- 468
- Bristol, England
- RenoRanes007
- RanoRanes007
Mines pretty plain and simple compared to some on here 
Whats Your Audio / Home Cinema Setup?
- Thread starter 2ez2KiLL
- 878 comments
- 229,633 views
- 692
- Dracwolley
An upgrade or two.
PS3 (Blu-Ray, DVD, CD, it counts)
An old Fisher record player which doesn't appear to have a model number [Picture]
Adcom GFP-710 (Preamplifier) [Picture]
Adcom GFA-5300 (Amplifier) [Picture]
Running through Paradigm 9SE Mk2s. [Picture]
I can't even begin to explain how good those speakers are. They sound perfect. Absolutely balanced, great in a small room, great in a stadium. I had them in my garage once at normal listening volume, and it carried down six houses down the street whilst totally maintaining its clarity and only losing its volume, and the houses aren't exactly close together, either. This is far from normal; we had hooked up another, similarly loud sound system complete with a subwoofer, and at the same volume almost exactly it only went to the next-door neighbors' before it drowned out completely. No matter how loud you push these speakers, you cannot distort them. You can't damage them short of taking a saw to them, and... they're twenty years old.
I have incredible, undying, infinite respect for Paradigm.
PS3 (Blu-Ray, DVD, CD, it counts)
An old Fisher record player which doesn't appear to have a model number [Picture]
Adcom GFP-710 (Preamplifier) [Picture]
Adcom GFA-5300 (Amplifier) [Picture]
Running through Paradigm 9SE Mk2s. [Picture]
I can't even begin to explain how good those speakers are. They sound perfect. Absolutely balanced, great in a small room, great in a stadium. I had them in my garage once at normal listening volume, and it carried down six houses down the street whilst totally maintaining its clarity and only losing its volume, and the houses aren't exactly close together, either. This is far from normal; we had hooked up another, similarly loud sound system complete with a subwoofer, and at the same volume almost exactly it only went to the next-door neighbors' before it drowned out completely. No matter how loud you push these speakers, you cannot distort them. You can't damage them short of taking a saw to them, and... they're twenty years old.
I have incredible, undying, infinite respect for Paradigm.
I'm a bit of an audio/theater junkie. A fairly significant chunk of my net worth is tied up in electronics. 
Downstairs I've get my main/real theater:
Optoma HD20 1080p front projector projecting a ~130" image.
Denon 2708 Receiver
Emotiva 1000 watt amp
Samsung BD Player
Toshiba HD-DVD player
HTPC
Speakers are Infinity Intermezzo 4.1ts, 3.5c and 2.6ps. The front tower speakers and the subwoofer both have 12" drivers and 850 watt amps, so a total of 3 12"s and 2550 watts.
Upstairs living room I have a 55" Vizio LCD and Vizio soundbar with wireless subwoofer and Samsung BD player. I've also got a 5 speaker set of B&W S3s that i used to use but they're sitting in a closet now, they clutter up the room a lot and are overkill for just casual TV watching.
Computer room I've got a 37" 1080p Sharp Aquos LCD (probably next on my list of things to replace), Denon AVR-1709 receiver, 5 Ascend HTM-200 SEs for surround sound, and a Hsu VTF-1 (10") subwoofer.
I'll take some pics once I'm done tidying up the house today.
Downstairs I've get my main/real theater:
Optoma HD20 1080p front projector projecting a ~130" image.
Denon 2708 Receiver
Emotiva 1000 watt amp
Samsung BD Player
Toshiba HD-DVD player
HTPC
Speakers are Infinity Intermezzo 4.1ts, 3.5c and 2.6ps. The front tower speakers and the subwoofer both have 12" drivers and 850 watt amps, so a total of 3 12"s and 2550 watts.
Upstairs living room I have a 55" Vizio LCD and Vizio soundbar with wireless subwoofer and Samsung BD player. I've also got a 5 speaker set of B&W S3s that i used to use but they're sitting in a closet now, they clutter up the room a lot and are overkill for just casual TV watching.
Computer room I've got a 37" 1080p Sharp Aquos LCD (probably next on my list of things to replace), Denon AVR-1709 receiver, 5 Ascend HTM-200 SEs for surround sound, and a Hsu VTF-1 (10") subwoofer.
