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Gear / Technical Help => Playback Forum => Topic started by: Nick's Picks on April 09, 2007, 08:05:20 AM
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Mr. Moke had a "post pictures of your system" thread a year or so ago. I'm sure many of us have new digs by now though.
time for new pictures!
we all know the "recording rooms"..they vary. the recording rigs get endlessly pictured...and its great to see all the techniques in action..but a bag of gear is not as sexy looking as a nice stereo pic.
so lets see them! there are more than a few of you out there with systems i'd love to see.
I'll start w/this: http://tinyurl.com/2ryysp
I'd really like to motivate Carl to take pics of his office system.
Janka w/his fat listeing room.
who is it that has the full Manley rig > vr4jrs? I've never seen pics of that system, and would love to see those snappers.
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what...? you guys forget how to use a camera?
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It's 8:30am.... and I've been up since 12:00 pm yesterday.....I can't even see straight ...I just got one of my dvd burners working and I have many gigs to burn before I sleep...been working on it for a few weeks now....I'll post some pics of my shitty room as soon as I can see, man.....Sorry..
Peace,
jk
ps: after looking at your ....... you have me beat, hands down..
Nice digs ...
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its not a competition.
:)
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ok. since you asked. pioneer563a/denon955/sonyr300>sony 3000es>b&w604s2/velodynevx10. all digital cables are cheapo AR. the speakers are biwired w/ homebrew silver on the mids and highs and homebrew fat-ass copper on the subs.
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ok. since you asked. pioneer563a/denon955/sonyr300>sony 3000es>b&w604s2/velodynevx10. all digital cables are cheapo AR. the speakers are biwired w/ homebrew silver on the mids and highs and homebrew fat-ass copper on the subs.
How are you bi wiring with the STR-DA3000.... A+B Speakers?
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ok. since you asked. pioneer563a/denon955/sonyr300>sony 3000es>b&w604s2/velodynevx10. all digital cables are cheapo AR. the speakers are biwired w/ homebrew silver on the mids and highs and homebrew fat-ass copper on the subs.
How are you bi wiring with the STR-DA3000.... A+B Speakers?
You're thinking biamp.
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That's interesting....
I've always heard them used synonymously.
Then you're saying two sets of wire coming from a single output to the two inputs on the speaker or literally two cables per connection?
I would think the first would somehow change the impedance if they're physically disconnected.
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its not a competition.
:)
I always though ......he who dies with the most toys, wins..... :wink2:
Peace,
jk
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That's interesting....
I've always heard them used synonymously.
Then you're saying two sets of wire coming from a single output to the two inputs on the speaker or literally two cables per connection?
I would think the first would somehow change the impedance if they're physically disconnected.
Bi-amp refers to using two channels of amplification for each speaker. Bi-Wiring is what you say...two cables on one channel of amplification. The cable's impedance is reduced by 50% in a bi-wire configuration.
Chris
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my room, not great pics (issues with camera, had to lighten them with some free ware ;D ) but they'll give you an idea of my room. Lots of hard surfaces that need covering but its still a great place to listen to tunes
B&W 602.5's, Paradigm PDR-8
Toshiba 3960, DA20mkII, Bel Canto DAC 2
Antique Sound Labs aq1003dt
Leegeddy speaker cables and interconnects
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/stereo2007-04-11001.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/stereo2007-04-11002.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/stereo2007-04-11003.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/stereo2007-04-11004.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/stereo2007-04-11005.jpg)
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ok. since you asked. pioneer563a/denon955/sonyr300>sony 3000es>b&w604s2/velodynevx10. all digital cables are cheapo AR. the speakers are biwired w/ homebrew silver on the mids and highs and homebrew fat-ass copper on the subs.
How are you bi wiring with the STR-DA3000.... A+B Speakers?
exactly.
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Bi-Wiring is what you say...two cables on one channel of amplification. The cable's impedance is reduced by 50% in a bi-wire configuration.
Chris
Chris..
Isnt a bi-wire config one run of wire...that forks at the speaker end and runs to the binding posts?
a shotgun is two seperate runs of wire going from the amp to the individual posts.
or am I wrong?
in a shotgun, you loose nothing as the signal is never "split"
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Yes, Bi-Wire is one wire with four leads while Shotgun is two seperate wires usually with four leads on each wire.
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I love these threads. I've had significant changes since last time, so I'll take some pics and post tonight prolly.
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Recently slimmed down the pre/amp collection and beefed up the speakers. Now running PC / SlimServer > Squeezebox (up to 24/48) > Sony STR-DA3000ES > Von Schweikert VR-2.
Tough room since it's so narrow, and with the fireplace there's no real opportunity to align the playback on a long wall. But it's the only room in the house available for playback at the moment. If I can talk Jen into converting the finished attic space into my playback room instead of a large walk-in closet or finish whole or part of the basement, I'll have a more dedicated environment. But for now, this is it.
Room is 12'W x 20'L x 9'H and as you can see open one of the long walls opens into another space. I suspect I'll have some challenges with reflections off the windows and wall behind the couch. New (proper) blinds on the windows will help, but not sure I can do much else in the LR in the way of room treatments. My crappy pics (my point & shoot digital doesn't do well with bright background light). Don't mind teh paint samples on the walls...we'll find a color we both agree on some day:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v245/bskalinder/playback/P1010079.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v245/bskalinder/playback/P1010061.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v245/bskalinder/playback/P1010073.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v245/bskalinder/playback/P1010071.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v245/bskalinder/playback/P1010064.jpg)
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so brian you happy with the b stock VR-2s?
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Bi-Wiring is what you say...two cables on one channel of amplification. The cable's impedance is reduced by 50% in a bi-wire configuration.
Chris
Chris..
Isnt a bi-wire config one run of wire...that forks at the speaker end and runs to the binding posts?
a shotgun is two seperate runs of wire going from the amp to the individual posts.
or am I wrong?
Hi Nick,
in a shotgun, you loose nothing as the signal is never "split"
We refer to bi-wiring as either using a single 2 into 4 bi-wire set or using two separate sets of twin lead speaker cables. I've always heard the term 'shotgun' referring to the termination of two conductors into one connector. For example...A 2 into 4 set of bi-wire cables has the four leads shotgunned into two connectors at the amp end.
I'll post some pictures soon. I'm slackin'.
Chris
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so brian you happy with the b stock VR-2s?
Just got 'em set up yesterday afternoon, so they're not broken in yet. They're bigger than I envisioned. There's a tiny 1/2" long, 1/8" thick abnormality on the finish at the very base of one of the speakers. Other than that, the finish looks great. My initial reaction relative to the STR-DA3000ES > VR1s I ran previously, and my previous tube pre / power amp / Maggie MMG + woofer setup: woof!! These suckers pressurize my small room easily and create a wall of sound with far broader depth, width, and LF extension than any of my previous setups. I can't wait to get these suckers broken in and positioned properly so I can do some critical listening to a lot of old recordings!
Probably gonna bi-something-or-other these with the 3000 at some point, at least until I get the full HT setup sorted (quite a ways off, no point in doing it til I get a nice HD projector + screen). I'm woefully confused (and judging from the discussion here, I'm not the only one) about bi-wire/amp/shotgun and how they differ, the benefits of each, etc. Gotta do some poking around.
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Here's my example of "shotgun" wiring. Hope this helps...
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similar experiences to what I heard when I hooked mine up as well. I have a couple of imperfections in the finish, but they arent noticeable at all unless you are using a critical eye and at the cost of B stock, it was easily worth it.
I am bi-amping mine (two seperate cable runs to each speaker) using my Arcam, feeding each speaker 200W and freaking love it...really one of the best purchases I have made.
I just bought a VS Center Channel (LCR-15) that I will be adding to the setup and eventually getting some small B&W minis for the rears...
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similar experiences to what I heard when I hooked mine up as well. I have a couple of imperfections in the finish, but they arent noticeable at all unless you are using a critical eye and at the cost of B stock, it was easily worth it.
I am bi-amping mine (two seperate cable runs to each speaker) using my Arcam, feeding each speaker 200W and freaking love it...really one of the best purchases I have made.
I just bought a VS Center Channel (LCR-15) that I will be adding to the setup and eventually getting some small B&W minis for the rears...
Everyone seem to talk down about the LCR-15. I am running one and I have liked it so far. It's not the perfect center channel, but it works great for me. I can hear some of the imperfections, but it matches with the VR2s and it's much better than anything else in it's price range. Just my $0.02...
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unless you are using a critical eye and at the cost of B stock, it was easily worth it.
Oh, yeah...way worth it. Cheaper than used on A'gon. ;D
I just bought a VS Center Channel (LCR-15) that I will be adding to the setup and eventually getting some small B&W minis for the rears...
Heh...that's precisely my plan, even down to the B&Ws. Nice!
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similar experiences to what I heard when I hooked mine up as well. I have a couple of imperfections in the finish, but they arent noticeable at all unless you are using a critical eye and at the cost of B stock, it was easily worth it.
I am bi-amping mine (two seperate cable runs to each speaker) using my Arcam, feeding each speaker 200W and freaking love it...really one of the best purchases I have made.
I just bought a VS Center Channel (LCR-15) that I will be adding to the setup and eventually getting some small B&W minis for the rears...
Everyone seem to talk down about the LCR-15. I am running one and I have liked it so far. It's not the perfect center channel, but it works great for me. I can hear some of the imperfections, but it matches with the VR2s and it's much better than anything else in it's price range. Just my $0.02...
I finally came to the conlusion that I am better off having the front 3 match and deal with some of the issues that I may or may not hear with the LCR-15. The surrounds though, I dont have alot of room for as my seating is against the wall and I am just thinking some of the mini B&Ws will do the trick...
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I finally came to the conlusion that I am better off having the front 3 match and deal with some of the issues that I may or may not hear with the LCR-15. The surrounds though, I dont have alot of room for as my seating is against the wall and I am just thinking some of the mini B&Ws will do the trick...
My thoughts, exactly - and I'm not as critical on the center channel for movies as I am my primary pair for 2-ch stereo audio listening. I originally planned to use a pair of VR-1s as surrounds, but like you I just don't have the space since my seating's against the back wall. Curious to hear how it turns out when you get there.
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I finally came to the conlusion that I am better off having the front 3 match and deal with some of the issues that I may or may not hear with the LCR-15. The surrounds though, I dont have alot of room for as my seating is against the wall and I am just thinking some of the mini B&Ws will do the trick...
My thoughts, exactly - and I'm not as critical on the center channel for movies as I am my primary pair for 2-ch stereo audio listening. I originally planned to use a pair of VR-1s as surrounds, but like you I just don't have the space since my seating's against the back wall. Curious to hear how it turns out when you get there.
yeah, the VR-1s were my plan as well, and then I realized that was just overkill for what I was doing...and coupled with the space, something small that will throw some sound out there is a good thing.
Only thing is I have to stage my purchases...LCR-15 and a Rega P1 and Phono Pre now...then a month from now, after the wife has forgotten about what those cost get the b&ws...good news is even new, those are reasonable (sub $500 for some of the lines)....
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I also have the VR-1s as surrounds and I have to admit, they kick ass. But I also see what Nick is saying as I think just about anything will be ok for the surrounds for HT use. They really do excel on multichannel SACD/DVD-A playback, but I really don't do much listening in that realm. I still much prefer straight two-channel listening...
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I also have the VR-1s as surrounds and I have to admit, they kick ass. But I also see what Nick is saying as I think just about anything will be ok for the surrounds for HT use. They really do excel on multichannel SACD/DVD-A playback, but I really don't do much listening in that realm. I still much prefer straight two-channel listening...
that is where I am at....multichannel music is a novelty for me at best...I do 99% of my listening in 2 channel mode
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Yes, Bi-Wire is two wire with four leads while Shotgun is four seperate wires usually with four leads on each wire.
is what you meant, as you are talking both + and - in a full channel. the + splits to the two posts on the speaker and the neg does the same...in a bi-wire setup.
in a shotgun setup, you have four wires, one for each post.
the two like ends are mated -- and ++ on the amp end, so 4 leads go into the two posts.
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Here's my example of "shotgun" wiring. Hope this helps...
exactly
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Nice systems fellas.
love the B&Ws, LOVE the Von Schpakies!
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Here's my pics. I seldom sit in the sweet spot and critically listen - my system is more trying to fill the house with music. When I do sit in the sweet spot, I throw down the bean bag and sit on the floor - I read once that people often sit too high - when I sit on the bean bag it makes a big difference.
Also in the system is a Phillips POS cd player, but I rarely ever use it now that I have a squeezebox. My wife uses it more than I do, as she's won't use the sb3, and likes to listen to cds.
My room is very long and thin. WAF is a serious concern. There are many audiophile no-no's in my room, but they are for WAF purposes. Thanks for viewing.
