Oddcast - May 2026
It’s last day of May but before the month becomes just another date in history, there’s a new Patreon Exclusive Oddcast to see it out.
Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/CpwEKyAfFXw
Have a good week - it’s going to be a cold and rainy one here, ideal for getting some work done without a background chorus of lawnmowers. Take care.
UPDATED: Replaced the video to swap the out of phase Tefi demo audio.
Comments (70)
An amusing Odcast as always. Mat, thank you. I'm delighted to discover I'm not the one person left in the UK who uses the word Bailiwick! 😊👍🏻
I like to help keep these old words alive. Nincompoop gets some use too.
I was finally able to watch the entire Oddcast. Your lamp unboxing was a good chuckle, but in what context did you hold unimplanted silicone implants? Inquiring minds want to know. I also got a kick out of you tossing bits from the packaging because that's what I do, very impatiently. I'm really curious about the rare Sony item that froze at customs. That would make me more than hangry, and I get hangered a lot (I like my food). 😤 Is there any way to call customs and inquire what happened, because you have every right to. Here's hoping your weather remains a very pleasant 55°F - 65°F, even if it's raining, because I will desperately rather be there as it's going to be 95°F here on Tuesday. Without aircon. Take care 🤍
I seem to think that silicon implants might have been on the news for popping or something, there was a dodgy batch, just like capacitors. I’ve never encountered one (or two) in person. I think the people I know would rather spend their money on the weekly supermarket shop or something. Unfortunately as far as the parcel goes I don’t think there’s anything I can do, the only person who can chase it up with DHL/Customs etc is the sender, and they didn’t respond to my enquiries. I don’t know how you cope with 95°, good luck. By the way I am working on the next video(s) but I just can’t make decent progress, I think I’m just too tired.
The issue you're having about getting a spare remote from Hisense makes me wonder about the value of their warranty.
I expect if any of their products failed in warranty they’d give you a new one and bin the old one. It’d be cheaper for them than having a whole repair programme. I also imagine that’s what’s causing my issue, the remote only comes in a box with the system. Incidentally I’m still waiting, but I suspect you’d guessed that already. Not holding my breath either.
I don't think anyone has asked this yet but apologies if it's a repeat - since installing the Tefi cartridge converter, has this affected its performance with the SugarCube? I'm not sure why it would, but at the same time I can also imagine it working now the converter is mimicking a moving magnet cartridge.
Unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to test it out yet.
A damn shame about the lost Sony product at customs, will you ever reveal what it is/was? I'm hugely intrigued!
If it, or another one ever turns up, I'll feature it in a video. Giving it away without having it to demonstrate would unfortunately make the video worthless.
A fun video update, as usual. I may be in the minority, but I’m looking forward to more projector content in future videos. I never thought I’d be in that position, but I think a retractable screen in a purpose-built cabinet and UST like you mentioned a couple oddcasts ago might fit in well. I hope you share more on that once it arrives?
I plan to. It’s still slowly making its way to me at the moment.
very well, thanks for the update
Just want to leave a quick thank you on the BB-777 preproduction review. Thanks to you, I’m getting a better product. I really, really appreciate your efforts on this boombox
I’m glad I managed to catch these things, but I fear I may not have covered everything. I do feel the overall sound quality could benefit from more work. It seemed a bit boxy.
Hi Mat. I know that you love new electrical things, so i was wondering, can you do a review of the new electric Ferrari- they may even let you keep it if you sell your soul and give it good review 🤣
Well of course they offered, or more like begged for me to take one due to the massive global reach of the channel, but I turned them down as it’s 26mm too long to fit in any of the car park spaces near here.
Can I ask what the name of the track / artist was that was played on the Tefifon? Thanks for the oddcast
I recognised it as a cover of Singing the Blues - here’s the original. https://youtu.be/wJA8b3esxfE
I love KAB! I got my TT100 turntable through them with a 78rpm option and dedicated cartridge many years ago.
There's a chance your mystery tech will get through customs eventually. Not much, but a chance
Very enjoyable video Mat. I find all your output watchable from beginning to end; that hour just flew by for me. Perhaps it’s because it’s like having a chat with an old friend who shares the same interests. As usual it’s well-put together too. I was thinking about the intro. and thought perhaps some of the “you talking to me?” Bit Travis Bickle does to the mirror in “Taxi Driver” would be a funny way to start a video, before the “oh, hello!”. Could even be a remote control rather than a gun. 😀 Regards
Great video, I always really like these. Regarding the fit/finish/general user experience, I think you're dead right. There's a few companies that really polish that stuff, and everyone else just... doesn't bother.
“I had a Chinese meal the other night that needed a firmware update..” 😂😂
A succulent Chinese meal!