I'll take some pics once I'm done tidying up the house today.
- 17,356
- United Kingdom
I'm a bit of an audio/theater junkie. A fairly significant chunk of my net worth is tied up in electronics.
Downstairs I've get my main/real theater:
Optoma HD20 1080p front projector projecting a ~130" image.
Denon 2708 Receiver
Emotiva 1000 watt amp
Samsung BD Player
Toshiba HD-DVD player
HTPC
Speakers are Infinity Intermezzo 4.1ts, 3.5c and 2.6ps. The front tower speakers and the subwoofer both have 12" drivers and 850 watt amps, so a total of 3 12"s and 2550 watts.
Upstairs living room I have a 55" Vizio LCD and Vizio soundbar with wireless subwoofer and Samsung BD player. I've also got a 5 speaker set of B&W S3s that i used to use but they're sitting in a closet now, they clutter up the room a lot and are overkill for just casual TV watching.
Computer room I've got a 37" 1080p Sharp Aquos LCD (probably next on my list of things to replace), Denon AVR-1709 receiver, 5 Ascend HTM-200 SEs for surround sound, and a Hsu VTF-1 (10") subwoofer.
I'll take some pics once I'm done tidying up the house today.
I'm not criticising your setup directly.. but if you have B & W DM600 series speakers (assuming they're not all 600's) and are still opting to use a soundbar.. why? Tragic!
- 311
- Spartan0189
(Left to Right)
Xbox 360 with a Final Fantasy 13 faceplate (60 GB)
Above the 360 is the 32" 1080p Television (On top of TV is a Bioshock 2 figurine)
Comcast Cable box
60 GB Playstation 3
24" ASUS Monitor
HAF 932 Black Edition tower
Then there's a bunch of random peripherals on the desk, and behind the monitor.
Don't mind the desk, most of that stuff ran budget out for a nice(r) looking desk
- 103
- Crazy-J
Out with the old, in with the new.
GilesGuthrie
Staff Emeritus
- 11,038
- Edinburgh, UK
- CMDRTheDarkLord
Got the installers in now, so the living room is off line. B&W in-walls going in and a 52" Sony Bravia. Plus all the electronics are being moved into a separate room. Pics when it's done.
GilesGuthrie
Staff Emeritus
- 11,038
- Edinburgh, UK
- CMDRTheDarkLord
The old:
TV: Pioneer PDP-436XDE
Amp: Denon AVR2805
BluRay: None
Consoles: PS3, Wii
Digital receiver: Sky+ HD
Speakers: 6x B&W M-1; B&W PV-1
The brief: Full HD TV, preferably 3D; speakers to go in the wall; electronics out of the room
Finished!
TV: Sony KDL-52HX903
Blu-Ray: Sony BD-S470
Receiver: Marantz SR-7005
Consoles: PS3, Wii
Digital receiver: Sky+ HD
Speakers: 3x B&W LCR7 (front three), 2x B&W CWM652 (surround pair), 2x B&W CCM65 (back pair), B&W PV-1.
Total cost, including installation was "holy christ". However, it's absolutely, utterly, awesome. 3d performance on the TV is excellent, although there is crosstalk at times, and you pretty much have to watch in complete darkness in order to not be bothered by flickering light sources.
Completely worth it though. I'm very happy, the wife is very happy, the children can't stop talking about it.
More shots of the build process here
Thoughts?
TV: Pioneer PDP-436XDE
Amp: Denon AVR2805
BluRay: None
Consoles: PS3, Wii
Digital receiver: Sky+ HD
Speakers: 6x B&W M-1; B&W PV-1
The brief: Full HD TV, preferably 3D; speakers to go in the wall; electronics out of the room
Finished!
TV: Sony KDL-52HX903
Blu-Ray: Sony BD-S470
Receiver: Marantz SR-7005
Consoles: PS3, Wii
Digital receiver: Sky+ HD
Speakers: 3x B&W LCR7 (front three), 2x B&W CWM652 (surround pair), 2x B&W CCM65 (back pair), B&W PV-1.
