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Sound Advice: SU-G700 integrated amplifier an all-time favorite
Q. I want to build a stereo system based on either the Polk Audio Legend L200 bookshelf speakers or the L600 towers. I will need an amplifier, a network player and a CD player, no turntable. Cost is no object, I want the good stuff! What do you recommend? — N.G., Atlantic City, New Jersey A. I tried the Polk Legend speakers with amplifiers priced between $399 and $5,000. The best sound I achieved was definitely with the Technics Grand Class SU-G700 integrated amplifier, which at $2,499 lands right in the middle of the price range. The SU-G700 has a proprietary digital amplifier and features to...
Tribune News Service
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Answer Angel: A plethora of nontoxic nail polish options
Dear Answer Angel Ellen: I would like to find a safe, nontoxic, low-odor nail polish and polish remover I love. So far, I have tried marketed-for-kids Piggy Paint. While I loved the polish, it was impossible to remove! I bought their brand of remover, with no luck. Regular acetone remover didn’t work. Like many people who had left reviews on their website (piggypaint.com), I literally had to scrape it off my nails. Any ideas for those who don’t want regular chemical-filled polishes and removers? — Jessica R. Dear Jessica: Nail product companies — like many other cosmetics manufacturers — are i...
Tribune News Service
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Sound Advice: Yamaha R-S202 Stereo Receiver an excellent value
Q. I read your column about $300 bookshelf speakers and want to build a stereo system to play CDs and listen to music from my phone. I already have the CD player. What would be a good but affordable receiver or integrated amplifier to use with them? — G.F., Carrick, Pennsylvania A. The speakers I discussed in the column have undemanding power requirements. That makes it easy to build the basis of a good system without spending a large portion of your budget on a receiver or integrated amplifier. Sometimes when readers contact me for recommendations they use the words receiver and integrated am...
Tribune News Service
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Bluesound Pulse Wireless Home Theater will change the way you enjoy movies at home: review
Ahh, surround sound. Once you have it, you never want anything else in your home cinema life. Except those wires. You can always do without the wires. Wires have always been the main problem with true surround sound setups. A classic 5.1, room-filling surround sound, the kind that makes you feel like you’re at the movies, generally has one wire that goes to your TV, one that goes to an outlet, another connecting it to a subwoofer (and maybe a wire powering that too), and still more wires connecting each individual speaker. It’s a recipe for a room full of tripping hazards. And let’s be real: I...
Tribune News Service
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Answer Angel: No-muss lipstick dilemma
Dear Answer Angel Ellen: Is there a way to wear both lipstick and a face mask without looking like a clown? — Janet C. Dear Janet: Short answer: No. I don’t care how much the manufacturers say that their lipsticks are smudge proof, it’s going to get on your mask. At home, when you’re unmasked, if it makes you feel better, by all means wear lipstick. If you do decide (and I’m not sure why you would) to wear lipstick beneath your mask, disposable masks are the way to go. Dear Answer Angel Ellen: I cannot find decent eyeliner. I’ve tried so many different kinds and brands. Pencils aren’t easy to ...
Tribune News Service
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Sound Advice: Helm Audio True Wireless 5.0 Headphones some of the best-sounding earbuds for the price
Q. You were right — the Helm Audio True Wireless 5.0 Headphones are the best earbuds ever! As an RN, I am still ordering them at 50% off with Helm’s special first responder discount. I have purchased five sets so far. My husband uses them in his job as a big rig driver. You get all-night ears by just wearing one earbud at a time, which is safe for his driving. The earbuds doesn’t dislodge much and they look cool compared to the white ones with tails the young people wear (so passé). Why don’t you write about the first responders special again? I am sure other readers and first responders would...
Tribune News Service
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On Gardening: White Knight alyssum leads with beauty and fragrance
The cool season becomes like a garden celebration as much of the country changes out the old tired color of summer for the fresh new flowers of fall and fragrance. There is a White Knight leading the charge that opens up the door with endless companion possibilities.White Knight is an award-winning sweet alyssum that is the perfect fit for your cool season containers. Right now, The Garden Guy who lives in zone 8a is looking out the window to his fall creation of Supertunia Picasso in Purple petunias, Superbells Yellow calibrachoa and White Knight sweet alyssum, which does look like a patch of...
Tribune News Service
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Sound Advice: Anker Nano wall charger charges iPhones three times faster than Apple's
Small but mighty: I expect this week’s gift recommendation to find an enthusiastic response because the usefulness and low price ($16.99) make it, as they say, a no-brainer, whether buying for yourself or another.The Anker Nano is a small wall charger that is the same size as the charger Apple includes with new iPhones. The size is about all they have in common because the Anker Nano is a 20-watt charger, a far cry from the minuscule 5 watts of the standard Apple charger. The end result is three times faster charging. For example, charge your dead phone for 30 minutes with the 5W Apple charger...
Tribune News Service
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Pandemic creates longer waits for home appliances
ATLANTA — Just a few weeks after closing on a new home in East Atlanta, Amy Miller and her husband decided to purchase a new washer and dryer. They ordered a top load washing machine and a dryer from Home Depot in mid-September, expecting the appliances to be delivered about a week after their scheduled move-in. But upon completing the order, they learned the appliances would take almost a month to get to their new home.“When those dates came up, I was like are you kidding me?” Miller said. “I was taken aback. I was like how do they expect us to wash our clothes?”Appliances are just one of man...
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Jerry Zezima: Sole searching at the shoe store
As a man who likes to put one foot in front of the other, which works pretty well until I walk headlong into a wall, I have always valued comfort over style when it comes to what I wear on my tremendously ticklish tootsies.That’s why it was a big (size 11) deal when I went shopping for slippers.Slippers are the preferred footwear for retirees like myself who don’t have to don dress shoes for work or sneakers for playing sports at which I was always terrible and that would induce cardiac arrest if I played them now. These items cost an arm and a leg, which isn’t too practical since I’d need the...
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