Whats Your Audio / Home Cinema Setup?

[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.

Interesting as mine did the exact same thing, which rather annoyed me. I also skipped getting it repaired and went for a Sony DA-2400 in its place.


Scaff

 

[MatskiMonk]

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.

Thats unfortunate, having worked at a Denon dealer for years we used to try and blag 'just over warranty' repairs for free, so long as the customer never sent off the warranty cards, Denons service & repair company didn't really have a clue how old it was, at best they can only track when it was sent to the dealer... it worked quite alot, with most manufacturers.

Interesting as mine did the exact same thing, which rather annoyed me. I also skipped getting it repaired and went for a Sony DA-2400 in its place.

...was that also just out of warranty? Personally I might have stuck with the Denon... on account of Sony's woeful ability to supply spares, and their 1 year warranties... unless of course you were just looking for an excuse to upgrade

 

[Casio]

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.

So I measured and turned out my measurements were slightly on the high side (Which mans isn't?). Am probably only looking at 130" screen or so. And I have 28' of depth.

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated it. With my redone measurements it sound like the 8350 might suffice, especially if I'm only watching it in the dark....now to work out how to spend obscene amounts of money on another sound system...

 

[12thgear]

I've heard really great things about the HC4000, but I'm sensitive to DLP rainbows. Plus, I needed the flexibility of lens shift, which the HC4000 doesn't have. The Epson 8350 is also quite good and its adjustability gives you a ton of placement options, but the knock on Epson lately has been the reliability of the bulbs. Epson ended up extending the bulb warranty to a full 2 years as a result. I've been lucky with mine. I'm using a really nice power filter, which may help.

Since this will be a dedicated room, paint the walls as dark as you can get away with, and make sure your curtains are fully capable of blacking out that sliding door.

If you're looking for good, no nonsense speakers, the budget Pioneers by Andrew Jones are a dang good value:

Center
Floorstanding
Bookshelf

And for cheap subwoofers, Emotiva and Epik have some interesting options:

Emotiva Ultra 12"
Epik Legend dual 12"

Denon's AVR-891 also seems pretty nice for the price. Not much in the way of legacy inputs, but plenty of HDMI. It also has Audyssey MultEQ, which I like a lot.

If you're on a tight budget you could do a lot worse. It's fun spending someone else's money!

EDIT: I just realized you're in Australia, so I imagine the pricing may vary on a lot of this stuff. I hope my links give you some ideas though. Or perhaps you have a connection over here?

 

[Casio]

I've heard really great things about the HC4000, but I'm sensitive to DLP rainbows. Plus, I needed the flexibility of lens shift, which the HC4000 doesn't have. The Epson 8350 is also quite good and its adjustability gives you a ton of placement options, but the knock on Epson lately has been the reliability of the bulbs. Epson ended up extending the bulb warranty to a full 2 years as a result. I've been lucky with mine. I'm using a really nice power filter, which may help.

Since this will be a dedicated room, paint the walls as dark as you can get away with, and make sure your curtains are fully capable of blacking out that sliding door.

If you're looking for good, no nonsense speakers, the budget Pioneers by Andrew Jones are a dang good value:

Center
Floorstanding
Bookshelf

And for cheap subwoofers, Emotiva and Epik have some interesting options:

Emotiva Ultra 12"
Epik Legend dual 12"

Denon's AVR-891 also seems pretty nice for the price. Not much in the way of legacy inputs, but plenty of HDMI. It also has Audyssey MultEQ, which I like a lot.

If you're on a tight budget you could do a lot worse. It's fun spending someone else's money!

EDIT: I just realized you're in Australia, so I imagine the pricing may vary on a lot of this stuff. I hope my links give you some ideas though. Or perhaps you have a connection over here?

I was thinking about getting a Velodyne Impact 12, for my main entertainment room (See about 10 posts back). And then I can move the Sony Sub into the 'cinema room'. I also have my previous Bookshelf Fronts and Centre (before I got the Dali's) which did the job pretty well for a while, doing nothing. I may just get fronts, centre and an amp cheap somewhere and use the old fronts as rears.

Those Pioneers look really nice, for the price but unfortunately I can't find an Australian stockist and would cost a bunch to ship over.

Also I'm renting so can't really paint the walls. Fortunately the room stays pretty dark, and I'd only consider really using at night 90% of the time.

Ughh....so much I want to do...need a second job!

 

[12thgear]

I just saw on Cnet Australia that the Pioneers are coming your way next month.
http://www.cnet.com.au/pioneer-fs51-339318905.htm

 

[Casio]

I just saw on Cnet Australia that the Pioneers are coming your way next month.
http://www.cnet.com.au/pioneer-fs51-339318905.htm

Oh excellent...Thanks! 👍

 

[Casio]

Anyone thoughts or experience on the following combo.

Aaron AT3 Floorstanding Speakers / Aaron CC-60 centre / Aaron SS-15

or

Infinity Primus 360 / Infinity C25 Centre / Infinity 150 Surrounds / PS10 Subwoofer.

Can get pretty decent ex-demo prices for each.

 

[Casio]

Ended up ordering a refurbished Sony Muteki 7600 for an extremely cheap price 👍. Realise not the greatest speakers in the world, but for the money and pure ability to fill a room with sound couldn't really go wrong.

 

[Shaun]

I've finally got around to taking some photo's so I can add to this thread.
I'm slowly upgrading my system, current list is.

TV: 50 inch Panasonic full HD plasma.
Receiver: Denon 1911. (new addition)
Front Speakers. B&W 685. (new addition)
Centre Speaker. B&W HTM62. (new addition)
Rear Speakers. Canton MX
Sub. Canton AS10.
Blu Ray: Panasonic DMP-BD65.
60 Gig PS3 with 500 gig hdd.


Overall view.

New receiver flanked by Blu Ray and PS3.

A closer look at the B&W HTM62.

B&W 685 (bi-wired since i'm not running 7.1) up front and Canton sub.
The sub is on the to be replaced list. Currently eyeing a few in the B&W range. The speaker stands I made about fifteen years ago to suit some other speakers I had at the time.
I'm currently making my mind up on a new design of stands and then i'll make them at work when time permits.
Not sure to go with two or three legs and whether to paint them all black or just the base and top and make the legs out of stainless and polish them.

Canton MX'S at the rear. These are last to be replaced, they still do an ok job for movies, and that's mostly when they get used apart from music Blu Rays.

Cheers Shaun.

 

[Casio]

Lot of posts from me this page, but it's all coming together. This may be the build post.

Speakers arrived and most of them are set-up. However, I'm running the amplifier at the rear of the room, which I think makes it a lot cleaner at the front. But means I have to buy some longer speaker cable before it's complete...

Have also organised a couch for the room. Which is pretty important...also need to wire up some Ethernet for the HTPC.

More pics to follow...

 

[12thgear]

Keep us posted, Casio. I have all my gear behind the couch. I have speaker terminals in my wall near the receiver and at the front of my room, and ran my wiring under the floor. Since you're already in the basement, you may be looking in wall, or maybe behind/under the baseboard.

 

[Starfirebird]

*500 watt Yamaha Receiver
*300 watt Klipsch Center Speaker
*200 watt Klipsch Satellite Speakers
*450 watt Klipsch Powered 10" Subwoofer
*Sony Blue Ray Player
*Sony PS3
*Sony PS2
*XBOX 360
*Roku HD Player
*Samsung 50" Plasma TV


The Home Theater Packs a punch.With the Klipsch Speakers Blue Ray Movies actually make you feel like you are part of the movie.Games Sound great too.

Wish i had photos of the Set-up as it's really nice.Maybe if i have some time i'll take some photos and post them.

 

[Casio]

Keep us posted, Casio. I have all my gear behind the couch. I have speaker terminals in my wall near the receiver and at the front of my room, and ran my wiring under the floor. Since you're already in the basement, you may be looking in wall, or maybe behind/under the baseboard.

Actually I'm not in a basement. It's the front room of my house. Sunken lounge type set-up going on. House isn't on a slab so I could run it under the floorboard, though more likely since I'm renting I'll just run some conduit along the wall/floor edge. Or under a rug.

 

[Ibonibo]

So a bit of gear added up since last time.
(photos uploaded later)

- TV: Still have my KDL40Z4500
Still happy with it.
- Amp: Still Denon AVR1910
- NEW REMOTE : Logitech Harmony 1100
- Server-Work Station : added dual screen 24". With one of them beeing a TouchScreen.
- Play-Station PC : added a 570GTX (replacement for the 380GTX swapped in the workstation), Dual screen : 1xTV - 1xAcer 27" 3D Display.

