Sensi's System 2

[MidnightSensi]

Cheers for blathering with me josten and rmk. Always good to talk bass.

Here is an interesting take on Audyssey (Pro Kit) vs BFD on the IB sub forum.

How do you guys find this stuff?!

My Onkyo Pro 885 has Audyssey Multi XT also (I think the Onkyo Pro and the Integra are almost the same box), so if it works out for you I'll pickup the Audyssey Pro also. You mind if I ask what it cost and where you bought it from? Google shopping seems to be failing me.

I called a friend today that is pretty good with acoustics and he said the only real way to tame the subbass is to use my two back rooms to create a pressure differential. Basically, with the doors open in the rear of the room (one is a bathroom, the other is a walk in closet), with 'bass trap material' hung over the doors. He's gunna show me this weekend, but, I'm not making my rear rooms into a giant bass trap so its a non-issue haha....still interested though. The point is he said without a lot of separation it would be very hard to tame the really deep bass.

That also reinforces that thread you posted, because that guy with what sounds like a highly treated room has a long decay in the low end nevertheless.

Probably something I'll need to mask with EQ and live with.

Overall I'm pretty happy with how it sounds now. Listened to DJ Krush & Toshinori Kondo 'Ki-Oku' last night, was pretty mesmerizing. Highly recommended: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ki-Oku

 

[jostenmeat]

Cheers for blathering with me josten and rmk. Always good to talk bass.

I called a friend today that is pretty good with acoustics and he said the only real way to tame the subbass is to use my two back rooms to create a pressure differential. Basically, with the doors open in the rear of the room (one is a bathroom, the other is a walk in closet), with 'bass trap material' hung over the doors. He's gunna show me this weekend, but, I'm not making my rear rooms into a giant bass trap so its a non-issue haha....still interested though. The point is he said without a lot of separation it would be very hard to tame the really deep bass.

I'm not qualified to talk about this stuff, but someone in the acoustics subforum pointed this quote out to me, from the article that Ethan Winer wrote for AH,
Bass Traps - Not Just for Fisherman!

It's difficult to get substantial absorption below about 80 Hz using a fiberglass-based trap. Fortunately, as explained earlier, most rooms don't need much absorption below 80 Hz because sheet rock walls pass and absorb those very low frequencies. So unless you have walls made of cement or block, or have two layers of sheet rock for increased isolation between rooms, fiberglass bass traps are an ideal choice.

That also reinforces that thread you posted, because that guy with what sounds like a highly treated room has a long decay in the low end nevertheless.

Yes, he treated the living crap out of his place. I own about 15 panels, and he has double or triple that, all in one room, IIRC.

Probably something I'll need to mask with EQ and live with.

I still vote for treatments.

Overall I'm pretty happy with how it sounds now. Listened to DJ Krush & Toshinori Kondo 'Ki-Oku' last night, was pretty mesmerizing. Highly recommended: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ki-Oku

Thanks for the rec.

 

[rmk]

Cheers for blathering with me josten and rmk. Always good to talk bass.



How do you guys find this stuff?!

My Onkyo Pro 885 has Audyssey Multi XT also (I think the Onkyo Pro and the Integra are almost the same box), so if it works out for you I'll pickup the Audyssey Pro also. You mind if I ask what it cost and where you bought it from? Google shopping seems to be failing me.

I called a friend today that is pretty good with acoustics and he said the only real way to tame the subbass is to use my two back rooms to create a pressure differential. Basically, with the doors open in the rear of the room (one is a bathroom, the other is a walk in closet), with 'bass trap material' hung over the doors. He's gunna show me this weekend, but, I'm not making my rear rooms into a giant bass trap so its a non-issue haha....still interested though. The point is he said without a lot of separation it would be very hard to tame the really deep bass.

That also reinforces that thread you posted, because that guy with what sounds like a highly treated room has a long decay in the low end nevertheless.

Probably something I'll need to mask with EQ and live with.

Overall I'm pretty happy with how it sounds now. Listened to DJ Krush & Toshinori Kondo 'Ki-Oku' last night, was pretty mesmerizing. Highly recommended: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ki-Oku

I odered the Audyssey Pro Installer it direct from Audyssey. It is $550 plus $150 for the license key to EQ your unit (unlimited number of times). It is based upon the units MAC address soif you change processors, it's another $150. I'm anxious to run Audyssey but am waiting until I move some acoustic panels and upgrade the tweeter (to the new model) on one of my mains on Friday.

