Loud music

Okay, so the other day when I was talking about our subwoofer and sound system being loud enough to offend the neighbors, I was really just joking. Mainly because:

a. Our nearest neighbors are a good distance away (around 1000 feet)
b. I have actually turned a movie up to the volume that we normally hear it and then gone outside to see how loud it sounds, which wasn't as loud as I expected

So it really isn't that much of a problem. Not nearly as loud as our tractor or riding lawn mower. And we especially don't turn it up in the middle of the night!

Last night, we were awakened right around midnight. Which is remarkable in itself because we are usually just getting into bed around midnight. So we had actually gotten to bed early for a change.

We were awakened by what sounded like someone talking. We first looked around to make sure it wasn't anyone inside the house, which it wasn't - our son was soundly asleep. So next we went out on the front porch, and then we heard it. Loud rap music. And I mean LOUD RAP MUSIC. I could clearly understand the words, including several that I didn't want to understand. And it sounded like it was coming from the woods behind our house.

That was a problem because:

1. We own those woods
2. There shouldn't be anyone in there, considering we own them, and especially anyone playing loud music at midnight

So we put on our shoes and went out walking in the yard, to see if we could tell more about where the obnoxious sounds were coming from. And as we walked, we could tell that there wasn't someone in our woods (or at least if there were, that someone wasn't the one creating or generating the loud music), and the music was actually coming from farther on back, most likely from one of the houses on the other side of the woods.

That was a relief. Of sorts. We could still hear the music quite well, although if we went back inside and closed the door, we could almost not hear it any more. Almost. We thought about calling the authorities, but we decided against it, at least for now. Waiting to see if it was a one-time thing. Probably someone having a party of sorts. While Mom and Dad are away. If it continues, however, we might have to take some action.

And my first thought upon walking outside and hearing the music - "Those people need a decent subwoofer!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

I like big bass!

No, not the fish, silly! Bass as in the ultra-low frequency tones that, if loud enough, can make you jump out of your seat and leave the room. Now as I'm typing this, I'm hearing someone who loves their bass way too much, because I can hear their car stereo thumping while I'm sitting inside my office. Nice beat they have, but I don't necessarily want to hear it right now. Reminds me of something Too Slim says in one of the Riders In the Sky CDs: These kids today - what do they know with their boom-de-boom-de-boom.

But yes, in the comfort of my home, or in a movie theater, or even in a concert, I like lots of bass. One of the nice things about living out on the ranch is that we don't have to worry about bothering the neighbors when we watch a big action movie with lots of explosives, or listen to Too Slim really get down on the upright string bass on the latest Riders CD (lots of free plugs for those guys today, apparently!)

So imagine my horror the other day when our subwoofer went out! All it would do was make a rather high-frequency (for a subwoofer) hum. No matter what was playing through the sound system. No matter if the rest of the sound system was even turned off or the subwoofer was disconnected. Or even if the subwoofer was turned off. As long as it was plugged in, it was humming. Being the electrical kind of guy that I am, I thought I would take it apart and see what the problem is. And it appeared to be the transformer inside, which is securely soldered to everything else, including the circuit board. So replacing it would probably require replacing everything else as well. Easier just to get a new one.

Fortunately, Mrs. B likes good bass just as much as I do, so she was equally distraught at our subwoofer's untimely demise. Watching TV or movies, or even listening to CDs just wasn't the same. Even shows like Monk, which you wouldn't think would have all that much bass. Still made a difference to us.

So we decided to celebrate our upcoming anniversary by giving each other a new subwoofer. I searched around, and found a good price on one that was slightly bigger (12" cone vs 10") and more powerful (150 watts vs 120 watts) than the old one. Ordered it through Amazon, got free Super Saver shipping! It arrived in about a week, which I thought was pretty good.

Now we are back in business! My first test of the new subwoofer was the new Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest soundtrack, which has quite a bit of low bass in it. Wow! Sounded great! Then I put in "Always Drink Upstream From the Herd" by Riders in the Sky. Once again, amazing! This subwoofer definitely passes the Baldwin test! And then we even watched the newest episode of Monk, and we could immediately tell that we once again had a subwoofer. Maybe over the weekend we will get to test it out with some action-packed explosion-filled DVD. The Patriot starring Mel Gibson is a good candidate for that.

So once again all is well at the Baldwin Home Theater. And the neighbors are once again glad that they are far, far away!