- 2x PS3 (1x fatty60GB->500GB, 1x slim 320GB)
- 2x Xbox360 (1x Custom with CFW, 1x stock)
- Basskicker
- 2x PSP (1x Launch model, 1x PSPGo)
- 2x PS2 (1x Lauch model, 1x slim)
- PS Move x2

NEW Stuff
Ps2 fatty got it as payement for fixing a laptop. Didn't even ask for it.

 

[Shaun]

Very small update.
I finally had the time at work to make some new speaker stands.
One small mistake though I didn't drill the hole in the rear pipe quite big enough to get the speaker cable through. I could probably force it but I don't want to risk damaging the cable, it wasn't cheap.
When I get around to it I'll enlarge the holes and it will be good to go.

Cheers Shaun.

 

[Bogie 19th]

Thats unfortunate, having worked at a Denon dealer for years we used to try and blag 'just over warranty' repairs for free, so long as the customer never sent off the warranty cards, Denons service & repair company didn't really have a clue how old it was, at best they can only track when it was sent to the dealer... it worked quite alot, with most manufacturers.

...was that also just out of warranty? Personally I might have stuck with the Denon... on account of Sony's woeful ability to supply spares, and their 1 year warranties... unless of course you were just looking for an excuse to upgrade

Well going from Denon to Sony would be the opposite of an upgrade

 

[Scaff]

Well going from Denon to Sony would be the opposite of an upgrade

That depends on exactly what the Sony and Denon receivers in question are, while my old 1909 was a good receiver, the 2400 is most certainly a better product (in terms of build, features, output and sound quality).



Scaff

 

[Bogie 19th]

That depends on exactly what the Sony and Denon receivers in question are, while my old 1909 was a good receiver, the 2400 is most certainly a better product (in terms of build, features, output and sound quality).



Scaff

I would put Sony receivers in the wannabe home theater market along with Panasonic. I had a Sony STR995 and those things would overheat and shut down into movies early on. They are actually pretty poor quality in comparison to real home theater receivers. We are actually going to replace our Denon now with a NAD. It's costly but I elected to do a speaker upgrade

 

[Scaff]

I would put Sony receivers in the wannabe home theater market along with Panasonic. I had a Sony STR995 and those things would overheat and shut down into movies early on. They are actually pretty poor quality in comparison to real home theater receivers. We are actually going to replace our Denon now with a NAD. It's costly but I elected to do a speaker upgrade

You may actually want to check out the Sony ES range (which the 2400 falls into) and not mistake it for the cheaper range, quite different products indeed and nothing 'wannabe' about them at all.

http://www.avguide.com/review/sony-str-da7100es-audiovideo-receiver
http://www.avguide.com/review/tested-sony-str-da6400es-av-receiver-bdp-s5000es-blu-ray-player



Scaff

 

[squeakD]

Just curious as to what speaker set ups people are using for GT-5. I originally was just using my TV's built in speakers.., but then realized that my 30 year hobby has me in a position to use some high end audio equipment.

I've been a musician for many years now. I currently have a small personal studio in my home, and over the years have purchased some decent to top shelf professional studio monitors.

I currently have GT-5 running through a pair of desk top studio monitors I bought years ago, but have been sitting in a closet. AMAZING difference in sound. I'm very tempted (just for kicks and giggles) to see how much PD really put into the audio. This weekend I might grab my high end set of professional monitors (I could buy a full race rig with a high end Fanatec and Pod for the price of these monitors), and have a good listen to the audio.

It'll be interesting to put GT to the full audio test with high end speakers designed for audio production.

 

[Delta795]

Cerwin Vega CVHD series with 18" CVHF active sub. A little dated but sounds great. no pics sorry, but here's a link. http://www.cerwinvega.com/home-audio/home-theater-speaker-systems/cvhd-51-speakers.html

 

[opelgt1969]

I'm running thru a Sony 770 watt 7.1 surround system with a set of Pioneer 5.1 surround speakers 2 mounted up front high left/ right one mounted high center front 2 mounted high rear 2 subs on floor (wooden floors in living room) plus 2 160 watt 3-way Pioneers sitting on floor up front. Sounds pretty good until you get to some cars that sound bad. Take any NASCAR and drive it in manual trans and listen what happens when you start hitting the "redline" the sound starts cutting out and flutters. Also running HDMI cables to Receiver (only way to get 7.1 sound).

