New HT, looking for comments or suggestions

[BMXTRIX]

I'll throw in that I have two young sons - a harmless 5 month old and a typical 3 year old. I also have Definitive Technology BP30 speakers that are about 48" tall sitting in my family room - right next to a toybox and lego table.

While I have had to remind him several times (firmly) to not touch the speakers at all, there have been absolutely zero issues. He knows not to touch or go to close to them.. so he doesn't.

Not sure how well this works with other kids, but mine sure got the message right away.

 

[Lady Phoenix]

Hi, Pheaton! Thought I'd chime in on this, too.

As a side note, remember that your "very active 2 yr old" will be 2 for a lot less time than you will own these speakers.

True, but I don't want to wait a couple more years to make the purchase!

But seriously, though the toddler is one motivating factor as to why we're steering away from towers, there is also a slight problem with traffic flow if we go with towers. Placing a tower on the right hand side would be right in the way of people walking into the HT area. So besides our toddler potentially knocking into it, I think our guests could too... especially if they're carrying a nice adult beverage or bowl of popcorn.

 

[Pheaton]

Speaker Update #3

Hi all,
Went out a did a little more listening today. First we went back to a local dealer that carried the B&W XT2's that we listened to before. This time they were in a different setup. After listening to them again my wife and I both felt that while they had a clear sound the high's were too 'tinny'. On Carmina Buranna the soprano began to sound harsh to both of us.

Next was Vandersteen VSM-1. Good clarity, nice balance between high, mid, and low. Listen to a variety of music and DVD's with these and we were happy with everything we through at them. I think these have shot up into the #1 spot. We plan on listening to them again, and the dealer was willing to let us take a pair home to listen to. Thanks to Jaxvon for the recommendation on these.

Same dealer as the vandersteen was also a Magnepan dealer. So we listened to the MC1 models. These were the clearest most detailed speaker that we have listened to so far. 2-channel music was amazing. But when we went to DVD multi-channel there just seemed to be missing that punch from the low end that we were looking for.

So far I would say that the Vandersteen's and the Gallo's make the second cut. In fact we liked the vandy's so much that I think that the B&W, and the Def Tech have been eliminated. I would still like to listen to some Triad's and some RBH on-walls, but that will have to be for another day.

Pheaton

 

[Pheaton]

In Home Demo

Hi all,

Just got home with a pair of Vandersteen VSM-1's, a VCC-1, and an Arcam 350AVR. They are all on 'loan' from a dealer so that I can demo them. My plan right now is to do an A/B test on my current system. I will be running the Vandy's on a Denon 2802 and using my Def Tech BPX as surrounds. I currently have Def Tech BP2006 and CLR 2300 in the living room. After doing the A/B test with lots of music and some DVD's I was planning on sliding in the Arcam and running the same test. I also picked up a SPL meter today from Radio Shack and will be using that to help out on these tests.

Does anyone have a suggestion or idea about doing this? I am forgetting to do something important? I am returning the demo equipment on Tuesday, so if you do have an idea I need to hear it before then.

Hope everyone is having a good Memorial Weekend, and if you are a veteran allow me to say Thank You for all that you have done or are doing.

Pheaton

 

[Pheaton]

On-walls can't cut it.....

Hi all,
We finished listening to the Vandersteen's and we were not happy. We did not actually mount them on the wall, but did place them on a tray table and they were flush with the wall. Did the A/B test vs. our Def Techs and it wasn't even close. The sound out of the def techs filled the room and you felt like the musicians were there in the room with you. The Vandy's sounded like they were three rooms over and the sound was struggling to get out of the speaker.

So I think both my wife and I are now ready to put on-walls to rest and look for towers. I know we have not been able to listen to all of the on-walls available, but the local Gallo and Triad dealer and the nearest RBH dealer won't call us back. Maybe some of you saw this coming, we have now seen the light. We will just have to be a bit more vigilant when our son is playing in the basement.

So the speaker search restarts with the focus on Towers rather than on-walls. I think I will check out the Vandersteen towers when I return the demo equipment. This dealer has been a pleasure to deal with, and he already told me that I can demo as many times as I need.

Pheaton

 

[Pheaton]

Any opinions on these?

Hi all,

Had a chance to go out and do a little listening today. Went to a new shop and listened to a pair of Monitor Audio RS8's. They were powered with a Marantz reciever, Marantz CD player, and a Bryson amp. I thought the sound was good. The lows on Rite of Spring were nice, while maintaining good clarity. The mids sounded good on Carmina Burana. There was a nice balance between all of the voices. I thought they sounded the best on Dead Can Dance, Rakim. There was great clarity and the just a great balance between the highs, mids, and lows. This listening was all done in two channel, so my question is;

Has anyone used these for HT? How do they sound to you for movies?

