Cruises' theater

[Cruise Missile]

Well this is a start.



This is our humble theater. I am planning on adding Room treatments and SVS subs to this setup in the near future. In the long run I wan to go with a P.J..We use this room for all sorts of mayhem, movies, Vidoe games, music, Karaoke, etc.. The cats' name is Adam, as you can see he is a fan of Audioholics!!

Notice the empty shelves in the rack?
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45390
Visit this for the story.
Comment away friends!
Thanks for stopping by.

 

[talmazor]

It was very nice of you to setup a theater for your cat

It gave me an idea, maybe I should move my fish tank so they can watch some tv as well.

Nice setup.

 

[Cruise Missile]

Here's a couple more pics....

Karaoke gear.

Receiver

DVD-3930ci

Cooling fans on back of rack

View into the back

Mod for fans

Auto fan controller

Polk PSW1000 sub

Shelf I built for center channel

Locks at top and bottom keep kids, and or drunks out


Thanks for lookin'..
Please feel free to post up opinions, suggestions, dislikes, tips etc...

 

[Cruise Missile]

Also pics of the Speakers....

RTi 12 Mains

FXi5 side surround

RTi 6 rear surround

CSi 5 center ( turned on end to reduce a nasty bloom around 130hz )

 

[speakerman39]

Holy Shiknees that looks so darn good. Very well done. Like your tastes. Keep up the goos work as that looks like some serious gear. Kudos to you!!!!!

Cheers,

Phil

 

[croseiv]

Very Nice set-up! Go Polk Audio!

 

[unreal.freak]

I browsed through your photo album on flikr. You have a very handsome family. Your home and HT are very nice too. I like the cats especially Count Catcula.

What mounts are you using with the RTi6s? Do you thing they would work ok mounted to a slanted/vaulted ceiling? I have some RTi4s that i need to mount and i think if those are really sturdy with respect to being able to tighten up the swivel/tilt, i might try a pair of them.

Thanks,
Tommy

 

[Adam]

Nice! That's a good looking set-up (and cat). The thing that made me the most jealous? AH forum on that big screen! Someday I'll get myself a big screen and have a computer hooked up. Until then, I'll just stare at your pictures.

 

[Seth=L]

Sorry Cruise, but I am going to have to confiscate your cat. I already love it.

 

[Cruise Missile]

Thanks for the kind words. I had no idea that my cat would become Internet famous! I'll find the paperwork for the mounts and post up who makes them. I can't remember off the top of my head. As for the adjustability and strength, the mounts have compression locks at both ends and a splined joint in the middle. The only thing bad about them was drilling holes in the cabinets minutes after getting the 6's. It was a "measure 30 times drill once" kinda thing. Thanks again for the replies.

 

[jamie2112]

Great setup you have there cruise. And I love the cat as well.....

 

[Halon451]

And a fine start it is! Congrats Cruise - I don't think I've seen Polks look as good as they do in your setup. I like the suspended rear surrounds too, my wife would have a heart attack at such a sight, but to me it's the sight of pure bliss.

 

[westcott]

Great looking room. Nice and clean looking. I also like your equipment, being a Denon fan myself. I am bidding on a 3930ci on eBay and hope to win it at a reasonable price (SACD,DVD Audio, here I come).

My only suggestions would be to give your speakers more breathing room. I would move the equipment rack to the left side wall or behind the couch somewhere.

Second, your couch seems to be placed awefully close to the center of the room. Not a good place to sit acoustically as it is usually a null area.

Third, I would try to get the center speaker closer to ear level. Although a lot of center channel speakers sound better standing on end, I would think this may be negated by the increase in phase shift due to its current orientation and higher placement.

Not easy issues to overcome sometimes due to space limitations but defineately food for thought!!

Keep up the good work and keep us posted on your progress. Lots of front projection nuts around here to provide encouragement.

 

[Cruise Missile]

Thanks for the input.

The rack will be moved when we get a P.J.. I couldn't seem to swallow the cost of an HDMI that long. Planning this ahead, all of the wiring runs around the left side of the room, with enough extra wire for the front three speakers. It's just that HDMI thing. Locating the rack around to the left wall will be great when I'm hosting a Karaoke party. It's tough to EQ a singers mic from the front of the room!

As far as the center goes, I hope that getting the room acoustics in check will help with the bloom, But I know deep down inside it's because of the MTM configuration of the CSi5.But you've inspired another round of tweaks and trials!! Oh, the room is 13' 6" wide and 21' long with 9" ceilings. The seating area is 10'6" off the front wall, So, good guess considering there's no shot of the back of the room!! The seating is moving AS SOON as I scrounge the coin for a screen and P.J..

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[westcott]

Thanks for the input.


