Changed to Dayton Audio Speaker Wire

keeneyrm01

Just though I would share a little story about my new wires... So I've been a part time projectionist at a family run 10 plex movie theater for the past 8 years. Recently the owner passed away and his wife sold it to a small local theater chain. They decided to do a complete renovation to it and started in August and are just finishing up now. I don't think much of the new owners and the way they go about business and planning for this renovation but one of their project planning mistakes became my benefit.

They overordered speaker wire by buying about 5x too much and most of it was not in wall rated so the installers refused to use what they bought except for inside the equipment racks. They had 5 spools of 300 ft 12 awg monoprice wire and 8 spools of 100ft 10 awg dayton audio wire. From going through their emails, I gathered that someone was supposed to return it but the message was miscommunicated....

Anyhow, I swipped a spool of the 10 awg dayton stuff because it was thicker gauge. I then looked up the price on parts express where they got it from and saw it costs about $110 (like I said poor business mistakes from lack of planning... that was a costly mistake). I rewired all my speakers the other day with it and can say it definitely made an improvement. The surrounds are more active and have noticeable subtle effects I didn't hear before. The fronts really opened up with more depth and detail than before.

The wire I was using before this was also wire I took from my theater years before. It was 12 awg inwall stuff with no brand name on it. It was just on a large bulk wooden spool if found under one of the screens. The wire I was using before for the surrounds was 18 awg radioshack brand because I didn't have long enough runs of the theater stuff. I just wanted to share my experience between different wires. I don't know if going from 12 to 10 awg was what made the difference or if it was the strand count (the old stuff was pretty stiff and had less but thicker strands) but I am really happy with my new free product.

WilliamM2

keeneyrm01 wrote: »

Anyhow, I swipped a spool of the 10 awg dayton stuff because it was thicker gauge. I then looked up the price on parts express where they got it from and saw it costs about $110 (like I said poor business mistakes from lack of planning... that was a costly mistake).

Wait till they find out they hired a thief. That can be far more costly.

keeneyrm01

WilliamM2 wrote: »

Wait till they find out they hired a thief. That can be far more costly.

Well there's actually more to the story. The general manager asked the owners if he could have some of the left overs and they said sure... then he handed me one spools. So if its a problem it won't come back to me... The owner also told me my projectionist job is not needed anymore with the new digital projectors and I should be lucky to get my five hours a week... So I don't feel bad taking his wire.

WilliamM2

Keiko wrote: »

So, it's not like you really stole anything as implied by Willy.... Assumption, the mother of all fk ups. :rolleyes:

I didn't assume anything, he stated:

Anyhow, I swipped a spool of the 10 awg dayton stuff because it was thicker gauge.

He could have said his manager gave it to him, but didn't. Nothing wrong in that case.

pitdogg2

I've used that 10ga. wire for many years. IMO it's darn fine wire on the + side i bought mine when it was 100.00 for 250' many years ago before copper went sky high....

keeneyrm01

Keiko wrote: »

Enjoy your new cables, keeneyrm01.

Thanks! That was the real point of the story was the new cables made a surprising difference... My manager said he was gunna take a spool for himself and ended up taking one for me too... I don't know if anyone would technically be considered a thief but I ended up with some nice new cables.

WilliamM2

Keiko wrote: »

Enjoy your new cables, keeneyrm01.

I see your reading comprehension hasn't improved any. Or you're just plain dishonest, we already know you are a liar.

decal

WilliamM2 wrote: »

I see your reading comprehension hasn't improved any. Or you're just plain dishonest, we already know you are a liar.

He's just one of those people that craves attention.

Drenis

WilliamM2 wrote: »

I see your reading comprehension hasn't improved any. Or you're just plain dishonest, we already know you are a liar.

Well... there you both go again...

Since I'm sure that lovely picture will pop up soon...

decal

Keiko wrote: »

You're apparently craving some. Take a page out of William's book and imply a newer member as being a thief. I'm sure you could draw more to yourself that way.

You are the only one I'm implying anything about.

keeneyrm01

After the good results with the new cable, I think I am going to get some banana plugs from monoprice and use the left over wires to make jumpers and get rid of the factory ones on my RTi A3. I have heard people say that has made a difference... Has anyone any experience to comment about that tweak?

rebuy

rebuy

Now I want to know how big the spool was and how did you get it out if the building. Ooooooooooooh, musta been exciting.

rebuy

keeneyrm01 wrote: »

Well there's actually more to the story. The general manager asked the owners if he could have some of the left overs and they said sure... then he handed me one spools. So if its a problem it won't come back to me... The owner also told me my projectionist job is not needed anymore with the new digital projectors and I should be lucky to get my five hours a week... So I don't feel bad taking his wire.

