Whats Your Audio / Home Cinema Setup?

  • Thread starter 2ez2KiLL
  • 877 comments
  • 226,259 views
That sounds excellent, I'll give it a look. Thanks again.

Just placed a bid for a gently used 880 on ebay. Fingers are crossed.
 
Last edited:
Denon 1909 receiver
Fronts- Polk RTi A5's
Center-polk CSi A4
Sides and rears-polk RM8's
Sub- polk psw111- it's the first thing I will upgrade. Thinking about the polk psw 505, or dsw 600
Buttkicker
Panasonic 50 inch plasma
PS3
Xbox 360
HD cable through time warner

The polk RTi A line sounds great. I got the RTi A5's for 380$ plus shipping through polk direct refurbished. If your looking to make a good system with not much cash polk direct is where to go, everything looks brand new. They came with a 5 year factory warranty, and are regularly 900$. I couldn't believe how loud and clear the RTi A5's were with just 90 watts to them. I can hold off on the receiver and amp upgrade for awhile now. The only thing I really want to upgrade soon is the sub. The psw 111 sounds great for gaming, but for music it's a little slow, and lacks the punch you would want.
I'll post some pictures soon.
 
Receiver: Pioneer LX-70
Speakers: Monitor Audio Silver Series.
1 x Silver LCR (cen)
2 x Silver S8 (front)
4 x Silver S6 (rear and rear surr)
Sub: REL Q150
Cable: QED Silver Anniversary with Airloc banana plugs
CD player: NAD C541i
Tapedeck: Pioneer CT-W806DR
DVD: Panasonic DVD-S53
PS2, PS3
HD Satellite TV - MySky
TV - Panasonic 50" Plasma Full HD.
Headphones: Grado SR80
ipod Video G5.5 30Gb.
Canon Video cam hooked up for digi-analog conversion to Vaio laptop.
 
YEAH Grado SR80!!!!
The new or old design?
I think probably the old design. Mine are SR80 not SR80i. Got them about 4 years ago, on the basis of a What HiFi review, 5 stars if I remember.
In fact all my gear was bought on the strength of What HiFi. No time to audition every component I needed, so i read What HiFi for two years. I did listen to a few speakers to finalise my choice.
 
As I've updated a lot of stuff since I last posted a picture, I figured I'd better update :-)





Stuff included:

Front speakers: F3 Lyd Trapez XI - 20 year old wonders.
Center: Dali SC-7 - Matches the Trapez' perfectly.
Sub: Avance Sub powered by a Denon POA-4400A. Doesn't make a big fuzz but works when needed.
Rear Speakers: Dali 2000 - Not pictured but does the job just fine.
TV: Sharp LC-XD1E - 37" Full HD.
Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR706 - HDMI Switching Analog Upscaling work of art.
HTPC: A box that runs MediaPortal - and does so quietly.
Laserdisc: Pioneer CLD-D925 - 1996 called - It wants it's player back. (The Faroudja Scaler in the Onkyo works wonders on this baby)
RF Demodulator: Pioneer RFD-1 - Only AC3 RF Demodulator to have!. (Sits on top of the LD player)
IPTV Box: Useless Thomson POS that sorta works. Doesn't play well with the Harmony 1000 though.
Turntable: Denon DP-47F - Pick Up = Epic Fail at the moment. - My fault, I borked it.
RIAA: Dali PP-2 - Oh my!... So sweet sounding.
PS3: Ehh.. PS3 I guess - Stuff gets played here..
Remote: Logitech Harmony 1000 - Controls everything bar the IPTV box. Macros = WIN!.
 
Last edited:
Nice update Flerbizky, it looks good.

BTW - Nothing 1996 about a Laserdisc player, I also know a few people that still use them, and after all Pioneer only stoped production of them this year!!!!!

http://uk.cinenow.com/articles/9093-pioneer-to-stop-production-of-laserdisc-players

Now I bet a lot of people didn't know they were even still making them.


Regards

Scaff

Heh... I bet a lot of people don't know WHAT a Laserdisc is ;)

The D925 is still on top with regards to picture quality.. Edited my post to confuse those not in the know even more!..
 
Last edited:
I ordered this http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-pb13ultra.cfm the other day. I can't wait. It should take my system to a whole new level. I have heard nothing but great reviews about it. I wish I could have heard it first, but no one near me has one. I'm sure I'll be impressed, my current sub is an 8 inch 150 watt cube. It actually sounds better then I thought it would, but I'm pretty sure that this SVS will blow it away.
 