Total cost, including installation was "holy christ". However, it's absolutely, utterly, awesome. 3d performance on the TV is excellent, although there is crosstalk at times, and you pretty much have to watch in complete darkness in order to not be bothered by flickering light sources.
Completely worth it though. I'm very happy, the wife is very happy, the children can't stop talking about it.
More shots of the build process here
Thoughts?
- 24,019
- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
Looks good Giles 👍 (not sure of why you photoshopped a small child's head into the first pic though) 
Did you do the frame work and plaster boarding on the wall yourself?
Did you do the frame work and plaster boarding on the wall yourself?
GilesGuthrie
Staff Emeritus
- 11,038
- Edinburgh, UK
- CMDRTheDarkLord
Looks good Giles 👍 (not sure of why you photoshopped a small child's head into the first pic though)
He insisted on being in shot.
Ha ha ha ha ha! No. If I'd been doing it, we'd still be in a building site, and the TV would be at 15 degrees to the horizontal for the three and a half hours it stayed up.
- 30,059
- Thailand
Screen: BenQ MS510 HD DLP projector.
Console: PS3 160G slim
Sound: Some Hyundi home cinema kit (cheap for computer). Logitech Surround sound system (Quality for the PS3)
Computer: (wife's) Acer laptop
Links: HDMI and VGA
(Don't have any pics as of yet but I'm working on it)
Console: PS3 160G slim
Sound: Some Hyundi home cinema kit (cheap for computer). Logitech Surround sound system (Quality for the PS3)
Computer: (wife's) Acer laptop
Links: HDMI and VGA
(Don't have any pics as of yet but I'm working on it)
- 692
- Dracwolley
I'm considering adding an 800 watt powered stage subwoofer to my setup. A friend of mine is selling it for pretty cheap ($300) and my system can use a lot more bass at medium to loud listening levels. The main issue is the weight, though; at 187 pounds it's slightly the hulk, but it'll get the job done and if I need to put the speakers in a big space for a house party or something, the monstrous thing will be a big help 
- 10,309
- San Francisco, CA
- Vasco506
- Vasc0
So I've got some money to blow and I'm thinking of getting some Dali Concept 6's and Concept Centre. Has anyone had any experiences with them? (Though I'm kinda tempted by the 10's, but they're too big for my current room I think...)
Yeah I have those in my set up. I think they sound pretty damn good (and I haven't had any issues), but it is my first home theatre system to be honest. I have them with some Concept 1s in the rear and a JBL sub, sounds absolutely delicious to me.
I did get them at cost though (friend works at JB) so that definitely had an influence on my decision. The 6s also fit very nicely into my living area (apartment), they seemed quite a bit smaller when I still lived with the parents and had a huge rumpus to play with.
- 7,956
- BradleyH131
So got the Dali Concept 6's/Centre amazingly happy with them. (Still deciding if I should leave covers on or off...)
To do a complete round up.
TV: Sony KDL-46Z5500
AMP: Whatever the 5.1 Version of the STR-DG800 is, I can't remember.
Speakers: Dali Concept 6 Fronts, Dali Concept Centre, Sony Rears, Sony Sub.
Bluray/DVD: ...PS3
HTPC/Media Server: i5-2600K, 4GB RAM, Geforce 9800GT, Gigabit Ethernet (Nice for streaming and remote management)
HTPC Input: Logitech DiNovo Edge
Next up, most likely get new rears. And decide if I want to get a cheap Amp from eBay to connect my previous Fronts/Centre to my Desktop PC, or get a newer amp, and move the Sony to PC...
To do a complete round up.
TV: Sony KDL-46Z5500
AMP: Whatever the 5.1 Version of the STR-DG800 is, I can't remember.
Speakers: Dali Concept 6 Fronts, Dali Concept Centre, Sony Rears, Sony Sub.
Bluray/DVD: ...PS3
HTPC/Media Server: i5-2600K, 4GB RAM, Geforce 9800GT, Gigabit Ethernet (Nice for streaming and remote management)
HTPC Input: Logitech DiNovo Edge
Next up, most likely get new rears. And decide if I want to get a cheap Amp from eBay to connect my previous Fronts/Centre to my Desktop PC, or get a newer amp, and move the Sony to PC...