I gotta say mate, that Bumbox saga was fantastic. I love those kind of videos you do. You may think they are disjointed, but I think they are really interesting, and I like the story behind it all. Great job, Matt. Lee PS. I wrote this while watching the video, I’d mentioned about looking forward to seeing the finished product video… then you said you’d cancelled 😂 Quick edit needed 😂
If they offered one I’d still be in two minds about accepting it as I feel I’ve been there, done that. I have to have some enthusiasm about the things I’m featuring and this took the wind out of my sails. But you never know, perhaps I’ll reconsider if the memories of the experience have faded.
Great Oddcast, Mat, thanks. Regarding your location being given away by an aerobatic plane: I've known your location for many years (I sent you the Apollo 11 vinyl way back), and I can confirm that's exactly why I perform immelmans in my Fokker while you're trying to get work done. My bad.
Excellent Oddcast. Multiple subjects, long and rambly--just the way I like 'em.🙂 And for a special bonus, we hear the story of the lost mystery gadget, rarely seen in the wild, but our ever-vigilant Mat snatches one up, only to have it slip from his grasp at the last moment! Now that's some good drama there!🥰
I presume there's no app for your phone for the Hisense system?
Unfortunately not, my Sony system has one and you would have thought it would be a standard feature nowadays.
Given the amount of home cinema equipment you've dealt with by now, you could build up a second source of income as an expert in the field.
Hello Mat Excellent Oddcast so much to take in never boring. As you said it always handy to have a spear remote control. I have electronic equipment with not well known brand names and if I can, I try and get a spare original remote. Hope you get your hisense original remote soon. Hope you have good week All the best Thanks
Weirdly when playing tefifon music through the TV muted it but when playing it on my phone it's fine - I know nowt you can do but I thought you'd like to know some YouTube weirdness
It’s out of phase. My mistake.
Regarding vehicle parts it wasn't always great with Japanese vehicles. A friend bought a Honda CB250RS motorbike when they came out. Shortly after that he was in a crash and the bike was off the road for months because there were no spare parts available for it. Fast forward to the 1990s and a colleague bought a Toyota Celica GT Four. Not only was it very unreliable, probably due to the complexity, but any parts it needed had to be flown in from Japan. People like to rubbish the old BL cars but parts were widely available and if you weren't confident to fit them yourself any garage could do it for you. Having seen one on the road yesterday, it wouldn't surprise me if parts are easier to find for an E-Type Jaguar than some of the new to the market Chinese cars.
I don't wear glasses and I'm significantly younger, but I also find projectors much more pleasant to watch. I think it's just because you're not looking directly at the light source.
sounds like sell the redundant UST projector and screen, roll that money into the new screen. easy
That’s the plan.
In regards of the missing mystery item... Don't loose faith Mat. I put it down to the Trump postal restrictions. My friend in the states says it's a mess coming and going. I send her a package at the start of April and it is currently stuck in her city's distribution centre and has been there ever since April 26th, for over a month.
It’s a real shame about the BB-777 video. I’ll say that I was specifically waiting on your video before I backed or purchased one for myself. Even with the list of issues you outlined it seemed like it was worth pulling the trigger (to me.) That all said, thats it for me. I’m not a collector of boom boxes. Nor do I want the headaches of restoring a vintage boom box. I just wanted something that works out of the box and isn’t rubbish. But thats it. I’m not getting other models. Probably wont even seek out another video on it. And the next boom box kickstarter wont get my money. P.s. unless you had a founders edition the color will be selected during a survey that would be sent to backers some time in the next few weeks. You probably would get a 2nd opportunity to pick up any extras you wanted as well, at that time.
Thinking about your projectors The short throw could be mounted on a motorised drawer, coming out when using. And i think I see vhs and laserdisc beside the new one Have you connected them to the projector, and how 🙂 Last year I bought a Atmos capable surround receiver and on the midrange priced ones it’s hard to find analog inputs especially rgb. I ended up with Onkyo tx nr7100. It’s really a Pioneer, or so because Onkyo and pioneer is now mostly the same. Premium Audio Company (PAC), a subsidiary of VOXX International. But the thing is that the identical pioneer is higher priced, don’t have the analog out and inn’s I need and The Onkyo lets you set individual crossover frequencies, while the Pioneer uses a global crossover frequency. This means that all speakers must share the same crossover frequency with the subwoofer, which is less flexible if you have different types of speakers in the room. The upscaleing is good
I’m going to be trying to sell the spare short throw projector. The VHS and VHD players are just being stored on that shelf, they aren’t connected to anything. When I do use them it’s only to capture video into the computer via a capture card.
I enjoyed the hangry Mat equally! "...or Samsung SmartThings, if you're insane" 😂 And was nodding to your comment about LG - got one of their TVs recently and WebOS is total pants!!
