You can’t get much simpler than a pair of AVI ADM9 RSS’s – 4 amps and a very high quality DAC inside them! Plug in a digital or analogue source and off you go :)

.. Oh and the AVI’s have cables included, which by the designers own admission are pretty cheap but as good as anything out there :-)

.. Definitely worth checking out AVI’s active solutions. Their original ADM 9’s were well received by both hifi and pro audio worlds which is quite unusual… The AVI forum has lots of interesting articles on snake oil type guff surrounding “hifi” obsessions with cables and the like too..

.. Don’t get me started on cables :D

Most modern DAC’s have sufficient buffering to cope with jitter very well. There’s been some interesting studies on jitter of late – somewhere (I can’t remember where) on the AVI forum there’s a very good article on it and to what degree it can be detected.

To clarify I meant that the digital source doesn’t make a difference to most good DAC’s , specifically that used in the AVI’s.

When I was a test engineer at Arcam it was quite an eye opener – we hand tested the CD transports for jitter and they varied hugely yet were all deemed acceptable!

.. The AVI actives have a very high quality DAC built in by the way and have I think 2 digital inputs and either one or two analogue inputs I think..

.,..I’ve just realised others have mentioned actives too… Adam’s are supposed to be very good too..

Right, at the risk of getting seriously flamed..

In my opinion (having studied a BSc in audio tech and acoustics) most domestic hifi is fundamentally flawed in that it utilises passive control of the speakers. For a huge amount of reasons that someone else can explain on the forum I’m about to mention I would seriously recommend looking at active speakers.

Take a look at the AVI forum and also their website. Their active speakers start at about £1k and need only a digital source to feed them ( which could be sonos, a DVD player or a cheap CD player). The digital source will ( despite an entire industry claiming otherwise) make no difference at all to the sound quality.

Anyway, check out the forum – Ash (one of AVI’s owners) often pops up to offer advice etc.

Active speakers are the way forward and have been used in studios for decades. It’s only recently that they’ve started to become “discovered” in a hifi world of snake oil and magazine reviews driven by selling advertising space.

If you have any specific queries feel free to drop me an email and I’ll bore you to tears about why active speakers are (in general) so good.

I fell on my @rse walking to the shop in the dark to buy de-icer this morning. I also discovered the joy of living on a back road, on a steep gradient whilst owning a RWD car :-/

Think I’m going to try the home made cruise control foot cosy holder as suggested above.

I mean, what’s the worst that can happen?

djglover – yes I noticed that on my first long run in it! It’s a bit annoying!

I did fancy a 325 or 330 but couldn’t justify the economy given that a lot of my driving is trundling around town (the 2L is bad enough in this respect).

However the car is a lovely place to sit and eat up the miles..

I have four cupholders, they’re ace!

I know what you mean about mpg – mine has a little mpg-o-meter that swings wildly from over 50 to about 10 as soon as I touch the accelerator!

I did manage to get 45mpg out of mine on a long run which I thought not bad for a 2L petrol..

Thankfully the bimmer has all sorts of traction control, stability control etc.

I’ve had a taste of what happens when you over cook it coming off a roundabout but thankfully lots of lights lit up on the dash and the magic pixies sorted it all out. I’ve been a bit more careful ever since.

I would definitely like to go on a track day or similar in order that I can get a proper feel for it. I don’t currenty have the confidence to turn the magic pixies button off!

As for tyres – Dunlop sport something or other on rear and hankook something or other up front. To be honest in general I don’t think I’ve been driving much quicker than in the Astra despite the feeling that the car wants me to!

To be fair there was a lot of food to soak it up and I’m also quite a erm “robust” gentleman :-S

I thought I’d just provide an update for any of those interested (e.g. Possibly none of you).

My first “something interesting” car was my parents 17 year old M Reg 1.4 Astra in which I covered about 9000 miles in.

I’ve now upgraded to a “sort of interesting” car which is a bimmer 3 serie coupe , only 2L petrol but 170bhp and it being quite light makes it interesting enough for a relative newbie driver like me!

So.. I’m back from very damp Welsh Wales and I seemed to have coped reasonably well!

For the nutritionally astute as it were my diet over the weekend consisted off;

Friday lunchtime – 5*sausages that were in the fridge and “needed using”

Friday afternoon – obligatory Mc D’s stop on the way there

Friday evening – 12″ pepperoni special from anonymous takeaway in LLanwrst
4* Tetleys generic “Bitter”
Nearly 1/2 bottle of Co-op London Gin + tonic (slimline, need to make an effort)

Saturday morning – bacon sarnie, 3 * satsumas (effort again)
Saturday during ride – various energy bar things from CYB bike shop
Saturday afternoon – post ride welsh rarebit
Saturday evening – pasta thing from The Royal oak in Betwys Coed
– 8 bottles of San Miguel and 3 cans of generic bitter

Sunday morning – bacon sarnie
– 2* Weetabix
– 2* Satsuma

Sunday daytime – more energy bar things, chocolate eclair sweets and jelly tots
Sunday afternoon – post ride er bacon sarnie

So , despite this I managed to get around CYB red and LLangdegla without getting off and pushing (an achievement for me) and also managed to rediscover both the fun in biking and my downhill MoJo- ensuring I was at least down the hill first given the chance.

