Ron's Speaker, Turntable, Power and Room Treatment Upgrades

[cjfrbw]

It seems to be 'over engineering dream but costly and frequently inconvenient' vs. 'engineered enough but care free'.

The big Euro drivers seem to compete to over-engineer every widget and use multiple widgets where simpler approaches are 'adequate'. Of course, more widgets means more stress points and areas where things can go out of whack. They are divine when working with 'working' being the operative word.

I bought my wife a new Honda HRV as a run around car in Santa Cruz. It has my admiration. Honda it seems has always made the best and most refined small cars. She'll probably put less than a couple of thousand miles a year on it. If she were on the freeways for multiple hours a week, it might better have been a Benz or luxo car.

Now living in areas that are evolving into the car vandalizing and invasion capitals of the USA, I am also more inhibited about having anything too fancy out there.

 

[Folsom]

It’s simply a reflection of the ultra complexity of high line vehicles. And the lower volumes of those models. When you make 3x or 6x or 15x as many and systems are less complex and more fully sorted out logical things such as less failures are the result.

Every manufacturer has their standards and cultures. What are they about?

What value proposition drives the products?

I dunno, it seems like an excuse. If you charge 3x as much for the car why is the engineering bad? Honda avoids having to change designs mid year due to problems, so I'm not sure it's fair to say lower volumes is much of a reason. Also why would high line manufacturers want to burden themselves with repairs that are hard to do when people already happily pay absurd prices on something like an oil change for a small engine (say $800).

I'd like to see where high line vehicles are actually very much more complex. That seems a thing of the past. Bigger sunroofs and bigger screens isn't exactly a revolution in technology.

Then you also have to compare luxury manufacturers. Porsche, Lexus, and Acura hardly need any repairs... and as you know others are not good to the point you won't even take them as trades at your dealership if they're out of warranty regardless of miles and condition...

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

My friends Ferrari 488 Italia Spyder on the other hand...seems to have made him some money? The buy in cost was very high though.

I tried to let it go but couldn't, sorry.
This 488 Italia Spyder does not exist, its a contradiction in terms on multiple levels as the term Italia references a coupe and the term Spider references a RHT (retractable hard top or convertible on older cars).
Next the 458 came as a Italia (coupe) and spider and the 488 is a GTB (coupe) or spider.

Maserati spells it spyder, Ferrari spider.

I am obligated to correct as its a very big deal to properly Identify these Italian cars. The first and only time I pronounced Modena, Moe-dee-nah I about got tossed out on the street and the door locked on me.
The other one was Quattroporte by pronouncing it Quattroport with out the "a"on the end.

Try working for an Italian family 3 generations deep in house selling and maintaining Italian cars.

Apologies for taking the train off the track, moving on.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Very unexpectedly, as I was planning on being a daily-driver bachelor for the next 6 to 12 months as I leisurely look around for an SL550 and consider the BMW M8 Convertible (which I already test-drove once), I am picking up a car today!

2019 SL550 (built August 2018) with 3,566 miles on the odometer. The car was a “brass hat” dealer-plated car for an executive at Mercedes Benz headquarters in Atlanta.

It is the most fully-equipped and optioned SL550 I have ever seen, as it has the active body control (ABC) suspension I like, and the highest grade designo leather and the upgraded B&O stereo system, and the pretty piano black lacquer trim, and all the collision-avoidance safety features.

Because of a deal mixup the dealer agreed to give me the warranty programs at its cost, so I extended the warranty to 6 years and 9 months.

It is an unusual interior color for me, and not one I would have thought I wanted, but for some reason I find the combination quite luxurious and sophisticated-looking.

The only thing is I don’t actually need this car right now, and if I waited 6 to 12 months — as I had planned to do — I probably could find the same car somewhere in the USA as a 2020 model for the same price I am paying today.

But this has every option I want, and it is local.

 

[PeterA]

Congrats Ron. Post a photo with the top down near the seaside. We New Englanders need a reminder of how others live in January.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Congrats Ron. Post a photo with the top down near the seaside. We New Englanders need a reminder of how others live in January.

Thank you, Peter!

It’s 67°, clear blue sky and sunny in Long Beach.

 

[Ron Resnick]

 

[Bobvin]

The Ferrari 488 Italia Spider (Spyder---who really cares) does not exist:

So this is just a fantasy car---https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/auto/488-spider
Ferrari just put it on their web page to create contradiction...and to have folks call others out on the web...you think???

Um, Wookie, I think you missed the point Hi-FiGuy was making, you can have 488 Spider, or possibly 488 Italia, but not Italia and Spider.

I’ll be happy to take 488 Spider.

 

[dan31]

Good choice Ron. I really like the interior color.

 

[Bobvin]

Congrats Ron, really great looking ride. Enjoy.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you, gentlemen!

Once we get to know him better, we will pick an appropriate German name.

 

[cjfrbw]

The colors work. Gorgeous car. You guys aren't bad, either, inside it.

I was thinking Steve's Wilson speaker color, but Wilsons have purple highlights rather than more anthracite.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you, everyone!

 

[Steve williams]

wookie1 said:
The Ferrari 488 Italia Spider (Spyder---who really cares) does not exist:

So this is just a fantasy car---https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/auto/488-spider
Ferrari just put it on their web page to create contradiction...and to have folks call others out on the web...you think???

Nice try DaveyF

 

[PeterA]

Nice try DaveyF

Wait, I thought Wookie is a 21 year old female audiophile who took offense to being called a gentleman. Is DaveyF back on WBF?

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

Ron the hot rod is stunning, congratulations!

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

Um, Wookie, I think you missed the point Hi-FiGuy was making, you can have 488 Spider, or possibly 488 Italia, but not Italia and Spider.

I’ll be happy to take 488 Spider.

Ok wookie whatever or whomever you are pay attention to the numbers.

458 Italia (coupe)
458 Spider (convertible)

488 GTB (coupe)
488 Spider (convertible)

A 488 is not an Italia, ever.

Bob I am partial to the 458 Speciale but I am not to proud to be seen it a 488 Pista!

There's some amazing new hot rods coming from Ferrari the next few years stay tuned...

 

[Ron Resnick]

Ron the hot rod is stunning, congratulations!

Thank you, Hi-FiGuy!

(After much thought I deliberately did not get an SL63 — which is a hot rod with a 577hp engine and a multi-clutch transmission and a stiff suspension — because I wanted the emphasis to be on comfort and smoothness.)

Oh, and I agree Ferrari uses “Spider.”

 

[Bobvin]

Before we get back to Ron’s room journey, I’ll just say Ferrari or no, my heart still lies with Alfa Romeo... and while only my fantasy car, the Competizione 8C is a real beauty.

 

[Ron Resnick]

. . . the Competizione 8C is a real beauty.
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