This is entering the room from the hallway:
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/250/457830581_560943afdd.jpg?v=0)
Always keep the doors closed when not in use. The cabinet is the model Benno from Ikea. $99. Remote works through the smoked glass, but its near impossible to read the squeezebox. I usually open them when listening for ventilation anyways.
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/457830845_1b34a6e1f1.jpg?v=0)
Doors open
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/177/457830815_ded37fea95.jpg?v=0)
Musical Fidelity A220 Class A Integrated Amp:
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/172/457815546_c5e7d2554c.jpg?v=0)
Stock Squeezebox w/ IXOS interconnects. Squeezebox is an incredible device.
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/224/457815630_1189eb235e.jpg?v=0)
Klipsch Heresy II and Velodyne VLF510. Left side.
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/457830641_d5844a2f15.jpg?v=0)
Klipsch Heresy II - Right side. Doghouse silver speaker cables.
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/221/457830661_64d5e6158e.jpg?v=0)
90lbs of Shaggy in the sweet spot:
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/196/457815690_41ae30205f.jpg?v=0)
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New gear = new pics. It's been a long wait on the new gear (still waiting on the new tube pre), but well worth it. Feels good to have a clean front stage!
System:
Speakers- Rocket RS750/RSC200/RS250
Sub- SVS PCi 22-31 (possibly FS)
Universal DVD- Onkyo SP1000
Receiver- Marantz SR7200 (just using it as a volume control since universal is doing all decoding)
2 channel pre- Odyssey Candela (tubes!) on the way next week
Amp (2 channel)- Odyssey Stratos Extreme Sig Ed.
Amp (mono center)- Odyssey Khartago mono Extreme
Universal DVD- Onkyo SP1000
Turntable- Rega P3 w/ Elys2 cart.
Phono Pre- Cambridge Audio Azur 640P (thanks for the suggestion Carl)
Power Strip/Surge/Filtering- PS Audio Quintet
IC's- VH Audio cryo Pulsar w/ silver Eichmann Bullet's
Speaker Cable- DIY Canare w/ WBT locking banana's (taking suggestions here)
Projector- Infocus Screenplay 7205
Screen- Carada 106"
Either moving to new Danny Richie XO's for front speakers or new speakers all together.
Khartago Mono
Stratos
Amps
SP1000 & SR7200
Rega
PS Audio
Front
Rear
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Sorry here are the rest
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did you decide not to go with the anticables?
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did you decide not to go with the anticables?
Will probably still go with them, but want to get the system broken in so I know how they change the sound. I've had the Canare for years, I just cut it down from 30' to 6' runs and added techflex.
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I gotcha...thought you ditched them already. It is hollow to say that I like the cables given the fact that I dont have a reference for comparison in this system, but I like them and have bought another short run for my center channel :P
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Finally got around to taking some pics. System is
Arcam AVR300
Denon 2900
Audio Magic ICs from Denon to Arcam
Audio Magic Stealth Mini
Von Schweikert LCR-15
Von Schweikert VR-2s
Anticables Speaker Cables
Rega Fono Pre
Rega P1
Ixos ICs from Fono Pre to Arcam
Nitty Gritty Record Doctor Record Cleaning Machine
Just got the turntable in last week and I got a sweet deal on the Record Doctor off of Craiglist. Extremely happy with the setup. Really only areas I can see in the near term are some rear surrounds (likely b&w minis) and the glass platter upgrage to the P1.
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Nice! I really need to get a big TV before finals.
That game on the screen had our house happy - I think I'll send Jagr a sleeve of golfballs for his long summer. :D
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That game on the screen had our house happy - I think I'll send Jagr a sleeve of golfballs for his long summer. :D
I was hoping that they would knock out the sabres...well, just because....and as much as it pains me to do this...I am pulling for the Sens :P
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I'm for the Sens too. I haven't cared either way about Buffalo since Hasek left but Amy likes them and I really dislike Jagr. So the win today was great. The next round is going to be sweet.
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Inspiring
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I'm for the Sens too. I haven't cared either way about Buffalo since Hasek left but Amy likes them and I really dislike Jagr. So the win today was great. The next round is going to be sweet.
I dislike Lindy with a passion and honestly I am not sure there is a fan base I would rather see continue to suffer more than the sabres fans
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not sure there is a fan base I would rather see continue to suffer more than the sabres fans
qft my brother.
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not sure there is a fan base I would rather see continue to suffer more than the sabres fans
qft my brother.
you both suck. ;) buffalo hasn't won a single championship event ever. Well unless you count professional lacrosse..... but I don't.
Can't the losers win every once in awhile?
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is this about sports or room pics/? :P ;)
not sure there is a fan base I would rather see continue to suffer more than the sabres fans
qft my brother.
you both suck. ;) buffalo hasn't won a single championship event ever. Well unless you count professional lacrosse..... but I don't.
Can't the losers win every once in awhile?
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hey nick, how's that lcr-15?
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hey nick, how's that lcr-15?
Surprisingly good. It definitely does not throw around the SPLs like the VR-2s do, but it sounds better than I expected in HT apps and concert DVDs. Been pretty happy with the purchase actually…
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is this about sports or room pics/? :P
When your a sports and music junky like me, they overlap significantly :P
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Nice! I really need to get a big TV before finals.
Why do you need a big tv before exams? :^)
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I am now living in the UAE for work reasons and put together this HT system I am very happy with, so maybe will replace my Italian one when I'll be back there.
The last add-on is the squeezebox (on top of the TV set) which is connected in digital to the Denon AVC-A11XV and mainly use to listen to my recordings in 24/48 with DPA 4060's / MT24/96 so all flows in digital from the PC to the Denon.
The Tannoy loudspeakers are the core of this system. I have the front 15" System 15 DMT /II connected in bi-wiring to the Denon (4 amplifiers for a passive bi-ampling), a central vintage 12" Little Gold Monitor and two rear 10" System 10 DMT's.
A very cheap Samsung universal DVD player is then all I need to decently play CD's, SACD's and DVD-A/V's.
The room was initially too reverberant, I then put the usual sofas, bookcase, carpets (on the floor and walls) and curtains plus some absorbing panels (fiberglass) and two home-made tube traps. Now the room is almost OK, maybe I have to add a few more tube traps, but the RT60 is quite regular (1.2 sec at 100 Hz, down to 0.5 at 8 kHz) and I like the sound.
This system can play easily very loud (the efficiency of the front speakers is 98 dB/W @ 1 m) so its distorsion at normal listening levels is very low. I tape mostly classical music and I can easily re-create a realistic level even with a symphony (@ acceptable hours of the day).
Giovanni
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beautiful !
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nice...see the WAF (wife approval factor) would fail misserably with those speakers for me :P
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really? shit..I thought they looked great.
better than my alien monolith conversation tower pieces.
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nice...see the WAF (wife approval factor) would fail misserably with those speakers for me :P
I drooled all over myself when I saw those panels on the back wall. At least I still have my dreams.
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I agree on the panels. In fat I am planning either to buy a carpet and hang it up on top of them or (more difficult but....if I find someone with painting skills) paint them on.
However they are very effective for the room acoustic, as would be some tube traps in the rear corners.
With a bit of time I'll be there, opefully
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Won't a carpet over the top reduce the effectiveness of the panels?
I have no problem with the look of your panels.
I like the look of well integrated panels. I made custom panels and I went to a lot of trouble to find fabric that matches the paint I intend to use on the walls. But I ended up getting too much resistance to be worth it so I mounted the panels on stands and I take them out when I want to listen. I would much rather have them on the wall.
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This is interesting, because I did the same, with some efforts to use the same fabric as the curtains' and matching their color with the walls. The effect is acceptable to me, but a carpet on top of the panels would have a better WAF (at least with mine). This should work similarly to the panels alone at medium-high frequencies, maybe a bit less absorbing at medium-low frequencies and, if you "frame" the panels (with a wooden perimeter with the carpet fixed to it), should work a bit more at low frequencies.
These panels are intended to reduce reflections from the back wall towards the listening area mainly for medium-low frequencies up, while tube traps in the corners should better fight the room resonance modes, which are not an enormous problem in my room.
The right side of the room being a full wall window I put only a light curtain on it, with a high chair in the way of the "first reflection" to the listening zone. Using a heavier curtain would improve reflections control, but I don't like a too dark scenario.
Adding a diffuser on the ceiling would also make good, I am thinking of what type not to look too weird. A "skyscraper" type would work grat, but I have to improve its WAF.....
Anyway I am reasonably happy of the situation as it is now, so I have little driver to make further changes.
Lately I preferred to spend efforts in my taping rig, PC interface with the the HiFi / HT system, large storage HD, software for editing, etc., for which I found great guidance on this website, which is covering most of the sound recording / storing / listening areas I am interested in.
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ive been fitting my room with panels and traps from www.gikacoustics.com ...he is VERY affordable, and the products are fantastic...
WAF is no issue for me, my listening room is a mile down the road at my parents house, far away from the wife's eyes.
She saw my VR-4s and immediately said "no".
I agree on the panels. In fat I am planning either to buy a carpet and hang it up on top of them or (more difficult but....if I find someone with painting skills) paint them on.
However they are very effective for the room acoustic, as would be some tube traps in the rear corners.
With a bit of time I'll be there, opefully
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Couple quick pics. I'm trying out the new camera.
JAson
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How about home theater?
Samsung HL-S6188W 61" 1080p DLP sitting on the BDI Novia stand.
(http://speshuled.smugmug.com/photos/154947955-M.jpg)
That stand is pricey, almost as much as the tv, but we both decided that we wanted something nice and were looking at credenza type things and the nicer ones were just as much as this so we opted for it. All the doors are glass so remotes and wireless controllers for gaming work just fine. The top drawer has a screen across it and holds the front speaker.
(http://speshuled.smugmug.com/photos/154951150-M.jpg)
On the right side we have the Marantz SR7001 and the Xbox 360 with hd-dvd.
(http://speshuled.smugmug.com/photos/154948728-M.jpg)
I opted for the marantz because I got a great deal on it. I'd like to move up to something nicer, but I was buying before hdmi 1.3 came out and didn't want to wait. I got the marantz as a starter for home theater and it has 4 hdmi in's and converts componenet to hdmi as well, so only one hdmi cable needs to go to the tv and the marantz does all the switching.
(http://speshuled.smugmug.com/photos/154949604-M.jpg)
Under the center speaker sits the Oppo DV-981 HD 1080p upconverting dvd player and the crappiest HD DVR I've ever used.
(http://speshuled.smugmug.com/photos/154950181-M.jpg)
And a very old record player. The top shelf was empty but it holds my xbox1 now.
(http://speshuled.smugmug.com/photos/154950743-M.jpg)
And then the house was prewired and had speakers installed in the ceiling for the fronts and the back surrounds. I'd like to swap these out for something better as time goes on but they're ok for right now. The rest of the house is wired and has speakers in the master bedroom and upstairs loft. These are all controlled by the marantz as well. The sound is fairly good and its clear so I can't complain too much, but will probably be updated when we get speakers installed outside.
(http://speshuled.smugmug.com/photos/154951390-M.jpg)
And last but not least, a very cheap and crappy sub until I get the money to replace all the speakers
(http://speshuled.smugmug.com/photos/154951729-M.jpg)
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love that cabinet ed, I look at those in the magazines that appear at my house and just drool. It would be a bad idea for me to get one any time soon, as my dog already blew out the door on my cabinet by putting his front paws on top of it. Fortunately Ikea gave me a new hinge for it for free.
Looks good dude. Actually, it looks ready for a team MI invasion! :lol:
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That is a beautiful.
How do like the samsung?
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Looks good dude. Actually, it looks ready for a team MI invasion! :lol:
Bring it on! You should see pictures of the backyard - its amazing. I'd make all you dirty hippies get in the pool! :lol: Actually, the water is great - the water temp is warmer than the weather in Michigan.
How do like the samsung?
Love it. At first, we didn't have anything on the windows so at around 4pm-7pm the sun glared on it, but now that we got shutters put up there's no problems. It was still watchable before, but not the best. Now it looks great. I can't really compare it to a plasma or lcd at that size cuz I've only seen them in stores and not in a real home setup...but I can compare the price. That set was only around $2300 including shipping and a 3 year warranty which was a great deal at the time.
The tv is great though, it handles macroblocking very well...with hd-dvd stuff there's none to speak of and it has nice inky blacks and beautiful color. We run everything through hdmi except the xbox1 which I have hooked up via component and the Marantz handles the upconversion on that.
I've also hooked up my laptop via the vga input on the back of the tv and it handles that very well, can read the tiniest font on the computer and does excellent with video played through that as well.
When we were buying it was between the Samsung and the Sony xrb2 of the same size. I had read that Sony doesn't handle vga stuff that well, so I'm very happy that I went with the Samsung, no complaints whatsoever.