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- 4,038
- United States
OK its taken me a few days to get sorted out after the holiday (which was most enjoyable), but here are a few quick (and crappy) pictures..
How the rack looks now, one black box replaced with a slightly bigger and better looking black box...
A closer look at the 1909
The display, showing the input channels on the left and output on the right
The1909 has highlighted just how big a weak spot the old Sony was. Its is as if I have changed my speakers, the difference is that large.
The size and depth of the soundfield has increased massively, the sound quality is a huge leap forward and my sub has been given a new lease of life.
I have spent the weekend re-watching old favorites and have to say it was £450 well spent.
I also have to say hats off to Sevenoakes (my local Denon dealer), they were great from enquiry to demo to sale. The 606 I demoed the 1909 against comes close, but the £50 difference was well worth it, the 1909 looses nothing in terms of audio delivery, but does so in a far more effortless manner (but not lazy) and has a final depth that the Onkyo lacks.
Set-up was a doddle thanks to the Audyssey Dynamic EQ system, while taking six sets of measurements took a while, the end result was stunning and I've been personally amazed that I have not felt the need to play around with any of the channel levels at all. The on-screen menus are text based and very 'low-tech' but do the job prefectly well. The Audyssey Dynamic Volume system also works excellently, smoothing out volume levels so that you get no jump to a stupidly high volume as soon as adverts come on; even with Living TV (one of the worst culprits in my opinion) it works faultlessly.
I've also been very, very impressed with the 1909's ability to process stereo sound via Pro-logic II and DTS Neo, my previous experience with both these systems has been that while they are better than a raw stereo track the results could be poor, particularly with rear channels. The 1909 is a revelation in this area, with both Pro Logic II and DTS Neo delivering a convincing sound field from a stereo input.
More pictures will follow when I can stop watching stuff and be bothered to try a little harder, but I would strongly recomend the 1909 to anyone looking at a £450-ish receiver.
Regards
Scaff
I too am a Denon fan and LOVED my 1909. However, my 1909 just took a ****
. I took it in for out of warranty repair. Labor + HDMI Board replacement = $520. I bought it for $700 a little over 2 years ago. Needless to say, I skipped the repair. I ended getting another Denon however, but elected to not drop as much money on it...I can't fathom spending $1400 in 2 years just on a receiver. The model of my new Denon escapes me, however, I am excited to say that they added another HDMI port in the back, allowing me to connect my Mac Mini without using my work around (optical sound into the receiver, hdmi direct to another HDMI port on the back of my TV). Now I have the 4 HDMI devices (DirecTV, Xbox, PS3 and Mac Mini) plugged into the back of the Denon, and one HDMI out to the TV.
- 41
- x_jack21_x
- WHY WOULD I HAVE XBOX?!?!??!?!
Living Room:
Toshiba 37" LCD 1080p
4 Panasonic surround towers.
Polk Audio PSW10 Subwoofer
Dennon Reciever
Computer/PS3:
Dell 23" LED 1080p Monitor
2 Pyle Audio Surround Cubes
2 Sony SS-F6000 Floorstanding Speakers
12" JVC Powered Subwoofer
Integra Reciever
Toshiba 37" LCD 1080p
4 Panasonic surround towers.
Polk Audio PSW10 Subwoofer
Dennon Reciever
Computer/PS3:
Dell 23" LED 1080p Monitor
2 Pyle Audio Surround Cubes
2 Sony SS-F6000 Floorstanding Speakers
12" JVC Powered Subwoofer
Integra Reciever
- 1,002
- Northern VA
Living Room/Home Theater:
Office:
I also use an Astro Wireless MixAmp 5.8 when I don't want to disturb the wife. It's great for quiet, surround gaming.
- Epson Home Cinema 8500UB 1080p projector
- 100" Elite CineTension screen
- Onkyo TX-SR805 receiver (a beast!)
- DVDO Edge
- Definitive Tech PowerMonitor 700 L+R
- Definitive Tech ProCenter 2000
- Definitive Tech BP2X surrounds
- AV123 MFW-15 subwoofer (awesome sub from a sketchy, defunct co.)
