u/Conscious_Swan_1857

I lost my Oura ring while paddle boarding but have been meaning to switch to something else anyways. I use it to monitor health, fitness/recovery, and chronic illness (hEDS, POTS, etc) and use the data to help determine where my body's at and how my lifestyle and daily habits influence my health.

One thing that I liked about the Oura was that it doesn't have a screen. I am a fairly low tech person and like that I didn't have to interact with my oura except checking my data.

I considered getting a different model, but really want the ECG, lifestyle tracking, and temperature monitoring features that the Venu 4 has. I would need to pair it with my phone to use the Bevel app with it.

Is it possible to customize the screen of the venu 4 to make it visually feel minimalistic? Besides putting the lifestyle info in, I just want to check the app twice a day without using it as a second phone.

I have hEDS, MCAS, and POTS. I've been wanting to move away from Oura (some of their business practices have raised some skepticism around ethics/biodata privacy for me), and it accidentally fell into a lake so now I need to make a decision.

I will continue to use the Visible band I have for energy conservation help and have typically used Oura for fitness/health tracking for almost 10 years.

I liked the Oura because between the detailed sleep tracking, hormonal cycle tracking, readiness score, and heart rate/HRV data I was able to validate if the habits or meds I implemented made a difference to my health. (I struggle with both interoception and some internalized ableism, so it was helpful).

I am thinking of maybe switching to a Garmin, but am unsure if it is as detailed and would love some input on your experiences with it! I also considered the Hume band for health tracking, but saw it gets really bad reviews.

I flip flop between really active and really sedentary and want something that is helpful for either type of day. I know some of them get confused with data from people who have autonomic issues, so I'd love to hear from people who have POTS as well. Thanks!

I would love recommendations for bookshelf speakers and stands

Current setup: I have a U-Turn Theory turntable with the 2M Blue cartridge and Pluto2 phono and some RCA cables.
Budget: $500 or less preferably, but would go up to $1000 if there is a pair that is highly worth the splurge
Location: US

I am still setting up my vinyl listening area since we just moved, but it will likely be placed in a large room (living room, dining room, kitchen combo) up against the wall near the middle of the room length-wise since the wall will help keep our cats off the gear (we have cat shelves so speaker stands are preferable). They’ll scratch/chew stuff so floor speakers aren’t ideal. Also would prefer active over passive to conserve space since we don’t have a lot of furniture for stuff right now.

Would love to get something I’m happy with for a long time, so I don’t mind a bit of splurging for the right fit. I tend to prefer warmth but still detailed over brightness. I listen to a lot of indie, jazz, folk, old school and modern hip hop, neo soul and r&b, and some electronic (flylo, nujabes, nosaj thing, etc).

Not my first priority by any means, but I do care about aesthetics and especially like the mid century walnut look.

I live in an extremely rural so the chance of going into the store and listening to different options is very slim. I appreciate any recommendations. Thanks!

I've listened to vinyl for years, but recently really started really engaging with it. I have the Orbit Theory turntable with Pluto2 phono and 2M Bronze Ortophon cartridge. Next I'd love to get a pair of bookshelf speaks and stands. I prefer active bookshelf for space-saving reasons, and also so they're neither on the ground nor the walls (cat shelves) where my cats could chew or scratch them.

I'm in the US and my budget is around $500, but I could save up if something is worth it.

I have a pretty decent ear and would love to have something that I enjoy for a long time without quickly wanting to upgrade. It's not my highest priority, but I also care about the aesthetics and would save for good quality and to have them decent looking. Something on the warmer side with good detail would be awesome. Overly bright and sparkly speakers sometimes make me feel mentally fatigued.

We're still putting together the house/listening area. They'll be going in a somewhat large room (combine kitchen/living room space) probably along the wall towards the center of the space.

Recommendations are appreciated!

I have a custom orbit 1 (with the ortofone 2M red and acrylic platter) i've had for years that got seriously damaged during a move across country (seemingly broken motor, broken arm, scratched platter, stretched out band, needs new cartridge, etc). I plan to reach out to U-turn and repair it, but am done moving and have been thinking about an upgrade for a while anyways.

My budget is about $800-1000. I was considering upgrading within the U-turn family, but am not familiar with what's come out the past couple years and am curious if anyone has any other suggestions. Seen a few suggestions for the Project EVO 2 and Rega Planar around the same price range and not sure how they compare. Based in the US.