Okay, as we have a prety wide demographic here, as well as some people inside the industry... I'm wondering about buying habits...

bevo above commented about not being able to here his new SVS sub before before purchase, as no-one local to him had one, and has bought it online anyway.. It set me wondering about the age old argument "HIGH STREET vs ONLINE"

Open question:
Would you buy something without hearing it first?
Would you hear it at a dealer, then shop online?
Don't trust online, dealer only?
Dealer, schealer, where's my bargains!?

How does it work with you guys...?
 
Outstanding topic, matski, but I'd suggest starting a new thread for it. 👍
 
I ordered this http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-pb13ultra.cfm the other day. I can't wait. It should take my system to a whole new level. I have heard nothing but great reviews about it. I wish I could have heard it first, but no one near me has one. I'm sure I'll be impressed, my current sub is an 8 inch 150 watt cube. It actually sounds better then I thought it would, but I'm pretty sure that this SVS will blow it away.

I've heard SVS products before, both the PB and PC range and am pretty much certain you will be blown away by them.

My personal 'wish-list' sub includes the SVS PC-Ultra, so I will be more than interested to know what you think of it.

Regards

Scaff
 
Just a quick addition to this list. Got asked by my farther to make him a......"TV setup".....his words not mine, so decided to just go mad and put an entertainment media center in LOL at the heart of it is the beloved PS3, hooked up to a 24" PC monitor (it had to fit in a small tv cabinet) wirelessly hooked to the net and threw play tv on it. Works a treat, easy for him to prety much do everything and as he probubley only uses it 2-3 hours a day it's not going to be over used.
Oh yeah hooked it into his PC as a media server so his pics can be pulled accross easily, PS3 camera on it as well for vide chat, bunch of bluerays and the monitor runs great at 1080p and sound is handled by a mid range suround sound unit 5.1. oh yeah got an official remote for it and of course tiger woods and oblivion just to convert him to gaming (he's a golf fan SOCOM or GT5p not really his thing LOL)
 
My setup:
Panasonic TH-42PY70
Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver
Harman Kardon HKTS18 Speakers (5+1)
Samsung DCB-H360R
PS3 (oldskool version)
PC (with HDMI output)

Now I'll crack down my equipment:
TV: I'm satified with this
Audio: It's good. But for the costs I did expect more. The sound doesn't *fill* the room enough on low volume and voices are sometimes difficult to hear. I do realise this is part due to the settings. But still. On high volume the system rules/owns. When I turn on the subwoofer on 1/3 of its capability the walls literally begin to tremble. .... it's scary.

Cable Receiver. It's a pos. It only does 1080i, can't record, and is slower than wounded snail when loading the guide and switching channels.

PC. Some proper power is needed to run games 1920x1080 with AA and FA. This system has it. But I went cheap on the keyboard+mouse so the range from where I sit isn't long enough, meaning I gotta move foreward all the time. After the 100th time this is a pain.

Alright :) that all for my non driving games.

When I play GT5P I use a Samsung 20" widescreen TFT (I run the game at 720p) and 2 ancient speakers, since the stupid PS3 doesn't support headphones.
And a G25 ... this is the reason I use this setup instead of the proper one. I can't place my wheel downstairs.
 
I've heard SVS products before, both the PB and PC range and am pretty much certain you will be blown away by them.

My personal 'wish-list' sub includes the SVS PC-Ultra, so I will be more than interested to know what you think of it.

Regards

Scaff

I am blown away by it for HT. It sounds good with music, but if music is your priority you might want to look somewhere else. It could stand to be a little faster for music, but it is very accurate. It has the smoothest bass I have ever heard. When I was young I was into car stereos, and have been to many competitions for them, and one svs ultra is much more accurate and precise then any car stereo I have ever heard. It may not hit as hard as some of them, but it gets the job done pretty well with music. I haven't played with the sealed tuning for more than an hour or 2, so maybe if it was sealed and setup just right you might be able to get the thump a little tighter.

As for HT I really can't see anything else being any better. The only problem I have with it is that I can't get my windows to stop vibrating. My house is over 60 years old, and nothing I do will make it stop.
I've ran test tones down to 10 hz with it and it will literally make you sick to the stomach at those low frequencies.

What's weird with it is that lots of movies have bass so low that you can't hear it, but you can feel the bass coming through your body with this sub.

As loud as it is though it will be subtle when it is suppose to be if you get everything setup right.