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nice systems and no room treatments? tune your rooms guys.
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Here is my stereo nothing fancy.. Just your basic Axiom audio set up. But its well balanced.
I now have a flat sceen TV... :)
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nice systems and no room treatments? tune your rooms guys.
what? no wife?
:)
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nice systems and no room treatments? tune your rooms guys.
what? no wife?
:)
LOL..
.
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I'll see if I can snap some pics of my current set-up with the house 'under heavy renovation'. After I get the house back together I'm thinking of building these (http://www.linkwitzlab.com/).
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nice systems and no room treatments? tune your rooms guys.
what? no wife?
:)
LOL..
.
Very true very very true. One of the many reasons I don't see myself getting married anytime soon...
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Alright no laughing but I finally got around to snapping some pics (More like I finally got around to buying a digital camera). This is my extremely ghetto listening setup right now. I'm doing work in the downstairs of my house right now so I'm exiled to the upstairs for everything not involving the actual work. TV, movies, reading, lounging, sleep and other stuff goes in the bedroom. Internet and music goes down in the room across the hall. Its a a 9' x 8' sweatbox with some pretty awesome wallpaper. It currently houses a desk with modem, phone and iBook, a set of shelves, guitar amp, some random boxes and my vinyl listening area. It was very important to me to have some place to listen to records and this is better than nothing. I sit at the computer with my back to the speakers about 2.5' away and have to go into the bedroom to get records. This should only go on for another month or so and then I'll be back downstairs.
Shane
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Alright no laughing but I finally got around to snapping some pics (More like I finally got around to buying a digital camera). This is my extremely ghetto listening setup right now. I'm doing work in the downstairs of my house right now so I'm exiled to the upstairs for everything not involving the actual work. TV, movies, reading, lounging, sleep and other stuff goes in the bedroom. Internet and music goes down in the room across the hall. Its a a 9' x 8' sweatbox with some pretty awesome wallpaper. It currently houses a desk with modem, phone and iBook, a set of shelves, guitar amp, some random boxes and my vinyl listening area. It was very important to me to have some place to listen to records and this is better than nothing. I sit at the computer with my back to the speakers about 2.5' away and have to go into the bedroom to get records. This should only go on for another month or so and then I'll be back downstairs.
Shane
(http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/450019028/7.JPG)
(http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/450019028/9.JPG)
(http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/450019028/8.JPG)
(http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/450019028/10.JPG)
Are the drivers in your custom cabinets Fostex? if so how do they sound?
Chris
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single drivers...
i've yet to have an experience w/those.
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single drivers = no crossover, some consider the best way to listen to music. I would love to hear a pair too.
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yup. the "horn shop" products have me intrigued. And they are not pricey either.
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The speakers are Fostex 126E. The cabinets aren't custom they are Hornshoppe Horns. I bought the speakers used on Audiogon for around five bills. Mine have 25 of lead weight in the base of each. I couldn't be happier with this setup. Previously I had it set up for realzies with the speakers right in the corners and it just sounded fantastic to me. It had a very well rounded and full sound. These particular models match the Almarro really well. Its truly a great bang for the buck setup. Don't get me wrong I'd love to hear some nice B&Ws or something like that some day but for right now these are perfect.
Shane
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Here are some pictures of my listening room. The Sonist stand mounts have been here for about a month. They are 95 db efficient with a steady 7 ohm load. The baffle board is made of a 2" piece of Poplar and serves as a waveguide for the ribbon tweeter and 8" driver. They are made right down in California and offer an incredible value for the money. The craftsmanship is top notch and the performance exceeds our expectations. We are excited to have them in our shop. Currently, we're using GutWire's Basic speaker cables to connect them. The Mastersound Compact 845 is a parallel single ended design getting 30 wpc. It's 80 lbs and is setting on an SRX carbon composite board that weighs virtually nothing by comparison. Mastersound Amps are made in Italy and use proprietary Mastersound Transformers. The remote is volume only and is made out of Nugget wood from the Swiss Alps. The SRX products are out of Japan and are currently under evaluation. The turntable is a Rega P5 with a Dynavector 20X low output MC cartridge and Rega's outboard power supply setting just below it. The phono stage is Roksan's DX-2 with a dual mono power supply, setting on SRX carbon cones and a Vibrapod sandwich. The AC distribution is handled by FIM's 880 wall outlet and 15 amp Energy Center. The Energy Center is sunk into a piece of hard rock maple to handle resonance control. Internal wiring is ultra pure Ohno Continuous Cast copper and its AC outlets are also made by FIM. The power cords are from GutWire (ranging from $700 - $1600), though these cords are not going to be sticking around after hearing this system with the van den Hul Mainsstream Hybrid power cords ($595). That conclusion was somewhat disappointing, but it also gives us more respect for the vdH cable and why they choose to make only one power cord for high amp applications. Passive EMI/RF Interference control is handled by a Symphony & Symphony Pro from Quantum.
Thanks to everyone who posted pics of their system. This is a great thread.
Chris
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Looks great Chris. The Sonists are quite the lookers and the Mastersound is a thing of beauty too. You seem quite a bit dedicated to power (cables, outlets, etc). Do you feel that it really makes that much of a difference to justify the cost?
Shane
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Hi,
I apologize for the crappy shots, and messy room....but here's my setup.
On the rack (top to bottom) includes a Thorens TD150 Mk11ab modified w/a Len Johnson tonearm, this feeds to the Cinemag SUT box (I built) then to the Fi Audio YPH phono stage. Next to it, is my 6SN7 based preamp built by Paul at Red Iron Amps. Below that is my trusty old Decware Zen (C) and my Music Hall Maverick. Under that (on the floor) is a custom built pwr supply for my Thorens table and the "cube" amp. The wood box behind the chair is the "cube" (sub) built by Ed Schilling. In the corners are the hornshoppe horns (look for the little white cones).
This where we all hang out (my 3.5 and 1 year old) and sing "yellow submarine".
Later
Chris E.
Denver CO
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Looks great Chris. The Sonists are quite the lookers and the Mastersound is a thing of beauty too. You seem quite a bit dedicated to power (cables, outlets, etc). Do you feel that it really makes that much of a difference to justify the cost?
Shane
Hi Shane,
Thanks for the compliments on the new gear. A good amp, a good front end and a decent set of speakers are more important when first putting a system together. At some point, it's necessary to upgrade the AC distribution. To more directly answer your question, we think it's money well spent.
Chris
Very nice to see the turntables out.
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Chris huge plus T for the sweet Thorens!
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Thanks Carl...I love that damn thorens. Getting it tweaked takes some time, but once it's set....oh so good. ;D
later
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Yep, I am running a TD125II with a Linn Basik arm & Ortofon cart. Smokes my old VPI HW. I just love the old tables, so sexy to look at, lots of wood with awesome sound. I think some day I will build/buy an idler just to hear it.
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Here are a few pics from my listening room/office which is in a separate room in the basement, pretty much the only place I could setup at the moment. But the best thing is since it's in the basement, I can play at any time! Ultimately I'd like to have a larger room for this setup -- in time I suppose. Gear is Denon 2910 > Cayin Integrated amp > VR-2's. Also borrowing a friends turntable (and old Luxman) running through a Bellari amp. Audience speaker cables, some anti-cable jumpers; RCA cables are Kimber pbj's and Audioquest diamondback's.
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Finally got the new tube pre (Odyssey Candela) and love it! Unreal what a dedicated 2 channel pre will do. Had been using the Marantz stereo direct and now I know how bad it really was. :o Last upgrade of 2007 will be installing the new Danny Richie x-overs.
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more...
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drool.
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Finally got the new tube pre (Odyssey Candela) and love it! Unreal what a dedicated 2 channel pre will do. Had been using the Marantz stereo direct and now I know how bad it really was. :o Last upgrade of 2007 will be installing the new Danny Richie x-overs.
How do you deal with integrating a 2 channel pre in a HT system? I have a 2-ch setup and have been considering going HT since I got a nice projector/screen, but I would rather use the pre for 2ch listening rather than a HT receiver.
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How do you deal with integrating a 2 channel pre in a HT system? I have a 2-ch setup and have been considering going HT since I got a nice projector/screen, but I would rather use the pre for 2ch listening rather than a HT receiver.
My CJ preamp has a theater mode pass though so a surround sound processor can feed 2ch to the amp outs with the PV14 being a unity gain stage. Switched out of theater mode it behaves like a normal tub pre.
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Finally got the new tube pre (Odyssey Candela) and love it! Unreal what a dedicated 2 channel pre will do. Had been using the Marantz stereo direct and now I know how bad it really was. :o Last upgrade of 2007 will be installing the new Danny Richie x-overs.
How do you deal with integrating a 2 channel pre in a HT system? I have a 2-ch setup and have been considering going HT since I got a nice projector/screen, but I would rather use the pre for 2ch listening rather than a HT receiver.
HT bypass works like a charm. It was between the Odyssey and the Modwright 9.0SE since both can be turned off and pass a signal so tube life isn't wasted while watching a movie. In order to maintain correct polarity, I had to get a DAC that will invert the absolute polartity (phase inversion) and swap leads on the cartridge leads. his gets me the same phase from all sources so I don't have to play with the speaker cables leads all the time.
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Okay, been meaning to post some pics for awhile, finally got around to taking some pictures this weekend.
Nothing special, it's definitely kind of a minimalist system. It sounds better than anything I've had before, though, and probably better than what's in 99% of American homes!
Almarro A205A mk2
Horn Shoppe Horns
NAD PP1 Phono Preamp
NAD 521i CD Player
Old Denon Turntable
Grado Black Cartridge
AntiCables Speaker Wire
Cheapo, no-name Interconnects and Power Cords
Rack and one Horn:
(http://home.grandecom.net/~myersfamily/SystemPics/IMG_3351.jpg)
Closeup of rack:
(http://home.grandecom.net/~myersfamily/SystemPics/IMG_3337.jpg)
Long live vinyl!
(http://home.grandecom.net/~myersfamily/SystemPics/IMG_3338.jpg)
A horn:
(http://home.grandecom.net/~myersfamily/SystemPics/IMG_3339.jpg)
Looking down the back of a Horn:
(http://home.grandecom.net/~myersfamily/SystemPics/IMG_3340.jpg)
Closeup of the Almarro:
(http://home.grandecom.net/~myersfamily/SystemPics/IMG_3349.jpg)
Looking down on the room from the upstairs balcony:
(http://home.grandecom.net/~myersfamily/SystemPics/IMG_3346.jpg)
Looking up to the balcony, where the CD storage is:
(http://home.grandecom.net/~myersfamily/SystemPics/IMG_3342.jpg)
Album storage:
(http://home.grandecom.net/~myersfamily/SystemPics/IMG_3343.jpg)
(http://home.grandecom.net/~myersfamily/SystemPics/IMG_3344.jpg)
And, just for grins, the bedroom setup (super cheap DVD player for CD playback, T-Amp, old Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble II satellites). Good enough for listening while reading in bed!
(http://home.grandecom.net/~myersfamily/SystemPics/IMG_3345.jpg)
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That's a beautiful room/house. I like the stereo a lot, horns+tubes+vinyl sounds like a winning combo to me ;D
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That's a beautiful room/house. I like the stereo a lot, horns+tubes+vinyl sounds like a winning combo to me ;D
Exactly what I was thinking! Plus T to you.
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Backatcha both!
Even though there are things I would like to upgrade, there are many, many times where I am just overwhelmed with how good the music is. I've only had the Almarro and Horns since last Christmas, and I still feel like I'm discovering all of my old music all over again!
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Beautiful Room/Setup!
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we are in the process of finishing our 1500sq/ft basement with a home theater, game room , office, and family room.
the home theater is going to double as my listening room. i'll post some pics as we make progress.
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(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/akg480/dscn2636.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/akg480/Picture028.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/akg480/Picture095.jpg)
Von Schweikert VR-4jr mkI
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/akg480/Picture011.jpg)
VPI HW-19mkII with Grado Gold and Sumiko Premier FT-3 arm
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very nice.
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beautiful - thanks for sharing. I could look at these kinds of pictures all day ;D
what all are you running in there?
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The gear pictured is what in my sig. The tables got a grado gold that'll need to be replaced soon I think. Cables are just dh labs and mil-spec for speakers, upgrade wishlist item for sure. There's a PS Audio Duet in there too. The wall with the tapestry was built with the help of NickPick's. The room was open to a staircase and the living room on the other side. It was a fantastic sub $100 tweak for sure. I rent so we had to do it without damaging the house. It's a fun system and my only neighbor is basically deaf. I've never had a problem giving it some anytime I desire.
