Re: Snake Oil

On 2 Dec 2003 18:49:28 GMT, Tim Britt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:

>Stewart,
>
>All this talk about snake oil fixes is boring (and making me hungary).

Time for some goulash, perhaps? :-)

>I want to hear more about your SMEG cooking stove - Whatever you can 
>tell us about it would be much more interesting than imaginary audio 
>fixes.

They come in various flavours, but our classic Opera A2 is Italian,
the range/top/hob (depending what country you're from!) has six gas
burners, including two wok burners, there are two electric ovens, both
with grills, one 600 mm wide and one 300 mm wide with a rotisserie.
The whole thing is highly controllable and is the best domestic cooker
I know of - otherwise we'd have something else! 

>Over on our side of the pond, the AGA is marketed at the "cat's meow" 
>as they call it in the states, or the mother of all stoves. 

More like the grandmother..................

> Our local 
>dealer tells us nothing is better, but since there is a basement under 
>our kitchen, we are advised to call in structural engineers to see if 
>the load of AGA can be safe supported. 

True, there's a lot of ccast iron in one of those relics!

> I suppose we'll have to use 
>special Mpingo wood column supports and special silver-braided litz 
>wire for the small amount of electric power required by the AGA?

Ah no, for the best effect you must only use the solid fuel version,
fed with finest hickory.

>When I looked up the home page for Smeg, seems like your Smeg 2.5 can 
>run circles around anything AGA has to offer.  

Makes sense, although I note that even AGA have had to admit that they
are lagging, as they now do a cooker with a conventional multi-burner
hob - even though it still has those tiny AGA trademark ovens. You
won't get a decent Thanksgiving turkey into an AGA!

>I emailed Smeg to see if 
>they had a U.S. distributor but never received an answer.

>Do you happen to know if they sell on our side of the pond?

Sorry, I have no idea. I do note however that even the mighty Google
can't find anything for Smeg in the US of A.

>Maybe they could be the next Quad, etc.?

Well, more like the next Westinghouse! :-)
-- 

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering