Other Tech

Q. I have a question regarding the "Ask an Installer" column in the September issue. In his answer, the installer recommended putting in Cat-5e cable in a new home installation for sending video and audio to multiple rooms. Wouldn't it be better to install Cat-6 rather than Cat-5e, given its high-speed design for 1- and potentially 10-gigabit Ethernet?

So, Sam, have you had a chance to breathe yet? It seems like you've been going, well, forever on all the Spider-man projects, especially Spider-Man 3. This is the longest movie cycle I've ever worked on. But yes, now I have a chance to breathe and spent time with my family, do some writing, and read some great books. I'm really enjoying myself.

When I moved into my new house earlier this year, I had hopes of setting up some of my more antiquated gear. One of the pieces is a Technics turntable - state of the art, circa 1985. When people (er, guys) see it, they start waxing poetic about their vinyl LP collections and how, "one day," they're going to get another turntable.

Have you ever looked at one of our speaker test reports and wondered what that funny-looking graph with the squiggly lines is for? Or have you ever thought about how the information conveyed by that graph relates to what a reviewer hears? Given the many, many new speaker systems that get produced each year, maybe you've wondered what methods we use to differentiate between them.

Like many other A/V stores, California Soundworks (californiasoundworks.com, 661-945-0971) started out as a home stereo store selling gear to audiophiles. That was back in 1979.

While wrapping up an article on director Peter Farrelly's adventures trying to get a high-end movie room installed ("Heartbreak Home Theater"), I had a chance to talk to Farrelly about his new movie, The Heartbreak Kid, and about filmmaking in general.

"Hey, stop hanging around! You're blocking the doorway!"

That's what shop owners were shouting at teenagers who were loitering outside stores and in malls. The kids were supposedly deterring adult customers - that is, the ones with more spending power.