Here's a better pick from the listening position with fresh snow today.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/akg480/dscn2638.jpg)
Creek OBH-8, SqueezeBox3, Benchmark DAC1, Odyssey Tempest, Nad C-541i, Odyssey Stratos, Bellogoti rack, Nickpick's DEAD-END acoustic dampener
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Very Nice. Hope things are well. Peace G
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Thanks George. Things are good, do hope the same is for you. Looks from the sig that your rig keeps growing nicely. Hopefully I'll have one again in the coming year.
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yup, thats a good rig right there. spent plenty of time on that couch....wondering where the music was *actually* coming from as those speakers disappear. Its like all the music is being projected by the Squeezebox or something
cool stuff right there
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whoops - sorry I missed the rig in your sig. Duh :P
nice looking rig, thanks for sharing
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Duh on my part too. It does makes more sense to post it with the pics then in a sig that's sure to change. I went back and added some details. Cheers :cheers:
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cleaned up my rack today and the gf has a new digi I wanted to try out.
nothing new and exciting
moved in with the gf and her place (1930's apartment) has some hideous electricity so I borrowed the Furman from Dave W. I have a Furutech that I really like but it doesn't do voltage stabilization so the Furutech sits in the closet for the time being.
On the plus side this room sounds better than my last place. Old wood floors, 10 foot ceilings, lots of room behind the speakers and they are out from corners as well
top to bottom:
ASL AQ1003dt
Bel Canto DAC2
Oppo 970
Furman PS-8
Tascam DA-20
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/S7300008.jpg?t=1198012467)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/S7300010.jpg?t=1198012713)
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Looks nice Tim,
One thing, i'd be careful with putting too much on that OPPO. I have the same one and I don't know how heavy the BelCanto is, but I had a phono pre similar in size on top of it and it started giving me errors reading discs. Seemed odd but I didn't want to push it. Removing the Phono pre fixed the problem.
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top to bottom:
ASL AQ1003dt
Bel Canto DAC2
Oppo 970
Furman PS-8
Tascam DA-20
You forgot the custom isolation pad between the DAC and the Oppo!
+T, nice looking room and rig. Love the somewhat moorish looking archway.
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Thanks Sanjay. I really enjoy it. I would like new speakers but will wait until I am in a house and can get something really nice and full range. It's certainly not a "high-end" rig but I think it all works well together. It's musical enough that I can listen for hours and hours.
I actually just moved the BC there this morning. I sort of cleaned up the cable and tried to make it look nicer for Shawn since my stereo ate her apartment :P It doesn't weigh much but I will keep an eye out for that.
Thanks for that +T
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top to bottom:
ASL AQ1003dt
Bel Canto DAC2
Oppo 970
Furman PS-8
Tascam DA-20
You forgot the custom isolation pad between the DAC and the Oppo!
+T, nice looking room and rig. Love the somewhat moorish looking archway.
;D I like having that Mickey book out, people seem to enjoy it
There are 3 of those archways and they get a lot of comments - it's a cool old place actually.
+T
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Here is my horribly positioned system. I unfortunately cannot trust my roommates with anything nicer than you'd give a 5 year old so I must keep my stereo in my bedroom. Other than it's bad positioning I love how it sounds and I bet with proper tuning it would sound better.
Oppo 970
Music Hall Mambo
Von Schweikert VR-1's
Nick's Pick's Hydra Cables
Technics Turntable
Nothing fancy but worlds above what I used to have
(http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/9886/dsc1304yx5.jpg)
(http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/5300/dsc1302oq1.jpg)
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Ouch!
but like you said, the only fly in that soup is positioning. the hardware smokes.
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A new job should be my christmas present, and more money = my own place hopefully. Sick of living in this shoebox.
This picture should be used for how NOT to set up a stereo.
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Just wait until you can get that out in the room - that's a really nice setup Sanjay!
love the look of all that vinyl
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+T on the vinyl!
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A bit of a different flavor than the current systems shown: here is a link to my "vintage" setup:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1946571973&size=o
and the general photo's of each component:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/78623577@N00/
Everything is 1985-1986 except for the turntable. I am still shocked at how good the Maggies are! Not the best setup for space on the speakers, but it does really good for the room.
peace,
ts
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love all the Nak gear... I could look at these shots all day
+T
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Ah, '85-'86 gear. I worked wiring stereo/TV stores at the time and bought my first decent equipment at an employee discount, had the exact same Nak gear driving Infinitys. All my Nak & Kenwood stuff was stolen years later but the Infinity RS4B's were too big and heavy to carry away. I still use them today.
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thanks guys :) i do love the sound out of the Nak CD>Nak Receiver - sounds better than my current system downstairs (which is in desparate need of updating).
peace,
ts
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magnalisceous!
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been a while since I posted pics and I have made some small changes..
first the stairway up to my finished third floor (that thankfully I still have a fair amount of control over ;) )
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/PICT0066.jpg)
one of my favorite posters (for the hell of it)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/PICT0067.jpg)
my CD cabinets and binders (need to go through and get rid of some of the commercial stuff I just dont listen to)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/PICT0063.jpg)
a long shot of the room from the stairway
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/PICT0061.jpg)
my core playback
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/PICT0058.jpg)
from left to right
Denon 2900 - CD/DVD-A playback
Arcam AVR-300
Audio Magic Stealth Mini
Von Schweikert LCR-15
Oppo 981 HD - DVD-V playback
Direct TV HD Receiver
XBOX 360
Von Schweikert VR-2s flanking both ends. Have them both spiked and am seriously considering filling them up with lead shot in the near future
Vinyl Playback:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/PICT0054.jpg)
Rega P1
Rega Fono Preamp
Audio Doctor Record Cleaning Machine
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/PICT0056.jpg)
only disappointing thing is not enough time to listen to it. Between work and my family I havent turned on the turntable in a month before today!
Only upgrade coming is some rear surround speakers to finish out the system. I have considered upgrading the TT as well, but I love the way it sounds...probably good I dont live near anyone who has a better table than I do or I would be buying!
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how's the positioning of that center channel working out?
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how's the positioning of that center channel working out?
wasnt real happy with it until I bought a couple of door stops and it is angled up now, and I love it. Before I had a disconnect on the tv screen and where the sound was coming from, now it works perfectly.
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Nice Stuff Nick! well except the Carolina Hurricanes swag... :P
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Nice Stuff Nick! well except the Carolina Hurricanes swag... :P
dont worry, I am working on getting cowboys and yankees swag added next :P
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Nice Stuff Nick! well except the Carolina Hurricanes swag... :P
dont worry, I am working on getting cowboys and yankees swag added next :P
good thing your musical taste is better than your sports taste!
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good thing your musical taste is better than your sports taste!
I dunno.....I saw a Dave Matthews poster.....
Just kidding! +T for all of the yummy vinyl
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From a few months ago... not much has changed as I recall... 2 ch upstairs:
(http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k189/Staggolee/My%20House%208-8-07/DSC01010.jpg)
(http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k189/Staggolee/My%20House%208-8-07/DSC01003.jpg)
Surround system downstairs:
(http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k189/Staggolee/My%20House%208-8-07/DSC01011.jpg)
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Nice Digs Josh.
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very cool!
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Nice Digs Josh.
what he said!
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I just realized how far from "high quality" playback I have....
What would be a nice integrated amp to start with? To run into my JBL L100's maybe?
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ive been eyeing up outlaw audio. not integrated, but reasonable prices with what seems to be competitive gear.
unless anyone cares to prove me wrong....i havent spent any money yet.
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From a few months ago... not much has changed as I recall... 2 ch upstairs:
(http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k189/Staggolee/My%20House%208-8-07/DSC01010.jpg)
I heard this beast from the captain's chair back in october, and it was amazing. It just had a lot more balls than my current playback rig... much bigger, badder, thicker sound. 4 channel 24 bit panic sources sound fantastic on it ;D It certainly left me wanting more out of my setup...
pioneer elite CDP (digital out) > music hall mambo > focal chorus 716s
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thats tubes into the GPs. they are all ready sort of "thick" sounding to me to begin with (in a good way, as opposed to sounding thin). throw some tube power behind them and that must be a very nice syrupy slammy sensation for the brain!
love those GPs.
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I just realized how far from "high quality" playback I have....
What would be a nice integrated amp to start with? To run into my JBL L100's maybe?
buy Shawns Mambo intigrated amp. built in DAC. very nice piece.
its a little beat up cosmeticaly, but not where you'll see (it used to be mine, and got trashed by UPS in shipping to shawn). but everything is in working order and it still looks good from the front.
I bet he can set you up w/a nice deal.
minty ones used go in the $450-700 range typically and are worth *every* penny.
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what are you asking shawn?
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I haven't decided to sell yet. I'm just thinking about it. weighing out the options right now. thinking either a new amp or new speakers... or sell it all for a smoking headphone rig.
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what speakers are you running off that amp?
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Focal-JMLab Chorus 716S. great speaker if you like a brighter sound.
http://www.audioreview.com/cat/speakers/floorstanding-speakers/focal-jmlab/PRD_323818_1594crx.aspx
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update :)
Rega P1 with glass platter and Cambridge Audio 540p phono pre that I am purchasing from macdaddy. The phono pre was Nick's Pick's at one point, good ts.com genes ;)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/ampshot2.jpg?t=1201729405)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/ampshot2008-1-30.jpg?t=1201729408)
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purdy....
that sounds good from here even!
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purdy....
that sounds good from here even!
;D
I am digging it, can't wait to hear what it sounds like broken in.
rocking Bob Dylan's "Saved" 8)
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rocking Bob Dylan's "Saved" 8)
Christian Dylan rules. And on vinyl...on your system....you might have to nail me to your wood floors to keep me from driving down to C. Springs and wandering into a megachurch. ;)
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lol !
thats funny shit.
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rocking Bob Dylan's "Saved" 8)
Christian Dylan rules. And on vinyl...on your system....you might have to nail me to your wood floors to keep me from driving down to C. Springs and wandering into a megachurch. ;)
:lol:
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looks good, tim - have fun, and +t for the new toys...
make sure you get a vinyl cleaner/cleaning system sooner than later, otherwise you will prematurely wear out the cartridge, esp. using used discs...
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looks good, tim - have fun, and +t for the new toys...
make sure you get a vinyl cleaner/cleaning system sooner than later, otherwise you will prematurely wear out the cartridge, esp. using used discs...
The TT beat the cleaning system here :D Thanks for shipping so promptly
+T backatcha
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well i guess the setup won't be making it back to Cali :(
enjoy the new toys Tim ;D
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oooh purdy.
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very nice, +t
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thanks guys
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OK here's mine (It's all about the AKG k701 Headphones):
http://noahbickart.fastmail.fm/RigPics/DSCN1351.jpg
http://noahbickart.fastmail.fm/RigPics/DSCN1354.jpg
http://noahbickart.fastmail.fm/RigPics/DSCN1355.jpg
-Noah
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I really like that room - books + music ;D
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All those books help tame the room more than you might think.
Now I have to convince the wife to get some heavy drapes for those windows- and I'll be set.
-Noah
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OK here's mine (It's all about the AKG k701 Headphones):
http://noahbickart.fastmail.fm/RigPics/DSCN1351.jpg
http://noahbickart.fastmail.fm/RigPics/DSCN1354.jpg
http://noahbickart.fastmail.fm/RigPics/DSCN1355.jpg
-Noah
Wow, nice looking, cozy room! My kinda place....+T
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Here's some pics from my living room. I've got a new puppy coming next month, so most of this will get moved upstairs for a while...
(http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii126/EScott1013/AudioI.jpg)
(http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii126/EScott1013/AudioII.jpg)
(http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii126/EScott1013/AudioIII.jpg)
(http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii126/EScott1013/AudioIV.jpg)
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going to take some pics of the new studio i built for playback/restoration/mastering next week. I think it's finally "Picture worthy".
h
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Not mine.
http://blog.audiovideointeriors.com/208great/
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Heysus Christo !
are those MACs ?
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Heysus Christo !
are those MACs ?
They are, but they don't appear to be attached to anything.
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why yes, yes they are. MC2101's in fact.
read the link....
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Heysus Christo !
are those MACs ?
They are, but they don't appear to be attached to anything.
i noticed that too, nothing seems to be wired to anything else. wtf?
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it's those newfangled "wireless" wires.
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"wow...those cables are soooo transparent"...
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http://blog.audiovideointeriors.com/208great/
wow! I didn't even know there were projectors doing 4,096-by-2,160.
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Took a few shots of the room. I'm going to also start a thread in the rig pics area where I will update with more...
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Veeeeery nice. Keep the reels turning >:D
What is this thing on top of the rack right to the turntable? Looks like a tape echo or so.
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Veeeeery nice. Keep the reels turning >:D
What is this thing on top of the rack right to the turntable? Looks like a tape echo or so.
