Appliance Buying Guide: What's good and stuff

Got a Polk Signa S2 recently, $300 down from $? RRP. It’s ok, does the job for tv. Not great on music, but I didn’t expect it to be. Wireless sub is handy if you want versatile placement.

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Musicwise, been upgrading the system in the man cave. Got an oldish Yamaha HTR-5960 reciever on Gummy for $80, absolute bargain if I get a few years out of it. Replaces a similar but lower spec Yamaha. Also added a new Yamaha NSW 100 sub (the death of my old cash converters Jamo was the catalyst for the whole rebuild). Added 2 front tower speakers, Polk Signature S50. I was using old Jensen bookshelf speakers up front, which have now gone back as surround units for the 5.1, which is probably what they’re intended for. Also got an AT LP120X turntable about a year ago which is great although fully manual. I thought the sound was ok before all this, but it’s a whole other level now.

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Yeah so my phone is just about dead, screen glitching and a google search telling me its probably been dropped one too many times. (trade period)…

Whats the good oil on phones?

Work phone is an iphone, my home is android(and the one that needs replacing).

So I am platform agnostic.

Do I just pony up the dosh for a new $ iphone?

Why do you need two phones ?

I keep work and my private life seperate…

The work one is paid for by an employer. The other paid for by myself.

There’s actually a whole couple of threads on phones.

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My son picked up an ex-display IPhone 6s from Kogan for a little over $200.
Comes with a warranty.

I put the screen protector on it and it looked mint.
Could only see a hairline scratch on the screen when I turned it a certain angle into the light.

Apparently the only drawback with these refurb or display models is the reduced battery life.
I believe you can change the battery on those iPhones though.

That’d be a first.

Haha, probably not that easy.

I have changed one myself on an old IPhone 4.
Pretty fiddly with very small tools, but it’s still going.

Not sure about the 6 and above.

I have had my iPhone 6s for a long time and had a new basttery put in at our local shopping centre; cost $50 and was done in 5 minutes while I waited. Phone has run much better ever since.

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It should run the same. Only longer.

Huh? I replaced mine (previous phone, a 6) at about 2 years, and same for Mrs P’s 6+

Not particularly difficult, just a bit fiddly.
Cost me $35 ish.

@AD_Don

You seem to be the person to ask regarding Headphones.
Am looking at upgrading my home listening experience, particularly since I work arvos, therefore don’t get home till late at night thus ruling out loud music thru speakers.

FTR, the best sound I’ve heard from headphones to this point are my Shure in ears.They still work after 12 years and I love’m.
For home use, I’ve used Sony’s Studio Monitors which are fine, but I’m after a more refined sound, and feel I can do better.
Had a decent pair of Sennheiser’s in the past.
They were super comfy and sounded more than satisfactory, but stopped working.

Anyhow, whilst I plan to use them for stuff like video editing, sound editing, ripping music to computer etc…, the main purpose will be listening to vinyl records thru my amp via a valve Preamp.

I’d like a balanced sound.
I’m not an audiophile, so describing my listening preferences is difficult.
I’d like the bass to be noticeable and punchy, NOT muddy.
It needs to make itself heard, then get outta the way for the other frequencies.
I’d like instrument separation.
I want to be able to hear what the bass guitarist is doing, if it’s pertinent to the passage in the song.
I’d like to be able to hear nuances of different percussion instruments.
I want to be filled with emotion when string instruments are utilised.
I’d like to hear Jerry Cantrell’s hand moving up and down the fret board, or the squeak on John Bonham’s kick drum pedal.

I realise I’ve probably described a 2k set of headphones, though if you can recommend something at around the 300-400 AUD mark, I’m all ears.

Oh, also, I’m thinking over ear headphones.
Cheers…

in the market for a new tv. 65" and around a 2k budget

go

getting in early for the remote through the tv on saturday?

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I got the Samsung crystal a couple of months ago. 50 inch it was RRP $899. I love it. My friend also copied and bought the same one.

https://www.thegoodguys.com.au/samsung-65-inches-tu8000-4k-uhd-smart-led-tv-ua65tu8000wxxy?istCompanyId=3bea4a6c-bec2-47ac-ad52-cc426c68327c&istFeedId=e8d5c196-db26-43bb-982c-cfe72bb147d0&istItemId=irtilaaww&istBid=t&cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=11754749459&cq_con=122535764788&cq_term=&cq_med=&cq_plac=&cq_net=u&cq_pos=&cq_plt=gp&cq_loci=&cq_locp=9070895&cq_mtype=&cq_dvic=m&cq_dvicm=&cq_trg=&cq_pdid=UA65TU8000WXXY&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrfD-5qS07wIVFJjCCh3FLAaqEAQYAiABEgLu-vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

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I’m a Sony fanboi so happy to flog their stuff.

I’ll see what I can dig up.

But I’d also recommend looking at Ozbargains . Com (or something similar)

Once you find out what your looking for, or even if your not sure, people post all the specials etc that you can get.

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Hmmm.

Couldn’t find the right tv I would recommend in your budget.

Things to consider if you haven’t already

  • most have poxy speakers, so you’ll need a decent sound bar or better yet AV system. Maybe you need to budget for this.
  • after tonnes of research I found out that for some weird reason November has historically been the best month to by TVs in Australia’s. (Some dude had a spreadsheet and tracked sales foe a few years…)
  • there’s always sales and always new tech around the corner. I love getting the biggest and best, but for TV I’ll buy one that’s the run out model.
  • do you really need all the YouTube Netflix features etc. also how’s the user interface? Some of them are terrible. If you’re running everything through a set top box, who cares? I use a Fetch TV and PS4 (Netflix, Disney) for all my streaming and it’s easier.

Good luck, love getting a new tv!!!

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You don’t need to spend that much.

The thing about TVs is that the tech gets better exponentially. So even if you dropped 3-4 grand on a TV you’d still want a new one in 5 years anyway.

So spend less - the difference between the 1200 ones (which you can usually get for under a grand on special) and the 2000 ones is negligible, and the difference between the 3000 dollar+ ones is only really noticeable to massive picture quality nerds

So spend less, and if you want to keep up with the Joneses then replace it twice as often.

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thanks for the replies! and yes, use YouTube and Netflix all the time. i have a sound bar and sub, so thats sorted

does anyone have a 75", do you find it too big? i definitely want a 65" at least