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Rock Speakers And PlantersBy Dale Ewans I think today wherever there's a human being, there's a pair of speakers. Perhaps you can't imagine your living without your home theater system. In the bedroom, you still want to listen to your favorite Cd's. The shortest car ride is unbearable without a decent stereo and a pair of speakers. Newly, this goes for boat rides, too. The more recent wireless technology allows you to have speakers in the garden, in the garage or wherever you have things to do.
But loudspeaker manufacturers don't settle for this, when it comes to outdoor use. They want speakers that black out and melt into the environment. They want 100% weatherproof. They want naturalistic design. And the answer to all their wishes has materialized itself into the planter and rock speakers.
The biggest rocks in this field are tereostone, Rockustics and SpeakerCraft. When it comes to rocking and rolling stones they can make all your wishes come true. Just try them by sending over a piece of rock from your garden. They'll send back the design of a prototype speaker that looks exactly like your rock.
How to recognize a rock speaker
If you are in a friend's garden, music is all around but you don't know where it comes from, be sure that the speakers are hiding in the form of some rocks or flower pots. These speakers are especially designed for outdoor use, which means that they are 100% weatherproof. They are completely sealed, using insulating materials that are made to hold up in extreme weather conditions.
In aspect, both Rockustics and Stereostone speakers got inspired from mother nature. They have that grainy look, irregular shape of natural rocks, heavy appearance heavy, but are entirely made of light, synthetic, materials. Most buying guides recommend looking for speakers that are made of good weatherproof materials like: coated aluminum, stainless steel, polypropylene.
Do rock speakers really rock?
They sure do! What we like most about these speakers is how you can use them to impress your kids. Flower pots that sing and rocks that tell stories, this is as close as technology can get to a fairy tale.
If you have doubts about their performance level, don't. Of course, they can't compete by far with the audio quality of a high performing audio system or to the home theater experience. But they sound pretty well. Rock speakers and planters are meant to please the ear while they don't bug the eye. The major advantage is they come close to you, and you don't have to play them that loud. This way you won't keep the neighbors up at night just because you are giving a back yard party.
The major drawback? Though they are designed mostly for outdoor use, they're all wired. But this inconvenient can be solved through a few placement tricks.
Placement tips
Unless you plan to use your rock speakers as wasp nests or rain gauges, you should use a few tricks when mounting them:
* Choose a drier place to place them.
* Don't point the port upward.
* Place the speaker near the place you are to sit more often; In open air, there's less reflection and speakers may sound weaker.
* Measure the area you want the speakers to cover, preferable before you buy them. A pair usually covers 200 to 400 sq. ft.
* Usually, 16- or 18-gauge wire is good; for runs over 80 feet, choose 14-gauge wire.
* No matter the brand, use direct-burial cable to connect the speakers, because it resists the underground moisture and oxidation.
Planter and rock speaker manufacturers
Planter and rock speakers definitely can bring a dose of exoticism in your backyard. Here are some brands worth your consideration:
Rockustics
These are the guys that make your garden rock. Their garden series includes both rock and planter speakers. The Rocky III speaker looks like a stone on the back but like a Flintstones tool on the front. The sound quality and the bass response are good, even when compared with normal speakers. If you are willing to give away a larger sum, in order to enjoy a real bass experience, also buy one of the subwoofer models. Their base can be buried in the ground and a smaller part remains visible.
All Rockustics products have a lifetime warranty (their lifetime, not yours). All the speakers are designed for outdoor use. As previously mentioned, Rockustics can create custom colored-speakers, available by special request.
Stereostone
A Stereostone unit is a complete speaker on its own. Stereostone also offers models of aboveground subwoofers. The Gibraltar Rock is probably the most impressive rock speaker from Stereostone, both in size and performance. With an 8-inch woofer, its bass is quite pleasing. It can be of use in your personal garden, but also in theme parks or other public spaces.