Not to answer for Heath, but, I will ;). Thats a Dictabelt and a wire recorder.
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swampy is correct. we are in the process of acquiring a wax cylinder playback device as well...
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Thanks for the explanation. I will go on at your topic @ rig pics.
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okay, so here is my listening room.
First two pics: Small system for pre-listening new recordings: eeePC, Creek P42 + A42, JBL Control One, Stellavox SP7.
3rd and 4th picture: Main setup, Thorens TD 126 Mk III with Linn Akito & Lyra Dorian, my guitar tube amp, Resolution Audio CD50, next to it the amplifier (Crimson CS 610 C, 620 D).
Loudspeakers: Rehdeko RK 115, in between them my Revox B77 Mk III for plugging in my guitar and creating some nice tape echo 8)
Last picture: Some other nice stuff, very old field telephone (1935), waveform generator, millivoltmeter, portable video recorder, Uher Report.
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missed this thread somehow. anyway, my room is here (http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,102144.0.html)
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love it! How are the speakers?
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love it! How are the speakers?
I could sell my Soliloquys today, and replace them with these. I'd have to buy a subwoofer, to be totally satsified though, as I've gotten seriously spoiled with full range speakers that passively carry 25hz).
They are friggin great sounding speakers, especially considering they're bookshelvers. By todays standard, it would rate as a really nice near-field monitoring sysem.
I'd rate this as a warm sounding solid state system.
The David Hafler amps weren't totally outright dissed by tube guys.
Nice.. that's quite a compliment for those speakers :D
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I was admiring that especially fine knob wear earlier.
I also had a pair of those same ADS speakers you have pictured there until termites ate them, I think I still have the tweeters and maybe the crossovers stored somewhere if you want 'em. The rest got trashed.
That Halfler stuff is so totally of that period.. the basic geometrical form knobs, the red lettering on black boxes (silver was so old fashioned then), red lights (vs. the current blue LED craze). It was a red & black boxy aesthetic those days. I always liked the Halfler stuff back then. No nonsense.
Looks vaguely like my first 'real' component stereo: (http://mackern.de/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/kenwoodm1c1.jpg)Kenwood C-1 preamp, M-1 power amp, and T-1 tuner from around '83 or so, later stolen which left me absolutely heartbroken. It had two sets of speaker outputs for the main speakers to put the speaker cables in the feedback loop. I bought a fancy Yamaha integrated receiver to replace them, but to my surprise the Yammy stuff didn't sound nearly as nice. That was a formative ear opening experience for me. I still have the 70's Pioneer speakers I used then with some funky looking tweeters (I'll snap a pic) in the back of the room and the Infinity RS4B's I bought to replace them in 1986 that were too big for the thieves to steal. :P
Halfler surround is retro cool! I used to do that all the time. The Halfler stuff had dedicated connections for it but you can do it with basically any amp (solid state at least). You can use either one or two rear speakers (2 are better, wired in series but out of phase) and driven with the L & R positive outputs of the stereo amp. No ground connection. It basically creates a Mid/Side matrix that sends only the difference signal info to the rear speakers. With a mono source nothing goes to the rears. Nice non-echoy natural ambience effect. I encourage anyone with a couple extra old speakers sitting around to try it with their 'bedroom' or 'shop' system. I wired up a buddy's sign shop last fall with two old speakers and some wire he had collecting dust under his desk to his yardsale amp and he was ecstatic.
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So many coincidences, bud. If yours have lasted this long you probably won't ever need them but I'm a bit of a pack rat and I appreciate a good cause to clean some house, I'll certainly never use them...OK I admit it, it's just fun to explore the archives sometimes. I'll try and dig down to the box of old speaker parts in the
spare bedroom archaeological site attached to my house. I had a whole box of EMIT tweeter diaphragms in there that has slowly dwindled down to one remaining spare for my pair. They kept getting doled out to the handful of close friends I bought Infinity's for when I worked for a local stereo merchant in the latter 80's, all of whom did stupid things to their speakers and let the magic smoke get out.
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I had a whole box of EMIT tweeter diaphragms in there that has slowly dwindled down to one remaining spare for my pair.
Ooooo man, I'm salivating.
I have a pair infinity of RS6B in the TV room and they still sound good. Never had to replace the tweeters.
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I had a whole box of EMIT tweeter diaphragms in there that has slowly dwindled down to one remaining spare for my pair.
Ooooo man, I'm salivating.
I have a pair infinity of RS6B in the TV room and they still sound good. Never had to replace the tweeters.
Nice! If you ever care to get rid of them let me know. I've thought about finding a pair of those to use as matching surrounds. I have the RS4B's which are identical to yours but add a second 8" woofer in a floor stander style cabinet. Never had to replace my tweets either. Supposedly people that've burnt theirs who didn't have access to new replacement diaphrams with the printed circuit traces on them have repaired the traces with 'fix the car rear window defroster' type kits.
I've wondered from time to time why no one developed a microphone based on the same principal. As a driver it's basically a long aluminum ribbon trace, printed on mylar, suspended between magnets to make a motor.. like a mini, more point-source Magnapan (as I understand it). As applied to a microphone, I'd think would be similar to a ribbon, with the advantages of being less delicate and having much greater sensitivity. :shrug:
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I love my wife...she is sooo understanding
DAC = Nuendo/Steinberg [RME] 8 I/0 96K
Pre Amp = Spectral DMC-30SS
Power Amp = Spectral DMA-250
Speakers = Avalon Acoustics Eidolon Diamonds
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8db09b3127ccec46cbb82f44700000026108AbNXLhszZtwe3nwQ)
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8db09b3127ccec46dd4c815de00000025108AbNXLhszZtwe3nwQ)
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8db09b3127ccec46c90e4359c00000025108AbNXLhszZtwe3nwQ)
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8db09b3127ccec46d024a940700000025108AbNXLhszZtwe3nwQ)
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8db09b3127ccec46cb56bf4a900000025108AbNXLhszZtwe3nwQ)
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8db09b3127ccec46dcccf94e500000026108AbNXLhszZtwe3nwQ)
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SonicSound,
I have to ask about the cable lifters: aesthetic or audible?
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those speakers are funky, i like it. :coolguy:
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Nice! If you ever care to get rid of them let me know. I've thought about finding a pair of those to use as matching surrounds. I have the RS4B's which are identical to yours but add a second 8" woofer in a floor stander style cabinet. Never had to replace my tweets either.
I'll probably keep them forever. I was going to clean house and priced them on agon. I saw a pair not as nice as mine but still pretty good for 20yo speakers priced at $175. I can't cant get close to these for that price. You should keep a watch for them because they come up occasionally. Or you could use the 4s for the rears and get those Kappa 9s on agon for the fronts.
I had to replace the woofers in mine. I had some music on while working on the other side of the house. I was playing a JGB cassette that I got in the mail that day. The levels were really low so I had my amp cranked to get the volume up where I could hear it across the house. The filler was was recorded at saturation. ::)
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Yikes.
I replaced the surrounds on all four woofs around '95 or so with one of those DIY kits after the originals rotted. The replacements are holding up fine.
edit-
I'd love a pair of those Kappa 9'. A pair of those were the first speakers that I really made a huge sea-change impression on me. I was wiring up the switch box in a new display room when the first pair arrived, so I opened the boxes and set them up. I didn't get much soldering work done that afternoon. I kept turning around with my mouth open, just listening. My supervisor came in to see how things were going, and I said, " listen to these things" and we both sat there for about two hours.
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I'm not entirely sure what happens, technically speaking; but, it brings about an amazing spark of hologaphic audio realism in playback that is surreal. It has to be a bundle of cancellations working there!
Whatever it is, those frogs are sure enjoying it!! ;)
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SonicSound - thanks for posting those! :drool:
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More like :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool:
Those things are beautiful!
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Great question. I have not done any critical listening...
For know I would have to say that these are only aesthetic components.
The lifts under the MIT/Spectral Speaker cables interface box were scored by my wife for free [she is a coupon queen] . They are glade scented oil candle holder.
(http://img.nextag.com/image/SC-Johnson-Glade-Scented/0/000/006/032/545/603254516.jpg)
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8db09b3127ccec46c90e4359c00000025108AbNXLhszZtwe3nwQ)
SonicSound,
I have to ask about the cable lifters: aesthetic or audible?
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glade scented oil candle holder.
:lol: awesome
I asked because there are a lot of people who swear by them on the forums and I see them in a lot of pictures on agon. Someone recommended trying with ceramic cups to see if they made a difference so I tried when I had the MH750s. I didn't hear anything different but I kind of like the looks of those lifters that look like old phone power line insulators.
I've never heard the Avalons but they sure look nice.
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ok, so here is my newbie home theater/audio room question of the day....
why in high end systems are the components always kept on stands that are so low to the ground?
just wondering.
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ok, so here is my newbie home theater/audio room question of the day....
why in high end systems are the components always kept on stands that are so low to the ground?
just wondering.
So you can operate them when you genuflect?
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I'm sure there is some esoteric reason for the equipment being near the floor...like to shorten the cable runs or something.
Will I be shunned by the audiophile community if I rack mount my gear and countersink it into a wall so that it's at normal person height and not gary coleman height? :P
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ok, so here is my newbie home theater/audio room question of the day....
why in high end systems are the components always kept on stands that are so low to the ground?
just wondering.
So you can operate them when you genuflect?
That must be it! ;D
I was going to blather up something about keeping the gravitational potential energy of the cabling and components equalized so the electrons don't flow or or down hill, but that's much more realistic. Then again, when your cables cost more per foot than the rent, there's another incentive to stoop.
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because tall wobbles.
a well made chassis is a heavy thing.
Vibration damping elastomer cables tuned to golden-ratio proportions suspending mu-metal platforms hung from cryogenically treated precious metal I beams?
Seriously, why don't we ever see platforms suspended on cables from the ceiling joists in high-end systems? Seems like ultimate vibration isolation, suspended at grown person height.
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I've never heard the Avalons but they sure look nice.
They sound way better than they look.
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glade scented oil candle holder.
:lol: awesome
I asked because there are a lot of people who swear by them on the forums and I see them in a lot of pictures on agon. Someone recommended trying with ceramic cups to see if they made a difference so I tried when I had the MH750s. I didn't hear anything different but I kind of like the looks of those lifters that look like old phone power line insulators.
I've never heard the Avalons but they sure look nice.
yeah that's awesome :lol:
they do look nice. I don't have any place or need for them but that's a great little trick to remember
Rok - I think it's about elimination of vibrations and that's why you see the low racks etc. There are other ways to limit vibration without using GC stands so do what works best for you
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I would think they might help w/the elimination of static charge...., and dog hair (in my case).
but honestly now, I can't hear shit as my system is rattling the windows.
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I actually have seen pics of suspended systems.
But what happens when you touch it? Maybe you have isolation but you can so easily introduce motion.
because tall wobbles.
a well made chassis is a heavy thing.
Vibration damping elastomer cables tuned to golden-ratio proportions suspending mu-metal platforms hung from cryogenically treated precious metal I beams?
Seriously, why don't we ever see platforms suspended on cables from the ceiling joists in high-end systems? Seems like ultimate vibration isolation, suspended at grown person height.
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I actually have seen pics of suspended systems.
But what happens when you touch it? Maybe you have isolation but you can so easily introduce motion.
NO TOUCHING!
Remote only. Plus no fingerprints if you don't have the linen gloves on.
I was netsurfin' a couple days ago and read up on some uber DIY geek dude who built his own Seaway. Ironically it appears a big challenge for him was devising a non-spilling drink holder. He ended up with a spar sticking out the front which supported a pendulum-ish hanging cup holder by three lines and reports that it swings wildly in all directions but never spills a drop - In fact the liquid barley moves in the cup.
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shockmounted cocktails!
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If I had my druthers.. I'd certainly have a garage, bud.
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Just moved into a new place and the basement is mine. I'll be adding another couch and getting my collection out on display but right now I'm just happy to have a room that I can setup however I want. And yes, the bricks around the fireplace need to be painted :P
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/S7300259.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/S7300261.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/S7300265.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/S7300267.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/S7300268.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/tmarkham/S7300269.jpg)
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excellent!
i cant get over how alike that amp of yours is to the jolida 302 - i think they use all the same tubes...
i recognize the furutech, as well...
oh, and nice lookin' turntable :D
funny - i spent alot of effort getting RID of the paint that the previous owner slapped on the bricks of my fireplace; granted, there is a mantle here, and the bricks dont run all the way up the wall, but think about it before you paint - 'cos it is a pain in the a$$ removing that sh*t...
congrats on the new setup - looks like it is time to buy some new software (lp's, cd's, d/l's) so you can kick and enjoy - there are few things i enjoy more than diggin' the tuneage in my own pad...
