Topic: Best approach for music & video?

[scb]

while wes pimps his krell, i'll say that arcam makes some great stuff too

[Tim]

Are you in Alabama, or just a tide fan?

Both.

Taylor - you got any old Phish masters you want seeded lemme know... and tell Cheez I said hi!

- Tim Markham

[taylorc]

Taylor - you got any old Phish masters you want seeded lemme know... and tell Cheez I said hi!

Hey there, Tim.  I don't have any old masters that need seeding.  I had planned to seed quite a bit from 97>00 (sources that aren't circulating...Lemonwheel BTP's for one), but my last deck's signal transfer was shot.  Gotta pick up a new deck at some point.  Someone needs to get those 'wheel 21>sax>adk's out there though.  The "dankseeds" don't compare.

Haven't seen Cheez since Coventry (right after I got engaged).  Will definitely be catching up with him for some October moe.

[jpschust]

im telling you, don't forget mcintosh labs

[Wiggler]

I've been thinking about going back to a multi channel setup for video.
Hearing good things about the new Cinema 5 & 6 Cary components for the money.

http://www.caryaudio.com/

[Tim]

Taylor - you got any old Phish masters you want seeded lemme know... and tell Cheez I said hi!

Hey there, Tim.  I don't have any old masters that need seeding.  I had planned to seed quite a bit from 97>00 (sources that aren't circulating...Lemonwheel BTP's for one), but my last deck's signal transfer was shot.  Gotta pick up a new deck at some point.  Someone needs to get those 'wheel 21>sax>adk's out there though.  The "dankseeds" don't compare.

Haven't seen Cheez since Coventry (right after I got engaged).  Will definitely be catching up with him for some October moe.

congratulations TC!

keep in touch...

[taylorc]

Anthem and McIntosh are appealing, but what if there is an interest in throwing in a multi-zone setup in the future?  Any input on what to consider?  Once settled, speakers throughout the house is a goal.

[jpschust]

my McIntosh stuff allots for two zones via the receiver and I know it is capable of more zones.

[scervin]

Get an Anthem D1 as I think it will do 4 zones??  Not that you can listen to music in that many rooms at once.  Many will do 2 rooms.  I know AVM30 has at least 2 zones, but only 1 digital source can be used.

SC

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

By "zones" do you mean speaker pair outputs or the ability to control volume in each room independently?

[taylorc]

By "zones" do you mean speaker pair outputs or the ability to control volume in each room independently?

For now it's just outputs to separate rooms.  Volume control may be down the road.

[taylorc]

Get an Anthem D1 as I think it will do 4 zones??  Not that you can listen to music in that many rooms at once.  Many will do 2 rooms.  I know AVM30 has at least 2 zones, but only 1 digital source can be used.

Jonny, scervin, thanks for all the input...

For a main processor, the Anthem AVM-30 has had my attention.  Either I've been blind to it, or Anthem has recently launched their Statement site: http://statement.anthemav.com/.  Will have to do more research, but on the surface, the D1 appears identical to the AVM-30?

As for multi-zone, it's not something I've spent a lot time with...just an area that will be of interest in the future and doesn't need to be neglected at this stage.  The majority of listening is done in one room/setting (like most others), but outputting music to a number of areas around the house has been a goal for quite some time (w/no telling how intensive it could get...volume controls, etc.).  Have friends that literally "built their house around their music".  ...Good stuff.

[jpschust]

like that guy who turned his whole floor into a sub?

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

By "zones" do you mean speaker pair outputs or the ability to control volume in each room independently?

For now it's just outputs to separate rooms.  Volume control may be down the road.

If you are willing to accept decent but less than audiophile sound in your remote zones, you might consider getting some remote speakers that take an rf signal via the AC house wiring.  For the majority of background sound applications, they will work very well.  Basicly, you take a line out from your preamp or reciever and put that to a box that modulates both channels onto your house wiring as RF.  Then you place speakers whereever you want in the house.  Each speaker then has channel selector (L or R) and a relative level setting.  The speakers have built in amplifiers and receive the feed of the AC mains.

I have heard one version these in action and they were quite acceptable for sound around the house.  In the specific case I heard them, they were on the same circuit as the source.  They are advertised to work on any circuit across the mains panel but I can't confirm that.  Also, I don't know what sort of issues that they might introduce wrt noise in the AC.

If you are interested, I can find out which ones I heard.

[scervin]

If you are looking into home automation, I'd check some custom installers.  They will have the 6 zone switch boxes and the like.  When I remember the company, I will send along the info for a 12 channel amp.... Knoll systems is it, check out their site at knollsystems.com  They are a company for installers.  The products they sell are HQ.  The projectors are simply rebadged Infocus.  My neighbor was able to convince the builder to let him do all the electric work and he set up his house to the max.  He put in security cameras, 12 CAT-5 lines, and speakers throughout the house.  Problem is he  has to listen to the same thing throughout.  The Anthems will give you the ability to listen to different sources, again one may be a digital signal and the other must be over analog.  So if you want to rock out in your room while the wife or someone else listens while doing dishes, cleaning, etc you can do such.  My next house will be setup like this, can't stand listening to Hit List while working outside.

While the AVM30 and Statement D1 look similar they are quite different.  The D1 has dual Moto processors, 192kHz upsample on all sources (maybe just CD's??), and a $5k price tag to name a few.