The major pros for it are
1, major movie bass that will really rattle your house it makes my whole room feel like a buttkicker is hooked up to it.
2. it is the most precise sub I have ever heard.
3. It can be tuned to 20hz, 15hz, 10hz, or sealed using port plugs that come with it.
4. All the HT bass you will ever desire.
5. The best customer service I have ever talked to. They reply to emails within minutes, and will spend all day with you on the phone if you want. The people you talk to will actually know what their talking about and not just be reading off of a computer through a check list.

Cons
1. Possibly not the most musical sub out there, but it is the best sub I have ever heard with music outside of a car.
2. It is expesive, but compared to other subs at that level it's a bargain.
3. It is huge. You really can't appreciate how big it is until you see one, and it also weighs 150lb. Because of it's size and weight you can't lift it by yourself. Although it is huge though, it is nice looking.

That's pretty much my impressions of the ultra. I may be wrong about how it is with music, as I am fairly new to the HT scene, and setting up a sub requires alot of trial and error to get it just right. I don't have much free time, and you need someone to help you move it so I just set it in the corner, and let it go to work. If you sealed it, and played with your placement and settings it might just tighten the bass up for music. So don't think it's not a musical sub, there might just be a little better music sub out there.

When I hear the ultra in action, I really don't know how another sub could sound better with games and movies.

As for buying speakers without hearing them
The internet is a place of wonder. If you go to a site devoted to HT and the large majority of people like a speaker, then chances are it's a good speaker. I went to the AVS forums for help with a sub, and they couldn't have been more right. As for my speakers, the only place I went to for them was polk's forums. Which I'm sure are pretty biased to polk, but at the same time they will give you a very good idea of what they will sound like. The only speakers I'm disappointed in are my surrounds, and I bought them without anyone else's opinion or being able to hear them. They don't sound bad mind you, but for what I paid I could have gotten 3 times the speaker for the money if I would have researched it more.

So for me yes, I will buy speakers again without hearing them. Where I live though that's pretty much the only option I have.
 
Last edited:
I'm going to try and post some pics of my setup. This may not go well, I've never done this, and I'm not much of a photographer.

Denon 1909 receiver
Fronts are polk RTi A5's- 2 6 1/2 inch drivers
Center is a polk CSi A4 -2 5 1/4 inch drivers
sub is a SVS pb 13 ultra 13.3 inch driver with a 750 watt amp (the tower speakers beside it are not small speakers by any means, they weight something like 60 pounds each. Maybe that will give you an idea of how huge that sub is)
My sides and rears are polk rm 8's their very small but do the surround job decent.
TV is a 50 inch panasonic plasma

I would really like to build a fake wall to cover up everything in the background. The house is probably about 70 years old and back then apparently they loved built in wood cabinets. I'm thinking about building a house in the next few years though, so I'll probably leave any more remodeling up to my sister. I'll give her the house when my wife and I build.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_6037.jpg
    IMG_6037.jpg
    92.6 KB · Views: 29
  • IMG_6022.jpg
    IMG_6022.jpg
    98 KB · Views: 32
  • IMG_6046.jpg
    IMG_6046.jpg
    68.8 KB · Views: 27
  • IMG_6038.jpg
    IMG_6038.jpg
    95.6 KB · Views: 27
Last edited:
So yesterday I made the move to Full HD, and picked myself up a Sony KDL46Z5500. Complete with 3 year Warranty and Slim PS3. :)

It's an amazing display, I paid extra over the W5500 not really for the 200Hz (Which is nice) but for the design of it and that super thin bevel. It's really designed for an external sound system because the speakers on it are pretty bad, as I assume they're actually on the back of the TV.

A few other features it has is an ethernet port, for streaming content, a la PS3, and a couple of USB ports for playing media right off a harddrive/stick. It also has the XMB interface which is awesome to use, and comes with a backlit remote.

The one downside is that it's slightly more reflective than my old V-Series Bravia, so I probably wouldn't put it in a bright room. That side, the black-levels on this one are on a completely different level to my old set.

I also picked up the TV Stand/Cabinet at the same time, it's really nice with glass shelves, but the front of it is Matt black, so it's not the finger print magnet the rest of my system is now.