Thanks for the feedback!

That PSW1000 is no slouch. The PSW650 performs equally to the SVS PB12-NSD. I would imagine that the PSW1000 would be able to keep up with the SVSPB13Ultra with a little creative extrapulation.

Not sure you will hear much of a difference unless you really crank it up with a lot of 20Hz content IMO

The following link may surprise you. Polk is not the first name that comes to peoples lips when you speak of subwoofers but they do perform. I only throw this out to save you some money and possibly some disappointment. I just do not think there will be as big of a performance gap as others would lead you to believe.

Nousiaine Subwoofer Shootout!!!!!

 

[croseiv]

The PSW650 performs equally to the SVS PB12-NSD. I would imagine that the PSW1000 would be able to keep up with the SVSPB13Ultra with a little creative extrapulation.

Nousiaine Subwoofer Shootout!!!!!

Frankly, I personally am a little skeptical of some of those numbers. I can tell you the 650 ain't that good (I have one). And I would fully expect the PB12 to be the better sub. The PB13-Ultra can hit 117 dB at 16 feet while the 650 could barely muster 103 dB (in my room). But that's just my opinion. Something seems a little fishy about those 650 numbers to me. On any demanding movie scenes, the 650 will bottom, which is why I'm not using it in my theater anymore. Those numbers say verylittle about actual sound quality.

Now the PSW-1000 would certainly be the better sub over the 650 though. Equal to the 13. I'd be quite surprised.

My 650 will not hit 115 dB period, unless the meter is in the port.

 

[croseiv]

Cruise,

I see you are planning to order the PB13-Ultra. I would love to get your impression of how it compares to the PSW-1000 when you get it.

 

[westcott]

Frankly, I personally am a little skeptical of some of those numbers. I can tell you the 650 ain't that good (I have one). And I would fully expect the PB12 to be the better sub. The PB13-Ultra can hit 117 dB at 16 feet while the 650 could barely muster 103 dB (in my room). But that's just my opinion. Something seems a little fishy about those 650 numbers to me. On any demanding movie scenes, the 650 will bottom, which is why I'm not using it in my theater anymore. Those numbers say verylittle about actual sound quality.

Now the PSW-1000 would certainly be the better sub over the 650 though. Equal to the 13. I'd be quite surprised.

My 650 will not hit 115 dB period, unless the meter is in the port.

You are not alone croseiv. Many people struggle with Tom Nousaines test results. But, what you have to remember is that all this testing is done by a well respected member of the Sound and Vision staff. Many manufacturers discuss the results with him in the forums with utmost respect and full acceptance of his test results. The results are not what some people expect because Nousaine does limit dB output with a 10% distortion standard. Most testing you see on subs do not. This is what I believe most people fail to appreciate. Unless one has had the privelage of listening to a sub with low distortion levels, one may not appreciate this technical challege some manufacturers meet or exceed. It is easy to inflate your numbers without this 10% distortion standard. It is even easier to satisfy the average listener because they are so used to the sound of distortion and many people actually like it.

My experience has been that every person's system I have been asked to listen to or calibrate has been hot on the subwoofer volume setting. A properly calibrated subwoofer sounds too sedate for most peoples taste because most have done it "by ear" for years and that is what they are used to hearing. It takes time to get used to a properly calibrated subwoofer and many people do not like it.

 

[croseiv]

You are not alone croseiv. Many people struggle with Tom Nousaines test results. But, what you have to remember is that all this testing is done by a well respected member of the Sound and Vision staff. Many manufacturers discuss the results with him in the forums with utmost respect and full acceptance of his test results. The results are not what some people expect because Nousaine does limit dB output with a 10% distortion standard. Most testing you see on subs do not. This is what I believe most people fail to appreciate. Unless one has had the privelage of listening to a sub with low distortion levels, one may not appreciate this technical challege some manufacturers meet or exceed. It is easy to inflate your numbers without this 10% distortion standard. It is even easier to satisfy the average listener because they are so used to the sound of distortion and many people actually like it.

My experience has been that every person's system I have been asked to listen to or calibrate has been hot on the subwoofer volume setting. A properly calibrated subwoofer sounds too sedate for most peoples taste because most have done it "by ear" for years and that is what they are used to hearing. It takes time to get used to a properly calibrated subwoofer and many people do not like it.

As for running a sub on the hot side, I do that myself. I am running it 5 dB hot in fact (above my calibrated level with AviaII), because I do like it that way. Especially in music. I back off to about 3 dB hot for movies.

 

[Seth V]

Cruise Missile,

That is one sweet setup! I really dig the whole look, and the way you have the surrounds mounted is way cool. Thanks for sharing your setup!


Seth