The T.O.E.C.F.U.E. Project

A new project has been borne.

It's dubbed the TOECFUE Project...an acronym standing for "Tricked Out Entertainment Center Featuring Used Equipment."

The idea came the other day as I was perusing through a second hand store in Idaho, and ran into a piece of stereo equipment that I would have paid $150 for 10 years ago...but now it's available for a mere $20!

Granted, it's a Sony dual cassette deck, and nobody uses cassette players anymore...but it fits into an idea of a grandiose entertainment center concept that I've had for quite some time...here's the details.

The TOECFUE Project lends itself to both hi-fi and classic lo-fi equipment. Here's what's on the list:

1. HDTV (min. 40")
   
2. stereo receiver (acquired via donation)
   
3. Blu-ray player
4. DVD /DVD-A /SACD player
   
5. CD carousel or bundle changer
6. dual cassette deck (acquired via purchase...1990s Sony TC-W411...cost = $20)
   
7. direct drive turntable
8. 8-track player (acquired via donation...1976 Lloyd's)
9. 5.1 surround sound system
   
10. traditional front speaker system (acquired via donation...early 90s)

Total cost toward the budget so far: $20

In addition to the list, there's some criteria to this project that will make it both interesting, challenging, and requiring some patience:

1. Work with a budget of $500.
2. Gifts and donated hand-me-downs (fully operating...please?) are graciously accepted.
   
3. Acquire all items on aforementioned equipment list.
4. Find a way for the components to operate carbon-neutral.
   
5. There are no time constraints.
   

It's assumed that most of the acquired components will be used equipment...and that being said, it's expected that some (hopefully a small percentage) of the equipment picked up at second-hand stores or yard sales will possibly need fixing, won't always work as expected, or operate at all.

In terms of the green element of trying to make the equipment operate carbon-neutral, I guess you can look at such a challenge along the lines of Neil Young's LincVolt Project, where he's trying to convert a 1959 Lincoln Continental into a vehicle from using less than 10 MPG to over 100 MPG...except, of course, this is stereo equipment.

So that's it...the million dollar question being whether or not I can attain the equipment under a $500 budget. Should be interesting to see!

FILLER FOR AUDIOPHILES -- Blu-ray.com is your site

I actually spend lots of time at Blu-ray.com, and I don't even own a Blu-ray player yet.

That probably sounds silly, but my first purchase of one is probably not that far off (with new formats and technologies, I typically like to wait for a couple generations of players to cycle through before diving in).

I do tons of research in advance of such an investment, and of course that means the media too.

I really like the reviews of Blu-ray discs on this site...after all, it's the top-of-the-line format out there right now, with the high def craze that's going on and everyone upgrading their equipment.

I go here to review music discs, and have found every review I've read so far to be really helpful. They get into a high degree of technical jargon without losing you, and focus on both the video and audio portions.

This site is also a cataloger of sorts, helpfully indicating what's actually available out there in the Blu-ray format. Since we're less than 2 years removed from the format war with HD DVD, it's going to take time to get through older movies and videos...I'm guessing part of it will involve how high the demand is...otherwise there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.

For example, The Band The Last Waltz from 1978 has been out on Blu-ray for over a year now, but none of the Star Wars movies are available, so forget logic.

In the case of my personal amusement; when I went there and couldn't find Pink Floyd Pulse on Blu-ray (a concert from 1994 that I wasn't expecting to find on the format, but I thought I'd check anyway), I was treated to a review of David Gilmour Remember that Night instead, and found it had some features and extras that are more appealing to me anyway, such as ancient Floyd bits. There was another excellent review of Rush Snakes & Arrows Live at the site.

I'm scoping all this stuff out in anticipation of picking up a few titles to augment the collection.

It's not just music, there's reviews of movies as well...and anything else, for that matter, that's out on our most recent and illustrious media format, Blu-ray.