer transistor receivers was a lot faster than 14 years ago.  We used to be consumed with power ratings and distortion, those factors aren't really important today.

Maybe he did, sounded excessive to me, but then he has close to $100,000 in his sound system.  And of course he's using a tube amplifier most of the time, so he isn't using a digital signal.  I forget what kind of speakers he has, he runs two subwoofers with them, but they are large enough to appear not to need them.  No surround sound, he doesn't like it, and his amps don't appear to support it anyway.

He has two passions and goes after them with abandon, sound systems and cameras.  He has some pretty slick lenses for his Canon, I forget which type.  To each his own, he and his wife has good jobs, their kids are out of the house, the both like good wine (how we met), another hobby which can get excessive in a hurry.

I've done a good job getting back to mostly sub-$20 wines though, save my recent trip out west.  That Costco box wine of "Napa cab" is saving a lot of money for me, it's the equivalent of $3.25 a bottle, and remarkably decent.  I know some folks, distantly, who would show up and tell the wine store guy to fill up 2 cases for $2-10,000.

I dunno.  My palette is not that advanced, nor is my wallet.  I try to hit that bend in the curve where incremental is very expensive and the bend is "good enough".

Yes, she likes it, and I drink it when I want some but not anything "fancy".  It's a bit too fruity for me to like a lot, but is very pleasant to drink watching TV or something.