New A/V receiver

For a while now I've been in the possession of 5 surround speakers. I bought them maybe two years ago for just 100 NOK ($20). The packaging had been slightly damaged by water, so the store couldn't sell them for the full price and needed to get rid of them, so they sold them very cheaply.

Anyway, I've had these surround speakers set up in my apartment since October. They look really nice. The only problem? I haven't had anything to connect them to! The speakers sure look pretty, they're tall and elegant, but without an amplifier or receiver to connect them to they really haven't fulfilled their purpose yet.

So last Thursday I decided to go downtown to look for an audio/video receiver! This was by coincidence the official "shopping day" in Kristiansand. One day every year all the stores in the downtown area get together to arrange a "shopping day" with all sorts of discounted prices and good bargains. The city was packed with bargain hunting shopaholics! I turned a blind eye to all of this though, my only thought was to find an electronics store selling hifi stuff.

"30% discount on all shoes", "take 3 shirts, pay for 2!", "buy a lawnmower, get a free first-aid kit!". I discarded all of these fantastic bargains. I was on my way to "HiFi-Klubben", one of the best sources of hifi equipment in town.

I'm really not big on shopping on impulse. Usually I spend a lot of time on the Internet, trying to find out all I can about a product before deciding whether to buy it or not. This time though, I was ready to trust the store staff and listen to their recommendations. This is pretty much how it went down:

Staff: "Hello, how can I help you today?"
Me: "Hi, I have a TV, 5 surround speakers, but nothing to connect the speakers to. What do I need?"
Staff: "Are the speakers really huge and powerful?"
Me: "No, not really, they're nothing fancy, pretty average I guess"
Staff: "Then get the NAD T754! It's the best thing since sliced bread!"

He went on to explain all the great features of the unit, and told me he never had received any complaints about it. We talked a few minutes more before I decided I would go for it! 5000 NOK ($1000), a lot of money, but I felt lucky.

Back home I connected everything. The first tests I ran were promising. I got the menu up on the TV and quickly went through the initial configuration. It was almost too easy! But of course, I had to run into some problems. The final test I ran was to test the sound on each individual speaker. That's when I discovered it! There was no sound on the front left speaker!

I went from being happy, to confused, to extreeeemely frustrated, then even more frustrated, then threw the whole receiver out the window! Well, actually I didn't throw it, but think I was contemplating doing it. Eventually I resigned and sat back... I had tried everything, but nothing would bring any sound on the front left speaker... I realized I wouldn't be able to get this thing working on my own, so I decided to bring the NAD T754 back to the store and get them to test it there.

Now, I had spent more than an hour trying to figure out what was wrong, maybe two hours! So when the guy at the store found out what the problem was after 30 seconds I didn't feel too smart. It was just a tiny little thing missing at the back of the receiver. he plugged it back in and everything was working.

So back at my apartment I connected everything again, and sure enough, now everything was working perfectly! I was happy again, just like I was when I first thought everything was working!

Anyway, after 8 months living in my new apartment I've now finally been able to put my surround speakers to use! I still need to get some new cables to connect the DVD player and stuff like that, but as far as the sound quality is concerned I've got no complaints!