Ekona

Having done this myself in the last couple of years, here's what I've learnt from between my budget and Mark's budget (which, as you know, is significantly higher!): Whatever you intend on spending on the amp, spend at least double on your speakers. Amps have features that come and go and get better with technology, but a good speaker is a good speaker for many years. My speaker set cost me around £2K, but that's for 5 plus sub and they'll last me for many years. The AVR was £500, and whilst it's still very good there are extra bits I wish it now had (more HDMI inputs for one, more optical slots for another) but I can spend another £1K and get a waaaay better unit without having an AVR that's much better than the speakers. Room setup is everything. Until Mark's latest addition of a sub that's the size of a small car, I would say that my setup costing a tenth of his was better for playing movies as it's in a more compact room, filled of more general crap whereas his is a lovely great space. That said, his wees all over mine for playing music, so again it depends on what you're looking to specialise in. I went for movies on purpose as that's what I use it for more than anything. Go and play! Seriously, get down to Lakeside Currys and speak to the main guy there, I think his name is James if he still works there. They have loads of AVRs and speakers in stock, and you can pick and match them until you find a solution you like. Even if they're out of budget, it'll give you an idea of where best to spend your money. You can do the same at a Richer Sounds or a specialist, but basically you're looking for somewhere that has the most stuff in stock and setup. Don't be afraid to spend a few hours in there fiddling, I did at Best Buy before I walked across the road and purchased from Currys instead as they did me a better deal. For reference, I have a Pioneer VSX-920 (now superceded) as my AVR and Kef iQ-series speakers (90 front, 30 rear, 50 centre) with a Kef Kube2 sub. The Kef speakers are known for being a bit bright so you wouldn't want them with an AVR that did the same, however it so happens that I like my sounds like that so it's a combination that works well for me. Don't forget to add around £200 for cables, connectors and bits, depending on size of room. Having done the surround sound for tellies three times now, I wasted my money the first two times and should've done it properly in the first place. If you want someone to come shopping with you give me a shout, I'm due for an upgrade on my AVR at some point next year so I could do with looking myself.

I have a mechanical heart made of steel and filled full of oil, ain't no room for lovey-dovey emotions here!

I have a hell of a lot of sympathy for his family and friends, but for him? Come on, it's basic common sense not to try and cross a flooding ford in any kind of vehicle unless it's life and death.

That bloke that died under the bridge was a grade A idiot. There's a massive flood condition in your area, you can't have failed to miss this as even if you didn't see the news then you'd have seen all the rain, and then he decides to go and drive through a ford?!?! That's just utter stupidity, and whilst I feel for his family and friends I have no sympathy for him at all. Hope no-one on here gets affected by it too much, and please don't be like the guy above and stay safe

If people want to do them for others, then they should be encouraged to do so. Very few people can be bothered with doing so though, as it's time and effort that makes a job about 10x longer than it otherwise would be and that makes it a PITA. Everyone is as bad as everyone else in that respect, myself included. I agree with the idea, but there is absolutely nothing that can be done about it unless you offer people an incentive. On a free forum, that's spectacularly hard to do unless you can get folks to put their hands in their wallets. Hell, I'd put together a guide for something if people were willing to pay me for my time, but otherwise it's unlikely that I would ever bother. Not a helpful attitude, I know, but at least it's honest and one I would guess that a lot of people would subscribe to. There are some notable exceptions of people on here who are far more helpful than I, and there are some folks who help guiding in people in person as opposed to writing proper guides, which is equally commendable.

Blame the legislators for making all cars look the same, all down to pedestrian protection. Personally I reckon if people just looked both ways before crossing the road, that would probably be good enough.

Snow plough.

How does that help if you can't get into the boot though?

It's not going to look like that, folks. That's just a generic coupe robbing bits from the GT86 and the Infiniti stuff and cobbled together in 'artist impression' stylee.

TL;DR

That's an awful lot of extrapolation from some bloke showing him a picture of a new engine!

I have now contacted him to ask for Zedley's safe return, fingers crossed it won't be long now.

Harsh What did the police say when you called them?

100% her fault. Yes, he shouldn't have been on double yellows, but she was the only person who had control over the situation. It's as clear cut as they come, unfortunately for your step-mum.

Match whatever you've got on the rears, you don't really want to be mixing tyres on a new car and in the current conditions But yes, the VUS are significantly better than the 452 (which are now an outdated tyre) for not much more cash.

I would suggest that it could be cheaper to replace if there was a lovely crack in it, right in the driver's eyeline that could not be repaired IYSWIM. Then it would go via the insurer and you'd only pay your excess. £259 seems miles too cheap for a screen, but if it fits then it fits. Given the alternatives, I'd take a punt for that price.

He hasn't been on here in a month, and his inbox is full.

Silence. I couldn't live without silence. Sometimes it's just nice to sit in complete silence and let your mind wander. Quite handy when trying to sleep, too.

What's the head unit in it btw?

You could've at least put a link up...! Looks good, I hope it's an early '06 though see you'll be paying the higher VED for no extra gain, I'd expect the wheels to be immaculate, the rest of the car will be as seen when you paid the deposit. You have seen it already, right?

Couple of hundred quid was my first thought too.

I'd settle for a bone dry weekend, thanks. Anything to help Vettel scuttle off to win his third straight title!

There's only one team on the grid that would pull something like this, and they wear all red. None of the other teams would put themself in a situation where they would have to do that, full stop. RB play hard and fast on the technical front (airflow, engine maps etc), McLaren have been caught out with Ferrari docs before so they're not squeaky clean (although all the other teams do it too, they just got caught), but to deliberately penalise one of your own drivers to fix the grid, which also ends up screwing with other drivers? Nope, I cannot see anyone else trying that. I suspect there was a hell of a row behind the scenes between team bosses and Bernie after the race, but they've all been asked to keep quiet.

Never personally, but it's not unheard of. Not impossible the vehicle got 'missed' on the day in the workshop, and that the folks on the counter just stamped it up and charged it anyway, but that's still no excuse. I'd be livid. I always check my oil after someone's serviced it, regardless of who they are. Just in case...

Okay, so what must it have/not have? More than 4 cyl? RWD? Front, mid or rear engine? MPG? Loud or subtle? Anything else that the car must or must not do, really. Bodystyle, size, cost to run etc