General design stupidity

[dfuller]

Alright, here we go.

Stoves. Holy fucking shit, guys, they are all terrible somehow unless you pay $7000 for a 4 burner 30".

The affordable gas stoves have a major problem. The front and back burners are squashed too close together, only about 9.5" center to center for the burners front to back.
Like so:

This means that if you use a 12" pan (or larger, say you're using a wok), there's no way to have something on a back burner and the front burner simultaneously without something being wildly off center.

Compare this to a "prosumer" stove like a Wolf or a Thermador...

Suddenly, there's space! And for the life of me, I can't figure out why these brands can do it but the consumer brands can't. There's no reason for this, it's not like there's added features that make it a design compromise and they're no deeper.

Then there's induction. Induction is great - all the benefits of gas without the downsides, except I'm convinced the designers are all on something because who on earth would lay out a rangetop like this???

 

[mansr]

The affordable gas stoves have a major problem. The front and back burners are squashed too close together, only about 9.5" center to center for the burners front to back.

What about the afterburners?

 

[mhardy6647]

The Epic Games launcher is an abomination. Allow me to demonstrate.

I want to install Unreal Engine 5. How do you think one is supposed to accomplish this?

Oh, that's simple. It's obviously the dropdown menu on the top right, isn't it?

View attachment 188973

Nope.

Well, surely it's the plus button next to Engine Versions, then?

View attachment 188974

That's using the old noodle. But you're wrong.

Okay, then. How about the Early Access button on the news page?


View attachment 188975

Nope.

Do you give up yet? Because it's actually under the dropdown menu for version 4.27.2.

View attachment 188977

They previously included a dedicated tab for UE5 but it was recently removed; presumably because it made things too easy.

I'm going to bed, now.

I would think a product called Unreal would put one at a disadvantage right from the get go.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Once you kick in afterburners you get afterglow.

 

[dfuller]

Alright, here we go.

Stoves. Holy fucking shit, guys, they are all terrible somehow unless you pay $7000 for a 4 burner 30".

The affordable gas stoves have a major problem. The front and back burners are squashed too close together, only about 9.5" center to center for the burners front to back.
Like so:
View attachment 189368

This means that if you use a 12" pan (or larger, say you're using a wok), there's no way to have something on a back burner and the front burner simultaneously without something being wildly off center.

Compare this to a "prosumer" stove like a Wolf or a Thermador...
View attachment 189369

Suddenly, there's space! And for the life of me, I can't figure out why these brands can do it but the consumer brands can't. There's no reason for this, it's not like there's added features that make it a design compromise and they're no deeper.

Then there's induction. Induction is great - all the benefits of gas without the downsides, except I'm convinced the designers are all on something because who on earth would lay out a rangetop like this???

View attachment 189376

I just want to further update how bafflingly stupid induction ranges are. Most of them have the controls on the top of the range as touchscreen controls (which, why?????? did none of these designers take into account people cooking having hands that aren't perfectly clean?), and that pushes the burners back from the front edge an additional 5" give or take.

Also, putting the high powered burners one would use for high heat rapid cooking in the back is such an utterly baffling design choice. I would not want to lean over to get to my pan on the back burner that needs tossing...

 

[dshreter]

Alright, here we go.

Stoves. Holy fucking shit, guys, they are all terrible somehow unless you pay $7000 for a 4 burner 30".

The affordable gas stoves have a major problem. The front and back burners are squashed too close together, only about 9.5" center to center for the burners front to back.
Like so:
View attachment 189368

This means that if you use a 12" pan (or larger, say you're using a wok), there's no way to have something on a back burner and the front burner simultaneously without something being wildly off center.

Compare this to a "prosumer" stove like a Wolf or a Thermador...
View attachment 189369

Suddenly, there's space! And for the life of me, I can't figure out why these brands can do it but the consumer brands can't. There's no reason for this, it's not like there's added features that make it a design compromise and they're no deeper.

Then there's induction. Induction is great - all the benefits of gas without the downsides, except I'm convinced the designers are all on something because who on earth would lay out a rangetop like this???

View attachment 189376

I think the offset is to help with the issue you were pointing out in the first place. Center to center distance between burners is higher than if they were aligned one behind the other.

 

[dfuller]

I think the offset is to help with the issue you were pointing out in the first place. Center to center distance between burners is higher than if they were aligned one behind the other.

Bafflingly, there is another 3 inches of unused top area behind that they could have stretched the cooktop out to.

 

[peanuts]

this speaker from TotalDAC had me laughing. how can this driver ever last?

speakers

www.totaldac.com

 

[mhardy6647]

this speaker from TotalDAC had me laughing. how can this driver ever last?

speakers

www.totaldac.com

Jeepers -- termites would present a severe threat.

 

[peanuts]

heh i think its unlikely to have termites in your speaker, but humidity and temperature changes can quickly make the coil uncentered and rub.

 

[Katji]

Jeepers -- termites would present a severe threat.

Like a fish rotting from the head down.

 

[Doodski]

Like a fish rotting from the head down.