 

[Dragonthing]

I'm using an Onkyo SR-606 7.1 reciever with a very rare set of Pinkbull Sirius speakers for front/center/surround side and a pair of B&O Beovox 1702s for surround sides

Soon to be coming is a brand new pair of Bose Companion 20s, for quiter times since they have astonishing clarity and range

 

[MatskiMonk]

I bought an 850 Watt Tesco microwave for making noodles to eat whilst I enjoy my 5.1 system... I don't know how many Watts that has though...



.. only joking of course... I've been out of the Hi-fi industry for 6 months now, and I miss the banter.

 

[bevo]

Just curious as to what speaker set ups people are using for GT-5. I originally was just using my TV's built in speakers.., but then realized that my 30 year hobby has me in a position to use some high end audio equipment.

I've been a musician for many years now. I currently have a small personal studio in my home, and over the years have purchased some decent to top shelf professional studio monitors.

I currently have GT-5 running through a pair of desk top studio monitors I bought years ago, but have been sitting in a closet. AMAZING difference in sound. I'm very tempted (just for kicks and giggles) to see how much PD really put into the audio. This weekend I might grab my high end set of professional monitors (I could buy a full race rig with a high end Fanatec and Pod for the price of these monitors), and have a good listen to the audio.

It'll be interesting to put GT to the full audio test with high end speakers designed for audio production.

GT5 won't really won't sound that great no matter what speakers you use. It always sounded kind of tame and muffled to me. Almost like you are setting in a cardboard box or something while your playing it. If your really wanting to hear a great sounding game, try out socom confrontation, or even need for speed shift. Shift may not sound perfectly realistic, but it does sound alive and great. Socom will really make you feel like you are in the middle of a battle. The grenades are so strong, and the bass they used for them hit's very hard and low.
I don't have the greatest speakers, but they are quality, like you said about your monitors, my sub alone could have bought the high end fanatec wheel and their cockpit setup.

Here's my setup
Center- polk CSi A4
fronts- polk RTi A5s
rears- Polk RTi FXi A6s
Receiver denon 1909
Sub- SVS pb13 ultra

It sounds great, but lately my son reset my EQ, and I haven't been able to get everyone out of the house long enough to get everything sounding how it should again. I would really like to upgrade my receiver too. I need some pre outs to get some more power everywhere.

 

[NjLowrider]

I have a g27 and playseat.

I bought a computer 4.1 system and it works so awesome.

The subwoofer fits snug under my seat and I welded and painted some brackets to hold the satellite speakers in front and behind my face.

My butt shakes!

 

[12thgear]

GT5 won't really won't sound that great no matter what speakers you use. It always sounded kind of tame and muffled to me.

In the sound options you can change the dynamic range in GT5. It sounded very underwhelming in its default (Living Room) mode for me. I have a pretty powerful home theater, and when I switched dynamic range to Large Theatre, well, let's just say my system brought the heat. I eventually settled on Small Theatre.

 

[Scaff]

.. only joking of course... I've been out of the Hi-fi industry for 6 months now, and I miss the banter.

I've been out of the Hi-Fi industry for around 20 years and I still miss it, still remember selling these.....


http://www.hi-fi-insight.com/pioneer-a400-integrated-amplifier.html


...by the truck load.

As for GT5, I run it (and all my AV needs) through the following:

Sony 2400es (which is most certainly 'real' AV)
Monitor Audio R90's front
Monitor Audio R180 centre
Monitor Audio R45 rears
Monitor Audio Bronze Reference BRW-10 Subwoofer


A nice set-up and certainly sounds good, but my Hi-Fi is still my first love in that regard.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?p=2680570#post2680570

Rega Planer 3 turntable
Arcam Alpha One CD Player
Musical Fidelity Synthesis Amp
Denon DRS 610 Tape deck
B&W DM601 speakers




Scaff

 

[bevo]

In the sound options you can change the dynamic range in GT5. It sounded very underwhelming in its default (Living Room) mode for me. I have a pretty powerful home theater, and when I switched dynamic range to Large Theatre, well, let's just say my system brought the heat. I eventually settled on Small Theatre.

I've messed with it alot, and just never could get it to sound like I thought it should. I don't think it's settings, it seems just to be the way the game sounds. It, just doesn't sound alive to me. Don't get me wrong it's not horrible, but I wouldn't use it to demo my system to anyone.