- PS3 20GB (original)
- Xbox 360 S (original kicked the bucket)
- Tivo HD
- Onkyo DV-HD805 (HD-DVD and upscaling DVD)
- Pro-Ject Xpression III turntable with Dynavector 10x5 cartridge
Office:
- Mac mini (2009)
- Homemade PC (Q6600 Core 2 Quad, GTX 560 Ti, yada yada)
- NEC EA231WMi (23" 1080p IPS)
- Swan M200MkII stereo speakers
- Meier Audio Corda Arietta headphone amp
- Alessandro (Grado) Music Series One headphones
- Ultrasone HFI-680 headphones
- Ultrasone Pro 650 headphones (tweaked as gaming headset)
- Fischer Audio FA-003 headphones
I also use an Astro Wireless MixAmp 5.8 when I don't want to disturb the wife. It's great for quiet, surround gaming.
- 1,002
- Northern VA
Find some tidy photos of my office desktop, as well as the PC. I'm charging my SLR so I'll try to take a few current pictures tonight or this weekend.
First, here's my desktop. I forgot to mention the Cintiq 12wx, which you can see does also doubles as a secondary display when not in use. Pictured is my old, reliable Dell 2005FPW 20" display. That has since been given to my dad. I have my monitors mounted on Ergotron arms. The Denon headphones have been sold.
Next up is the interior of my PC. The case is a Lian-Li PC-A05N. It's quite nice, but the thin aluminum panels really need some dampening material. It's a funky design, a shorty with the power supply in front. That BFG GTX 275 has since been pulled and now I have an MSI GTX Ti Twin Frozr II/OC. The name just rolls off the tongue. It's actually a really awesome card. I'm very impressed with its thermal performance and relative silence. The BFG was very mediocre in that regard. I ended up bartering with a friend. I got the card, he got my Fanatec PWTS with G25 pedals.
Here are some quick and dirty photos of the projection. I picked a scene with a subject that might appeal to GTP viewers. Apologies for the rough quality. These were ISO 1600 handheld. We have a couple of floor lamps that are narrow enough to fit behind the screen and provide ambient light for casual viewing, sports, that sort of thing.
First shot with lights on:
And a couple with the lights off:
First, here's my desktop. I forgot to mention the Cintiq 12wx, which you can see does also doubles as a secondary display when not in use. Pictured is my old, reliable Dell 2005FPW 20" display. That has since been given to my dad. I have my monitors mounted on Ergotron arms. The Denon headphones have been sold.
Next up is the interior of my PC. The case is a Lian-Li PC-A05N. It's quite nice, but the thin aluminum panels really need some dampening material. It's a funky design, a shorty with the power supply in front. That BFG GTX 275 has since been pulled and now I have an MSI GTX Ti Twin Frozr II/OC. The name just rolls off the tongue. It's actually a really awesome card. I'm very impressed with its thermal performance and relative silence. The BFG was very mediocre in that regard. I ended up bartering with a friend. I got the card, he got my Fanatec PWTS with G25 pedals.
Here are some quick and dirty photos of the projection. I picked a scene with a subject that might appeal to GTP viewers. Apologies for the rough quality. These were ISO 1600 handheld. We have a couple of floor lamps that are narrow enough to fit behind the screen and provide ambient light for casual viewing, sports, that sort of thing.
First shot with lights on:
And a couple with the lights off:
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- 38
- Brasil
- NiksicosBr
I got a Philips MCM595 micro system (300W RMS) and a Logitech Z-5500 (500W). Both connected to my PS3 and the Logitech is also used on the PC. The double audio output from the PS3 makes the whole thing play loooud!
- 7,956
- BradleyH131
Question to anyone here with more experience with projectors than me.
I have a huge spare living area in my new house that I'm thinking of converting into a cinema type room. Screen size ideally will be quite large, as it's a huge empty wall I have, I haven't measured exactly (May do so tonight), but I estimate the screen size I'm looking for is in the region of 200"-250". Depth from the wall shouldn't be an issue, it's about 10m (32ft)-15m(49ft) end to end. (Again, haven't measured exactly).