SpeakerCraft
It's probably even more difficult to tell which ones are rocks and which ones are speakers if you go for the Rox speakers from SpeakerCraft. The grille texture that hides the speaker is so fine that you almost don't notice the difference. To build the speaker enclosure, the company developed a special blend of weatherproof resins. No matter how astonishing this stone similarity is, you may want to look for a little diversity in the garden patio. Webster the Frog is waiting for you. It is not a real frog, but a speaker in disguise from Bahama Sounds, a SpeakerCraft division located in Riverside, California.
About the Author: http://www.wireless-speakers.org is a complete guide on wireless speakers and headphones where you can find articles, shopping tricks and product reviews.
Source: www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=15423&ca=Entertainment
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Rock-&-Roll SurrogateBy J Square Humboldt Years ago, upon my first-ever arrival in Paris, there was no doubt as to where I would begin my itinerary ...
I went immediately to the P?re Lachaise cemetery.
That's the final resting place of such luminaries as Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Sarah Berhhardt and Chopin. If I had been there during daylight, I'm sure I would have taken my time to pay my respects to each of them and others. However, it was around 1.00am, and this was a pilgrimage to what's become more of a shrine than a grave.
This is where Jim Morrison of the Doors is buried.
James Dean lived fast and died young. Kurt Cobain had succumbed, by his own hand, to stress and recurrent abdominal pains. Marilyn Monroe took too many pills. Mama Cass choked on that fateful ham sandwich. Keith Moon simply exploded from self-indulgence.
Jim Morrison was different. He lived hard so we didn't have to.
I believe that there are those among us who live life on the edge for the sole purpose of conveying that experience to everyone else. I don't think they make a conscious decision to do so, but the circumstances of their existence drew them to it. They embody a collusion of talent, freedom, credibility and forum. From that mixture, fate then intercedes and legends are forged.
This role doesn't need to end in the ultimate cost of mortality. Look at Lou Reed. An underground poet laureate who was anointed as such by Andy Warhol, Reed could also arguably be called the godfather of punk --- a genre which ultimately influences popular music to this day --- who then became a Rock-&-Roll Animal before settling into married life and relative tranquility. He's a writer-cum-musician who returned the value of word economy to lyrics (the Ramones owe a huge debt to him), who lionized the shadowy annals of altered states and culminated it by allegedly shooting heroin on stage. Somehow, the nihilistic creator of Sweet Jane, the opiate chronicler of White Light/White Heat, the dark playwright of Berlin, managed to survive. I'm sure no one is more pleased with that result than him.
Morrison, on the other hand, never seemed to care.
His obsession was with a mystic dimension that seemingly co-existed with visceral reality and his determination was to channel it. This endeavor has been well-accounted both in Danny Sugarman's book, 'No One Here Gets Out Alive,' and Oliver Stone's cinematic version of it, logically entitled, 'The Doors.'
Morrison did Break on Through to the Other Side and became The Lizard King. His lifestyle and lyrics served as a catalyst for both new age and outrage. The Doors framed his visions in catchy tunes that were a cornerstone of their era. Their music worked for breezy listening, for intense audiophilia and for all levels in between. When Morrison would sing, 'I woke up this morning and got myself a beer,' there was no doubting his presence in the original Hard Rock Caf? and that breakfast was going to be his lightest meal of the day.
With a legacy like that, I guess it's no surprise that rumors circulated about the French authorities wanting to evict him from such an esteemed cemetary as P?re Lachaise. However, during my visit, I was told by a watchful gendarme that the graves were purchased in perpetuity, so he and his colleagues would man many a midnight patrol to monitor the Morrison mourners. From what I saw and have come to know, that is a full-time nocturnal posting.
Even at the late hour, I was one of around a dozen who surrounded Morrison's headstone. Someone's ghettoblaster churned through a litany of Doors songs, candles and flashlights provided an eerily appropriate atmosphere, and even though a strong waft of 60s-ish aroma was ever present, the constables kept their distance as long as the tokers kept themselves discreet. The composition of the entourage was constantly changing; the comings and goings were hardly acknowledged. Instead, the conversations were perpetual and free-form. On occasion, someone would recall a personal memory involving a Doors song, but preferred topics were more along the lines of the consciousness Morrison seemed intent on raising. Lyrics were analyzed and musical passages were toasted. All of this was done in hushed tones, not necessarily out of respect, but because no one wanted to upstage the ghettoblaster's ongoing soundtrack.