(i really have to get to work on my garage :P)
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lookin' good.
feet up brother!
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Thanks Marc. yeah I don't know what to do about the fireplace. If I was a Texas Longhorns fan it might be tolerable :P
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looking good! toobs are sexy!
congrats on the new digs.
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thanks, we're starting to settle in finally.
picked up some nice shelves for my vinyl yesterday
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Thanks Marc. yeah I don't know what to do about the fireplace. If I was a Texas Longhorns fan it might be tolerable :P
Wait, whaaat?
I need better pictures of said fireplace!
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Tim are you saying that brick is burnt orange (if so I need to adjust my monitor) or a set of longhorns would look good mounted on the brick?
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Tim are you saying that brick is burnt orange (if so I need to adjust my monitor) or a set of longhorns would look good mounted on the brick?
set of longhorns? how about the whole starting offensive line?
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Tim are you saying that brick is burnt orange (if so I need to adjust my monitor) or a set of longhorns would look good mounted on the brick?
yeah its definitely got a burnt orange look in better light/in person
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Nice digs! Very nice system as well!
I think (at least from the pictures) that the brick looks fine, it just needs some art or a shelf or something to break it up....it is B I G!
Incidentally, I see you have a Discwasher. You might want to do an EBay search for "vintage" Discwasher. The newer ones use a corduroy pad instead of the original stuff (which was similar to corduroy, but picked up dust much better). But don't just take my word for it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Tkk2EW9fHo
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p0.m38.l1313&_nkw=vintage+discwasher&_sacat=See-All-Categories
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thanks for the tip on the discwasher som!
yes I picked up a masonry bit this weekend so I can hang something on that brick :P
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Looks good Tim, looking forward to the first listening party.
On the discwasher system, even better to be truly vintage. I have no idea how bad the new ones are, but my (current) one is from 1983 or so. The one I got in ~1979 was lost in college and I replaced it with my early 80s one. This "newer" one is nowhere near as good as the 70's one, though it does sound like its better than the current one.
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Tim, that huge fireplace wall just needs a nice mantle over it. Don't paint the bricks (mine are painted, and it sucks). (At least not til you've tried a mantle.)
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what he said ^
Build a mantel. not very hard. Just some mitering.
Then you'll have a nice shelf there to dump shit on top of. Another place for record storage!
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Tim, that huge fireplace wall just needs a nice mantle over it. Don't paint the bricks (mine are painted, and it sucks). (At least not til you've tried a mantle.)
the bricks have already been painted, thats why they look so awful :lol:
thanks for the idea Brian :)
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I've a similar situation. Brick wall & fireplace. Brick wraps around from the living room into the kitchen. Previous owner attempted to paint the mortar lines with white paint, horribly, and then painted some sort of shiny clear coat over the brick. Looks atrocious. I'm hesitant to paint it, but there is a dark wooden ceiling and oak floors and the room could use some brightening up. I'm either going to paint the brick a off-white cream, or go all out and re-face it with limestone which would be more fitting to the location and style of the house.
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directly above this fireplace is an identical fire place in our living room, its painted white and looks very nice. not sure what the fuck they were thinking downstairs ::)
good luck senor bucket
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Tim, that huge fireplace wall just needs a nice mantle over it. Don't paint the bricks (mine are painted, and it sucks). (At least not til you've tried a mantle.)
the bricks have already been painted, thats why they look so awful :lol:
thanks for the idea Brian :)
Didn't realize the bricks were already painted. Since they have been, paint over them with the color of your choice. I thought they were still natural and you would be applying the first coat. Removing paint from bricks is a bitch. Wouldn't wish that job on anyone but a professional. Like Brian said, a nice mantle and /or a large mirror/framed artwork/etc and the room will have a whole different feel to it.
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Didn't realize the bricks were already painted. Since they have been, paint over them with the color of your choice. I thought they were still natural and you would be applying the first coat. Removing paint from bricks is a bitch. Wouldn't wish that job on anyone but a professional.
Me either. What he said. ^^^
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In our house, the original owner painted the fireplace brick white. The second owner (right before us) couldn't stand that the brick was painted white, and hired an artist to paint it to look like brick. It is so well done, I would never have known the brick was painted unless the previous owner told me and I then looked carefully.
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If I only have my pics on my HD, is it possible to insert them here?
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they dont want us uploading pics to the site anymore. go sign up for a free photo hosting site and then link you pics from there.
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(http://i.pbase.com/g3/91/629491/2/107914195.lUJHhVsG.jpg)
squeezebox v.1 (16bit/48k resolution via toslink, wireless network player)
tascam dat (da-20) 16bit/48k
directv "off-air" antenna converter box (AM21)
hd-directv DVR (HR21)
panasonic dvd-a player (DVDS52) [24/96 DVD+/-R's]
lg network blu-ray player (BD300) (STREAMS Netflix, in better than SD resolution if your LAN can support that bitstream)
yamaha receiver (RXV-663) [24/192 Burr Brown D>A converters on all inputs]
Panasonic 42" Plasma 720p/1080i
Mirage v2 Omnisat Towers, Mirage Omnisat Center
http://www.pbase.com/titoedge/audio_cabinet_jan_2009
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nice Todd! that looks great
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figured it was time to put some new pics with some of the minor changes I have made...
from the stairs that led into the room
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/Room_10.jpg)
from my vantage point
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/Room_4.jpg)
Left VR-2 - biwired with anticables
Apple Airport express - one of the best purchases I have ever made
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/Room_3.jpg)
Right VR-2 - biwired with anticables
CD storage...all those drawers are full with studio releases
CD binders on top with burned discs
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/Room_7.jpg)
VR LCR-15 mounted on a shelf above the TV. Made a world of difference in quality of sound vs below the tv. Before, when sitting on the shelf below, it sounded thin. Mounted above, it sounds much fuller
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/Room_9.jpg)
Arcam AVR-300
Denon 2900
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/Room_5.jpg)
XBOX 360
Oppo 981HD
Audio Magic Stealth
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/Room_6.jpg)
Vinyl collection
Nitty Gritty RCM under the turntable
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/Room_1.jpg)
Thorens TD-165
Target turntable shelf...made a huge difference with the sound from the table
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/Room_2.jpg)
my desk which sits at the end of the room. Work from home quite a bit so routinely have my work and personal PC fired up.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/Room_11.jpg)
one of my favorite parts of the room ;D
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/Room_8.jpg)
only thing I would do differently is I would love to have this room in a basement as the sound wont be as prevalent in the rest of the house, but basements in the south are few and far between...
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looking really good nick, I like the turntable shelf. didn't know you had moved to a thorens
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very nice. i just rewired my HT last night ill take some pics today.
todd e, love the cabinet built into the wall like that, any heat issues? also is there access behind it, like a false back wall??
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looking really good nick, I like the turntable shelf. didn't know you had moved to a thorens
I got an absurd deal from craigslist a while back...$50 for it...had a guy tune it up and I liked the sound much better than the P1...not that the P1 wasn't solid, but the thorens just had a different sound which I liked...
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looking really good nick, I like the turntable shelf. didn't know you had moved to a thorens
I got an absurd deal from craigslist a while back...$50 for it...had a guy tune it up and I liked the sound much better than the P1...not that the P1 wasn't solid, but the thorens just had a different sound which I liked...
yeah thats absurd ;D nice man, glad to see it went to someone who will appreciate it
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very nice. i just rewired my HT last night ill take some pics today.
todd e, love the cabinet built into the wall like that, any heat issues? also is there access behind it, like a false back wall??
i do have rear access in the form of (2) 4" circular holes for pass thru cables etc. i'll probably make one more step and be done for a while, and that would be adding a small cpu fan behind the directv equipment. thanks.
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i do have rear access
Whoa! Too much info, dude. ;) ;D
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ok, finally took some pics tonight. this is the home theater setup in my living room, not my main music listening area. (that is still being constructed...)
but keep in mind this is a work in progress too....
Gear:
Samsung 550 LCD TV
Pioneer DV-250 DVD player
Comcast HD-DVR (1080i best res)
Denon 3808
Audioquest Stealth 4 conductor speaker cables
Paradigm (x2) Monitor 9v3 floor standing loud speakers (Bi-Amped)
Paradigm CC350 center channel (timbre matched to the fronts)
Sony SA-WM250 Sub
Bose (x2) 201 bookshelf speakers
to bad im horrible at picking matching componants. it sounds better than it looks i swear.
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_5791.jpg?t=1238211434)
i still need to cut a piece of wood for the Denon to sit on, but the foot of snow we got yesterday has my tools and wood stash buried. it had to be moved out of the entertainment center because i was having issues with heat, this is the best solution i could find given the space i have to work with.
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_5798.jpg?t=1238212579)
i did have my Paradigm PS-1200 sub up here but found it to be way to much for my mid-small living room, so moved it back down stairs to the man cave for now. the Sony is more than enough and it gave us a slightly larger traffic area to the kitchen as well. this was a big point in achieving WAF.
i love these speakers, and the 3808 pushes them with authority! they are spiked and bi-amped.
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_5715.jpg?t=1238212685)
naked
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_5804.jpg?t=1238212767)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_5805.jpg?t=1238212790)
naked
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_5806.jpg?t=1238212825)
the Denon makes bi-amping these easy. i do need to invest in some banana connectors..but i love the Audioquest cables, they even have bass and treble written on the insulation of the conductors for optimal performance. i love what this has done to the sound of my hi's and mid's, but more so this has really brought out the low end dramatically in these speakers too, possibly the reason the Paradigm sub became over powering....
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_5802.jpg?t=1238212856)
the weakest link in the chain right now is the Bose 201 rears, although im not unhappy really, they do just fine for all the more a rear is worked.
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_5722.jpg?t=1238213319)
the Denon is an awesome unit that is very user friendly. my favorite feature is the on screen GUI making use from the couch an effortless endeavor. it is worth its weight in gold, and the bitch aint light.
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_5822.jpg?t=1238213066)
motley crue anyone? ;D
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_5814.jpg?t=1238213027)
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i do need to invest in some banana connectors..but i love the Audioquest cables, they even have bass and treble written on the insulation of the conductors for optimal performance. i love what this has done to the sound of my hi's and mid's, but more so this has really brought out the low end dramatically in these speakers too, possibly the reason the Paradigm sub became over powering....
Forget the banana connectors, what you have is great if you aren't swapping speakers all the time. A lot of folks prefer using bare wire.
Your experience with bi-amping is the same as mine. One of the best immediate improvements in sound I've had in my system.
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good to know. i was having issues finding them to fit anyway. i really think the Paradigms are underrated, they shake my soul setup like this.
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I want to hear those paradigms sometime.
for the record I use bare wire and I bi-wire. Are you using two amps and bi-amping or just bi-wiring?
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the denon allows me to use 2 separate channels that would be zone 2 in a bi-amping setup, so this is the same as bi-amping with 2 separate amps right?
anytime tim! that is as long as your not opposed to entering boulder county. :P
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Gotcha, yeah sounds like you're able to biamp. Very cool, bet it sounds good in there. Get that Denon off the sub and the vibrations, I bet it will help a lot.
Its Boulder County that is opposed to me :P ;)
I need to leave the house more often, we'll have to figure something out.
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Gotcha, yeah sounds like you're able to biamp. Very cool, bet it sounds good in there. Get that Denon off the sub and the vibrations, I bet it will help a lot.
not sure where to put it. as you can see i dont have much of an option. i did have it inside the entertainment center but had heat issues. the entertainment center hood used to have a partition with shelves that was the support for the roof, without it i dont dare put anymore weight up there. so im out of places to put it..
time to move. :P
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yep, clearly the answer is a bigger house!
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its not really an issue of making room for it in the entertainment center, but more about heat. i had it on the bottom shelf but it only had a inch or 2 of gap the whole way around it which wasnt enough for it to keep cool enough. the shelf is permanant so i can remove it to make more room.
how serious is the vibration from the sub for the denon? it seems fine, and i ran it hard this weekend.
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On the discwasher system, even better to be truly vintage. I have no idea how bad the new ones are, but my (current) one is from 1983 or so. The one I got in ~1979 was lost in college and I replaced it with my early 80s one. This "newer" one is nowhere near as good as the 70's one, though it does sound like its better than the current one.
I was at a record show today and came across a table that had 2 of the 1970s 1983 discwasher pads. Original box and instructions as well. I picked one up for $10. Pretty funny, I looked down and laughed when I saw it - had to buy it based on this thread :)
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:coolguy:
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As with so many things, vintage is better....
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ok, i took some pics. still not done, todd still hasn't hooked me up with the silver custom cables, nor have i finished breakin in yet...and im still moving the speakers around to sound right...but! im really happy at any rate.