All in all a great weekend and I can highly recommend Caban Betws to stay in (a small but comfortable cabin outside betwsy coed) .

I like biking I do :D

Kryton, I have nearly just done that! :-)

When I say I’ve ridden 3 times in 3 months that’s my recent average. I’ve not ridden regularly for erm.. years :-S

So, if you had to eat take-away over the weekend wot’s bestest for the right sort of whatever it is you need to ride?

I’m assuming noodles better than a massive pizza, for example?

Also, same question as above but for drinks!

2) They take the p!ss at every given opportunity and moan every time they have to wait for you at the top, but wait they will.

My money is on 2. The rest is noise.

*nods*

(oh and luckily I won’t be the unfittest-est of our group)

hmm… It’s quite interesting the difference between being bikefit and other types of fit.

On my previous ride (about a month ago) I felt absolutely ****ed towards the end of the ride yet when I got my second pinch flat of the day, instead of faffing about trying to patch the tube I gave my bike to my mate to push whilst riding and then ran the last mile or so back to the car , with no probs…

I do think however, that 2/3 days riding combined with 2/3 days alcohol (not strictly necessary) and 2/3 days of take-away (not strictly necessary) will prove a challenge :-/

I did think about going tubeless but was wondering how immune or otherwise it is to big dents in the rim?! :-/

Hmm, strange. I do tend to do things such as manual into rocky ledges which I imagine can’t help at all. It’s a shame though as otherwise it’s been great..

I bet you drive a BMW, don’t you Cougar? ;-)

Cougar – ok whatever.

I can only suggest you read some basic psychology. What do you think goes through the mind of the person you flash at?

Is it

a) oh, I’m going a bit slowly and really should pull into the inside lane

Or

b) why is that nob flashing me, the bullying ****t!

Oh and slowing down when someone sits on your bumper or flashes you is a perfectly rational response given the speeds involved. If that further antagonises the person behind then in my mind they shouldn’t be on the road.

Do you also start screaming at HGV’s when they slow down up hill?

Then you, sir, are a nob. HTH.

I’m a nob because I won’t be bullied by other belligerent drivers, seemingly like yourself Cougar?

There is no divine right to travel at whatever speed you like regardless of the traffic conditions. Yes you can use your lights to make others aware of your presence but do you honestly think for one moment that the person you’re behind hasn’t seen you? I too get frustrated by people crawling along in the middle and outer lanes but then I’ve also had somebody flash me from behind whilst I was overtaking in the outer lane at 80mph , sit on my bumper as I was doing so, then so irate as to pull into the middle lane in front of me and slam on their brakes.

Regardless of how frustrating it can be I don’t see travelling a few seconds or feet from disaster the sort of place to intimidate or distract people.

Is it just me or is flashing someone because they’re not doing what you think they should be, entirely rude?

If someone flashes me I’m likely to slow down if anything..

I do have a beige interior as it happens :-(

I_ache – I’m based near Sheffield unfortunately so not exactly local :-S but thanks. I’ll let you know how my experiment goes.. perhaps I could try stuffing the hybrid in there too..

So excuse my ignorance, how do these retractable towbars work then? I assume something is still permanently bolted to the chassis (do cars still have chassis’s’s’s?) ??

EDIT: £450 seems like a lot of money for a towbar that’ll only get used for a bike carrier, and then there’s the cost of the bike rack itself …

Well it’s more that I don’t actually own two MTB’s currently, in order to test it.

I’m sure I can put one in but need to know if I can fit two in before I suggest driving myself and a mate on a weekend’s riding trip thingy…

He has a far more sensible car for the job but (as I’ve only just got it) I’d quite like to take my car on a bit of a trip.

with a clean bike.

Hmm, herein lies a problem… :-/

I bet you drive like a **** :D

Ianc – I just used the E92 term so owners would know what I was on about but I might avoid the usual “3 series driver” slurs!

Hmm I’m yet to be convinced about roof racks!

Dave – so are you suggesting I’m an idiot already or that I will become one? I’m just wondering that’s all :-)

Oh and a Saris bones will feet but I’m scared of damaging my paint :-S

Can someone explain how these ‘ere removable towbars work then and the sort of cost involved?

I really don’t need a towbar for anything else…

Kryton, yes I’ve seen your car but I don’t want my bike on the roof!

Really? I’d be genuinely surprised if you couldn’t

Well I was thinking about having to slide them in the boot although I suppose I could push the front seats forward and stuff them in that..?

Cougar, I’m confused :-S

Is a ‘sub’ something other than a subscription, a delicious sandwich or an amazingly cool form of underwater transport?

Well one bike looks like it’ll go in no probs but two could be a squeeze, especially with pedals on.

I really don’t like the look of them with roof bars tbh, I’m also not riding a lot at the moment either so wouldn’t be used too often..

easygirl, ta – what towbar/rack did you get fitted out of interest? I heard that some require the bumper being cut which I don’t much fancy..

You know, as soon as I saw this thread title I knew it was you Stan :-)

What does that tell me , eh?

Would you like some patronising reassurance?

“There , There”

But seriously, you may be a weirdo but you have a family, a house , a nice car and a couple of nice bikes to perv over. Go sit in the shed and look at them (the bikes that is).

EDIT: Yes it’s always people.. there’s very few of them I like..

Anyone else? bumpety bump