Yuck. Reminds me of a big walleye I hauled out of the Columbia River. It had a big worm like creature in it's mouth attached to the inside of the mouth. It was gross. I tossed it back in the river...lol

 

[Weeb Labs]

I picked up a pair of M-Audio BX8a monitors to play with for $65.

They're in reasonably good condition and the seller had been using them in his studio for almost a decade. Immediately upon playing a track, something sounded very wrong. It was time to capture some measurements.

That's quite a chasm at 2KHz and it's present on both units! What's going on, here? Let's have a look at the nearfield responses.

A couple of resonances elsewhere but the crossover looks fine. Surely M-Audio hasn't forgotten to invert the tweeter phase? Let's flip the phase and sum the nearfield responses to see what happens.

That looks an awful lot like the chasm in the far field measurement, doesn't it. These monitors were sold as individual units, which strongly suggests to me that many BX8a units suffered from this defect. Oh dear. Time to invert the tweeter polarity.

 

[Emlin]

I picked up a pair of M-Audio BX8a monitors to play with for $65.

They're in reasonably good condition and the seller had been using them in his studio for almost a decade. Immediately upon playing a track, something sounded very wrong. It was time to capture some measurements.

That's quite a chasm at 2KHz and it's present on both units! What's going on, here? Let's have a look at the nearfield responses.

A couple of resonances elsewhere but the crossover looks fine. Surely M-Audio hasn't forgotten to invert the tweeter phase? Let's flip the phase and sum the nearfield responses to see what happens.


View attachment 216117

That looks an awful lot like the chasm in the far field measurement, doesn't it. These monitors were sold as individual units, which strongly suggests to me that many BX8a units suffered from this defect. Oh dear. Time to invert the tweeter polarity.

Why are you you picking on the tweeter?

 

[Weeb Labs]

Why are you you picking on the tweeter?

Because I don't particularly want to tear this cabinet down in order to reach the midbass terminals.

The tweeter is accessible directly behind the removable facia.

 

[Emlin]

Because I don't particularly want to tear this cabinet down in order to reach the midbass terminals.

The tweeter is accessible directly behind the removable facia.

Fair enough then.

 

[Newman]

I just want to further update how bafflingly stupid induction ranges are. Most of them have the controls on the top of the range as touchscreen controls (which, why?????? did none of these designers take into account people cooking having hands that aren't perfectly clean?), and that pushes the burners back from the front edge an additional 5" give or take.

My wife especially hates our induction cooktop, with its touch controls on the same glass panel as the 'rings'. Not only are they unresponsive to a wet fingertip (say, from handling food! ), so you have to dry your hands with a towel to make any adjustments, but if they get a few drops of water splashed onto them (which is quite often with Mrs Messy), they automatically turn off the element! Mrs M often comes back to the cooktop to find it has not been cooking anything since something splashed out from the lid...and the air turns blue.

 

[restorer-john]

My wife especially hates our induction cooktop, with its touch controls on the same glass panel as the 'rings'. Not only are they unresponsive to a wet fingertip (say, from handling food! ), so you have to dry your hands with a towel to make any adjustments, but if they get a few drops of water splashed onto them (which is quite often with Mrs Messy), they automatically turn off the element! Mrs M often comes back to the cooktop to find it has not been cooking anything since something splashed out from the lid...and the air turns blue.

We just (a few months ago) bought a new ceramic cooktop to replace the old one. Same deal! She's not alone.

When cooking I like to wipe splashes, spots of water etc with a sponge from the cooktop around the pots. The sponge turns on/off the elements or the whole cooktop. So I try to quickly wipe, then use a tea-towel. I've resorted to activating the child lock so I can clean around the touch buttons, but the main power can still be triggered off.

When off and cooled down for cleaning, I have to activate the child lock to prevent the cloth/sponge from turning the damn thing's elements on.

Give me old skool knobs any day.

 

[restorer-john]

heh i think its unlikely to have termites in your speaker,

Maybe just Adam and the Ants?

 

[dfuller]

My wife especially hates our induction cooktop, with its touch controls on the same glass panel as the 'rings'. Not only are they unresponsive to a wet fingertip (say, from handling food! ), so you have to dry your hands with a towel to make any adjustments, but if they get a few drops of water splashed onto them (which is quite often with Mrs Messy), they automatically turn off the element! Mrs M often comes back to the cooktop to find it has not been cooking anything since something splashed out from the lid...and the air turns blue.

That would drive me absolutely insane.

We just (a few months ago) bought a new ceramic cooktop to replace the old one. Same deal! She's not alone.

When cooking I like to wipe splashes, spots of water etc with a sponge from the cooktop around the pots. The sponge turns on/off the elements or the whole cooktop. So I try to quickly wipe, then use a tea-towel. I've resorted to activating the child lock so I can clean around the touch buttons, but the main power can still be triggered off.

When off and cooled down for cleaning, I have to activate the child lock to prevent the cloth/sponge from turning the damn thing's elements on.

Give me old skool knobs any day.

So would this. I can't fathom the desire for touchscreen stove controls. They're inherently a terrible choice.