Martin Logan Preface speakers, a hybrid transducer/cone speaker
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6511-1.jpg?t=1239861157)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6515-1.jpg?t=1239861195)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6524-1.jpg?t=1239861215)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6526-1.jpg?t=1239861246)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6529-1.jpg?t=1239861269)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6530-1.jpg?t=1239861294)
under the desk is my Paradigm PS-1200 sub with my new Adcom Amp on top of it. beside it is the PC and the brain of my stereo. im running M-Audio 192> Adcom GFA-545> Martin Logan Preface's. i know i need an DAC but for now it sounds damn good. the sub is currently turned off since the speakers seem to be gaining low end as i play them, and its basically a stand....
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6550-1.jpg?t=1239862025)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6537-1.jpg?t=1239861322)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6538-1.jpg?t=1239861815)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6539-1.jpg?t=1239861836)
Left
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6540-1.jpg?t=1239861878)
Right
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6542-1.jpg?t=1239861926)
gear closet
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6544-1.jpg?t=1239861948)
the sweet spot
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6551-1.jpg?t=1239862060)
from the sweetness...
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_6552-1.jpg?t=1239862104)
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Congrats buddy, glad they arrived. Now I want to hear them!
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I've wondered how those sound...
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anytime tim, seriously i would love to have you. i want to throw a listening party sometime soon.
nick, i admit im a n00b to the audiophile world, but wow do i love these things. they sound incredibly wide in sound stage and very detailed. still not blown away by the low end, but i also only have about 25hrs on them, not to mention they arent placed in the best manor to bring the bass either. any tips on placement is welcome BTW. (again, n00b here)
edit to add: i did have my paradigms in the same spot before and never came close to the level of happiness these have brought so far. official ML fluffer from now on!
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they prob. could stand to be a little lower. the tweeter should be at your head level.
seeing how these are not ESLs, placement shouldn't be a problem. Use the white noise technique , start w/them perfectly on axis (straight ahead) and toe them in until the white noise foccuses like a ball in the center between the speakers.
then you're done.
MLs respond to quality amplification. at least the ESLs do any way. when I upgraded my amps to something very nice, they woke up like someone turned the whoofer on for the first time.
Your room needs a tie-dyed tap from me.
serious!
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they prob. could stand to be a little lower. the tweeter should be at your head level.
If you can't change the height, you might try angling them down so the tweets point at head level at the listening location. My old Infinitys with EMITs (similar tweeters) have limited vertical dispersion and are more sensitive to height than domes. In addition they like a lot of toe-in. In my case if I line up the outside edge of either cabinet with my listening position so the speakers point (cross) at a spot about a foot in front of me it locks in. The white noise thing works well to play with that, but for me it's obvious when I hear it with music too.
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i had them lower and it seemed like the desk was cock blocking them while i was editing. im trying to create a good place to work and play so to say, and all in a room thats less than perfect. once i raised them the sound quality at my desk was much improved. sitting at my desk the tweeter is only about 6" above head level.
ill give the white noise technique a try later today. i agree, i need a phatty die yet. ;)
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they prob. could stand to be a little lower. the tweeter should be at your head level.
If you can't change the height, you might try angling them down so the tweets point at head level at the listening location. My old Infinitys with EMITs (similar tweeters) have limited vertical dispersion and are more sensitive to height than domes. In addition they like a lot of toe-in. In my case if I line up the outside edge of either cabinet with my listening position so the speakers point (cross) at a spot about a foot in front of me it locks in. The white noise thing works well to play with that, but for me it's obvious when I hear it with music too.
go idea. what would be safe to give them tilt? i do have wicked toe in already though...
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dont over toe.
ideally, the spread of the speakers should equal the distance your head is to the imaginary horizontal plane they sit in.
so if they are 8' apart, you should be listening from 8' away.
the white noise trick works very well. its a solid source (where as music is not, you have multiple "images" going on) and a single thing to dial in. Once you get that down to "the ball of noise", they are calibrated and *anything* you play through them will sound how it is intended to.
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like i said, a less than perfect room.
my goal next is to get a mytek stereo96 DAC. (long term goal of course)
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I just read a *very* good review about the Vdac from MF in this months stereophile
http://www.musicalfidelity.com/products/vseries/vdac.html
its cheap too. relatively speaking.
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Yeah 'desk in the way' is one reason I mentioned the tilt possibility. If you get a bug about it you could throw a blanket or something over the desk when listening from the chair, might help.
I like a bit wider spread of the speakers as long as they image well enough to support a strong center at that width. More like an equilateral triangle / 60 degrees apart (same distance to each speaker as between them) or even a bit more. All depends. The toughest problem I've had in similar looking rooms in the past is bass nodes. I can move things to get the imaging right, but nice flat bass curves are tougher. I've considered trying stacks of fiberglass insulation rolls in the corners as bass traps but i've never done it.
I'll bow out now to Nick's experienced ear with whore-loads of different speakers including MLs.
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ELS logans are an entirely different beast though. you use a flashlight on your head to dial panels in. true true, got that direct from ML's techs as *the absolute best way* for the electorstats to be setup.
but...thats another tale for another day.
whore loads.
yup, thats me
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I'll bow out now to Nick's experienced ear with whore-loads of different speakers including MLs.
:lol:
i think i need to finish the break in before i scrutinize the bass to much, although i see a huge difference in the bottom when they are loud compared to quiet. i just repositioned them again, thanks for all the help. now i need to find something to gain tilt....
days off in the man cave = me happy. :)
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Some pictures of cool setups here:
http://i.gizmodo.com/5216733/130-audio-setups-that-will-make-you-very-very-jealous
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I've been agonizing over this all week - and I just pulled the trigger!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v729/MokePics2/Audio-Rack/146q.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v729/MokePics2/Audio-Rack/146x.jpg)
Its a Thorens TD-146 semi-automatic TT
yeah,... I know, semi-automatic,......
I have my motivations,..
This is going in my bedroom. So, I'm either going to lay down and fall asleep, or (more likely), Sarge will distract me and call me out of the room, and I'll forget all about the table spinning away.
So, this deck has an autolift and auto shutoff system built into it at the factory. If it dies, the table reverts to a normal manual table. Its an optical-sensor lift.
I like some automation in my tables. I even mounted a tonearm lifter on my Rega TT ::shrugs::
This Thorens table has been refurbished, lubed, new belt, comes with a new heavy duty 16v power supply, has been rewired to be an RCA output pair on the rear of the deck (rather than the typical cheesy oem hardwired cables of the day). The bottom-plate has been upgraded from cardboard to 1/2" HDF. An anti-static mat has been included, as well as an rca cable pair, and disc washing supplies.
Its friggin immaculate!
I'm pretty damn stoked right now!
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very nice!
i miss the auto-return from my cheap technics table
that thorens looks pretty cherry
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Those pics are the sister deck to the one that I bought. The guy selling it has assured me that the deck that I'm getting is 100% its equal, as far as its condition, and, has all the mentioned upgrades. The pictured deck does not have the auto-functions.
I hit Ebay, looking for decks, and, came on this listing (http://cgi.ebay.com/THORENS-TD-146-upgraded-with-many-EXTRAS-Beautiful_W0QQitemZ130308242620QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e56f9fcbc&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A30).
I asked him about the functionality of the auto-function of the deck, and was told that it did not have that feature (it has to be factory installed, with the factory oem arm). He told me about the deck that he had that was the clone of this one, and it did have the functioning features, and was equally upgraded and refurbed. He's guaranteed my satisfaction with it, cosmetically, and functionally.
We've been discussing it all week, and he's been really responsive at every step, and I feel I can trust his judgement, and character at this point - and his feedback is 100%, so,...
I know what you mean about missing the auto-functions. I had them for a long time with my technics deck, and the Rega Planars are all manual. It took me quite a bit to get used to lifting the arm off manually. When I got the tonearm lifter, quite frankly, I've loved it! unfortunately, it was one of ten, from a small production run built by a guy in the phillipines, and is not easily accessible, if available at all.
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nice Mike. I actually have a Thorens TD165, which I flat out love. It honestly was a nice improvement over the Rega I had. I think the highs and lows are more accurately reproduced on a suspension type table. Only complaint I have with it is I really want a tonearm lift for it (similar reason that you had mentioned) and they are hard to come across...
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nice Mike. I actually have a Thorens TD165, which I flat out love. It honestly was a nice improvement over the Rega I had. I think the highs and lows are more accurately reproduced on a suspension type table. Only complaint I have with it is I really want a tonearm lift for it (similar reason that you had mentioned) and they are hard to come across...
We should look into a group buy.
I have the contact information for the fabricator of the lifter that I have the "TonaL" (acronym for for TonearmLifter).
Its a fabulous piece! But its not cheap, at $100 when I got mine last year, and, possibly more to talk him into doing another batch.
I'm telling you what,... its just the greatest little piece of gear that I've bought in years!! And the engineering and fabrication of it are nothing short of swiss watch caliber fabrication - an amazing thing.
going to fetch some information,.... check back.
maybe a group buy might convince him to build more? there is a market for them out there, I know!!
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definitely something I would be interested in...the thorens version that isnt manufactured anymore can be found online at times for $125 and up...
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here is a sideview of Mandy's work, the TonaL
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1445303#post1445303
It has a brass counterweight to reload it. The opposite end has a rare earth magnet and there is also a corresponding magnet that is attached to the tonearm. The little "leg" that extend 90º is a tripping mechanism. As the tonearm reaches the run out groove, the trip lowers the TonaL magnet, which attracts to the tonearm magnet, and lifts it. Built in stop screws within the Tonal allow for fine adjustments.
I have a working vid of mine posted,... let me fetch the link,...
My TonaL, in action:
http://www.tapers.org/mfrench/tonal_arm_lifter/tonal_tonearm_lifter.avi
This vid is from when I first installed it. I've since made the fine adjustment that lifts the tonearm more smoothly and higher from the platter. It now lifts as high as my cuing lift, far clear of the record surface.
Look to the rear of the tonearm to see the action!
fat fingered the crap out of this one ::laffs::
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purty
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so made some recent changes, getting a new ikea shelf for record storage, adding a VPI16.5 and adding a new dedicated AC unit to my third floor:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/PICT0001.jpg)
cleared this unit out...so now I have room for expansion for vinyl
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/PICT0002-1.jpg)
and here is a long shot of the room...that minisplit AC unit you see towards the ceiling is new as well...love it...easy way to add AC to the floor (the unit covering the 2nd and 3rd floors just wasnt big enough and if I wanted to upsize it and dual zone, it would have cost twice what putting the minisplit up there did)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/nickgregory/PICT0004.jpg)
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I went from this:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v729/MokePics2/Audio-Rack/IMG_5303JPG.jpg)
to this:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v729/MokePics2/Audio-Rack/IMG_5811.jpg)
The changes are:
New TV. The Sony LCD turned out to be a great POS, and needed to be replaced.
So we went to a wall hanging Vizio 55"
This freed up the library table for my new Lenco L75 turntable custom build.
The 'books' are 78 record album sets, as well as the ones on the floor. These represent the smallest fraction of the 78 collection that I bought.
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very nice...see I had to move all of my main playback to the finished attic, which is completely mine, for kid and wife reasons....so I can listen up there all I want and I have my Apple Airport distributing my digital music collection around the house.
I would never get to listen to the vinyl if it was in my den...
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Are those bricks on your cable box???
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Are those bricks on your cable box???
They improve the picture. ;D :P
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Actually,... Yes, they are bricks, split pavers. Those are used as spacers for my DVD-A player that has been disconnected since like june? So I guess they just space holders for now.
Actually, now that I'm looking over there, they're now being used as the base for the junk pile that is the base mount for the new DIY tonearm.
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Ahh. I was wondering if it was the latest DIY tweak!
The new setup looks like a great improvement, and the Lenco looks *awesome*!
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the best thing about a massive plinth like that,...
I had the stack of record albums on the right of the table tip over and land against the plinth during playback.
Thats like 40lbs of 78 records hitting it.
Any other light plinth would have been shoved aside, turntable relocated.
The lenco plinth is so heavy that I didn't even hear the records hitting it, not even a groove skip - rock steady.
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That is a really nice setup Mike... The table is looking great, especially with the shelves and everything else.
btw I think I found a lead on a guy who has a whole bunch of old lenco gear he doesn't need anymore. Going to take a trip and see him this weekend.
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That is a really nice setup Mike... The table is looking great, especially with the shelves and everything else.
btw I think I found a lead on a guy who has a whole bunch of old lenco gear he doesn't need anymore. Going to take a trip and see him this weekend.
sweet!
L75 and L78 are good building decks.
You want to make sure that its a heavy platter model, as there were a couple of lighter platters. The L78 and L75 are heavy platters. The bearings are much better, to handle the heavier platter.
There are several really nice bearing upgrades being offered right now for the heavy bearing rigs.
