Whistle while you work
One of the things about working on weekend projects is that they are often labor intensive, but frequently not big concentration hogs. So, when I work on a project I enjoy listening to music while I do so. It can help me focus, reduce stress, and give a kind of rhythm to the work.
The problem is, I don't enjoy wearing headphones while I walk around the house. When I'm working with power tools, it can help drown out noise, sure. But if my fiancee calls me, or I want to keep an ear out for what the dogs are doing, it's much better to have music played over speakers.
Adam Audio ARTist 5 Powered Monitor
I'd really, really love a set of powered speakers for the garage. But, since the garage is full of dirt, dust, and spiders, it's not a place that I'd want to keep a pair of brand-new speakers that only get used once in a while.
The solution is to replace the speakers I'm using in the living room. Right now, the sound for my Netflix addiction emanates from a pair of Samson MediaOne 4a Active Studio Monitors. I bought these when I first got into DJing, and my trusty pair of air pushers has served me for about six years. While these noisemakers are great, I'd still love to upgrade.
If there is one bookshelf speaker that I'd replace my Samsons with, it's the Adam Audio ARTist 5 powered monitor. With a Kevlar tweeter and carbon fiber diaphragm, this speaker kicks ass. I know this, because I tested them out one night while we were building the 2015 Dream Machine. At $600 per speaker, the ARTist 5 series is a home stereo derivative of Adam Audio's celebrated line of high-end studio monitors.
Pardon me, there's drool on my desk.
What would the ARTist 5 give me what I don't have now?
The ARTist 5 would push my home stereo audio to a whole new level. Getting a pair of these monitors would also free up my old Samsons for garage duty, giving me great workshop sound that I wouldn't be paranoid about breaking.
Pyle PDWR64BTB
The garage isn't the only place work gets done. Sometimes, I do work outside, cutting things with saws or moving dirt from one place to another. Having music play over my huffing and puffing would make the work seem easier.
I looked around for an outdoor (read: weatherproof) powered Bluetooth speaker and came up with the Pyle PDWR64BTB. Sure, you can find better speakers, but the vast majority of outdoor speakers are passive. That means I'd have to run wires, and set up an audio receiver and amp that can take the Bluetooth input. It's not the worst thing in the world, but sometimes simplicity is best.
At $204, the 6.5-inch Pyles push 800W of audio, so the description says. While the audio won't be on par with the Adam Audio speakers, outdoor speakers have survivability as one of their key design features. After all, when is the last time you took your fancy monitors outside in an El Nino rainstorm?
Yep, I can't think of one either. These things are built to take that watery hell that few electronics brave.
How else am I supposed to listen to Neurosis while hacking away at weeds?
Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6450
If there's one thing that's completely unnecessary for most photographers, it's a large-format printer. These printers are massive, expensive, and can chew through ink like a honey badger high on PCP would take on a beehive. God forbid you need a new print head, which cost over $500 apiece. Yeouch.
On top of that, large-format printers need to "exercise" (run test print jobs) once per week, to keep the print heads clear of clogs.
But after all of that, the image producer in me still lusts after a printer like this. The Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400 produces images with a maximum width of 24-inches, and has a maximum resolution of 2400x1200 dpi. It prints on a variety of media, including banner vinyl and canvas. Basically, this $2,500 printer is drool-worthy in all the right ways.
At 154 pounds, it isn't going to be sitting on a desk, and probably won't move often. That's okay, because you'll come back for huge, beautiful prints. They always come back.
What will the imagePROGRAF offer me that I don't have now?
It would offer me the ability to print my images on nearly any medium, with a huge format. While there are printers that offer 36-inch width, 24 inches is plenty wide enough for most noncommercial print jobs.