Not to nitpick but do you drive off without paying for gas if the price goes up?
Just because your hours were cut does not let you off for lifting from anyone.
In another answer you didn't know if you would be consider a thief "technically", but you said you did it.
Not picking on you, just reading what you wrote.
Interesting.

keeneyrm01

It was 100 feet and my manager who asked the owner for one of the spools really took two (one for both of us) and gave me mine when we went to our cars after we closed up.

rebuy

I was under the impression that you got 2 spools of wire.

keeneyrm01

This story was just background about how I came across free wire that turned out to be some pretty good stuff. I'm sorry if the idea of taking anything you didn't pay for but someone else did is offensive. My company does not sell speaker wire, we are a movie theater in the service industry. Comparing taking excess of building supplies that belongs to the building's owner giving to me by my superior (who doesn't one the wire either) to stealing gas from a business that sells gas is not the same thing.

I only brought up the point of my hours as a reference to why I would not feel bad about taking the guy's wires. I have worked at this place for over 8 years. The new owners took over a year and a half ago. The first time I met the new owner was a few months ago. His first words to me was "Show me how you do your job so I don't have to pay you anymore." With my reply "hahaha alright I'll give you a run down." To his reply of "no I'm serious." And little to my knowledge immediately before this the district manager and the owner got in a shouting match over the need for having a projectionist still come in one day a week to set up the digital projectors....

Now that is rude and not the way to manage a business. Now if he was like "Oh hi my name is ***" or "hi what's your name?" or "wow you've been the projectionist for 8 years?" or "oh you're currently going for your MBA and have an dual undergrad degree in bus and economics? we could use you around here." Instead he took the **** approach and 3/5 managers and 10 employees quit on him in the past month. So after all that, no I don't feel bad about taking some nice leftover wire from a job I put in 5 hours a week just because I enjoy the projection work.

...And to the point I wanted to make; some good quality wires do really seem to make a difference

mdaudioguy

Really????

Tony M

I guess karma bit the new owner over his pompous attitude of superiority over others who in turn do this above reaction I would say almost 90% of the time.

If the owner only knew what ripples he leaves behind by his actions and attitude.

Isn't there a thousand posters that says "Attitude is Everything"......I hate those posters but attitude IS part of when 2 people or more meet at a intersection in life like 2 cars or more in a real intersection. will the actions be smooth or have friction and impacts with repercussions.

keenyrmo1.....Can you slide a few poster light-up display boxs out the back door to?
Those new owners I'm sure are still evil people. Just kidding!!:biggrin:

I'm sure employees of pompous bosses and owners try to take every opportunity that comes their way to make them pay for whatever. I met a business owner who ran multiple stores and he told me...." when you put a person in front of a cash-register, there will ALWAYS be the temptation to take just a little bit." He made sense.
Sad but true.

keeneyrm01

tony millard wrote: »

I guess karma bit the new owner over his pompus attitude of superiority over others who in turn do this above reaction I would say almost 90% of the time.

If the owner only knew what ripples he leaves behind by his actions and attitude.

Isn't there a thousand posters that says "Attitude is Everything"......I hate those posters but attitude IS part of when 2 people or more meet at a intersection in life like 2 cars or more in a real intersection. will the actions be smooth or have friction and impacts with repercussions.

keenyrmo1.....Can you slide a few poster light-up display boxs out the back door to?
Those new owners I'm sure are still evil people. Just kidding!!:biggrin:

I'm sure employees of pompus bosses and owners try to take every opportunity that comes their way to make them pay for whatever. I met a business owner who ran multiple stores and he told me...." when you put a person in front of a cash-register, there will ALWAYS be the temptation to take just a little bit." He made sense.
Sad but true.

Well said... And I'm not trying to promote stealing or getting back at "those evil business owners." I was just trying to say when someone is a jerk to the people they depend on they end up getting burned some how. My original point about the owner making a mistake was that they double ordered on speaker wire because they bought the wrong stuff the first time. Now they have thousands of feet extra of wire that turns out to be kind of expensive and I was fortunate to get my hands on some it thanks to a long term solid relationship with the manager that actually runs the day to day operations of the theater.