I was there for two hours. No one exchanged names or details. There were different points of view expressed, but no arguments. Literary references and musical influences peppered the dialog with a subtle intensity that would have made him proud. The effect of everyone's comments seemed both thoughtful and theraputic, as they put Morrison's escapades and compositions into deep personal perspectives; there was no doubt he had indeed, in some manner, become an extension of each of their lives and they felt they were enriched because of it.
My lasting memory of that night was the notion that Jim Morrison probably would have preferred being the focal point for those introspective testaments rather than for the massive din of a Doors concert.
If so, maybe that meant he finally got what he wanted. In a way, then, so did we.
About the Author: J Square Humboldt is the featured columnist at Longer Life's website, which provides information designed to improve the quality of living. He's at http://longerlifegroup.com/cyberiter.html
Source: www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=34787&ca=Entertainment
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Is A Portable Satellite Radio For You? - Why You Should Consider A Sirius Satellite Radio ReceiverBy J. Amos f you have ever been frustrated by too many commercials on the radio or losing a station?s signal as you drive out of range, then a portable Sirius satellite radio may be just what you need. When you have a Sirius satellite radio receiver you can listen to whatever you want wherever you go.
A portable Sirius satellite receiver allows you to select from over 125 channels of music, news, sports and special programming ? all commercial-free. There is a Sirius satellite receiver to meet the needs of everyone, whether you want one for your home, your office, your car, your boat, or your RV. By far the easiest and quickest to install is a Sirius Plug and Play portable satellite radio, such as:
? Starmate? A compact satellite receiver with 30 channel presets, a wireless remote control, a complete car kit, and optional home kit
? Starmate Replay ST2 ? All of the features of the Starmate satellite radio in an ultra-compact design, plus the ability to pause, rewind and replay up to 44 minutes of content; also has an alert function to let you know when a favorite artist or song is playing on another channel
? Sirius Sportster ? A specially designed satellite receiver for the sports enthusiast, with alerts and notifications when your favorite team is playing on Sirius; listen to play by play of games plus the latest scores; optional car kit, portable home kit, and boombox
? Sportster Replay ? all of the features of the Sirius Sportster, plus the ability to pause, rewind and replay up to 44 minutes of content; car kit is included.
What is Satellite Radio?
Satellite radio is the latest advance in technology that lets you listen to your favorite radio station no matter where you go. This is possible thanks to a system of satellites that delivers the signals, rather than traditional land-based transmitters that are limited by geography and power levels. The ease of delivery and large number of available channels means providers such as Sirius can program each channel very specifically to suit listeners? tastes.
What are the Advantages of Sirius Satellite Receivers?
There are many advantages to portable satellite radios, such as:
? Over 125 channels to choose from
? No lost or fading signals when driving long distance
? No commercials
? Specific, special interest programming
? Exclusive specials and programming
? Crystal clear signals
? Wide variety of satellite radio receivers to choose from
What are the Disadvantages of Satellite Radios?
As with anything, there are some disadvantages to portable satellite receivers, such as:
? The need to purchase a special satellite radio receiver
? Some installation required
? Monthly subscription fee
Why Choose a Portable Sirius Satellite Receiver?
Sirius satellite radio offers listeners an amazing array of channels and choices, including music, news, talk, and special interest programming. Sirius is home to exclusive programs and features, including celebrity hosts, live concerts and listener call-in shows. Sirius subscribers can listen online as well, just by logging into Sirius.com, and Sprint PCS customers can listen to a selection of channels on their Vision Multimedia phone.
About the Author: Julie-Ann Amos is a successful writer for http://www.1st-dish-tv.net, a consumer guide to free Dish Network satellite TV systems. She has contributed numerous articles on portable XM and Sirius satellite radio receivers. Copyright 2006 http://www.1st-Dish-TV.net
Source: www.isnare.com
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