The dealer also had a pair of Yamaha Soavo's. I did not have time to listen to these, but I think I will try to go back in the near future. Should I? Has anyone heard these? I have not found out too much about these on the web.

I also had a chance to see the JVC DLA RS-1. Watched the Firebird chapter from Fantasia 2000. The reds were impressive. When the volcano erupts the screen is filled with lava, but the image did not lose it's crispness either. I also saw some HD content that I was not familiar with, but it looked very nice as well. My only concern is that this projector is a little over the budget. But to those that have recommended this projector, I now know why.

Pheaton

 

[Lady Phoenix]

Just thought I'd post a picture of the layout for our basement so folks could see what we're concerned about with the placement of the right main. Comments and suggestions are more than welcome.

 

[Lady Phoenix]

Howdy folks! On Thursday Pheaton took me to hear the MA RS8s and then yesterday we auditioned the B&W 600s. I think we liked both with a slight preference towards the MAs. We're also thinking to audition some Vandersteen 2CEs, but noticed that those are rear ported. Looking at our layout above, and considering that we'll have to place our towers (at least the right one for sure) a bit closer to the wall than is optimal, should we steer clear of rear port models?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I had the same concern with rear ported speakers so I kept my search to front ported. In the end; the front ported sounded the best 10 inches from the wall so I could have gotten away with either. The wife dictated that the speakers had to be no further out than 2 inches but I moved them out 1 more inch every other day until I had them at 13 inches; I couldnt tell any difference from 10-13 so I moved them back to 10 and to this day; she has not noticed that they have been moved.

Moral to the story; dont let the port limit your selection...front and rear ported both need some room from the wall behind them...

Howdy folks! On Thursday Pheaton took me to hear the MA RS8s and then yesterday we auditioned the B&W 600s. I think we liked both with a slight preference towards the MAs. We're also thinking to audition some Vandersteen 2CEs, but noticed that those are rear ported. Looking at our layout above, and considering that we'll have to place our towers (at least the right one for sure) a bit closer to the wall than is optimal, should we steer clear of rear port models?

 

[Pheaton]

Speaker Choice has been made!

Hi all,
Well the wife and I went back to do a comparison test between the the Monitor Audio RS8 towers and the GS60 towers. This was basically to try and answer the question, "Do the golds really sound that much better to justify the cost increase?"

Well in our opinion they do. I could give you lots of reasons why, but I think a comment from my wife sums it up the best, she is a bassoon player, and when we were listening to the opening of Rite of Spring, she said; "That is how the bassoon sounds to me when I play it." We tested several pieces of music in addition to classical and the gold's just outperformed on all levels that would justify the extra $$$.

So as it stands right now we are looking to go with a pair of GS 60, GS-LCR, a pair of RS-FX surrounds, and the RSW-12 sub.
For electronics we are thinking the Marantz 7001 AVR, and the Marantz DV6001 DVD player.
For the projector we are thinking the JVC-RS1.

We both have that excited feeling now that we have decided on the golds and are moving forward.

Hopefully more to come soon,

Pheaton

 

[jaxvon]

Hi all,
Well the wife and I went back to do a comparison test between the the Monitor Audio RS8 towers and the GS60 towers. This was basically to try and answer the question, "Do the golds really sound that much better to justify the cost increase?"[snip!]

I'm sorry the Vandersteens didn't work out for you. But it seems that you've found another good candidate, so that's great!

 

[Pheaton]

Hi,
Actually Jaxvon I found your recommendation of the Vandersteens to be quite useful. I feel that I am more educated now that I have had a chance to listen to them and do research about them. My wife and I just fell in love with the MA golds.

In fact we brought the MA GS60's home for a listen and they are great! I think we are close to pulling the trigger on the equipment purchase.

Thanks to everyone that helped out on this thread and gave their advice. In particular I would like to thank IntheIndustry for taking the time to talk with me on the phone.

I might have a few more questions for everyone in the future, and when everything is done I will post some pictures.

Pheaton

 

[Pheaton]

The purchase has been made!!!!!

Hi all,
So we did it! The deposit is down for the equipment. Here are the goodies;

Right/Left Fronts: Monitor Audio Gold Signature Series 60
Center: Monitor Audio Gold Series Center
Surrounds: Monitor Audio Silver Series Surrounds
Sub: SVS PB-12 Plus/2
Reciever: Marantz 8001 AVR
DVD Player: Marantz 6001 5-disc changer
Projector: JVC DLA-RS1U

I hope to be able to post pictures in about a month, so stay tuned.....

Pheaton

 

[AVRat]

Color me jealous!