I have on me a Sony VPL-CX85 document projector. Which I inherited from my old job at a university, I tested the estimated distance last night, and it had no issue clearly showing an image that filled up that entire 200"+ space. (It outputs 2000+ lumens, and we used them in well lit lecture theatres)
I might use it for the moment, as it really is a great quality projector, but in time the lamp will go (Already has 1400 hours on it), and the resolution is only 1024x768 4:3, and inputs are limited. So I'm thinking I may upgrade to a Mitsubishi HC4000, which I can obtain for $1200USD. The thing holding me back is I notice the Mitsubishi is only 1300 lumens...
Is there a better option than the Mitsubishi for the price (Maybe the Epson 8350)? Will I need a brighter projector?
I have a huge spare living area in my new house that I'm thinking of converting into a cinema type room. Screen size ideally will be quite large, as it's a huge empty wall I have, I haven't measured exactly (May do so tonight), but I estimate the screen size I'm looking for is in the region of 200"-250". Depth from the wall shouldn't be an issue, it's about 10m (32ft)-15m(49ft) end to end. (Again, haven't measured exactly).
I have on me a Sony VPL-CX85 document projector. Which I inherited from my old job at a university, I tested the estimated distance last night, and it had no issue clearly showing an image that filled up that entire 200"+ space. (It outputs 2000+ lumens, and we used them in well lit lecture theatres)
I might use it for the moment, as it really is a great quality projector, but in time the lamp will go (Already has 1400 hours on it), and the resolution is only 1024x768 4:3, and inputs are limited. So I'm thinking I may upgrade to a Mitsubishi HC4000, which I can obtain for $1200USD. The thing holding me back is I notice the Mitsubishi is only 1300 lumens...
Is there a better option than the Mitsubishi for the price (Maybe the Epson 8350)? Will I need a brighter projector?
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- 1,002
- Northern VA
You will need a brighter projector. I have an Epson 8500UB which is rated at 1600 lumens. I'll only hit that in Dynamic color mode, which is certainly bright, but doesn't really look good. In THX mode the image is phenomenal but light output is heavily reduced because color filters are used to make the image look smooth and natural. Output at that stage is well below 1000 lumens. I'm filling a 100" screen and it looks very nice. If I went much larger it would look a little too dim. As the bulb ages the image gets dimmer too.
Document projectors are very bright they don't filter the light at all and don't necessarily use bulbs that provide truer white. The goal is not a neutral, accurate image. The goal is to make sure everyone in a conference room can clearly see the PowerPoint presentation with the lights on.
To deliver a punchy, accurate 200" image at 16fL I think you're looking well into the $5000+ range. If your goal is to just have a massive image and don't mind it being a little washed out, then that 8350 would certainly work. I think that once the novelty wore off you'd probably wish for a brighter, richer image.
What is the planned viewing distance? If you're going to sit 10-15' away you can certainly shrink the image down to 110" or so and I'd recommend it. If you're sitting a bit farther away but within a narrow viewing angle you can look onto some of the better high gain screens on the market. They're more reflective and produce a really nice, vibrant image, but if you don't plan your installation and viewing positions properly you may see some hot spots in the image. Also, good high gain screens will likely cost more than the proctors you mentioned. But a good screen is a good investment and will outlast your first projector.
Document projectors are very bright they don't filter the light at all and don't necessarily use bulbs that provide truer white. The goal is not a neutral, accurate image. The goal is to make sure everyone in a conference room can clearly see the PowerPoint presentation with the lights on.
To deliver a punchy, accurate 200" image at 16fL I think you're looking well into the $5000+ range. If your goal is to just have a massive image and don't mind it being a little washed out, then that 8350 would certainly work. I think that once the novelty wore off you'd probably wish for a brighter, richer image.
What is the planned viewing distance? If you're going to sit 10-15' away you can certainly shrink the image down to 110" or so and I'd recommend it. If you're sitting a bit farther away but within a narrow viewing angle you can look onto some of the better high gain screens on the market. They're more reflective and produce a really nice, vibrant image, but if you don't plan your installation and viewing positions properly you may see some hot spots in the image. Also, good high gain screens will likely cost more than the proctors you mentioned. But a good screen is a good investment and will outlast your first projector.