How are you at DIY?
If you're handy, these things can be cheaply and easily built into some of the finest world class players.
Have you seen my tonearm project, the RatsPaw?
Its in Team DIY. It has evolved from an admittedly laughable beginning, to something to be reckoned with; and has cost a whopping $16.25 so far ($16 for a nice fine Litz wire cart. loom, and .25¢ for a pair of screws). I built it to match the lines of the Lenco build; to emulate the 'audio-deco' look.
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That is a really nice setup Mike... The table is looking great, especially with the shelves and everything else.
btw I think I found a lead on a guy who has a whole bunch of old lenco gear he doesn't need anymore. Going to take a trip and see him this weekend.
sweet!
L75 and L78 are good building decks.
You want to make sure that its a heavy platter model, as there were a couple of lighter platters. The L78 and L75 are heavy platters. The bearings are much better, to handle the heavier platter.
There are several really nice bearing upgrades being offered right now for the heavy bearing rigs.
How are you at DIY?
If you're handy, these things can be cheaply and easily built into some of the finest world class players.
Have you seen my tonearm project, the RatsPaw?
Its in Team DIY. It has evolved from an admittedly laughable beginning, to something to be reckoned with; and has cost a whopping $16.25 so far ($16 for a nice fine Litz wire cart. loom, and .25¢ for a pair of screws). I built it to match the lines of the Lenco build; to emulate the 'audio-deco' look.
Solid, that's what I'll look for. The guy doesn't know what he has, just says he's got alot of "junk" and to come take a look at it to see what I'd need. I'm pretty decent at DIY stuff though living in a city I don't have a work shop for fabricating much beyond what my basic tools can do. So I may have to ousource the building of the plinth. First step though is to find nice bones, we'll see what I can come up with.
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Sanjay, I have a table saw, router table and assorted hand tools. You're welcome to bring out some hardwood and make your cuts here.
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Sanjay, I have a table saw, router table and assorted hand tools. You're welcome to bring out some hardwood and make your cuts here.
Thanks for the offer dude, I'm sure I'll be in touch.
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Sanjay,
Did you get a deck?
If you did, and are going to re-plinth it, don't buy a plinth template. They're offered on eBay.
There is a free, far better template, at LencoHeaven, as a pdf download, that can be brought to a print shop, and made to a 1:1 print on heavy paper stock.
As far as tools and space - you can get the rough cuts at Home Despot / Lowes. Beyond that, a drill motor, and portable jig saw, and a few other hand tools are all that are necessary.
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so hear it finally is, my man cave in all its glory. still have some picture frames to hang but for the most parts its there.....for now.
RIG:
pc> M-audio 192 sound card coax out
Outlaw Audio 970 Pre> Phatman Silver Innerconnects
Adcom GFA-545> Segue Dogstar Silver Cables
Martin Logan Preface's
Paradigm PS-1200
from my listening spot/sweet spot
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2690-1.jpg?t=1255062238)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2693-1.jpg?t=1255062282)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2694.jpg?t=1255062304)
the sweet seat
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2708.jpg?t=1255062345)
my desk about 2' back from the sweet seat
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2707.jpg?t=1255062406)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2712.jpg?t=1255062426)
stage right
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2704.jpg?t=1255062465)
and stage left
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2706-1.jpg?t=1255062505)
DFC
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2702.jpg?t=1255062524)
this was to even out my symmetry of the room, but wasnt doing what i wanted so i removed it. i plan to get more ruxwol or corning 703 and making triangles to fill the space in.
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2680-1.jpg?t=1255062610)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2681-1.jpg?t=1255062747)
new preamp and amp. the pre is much larger than the amp hence the amp on top.
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2695.jpg?t=1255062770)
and my new IC in action. all IC so far are silver as are the speaker wires. i made the IC's, and the speaker wires are a set of Todd Ramsden's Segue Dogstar Silver Speaker Cables.
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2699.jpg?t=1255062923)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2701.jpg?t=1255062942)
for now, the Bar and beer fridge. the fridge i hope to soon have a hole poked through the front door to house a tap for the keg inside.
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2728.jpg?t=1255063704)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2730.jpg?t=1255063725)
music collection
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2731-1.jpg?t=1255063742)
what more do i need?
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oh and here is the home theater, its not a man cave but i still put it together and if it was a cave too i would be living the subterranean home sick blues.
rig:
Samsung 550 LCD TV
cable box or DVD player via digital input
Denon 3808ic
Paradigm monitor 9 v.3 L/R (bi-amped)
Paradigm cc350 center
Sony 10' active sub (not sure of model, but its not doing much as the mains cover most of the bass)
Bose 201's for rears
fwiw, the front and rears are at an equal split of 13' with 15' from front to rear.
from the couch/veiwing spot:
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2715-1.jpg?t=1255064090)
FR speaker
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2717-1.jpg?t=1255064108)
FL speaker
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2720.jpg?t=1255064145)
center (notice i have it elevated/jacked up for better aim at the couch)
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2726.jpg?t=1255064228)
Denon, cable box, and pioneer dvd player
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2719-1.jpg?t=1255064172)
RR speaker
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2721.jpg?t=1255064338)
LR speaker
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2722-1.jpg?t=1255064405)
back half of the room w/ rears in view
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2725-1.jpg?t=1255064610)
notice the wall plates i installed, it gives the whole thing a more professional look. suspension was the only mount that gave me some flexibility without spending more money on the mout than the speaker it held was worth
RR > (http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2724.jpg?t=1255064520)
RL > (http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_2723.jpg?t=1255064542)
im really happy with this setup. it has great spread and separation, and tons of in your face 360* encompassing sound.
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nice job Jim!
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yup, nice stuff.
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Did the rock wool absorbers make a significant difference in the room sound?
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yes huge, but not rock wool, i got the corning 703 panels off ebay. keep in mind the rear and right wall are painted concrete. seems to have given me a much more defined image, and a little bass absortion too. not as much as a few bass traps might.
im in the hunt for the compressed fiberglass pipe wraps like in the DIY links tim posted, but not having any luck. so far they seem to be a difficult item to locate in the metro denver area.
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damn, nice job Jim!
I took a pic of my "man cave." This is taken from the center of the couch. The only sound treatment I have is the coat rack!
I do have a nice Tannoy/Integra 5.1 system upstairs, but the "man cave" is where the good times are! ;)
Monster Power Center HTS 3600mkII
fooBar2000v0.9.6.8;PnP Mapping > USB2> SuperPro DAC707se>
BBE 882i SonicMaximizer> DarkTrain Silver Clad IC>
QSC 1100 Amplifier> MonsterXP Speaker Cable>
Design Acoustics PS-10a ; Sony Mod 12"Sub
Headphone:
Headstage Mini-Amp PRO> Beyerdynamic DT880
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The only sound treatment I have is the highly effective 2.5' deep, tunable broadband front wall absorber ingeniously disguised as a coat rack!
FTFY ;)
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i like the rack built into the desk mike. its got character.
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That is funny Gutbucket!
Yeah I love that mixing desk. I found it at Guitar Center in a dusty box in the back corner of their mixing room. It had been marked down a few times and the sales guy wanted rid of it. I got it for $35, and the Sonic Maximizer I got for $30, it had been sitting there for a while too...
The QSC 1100 Amp I found in one of our vacant buildings at work. it was an old dolby movie lab. This amp model has some history in dolbys movie theaters in the past... It is amazing the amp was undamaged and 100% operational, the roof had major leaks.
The design acoustic speakers I got as a gift when my parents moved. These are quite interseting speakers, esspecially for free. They have a down fireing 10" woofer, you should be able to see the gap at the bottom of the speaker...These are one of the model years made by Audio Technica, not the original company...
The power center came from Circuit City's going out of business sell. It still wasn't cheap even at %75 off...
The Sub was a Besy Buy clearance special. I think I scored it for $50 or $75... I found a bunch of modifications on the web that made this sub far better than I ever expected. (mod podge cone coating, polyfill inside and remove all the plastic in the back.)
The computer was a broken work station from work. It took a little work to get it going again, but hard drives and memory are cheap these days!
The only thing I paid full price for in this rig was the monitor and the USB DAC!
I love the man cave!
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nice! wasnt that sub in the livingroom? whats up there now?
i have personally inspected this man cave and given it my personal seal of approval.
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i have personally inspected this man cave and given it my personal seal of approval.
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AWESOME! ;D
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lmfao. I am goning to print that seal and proudly display it in the cave!
(yeah Jim that sub was upstairs. I traded the polk sub to Kevin and moved the velodyne upstairs.) I liked the Sony the best for the man cave experience...)
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Monster Power Center HTS 3600mkII
fooBar2000v0.9.6.8;PnP Mapping > USB2> SuperPro DAC707se>
BBE 882i SonicMaximizer> DarkTrain Silver Clad IC>
QSC 1100 Amplifier> MonsterXP Speaker Cable>
Design Acoustics PS-10a ; Sony Mod 12"Sub
What do you use the BBE for? Just curious. I've mostly seen it used in guitar rigs.
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I play my acoustic bass through it! (That was the #1 reason I bought it)
Some folks also use it in their hi-fi playback systems too. I use it that way, esspecailly for crappy aud recordings. It can really bring the bass out of a thin aud, or can bring some sparkle back to a dark recording. The higher quality SBD and studio recordings often have the BBE turned off. I like the meters too...
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That Man-cave seal of approval is pretty awesome!
Very cool (and somewhat rare) to see a single rack-space QSC amp...
QSC makes some bomber equipment. I also found an old QSC amp at work and have been waiting for my 15yo Sony receiver to die so that I can work it into the playback.
My main system incorporates my TV, turntable, airport express, and aux inputs...
if I lose the receiver, what would you guys suggest to take its place?
A separate tuner, but then a switcher of some sort?
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Here are some updated pictures of my man-cave(s). I recently converted a rarely used formal dining room into a home office and will be soon extending the cd wall another 6 feet.
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and here are a few more pics....
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The gear in my following 2 posts is:
Turntable - Linn Sondek LP12, with Linn Ittok arm & Benz Micro cartridge
Preamp - Linn Wakonda
Power Amp - Linn LK140
CD Player - Linn Mimik
DVD Audio Player - Denon DVD-1920
DAT - Sony PCM-R500
DAT - Panasonic SV-3800
Speakers - Linn A5140
There's also an Airport Express next to the lamp for streaming music from the laptop & hard drives in the office.
Nothing fancy... but it sounds pretty sweet. And in case you didn't notice... NO VIDEO.
Robbie
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whats wrong with video?
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Very nice! Looks like you have a nice library of material there!
So what do you use to switch between all of the different playback sources?
Related to my post on the previous page...I'm looking for something to replace my old receiver and am not sure which way to go...so I'd love to hear what you use or suggestions for other options.
The gear in my following 2 posts is:
Turntable - Linn Sondek LP12, with Linn Ittok arm & Benz Micro cartridge
Preamp - Linn Wakonda
Power Amp - Linn LK140
CD Player - Linn Mimik
DVD Audio Player - Denon DVD-1920
DAT - Sony PCM-R500
DAT - Panasonic SV-3800
Speakers - Linn A5140
There's also an Airport Express next to the lamp for streaming music from the laptop & hard drives in the office.
Nothing fancy... but it sounds pretty sweet. And in case you didn't notice... NO VIDEO.
Robbie
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you select sources via the preamp, it has multiple inputs.
as for your new amp/receiver, start a fresh thread and tell us...
1. what speakers
2. what your budget is
and we can start laying out some options
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whats wrong with video?
Nothing wrong with video. I just like to keep mine in another room. I guess it goes back to when I used to have the video with the main audio system in my house... I'd come home from work to find the wife & kids watching tv (through the main system)... so if I wanted to play music it was on a smaller system in a bedroom. When we got a bigger house, I made sure to have a room dedicated to audio. Of course now that I'm no longer married and the twin boys are in college, I can do what I want ;^)
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OIC. im my case ive got tons of concert dvds which are 2 channel audio and are best viewed on a good two channel system. .
....and i dont think its a valid man cave if its also the main family tv too.
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....and i dont think its a valid man cave if its also the main family tv too.
That was the problem before. It was my stuff, but definitely not a man cave... My goal now is to not only have a man cave... but a MAN HOUSE.
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....and i dont think its a valid man cave if its also the main family tv too.
That was the problem before. It was my stuff, but definitely not a man cave... My goal now is to not only have a man cave... but a MAN HOUSE.
I envy you...I get one floor...and have to fight to keep that
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....and i dont think its a valid man cave if its also the main family tv too.
That was the problem before. It was my stuff, but definitely not a man cave... My goal now is to not only have a man cave... but a MAN HOUSE.
I envy you...I get one floor...and have to fight to keep that
Alll I get is hotel rooms when traveling for business....