And tony... its interesting you bring up the poster cases. I thought they would of sold, reused, or brought the old poster cases to a scrap metal yard but they went with the just toss it in the dumpster route. Which was a shame because they were still pretty nice. They actually through out a lot of stuff many of us home theater enthusiasts would of loved to get our hands on... Luckily I was able to save the a "this theater features DTS and Sony Dynamic Digital Sound" signs before they hit the trash. They also just tossed about 2500 theater seats too that would of been a nice home theater addition... On the plus side, the new multi million dollar Christie digital projectors I get to play with are really cool.

mdaudioguy

It's not often I get sucked into crap threads like this, but some of the sentiments expressed here have me scratching my head, while others are downright insulting. Let's put it this way - first, the OP says he "swipped" the wire - I assume he meant swiped. Then, he clarifies that he was given an extra spool by someone who helped himself to more than he was authorized to take. In the end, the OP is still in possession of something that isn't rightfully his, and I'm not sure what makes him the bigger idiot - accepting the wire or posting his story online. He says:

I'm not trying to promote stealing or getting back at "those evil business owners." I was just trying to say when someone is a jerk to the people they depend on they end up getting burned some how.

Really? It's OK to steal from others who we perceive to be rude jerks? If that happened to someone else, you might say, "Karma is a ****." If you're the one who took it, it's not karma - it's theft. More of keeneyrm01's words:

This story was just background about how I came across free wire that turned out to be some pretty good stuff. I'm sorry if the idea of taking anything you didn't pay for but someone else did is offensive.[...]

I only brought up the point of my hours as a reference to why I would not feel bad about taking the guy's wires.[...]
So after all that, no I don't feel bad about taking some nice leftover wire from a job I put in 5 hours a week just because I enjoy the projection work.

And, Mike, just because you have a beef with someone, doesn't mean they're not correct in calling a spade a spade. The OP plainly stated that he swipped the wire. How is one not to conclude that the wire isn't rightfully his? His further explanations still don't get us to that point.

Tony - Really? I worked behind a cash register for seven years, and never thought about taking any money. Not a penny.

And, finally, keeneyrm01 says:

...And to the point I wanted to make; some good quality wires do really seem to make a difference

Yes, they do, and you know what else would really make a difference? A $100 donation to a local charity. I'm not trying to be holier than thou, but if you can provide a link to a charitable organization of your choosing, I'll donate half of that amount to them this evening.

That is all. Thanks.

Ed

keeneyrm01

If that story upsets people that much then I guess I shouldn't tell anyone about the 100s of posters that the manager has given me and every other employee over the years that weren't really "his property to give"... that kind of stuff happens all the time.

If you want to hear about a real crime, the owner of the theater voids between $800- $1000 of sold tickets out of the computer system every busy weekend so the studios don't see it in the system and then pockets the cash.

tommyt21

keeneyrm01 wrote: »

If that story upsets people that much then I guess I shouldn't tell anyone about the 100s of posters that the manager has given me and every other employee over the years that weren't really "his property to give"... that kind of stuff happens all the time.

If you want to hear about a real crime, the owner of the theater voids between $800- $1000 of sold tickets out of the computer system every busy weekend so the studios don't see it in the system and then pockets the cash.

Dude let this thread die, there seem to be many people here at Club Polk with the Holier than thou attitude that have never done anything questionable in their lives. I got your original point and it was a good one I may ven look to get better wires for my system now. I would honestly just quit responding to people that have nothing better to do than give you a lesson in morals. I've done some majorly bad SH&^ in my day and now I feel I give back, I have helped the homeless for the last 5 years. Its just the circle of life and I personaly dont come to Club Polk to judge others. Just don’t let these guys get to you.

Good luck

tonyb

keeneyrm01 wrote: »

If that story upsets people that much then I guess I shouldn't tell anyone about the 100s of posters that the manager has given me and every other employee over the years that weren't really "his property to give"... that kind of stuff happens all the time.

If you want to hear about a real crime, the owner of the theater voids between $800- $1000 of sold tickets out of the computer system every busy weekend so the studios don't see it in the system and then pockets the cash.

Intersting, your confused on the push back your getting, yet see no problem telling the world on the internet no less, that you partake in receiving stolen goods. Then proceed even to rat out others on top of it.....again,to the whole world. The only thing you could do to top this is add the story with pics to your facebook page.

Tony M

mdaudioguy wrote: »

It's not often I get sucked into crap threads like this, but some of the sentiments expressed here have me scratching my head, while others are downright insulting. Let's put it this way - first, the OP says he "swipped" the wire - I assume he meant swiped. Then, he clarifies that he was given an extra spool by someone who helped himself to more than he was authorized to take. In the end, the OP is still in possession of something that isn't rightfully his, and I'm not sure what makes him the bigger idiot - accepting the wire or posting his story online. He says:

Really? It's OK to steal from others who we perceive to be rude jerks? If that happened to someone else, you might say, "Karma is a ****." If you're the one who took it, it's not karma - it's theft. More of keeneyrm01's words:


And, Mike, just because you have a beef with someone, doesn't mean they're not correct in calling a spade a spade. The OP plainly stated that he swipped the wire. How is one not to conclude that the wire isn't rightfully his? His further explanations still don't get us to that point.

