u/omer3332

It’s a bit of a mess, pardon the piles of CDs. I promise it will be more presentable soonish.

We’ve got the Aiyima T9 Pro, a “vintage” Onkyo DX-C530 CD changer (the centerpiece of this setup), and Micca MB42 bookshelf speakers.

How does it sound? Pretty damn good, I have the one speaker in the picture pointed at where I sit normally, and the other one is in a bookshelf to my right that’s pointed at my ear. I swear it’s a weird, poor-man’s surround-sound. I am continually blown away by how good these speakers are, I’m hearing things I’ve never heard on CDs I’ve had 20-30 years.

My wife likes it because I have the tv plugged into the optical input, and now we don’t have to use the tv’s crummy speakers anymore! We do have to turn it up to 30-50 on the amp’s volume readout, but it doesn’t sound horrible or overpowering, unlike the tv’s speakers if we used those.

However, I’m going to be changing it up soon. The T9 isn’t as good as I had hoped it would be, the bluetooth is spotty, if I play a CD at 40-50 on the readout I start getting distortion, the tiny input selector on the tiny display is hard to read for my 50-year-old eyes, I feel that it’s not something that can grow with me as I add more to the system, I would need to add things just so I can add things.

Does this mean I dislike “chi-fi”? Nope, it’s great actually; you just need to have a better idea of what you want and need before buying any gear.

So, I’ll be replacing the T9 with a Yamaha RX-V396 that I just ordered of ebay. I figure this should grow with me much better than the T9. Not only that, I can read the display!

I got my fudge-colored AR8s just after New Year’s in 2024. I got them as a replacement for some 8 inch boots that I’d returned to the manufacturer due to a defect.

Over the last almost 2.5 years I have beat the holy hell out of them. Many hikes, walks with the dog in snowstorms, lots of yard work, and even crashed a motorcycle while wearing them; they were fine, just some scuffs. I on the other hand, tore my ACL and had to re-learn how to walk.

Anyway, this past weekend I was fixing the sprinklers in my front yard, and got soaked from head to toe, even got water in my boots. That was a first.

The first pic is before I sat down this evening to clean them. Lot of salt rime from the soaking; last time I had salt on my boots was after I got them I took the dog for a walk in a snowstorm. Did I mention I live in Utah?

The second pic is after cleaning them. I gave them the usual brushing, then saddle soap, and a pass with some suede cleaner. I don’t think I’ll condition them because I could feel the remnants of Huberd’s Shoe Grease (my usual conditioner) on them. I’ll wait to see how they look after they dry.

Cheers