What to do when a crucial piece is in the shop?

I guess Im in the same boat with Kinsekd.My BAT vkp-5 took a dump a 10 days ago I sent back to BAT to get fixed with a upgrade. So now I listen to my wife, well maybe that`s not true if I listened to her in the begining I wouldn`t have all this stereo stuff thus the vkp-5 would not be at BAT because I would not own it, now that`s a catch 22. David

I can't figure it out either. This week I had the most bitchin' week ever. I know what it's like when you have problems with the best equipment. I was really cranking with the Yamaha receiver. All of the sudden, I was like "whoa." I blew both drivers in my really expensive speakers ($400 pair of Bose!) I am saving up my money to go to radio shack and get replacements. In the meantime, I found my grandfather's pair of Sears speakers. They are just not audiophile speakers though, and I am really disappointed.

Do you want to trade problems? What would you do if your house burned down in a forest fire?

I have a somewhat expensive but useful option for the future, keep two systems active:
-reference system with your best stereo gear
-smaller cheaper 2nd system, can be just small integrated amp and monitor speakers for stereo. Same principal applies to video/HT since almost everyone has more than one TV in house.

Many advantages here:
-very helpful/easy finding problem in main rig if you can swap out each piece with gear in system 2
-can break in cables/new gear in system 2 without tying up reference system for this choir.
-gives you luxury of trying different combinations/types of gear paired together.

Sorry to hear of you current problems and hope everything is resolved soon.

I just take long elevator rides. The sound reminds me of my favorite pair of full-range single driver speakers and it makes me smile.

So, if you are ever in LA and see a middle aged smiling man loitering in/around an elevator telling people to shoosh, chances are that part of my rig's in the repair shop.

I am sort of on the same boat. I accidentally tripped on my speaker cable and damaged the driver that the cable is connected to since I hardwire the cable directly to the driver. And, just before that, the AC socket on my transport/cd player broke probably a result from testing out numerous powercords. Well, I am using an older pair of speakers that I am actually selling now and using an old dvd player as transport in the mean time. They actually sound pretty good still.

You could view it as an opportunity to acquire a new skill; learn a new language, become an airplane pilot, write a novel, clean up your bedroom, etc. ;-)

Mother Nature is telling you to get out-of-doors a little more often... :-)

I just listen to the garage stereo more, which of course means I get to spend more time out there. I always appreciate the main rig more after I've been unable to have a listen & fortunately it doesn't happen that often.