Such a nice way to spend my Sunday morning, listening to you chat about this and that ☺️ You made me LOL a couple of times... "My Chinese meal had a firmware update" 😆 I have a Govee pool thermometer and a behind-the-TV LED strip with a "webcam" that watches the screen and responds to match the colors (sort of). Same color and design boxes. The app is weird - it has ads, almost like a free/demo version! My wife has WeGovy, but that's something else entirely! 😄
I’ve got an app for a Sensibo aircon automation system which has so much irrelevant upsell guff on the first page, I need to scroll down past the bottom of the screen before I can use the product I bought.
Regarding the cartridge on the Tefifon: It will not dry out. In fact it is quite the opposite: The signette-crystal will dissolve in the water it catches from the humidity in the air. But in my experience, if your cartridge has it made this far and you keep the KC-1 dry in your garden office, it will most likely not go bad anytime soon. The rumble sound most likely comes by 95% from the friction wheel alone. But as far as I can hear from your videos you have been pretty lucky, picking a KC-1 with very little noise. Best regards Markus PS: Thanks for showing the great sound quality of this outstanding technology from 1954!
Yes apologies, my failing memory recalled that humidity was an issue, I just had it backwards.
Knowing the stuff that John Entwistle got up to, the fact that the arm had snapped off that Sony turntable probably WAS the "certificate of authenticity". Would have been even better had it had a crack in the side from being thrown out of a hotel room window, burn marks from explosives and ingrained mystery white powder marks.
I’ve been wondering if the cat is a reincarnation of Keith Moon as whenever he finishes eating a bowl of food, he deliberately knocks it over and walks away.
I think that box designs have changed because they no longer have to stand out on shelves, vying for your attention in order to sell the items. These days, the 1st time you see the box is when it gets delivered. So they don't put too much effort in any more. I can confirm that sequel videos do worse than the 1st, unfortunately my 1st videos do pretty poorly too. I look forward to seeing a future Hibbert Home Tech video saying that this Govee lamp is the best thing since the previous paid advert for a lamp lol. I wonder if there are UK plugs where the lead comes out the top. Could be handy for when you roof mount everything.
That’s a good point, they really could all be brown cardboard boxes now with the product name written on them and a space for an address label.
Fabulous video. Loved every second.
About you buying the remote just in case. I still use my Logitech harmony on a daily basis. I don't think the database gets updated with new remotes but all the old once work great for me till now. Just fill in your brand and model nummer and you will probably find the correct settings. If you would get the harmony touch second hand you could probably fix your not knowing what mode it is in problem. You can make your own activiteits and can see which one you are in atm. Normally you use one per setup(Xbox + reseiver + TV for example). But in your case you could do a activity per mode. But not sure if they are still cheap. At the time you could get them for 30/50 euro second hand. There is also the Logitech harmony hub which you can pair with your harmony touch. Then you don't need the pc software if I remember correctly.
Unfortunately it needs a display on the remote which shows the menus…only the original remote will have this functionality.
Surprisingly I am able to watch this with my meager data supply. One odd thing: I wasn't able to hear anything except intermittent garble during the Tefifon demo. But I'm listening through my phone instead of my TV because I don't have hotspot or internet access.
That’s interesting, I think there might be a phase issue with that recording, but I left it in as I like the effect because it almost sounds stereo.
Comments are disabled for this video on YouTube. Is this deliberate?
Yes, having the comments split into two places is inconvenient for everyone.
I can see (hear) the point of the Tefifon now. It sounds significantly better. Better than my 78rpm discs (I used to think you were mad, to want to listen to it).
Thank you for the update, Mat. Dutch YouTuber "The Rolling Troll" did a reaction video on your HiFi setup video. Just fyi. I liked it, although his standpoint is from a "HiFi freak" 😅
I think it would probably just annoy me, so I’ll avoid it. I don’t watch reaction videos and unless he is also a HiFi museum curator, he’s likely misunderstood the purpose of the collection.
Thought you were in your Elton John phase with the tinted glasses :)
It’s really because I have delusions that I’m a massive celebrity and I noticed there’s nothing better for the ultra famous to use as a disguise than wearing sunglasses indoors, they just blend right in with the regular folk.
Thanks Mat. Hope you have a good week ahead.
Straight off the bat - the pimped up glitter lamp is looking great.
Yes and the Lava lamp was on all the time I was recording this and didn’t move at all, because I’d forgotten to turn it on three hours before.
Cold and rainy over here in Stavanger also. We didn’t get this heat wave just yet
It seemed to cut off just below Scotland, relatives were on a cruise around the highlands and islands when the hottest days hit here and people were getting heat stroke, meanwhile they were wearing coats and dodging the rain.
Thanks Mat 🙂