Tony - Really? I worked behind a cash register for seven years, and never thought about taking any money. Not a penny.And, finally, keeneyrm01 says:


Yes, they do, and you know what else would really make a difference? A $100 donation to a local charity. I'm not trying to be holier than thou, but if you can provide a link to a charitable organization of your choosing, I'll donate half of that amount to them this evening.

That is all. Thanks.

Ed

I understand. Myself and my wife and another man or two I met wouldn't think of it either. We are very rare group. Probably in the 5% of the population who couldn't sleep if we stole from the hand that feeds us. I just quoted what a very wise, successful multi business owner told me. He also said watch your business as best as you can but you can't be there all the time. So hire those you THINK you will trust. That's it. My wife has brought home thousands of dollars of charitable undocumented if cash donations. Many times even. I know we have not touched a dime to steal BUT, I thought how F'n easy it would be for anybody involved in charities to pinch a few hundred off and NOBODY but themselves would know about it. And I will guarantee you it is happening thousands of times each day from charities! We have conciences don't we, big ones.

mdaudioguy

tony millard wrote: »

I understand. Myself and my wife and another man or two I met wouldn't think of it either. We are very rare group. Probably in the 5% of the population who couldn't sleep if we stole from the hand that feeds us. I just quoted what a very wise, successful multi business owner told me. He also said watch your business as best as you can but you can't be there all the time. So hire those you THINK you will trust. That's it. My wife has brought home thousands of dollars of charitable undocumented if cash donations. Many times even. I know we have not touched a dime to steal BUT, I thought how F'n easy it would be for anybody involved in charities to pinch a few hundred off and NOBODY but themselves would know about it. And I will guarantee you it is happening thousands of times each day from charities! We have conciences don't we, big ones.

I hear ya, Tony. I understand your quote from the perspective of the businessman. I initially read it to mean you were implying that everybody takes (or thinks about it) when presented with the opportunity, but we know that's not true.

mdaudioguy

tommyt21 wrote: »

Dude let this thread die, there seem to be many people here at Club Polk with the Holier than thou attitude that have never done anything questionable in their lives. I got your original point and it was a good one I may ven look to get better wires for my system now. I would honestly just quit responding to people that have nothing better to do than give you a lesson in morals. I've done some majorly bad SH&^ in my day and now I feel I give back, I have helped the homeless for the last 5 years. Its just the circle of life and I personaly dont come to Club Polk to judge others. Just don?t let these guys get to you.

Good luck

1. I specifically said I wasn't trying to be holier than thou, because I don't presume to be.
2. I'm not trying to give a lesson in morals. It's easy to call a spade a spade, when the spade introduces itself as a spade - get it? So, it's not really judging...
And, finally,
3. Good on you for giving back. Giving of your time to help others is a great thing.

Toolfan66

Stealing is stealing one can justify it any way they want but your stealing non the less...

mdaudioguy

Keiko wrote: »

So the OP's manager asked the owners if he could have some of the left over wire and they said, OK. Unless I'm missing something here, how does this constitute him as being a thief? Perhaps his choice of the word, swipped is being misinterpreted or was just a poor choice in use of the word. Understandable, but hey, I swipe things everyday, my ****$, my debit card, does that make me a thief? He did clarify in post #3 that his manager asked the owners.

As far as the subject of pilfering goes, I worked in retail a few years when I first entered the workforce. I ran registers and handled the exchange of money quite a bit in my experience and never once took a cent. My philosophy is people that do steal from the hand that feeds them are only stealing from themselves since it puts the survival of the business at risk. Now, I may not agree with some of what the OP has said, but I don't see where he did anything wrong in accepting wires from his manager, which he said was asked for and given permission to take by the owner. That's all.

It got a little clearer later in the story....

It was 100 feet and my manager who asked the owner for one of the spools really took two (one for both of us) and gave me mine when we went to our cars after we closed up.

Actually, I don't care much about what he did... it's his conscience not mine. I just think he's an idiot for posting about it in the way that he did. Also, his story has so many variances in it, you can't be sure what actually occurred - and we're only hearing one side. Everyone knows there's three sides to every story.

That sure was a steal of a deal on that wire!

SDA1C

Lately around this forum it seems to be Pie or Persecution.

tonyb

SDA1C wrote: »

Lately around this forum it seems to be Pie or Persecution.

Playing the " Joan of Arc" card isn't going to do you any favors. Maybe best to get the "lay of the land" so to speak beforehand.