Now some pics.

dsc00833i.jpg


dsc00834sz.jpg


dsc00835b.jpg


That speaker cable on the front-right speaker is driving me nuts. For some reason, Sony seemed to decide to give all the other speaker cables 8m runs, and the front-right a 1m one. I'm going to swap the cables over from the centre speaker when I have the time. Or possibly get some new speakers.

dsc00836kk.jpg


Arghhhhh....reflections! The amp sqeezed in just perfectly, with only about 2mm to spare from the top edge. Fortunately, it's higher inside than the front edge, so it still has good ventilation.

I still need to clean up the whole area, and hide a few more cables. Will post more pics when I'm happy with it.

dsc00837z.jpg


My old 32" V-Series has been religated to my new PC Monitor. It's slightly huge and I'm going blind using it, but once I turned to back-light too it's lowest setting it's not so bad.

One quick question: Is it possible, or recommended to get a set of dim lights behind the TV? I know a few models came out a few years ago with them built in, but I just want some slight illumination as my lights in the room don't dim.
 
Nice TV, bud. 👍
One quick question: Is it possible, or recommended to get a set of dim lights behind the TV? I know a few models came out a few years ago with them built in, but I just want some slight illumination as my lights in the room don't dim.
If I'm not mistaken, incandescent bulbs aren't available any more in AU, so a dimmer is out since they don't work with CFL's unless you have a dimming ballast. If I'm mistaken on either the not available or ballast, you could head down to your friendly local DIY store and pick up a dimmer switch, kill the power, disconnect the old switch, connect the new one, turn power on, profit.

Or... Put a small (13 watt?) CFL in that lamp sitting next to the monitor.
 
TB
Nice TV, bud. 👍

If I'm not mistaken, incandescent bulbs aren't available any more in AU, so a dimmer is out since they don't work with CFL's unless you have a dimming ballast. If I'm mistaken on either the not available or ballast, you could head down to your friendly local DIY store and pick up a dimmer switch, kill the power, disconnect the old switch, connect the new one, turn power on, profit.

Or... Put a small (13 watt?) CFL in that lamp sitting next to the monitor.

Picked some LED bars up at IKEA. Is their anything they don't have??? Slightly more expensive than I wanted to spend but they're a good brightness and produce no heat.

dsc00844ko.jpg


Now, just gotta get into the roof and move the antenna outlet so I can get rid of the rabbit ears...
 
I've got one of these...

413090H66CL._SL500_AA280_.jpg


...hooked up to my television. The sound quality is quite good. That little box makes some really impressive bass.
 
Just my humble opinion.. but the Wave® really isn't worth the money. I've worked at an independent HiFi shop for 16 years now, Bose have been one of our standard core brands throughout that time, so I have a lot of respect for most of their products... but their is a reason why the wave is not available via it's dealer network (at least in the UK it isn't - not sure about the rest of the world), and thats because next to similarly priced alternatives it's way out-classed, and is matched (easily for sound quality) by much cheaper alternatives.

I must get asked 10 times a week about this unit, everybody starts off with the "It looks neat and Bose are a good make aren't they.." but at this stage, they have only seen an advert for it, they don't know how much it costs, and they've never actually heard it.. the option most people are taking at the moment (solely in my personal experience):

Yamaha CRXM-430, which is CD/FM/DAB/iPod, remote control - hooked up to either something like the Kef C1's or Monitor Audio BR1's (around £400 - £450 as a package), or the Yamaha with Bose Acoustimass® 3's (about £500 [same price as the Wave])... any of these options will hugely out-perform the Wave interms of sound quality, and trumps it on features too.

IF... they, the customers, truly are after an all-in-1 table top system then the Boston Acoustics out performs the Wave from a sound quality point of view (though it lacks the DAB option) and it costs significantley less than the Bose... IF they want the DAB radio then theres a raft of products from Pure and Vita Audio, all comparable with the Bose (often with more features - Wi-Fi and iPod for example)... and of course the Denon S-52 DAB, which is all singing/all dancing - although I find the audio quality from CD a let down, it really is tuned for compressed Audio.

Just my two cents, but simply the Wave is not worth the £500 (£550) price tag - it's a CD / Radio / Alarm Clock! I'm not beating on Bose, like I say, I have a lot of respect for what they do (though PLEASE build Blu-Ray into the Lifestyle® systems NOW!).. there equipment pretty much sells itself, they are a good company to deal with, they are fast and efficient when stuff goes wrong (which ends up getting sold in Bose Factory outlets once it's fixed!), and I've personally bought Bose stuff before (only headphones admittedly ;)).. but I could not recommend the Wave.... .. sorry forgot the ® !,

Wow that was a long rant for such a little item! :)
 
Back