I have a Philco G925 that was in my grandparents basement and I know they used for many many years. It has been unplugged for the past 5 years, so I do not know if it works now or not. The inside looks brand new and they had repainted the outside in the past but the metal is still in very good shape. I am looking to sell it and looking for a bit of info on what it might be worth and if anyone would be interested in it. Please let me know.

You need to define what you are trying to do. True audiophiles will have speakers that are well spaced from the room walls so that the wall is not contributing anything sonically to the spatial stage that the speakers are trying to reproduce. You will find very few 2-channel guys who will want anything to do with Dolby anything. Most true audiophiles remove as many things from the signal path to reduce/remove any possible sound signatures that they may impart. This means any sort of DSP processing (like any Dolby Surround/Digital, etc). For the larger portion of the world that is not in the esoteric world of high-end audiophiles - this isn't really a reality that we'll live with. So its a compromise of sound fidelity and reality. Dolby (nor thx) have any speaker requirements that require speakers to be "on the wall". And honestly - thx certified is really a joke certification (sort of like energy star) - its the /minimum/ specifications with which consumers can live with. There are more high-end systems without THX certification that will blow away your "THX certified" system components. Your statement isn't correct that you can't get good sound from in-walls. I will point out that high-end in wall speakers all have their own backboxes and are highly tuned to impart the soundstage with the knowledge that they are to be placed in the wall. If you want high-end - go listen to a setup of triads, Revel inwalls, or Meridian in-walls. I guarantee you that you can tell the difference between them and a $20 Pyle (which I've never heard of). Also, just for your benefit - power plays a very little part of the entire equation. Power is a logarithmic function - it takes 10x the power for double the sound. So, sending more power isn't the solution for enveloping sound. What is primary into the equation for sound is speaker efficiency. E.G if you have an 87 db speaker vs a 90db speaker (3db difference). The 87db speaker will take DOUBLE the power of the 90db speaker to output the same volume. . Taking an even larger extreme - a 94db speaker at 4 watts is the same volume as a 87db speaker at 16 watts. Speaker efficiency is key here. Some manufacturers will lower impedance to drive efficiency but that just means that a higher quality amplifier that can drive a 4ohm (or even 2ohm) load is necessary. The next thing to consider is that full range speakers sound fuller and are better able to give a better (and louder) sounding experience than cheaper limited range speakers. There is a reason why some speakers are balanced toward the higher side and get "lost" when other sounds are present and other speakers don't. Believe it not, Bose is an expert at filling sound which is why some people believe their speakers are good. In no way am I going to say Bose is a great speaker - but I will give credit that they know how to fill sound and market it like crazy. People may not like Bose, but people also realize that Bose made a clock radio that sounded better than everybody else (and more expensive). Why is it that Bose made a radio that sounded better than everybody else ? Well, they made a system that reproduced sound as people wanted to hear (richer, deeper, fuller). You want your in-wall/ceiling speakers to be the same way - otherwise you end up with cheap clock radio sounding speakers.

When we moved in in October, we discovered that none of the outlets were grounded. So we replaced every outlet. Once the PO's furnishings were removed we discovered that their dog was, well, gross. So we replaced the carpet. The living room started like this. See, the PO had glued these huge, horrendous mirrors to the front of the fireplace. So I had the mirrors taken down. The drywall needed repair, and it looked weird anyway, so I decided to see if there was anything interesting behind the drywall (like pretty brick, for instance), so I took a hammer to the center of the drywall. Then I realized that there was a draft coming in -- fireplace chimney needs new flashing and there are some spots that need new mortar. So, I called a contractor to come give me an estimate to redo the fireplace. Once I redo the fireplace, the sectional sofa that is facing away from the fireplace is really going to bug, and those very traditional baseboards in my MCM split level right next to my new limestone and beam mantel fireplace just won't work. And my traditional entertainment center will look a bit off. Oh, and don't get me started on the unsafe and generally ugly painted wrought iron railing off of the catwalk. Have an excuse to change that now that I've caught my 1 yr old climbing through the bars to slide down the sofa. :-) Did I mention the giant single-pane windows that make that room as warm as a tent on a winter night? Or the entry that is just off of the living room with its door hanging at a slant with a gap about 1/4" from the jamb? Then there's the family room...don't get me started on the family room... Oh yeah. In the meantime, I haven't even gotten the design drawings for the kitchen yet. LOL. First things first -- I have to have an associate architect draw the house and elevations before I can get the drawings for the wall removal and the new glass wall to the yard. And then there's the structural engineer. Does that crack in the ceiling look odd? Maybe the footings need to be shored up while we're at it. Is that wiring fabric encased? What do you mean I need to upgrade the circuit box to 200 amps? What's a "dedicated circuit?" The water heater is where? Oh, carp. What's with the shower head in the guest bath? Were the POs tiny people? Gotta move that up so mum doesn't have to croutch to wash her hair. ...

We put more money into the appliances we thought we'd use the most. So in our case we splurged on the Wolf 4 burner/griddle rangetop and Wolf hood. We then saved by getting the LG cab depth fridge. I found the FP double convection ovens on sale through a tip here in the kitchen forum, saved about $1000 on them and had them shipped across the country. We got the Asko dw for the efficiency and quiet. The biggest savings alone was on the LG and not getting the Wolf full range, but splitting it up with the rangetop and FP ovens. You should also check dent and scratch sales...even the high end appliance dealers have them, usually once or twice a year. At least here in the Seattle area you have to go early and get in line...but you can find some incredible bargains, and the dents or scratches are in places you normally cannot see. The problem with Wolf/SZ is that the local distributors control the prices, and you cannot buy across distributor lines. For example, I found the SZ 650 was $1000 cheaper in Chicago than it was in Seattle, but I could not order it from a Chicago dealer unless I was going to rent a truck myself and drive it back on I-90. That would eat up the savings and take 3 days, LOL. However...you can occasionally find cheaper deals in other cities, and as long as you are willing to ship it yourself, you can take advantage of that savings, even on regionally controlled brand names.