 

[MidnightSensi]

I've been meaning to post this for a while, excuse the hanging wires, but this is my office setup. It's a pair of Audioengine A2s. I listen pretty softly during the day, but they do sound good for their size! They came nicely packaged, and the part quality is excellent, gold push-down terminations, aluminum volume knob, well-braced/inert. I mean, the fit-and-finish of these inexpensive speakers is better than my Dynaudios, M&Ks and Danleys combined. Only reason I mention this is because I was expecting much less at the price point and I feel like they are an unbelievable value. I also get compliments on them regularly.

 

[lsiberian]

I've been meaning to post this for a while, excuse the hanging wires, but this is my office setup. It's a pair of Audioengine A2s. I listen pretty softly during the day, but they do sound good for their size! They came nicely packaged, and the part quality is excellent, gold push-down terminations, aluminum volume knob, well-braced/inert. I mean, the fit-and-finish of these inexpensive speakers is better than my Dynaudios, M&Ks and Danleys combined. Only reason I mention this is because I was expecting much less at the price point and I feel like they are an unbelievable value. I also get compliments on them regularly.

What's on top of the left speaker?

It looks like an amazing futuristic device.

 

[MidnightSensi]

What's on top of the left speaker?

It looks like an amazing futuristic device.

Haha, it's the eye for color correcting my monitors ... basically the same thing as color correcting a tv or projector. The other side of that thing hangs over my monitor once a month and re-calibrates my color profiles, gamma, white point temperature, etc. The front side senses the ambient light and actively adjusts my screens so that the white point and white luminescence are correct and so forth as the sun changes and lighting so that I don't see the right thing in the morning and the wrong thing in the afternoon.

I also used it to calibrate my projector.

 

[lsiberian]

Haha, it's the eye for color correcting my monitors ... basically the same thing as color correcting a tv or projector. The other side of that thing hangs over my monitor once a month and re-calibrates my color profiles, gamma, white point temperature, etc. The front side senses the ambient light and actively adjusts my screens so that the white point and white luminescence are correct and so forth as the sun changes and lighting so that I don't see the right thing in the morning and the wrong thing in the afternoon.

I also used it to calibrate my projector.

See you now have peaked my interest.

 

[Lordoftherings]

See you now have peaked my interest.

And mine as well.

 

[MidnightSensi]

Ordered a Crown XTi1000 today for the rear channels.

I was going to order another Crest, but, everyone is out of stock and I'm impatient. So it was either overkill, overkill or overkill.... My rack is a complete hodgepodge of stuff.

Crest sent me a ballbearing fan for my CD series. So that's fixed. Other than that, though, the CD is probably the strongest amplifier I have ever messed with. It pulls so hard for what it draws its unbelievable. Wish I had these amps back when I was doing parties so I didn't have to lug a generator around. A stack of these could run off 110/20A.

 

[haraldo]

Ordered a Crown XTi1000 today for the rear channels.

I was going to order another Crest, but, everyone is out of stock and I'm impatient. So it was either overkill, overkill or overkill.... My rack is a complete hodgepodge of stuff.

Crest sent me a ballbearing fan for my CD series. So that's fixed. Other than that, though, the CD is probably the strongest amplifier I have ever messed with. It pulls so hard for what it draws its unbelievable. Wish I had these amps back when I was doing parties so I didn't have to lug a generator around. A stack of these could run off 110/20A.

Wow Sensi....
looking at specs and price these seem to be very good price/performance rate, do you know these amps from beforehand? have you tested them before?

Look forward to hear about how they perform?

Specially interesting with the DSP section, can't remember to have seen this in a dedicated poweramp before, guess they will be very good for sub amps too yes?

 

[MidnightSensi]

Wow Sensi....
looking at specs and price these seem to be very good price/performance rate, do you know these amps from beforehand? have you tested them before?

Look forward to hear about how they perform?

Specially interesting with the DSP section, can't remember to have seen this in a dedicated poweramp before, guess they will be very good for sub amps too yes?

Yeah, I've used them before, its a really nice amplifier and worth the jump up from the XLS series, especially for home theater use. The XLS you need to mod the fans, but the XTi's are quiet variable speed. They are also efficient, if your starting to run into any power shortage. Crown builds a good product for the money and really stand behind them. I've never had a problem getting service from them.

I prefer the Crest Audio products for anything heavy duty. I think the best value for a subwoofer amplifier is the Crest CC series. But for my rear channels this XTi will be more than fine.

In the past with the DSP section I've always defeated it. When I first used an XTi it was before their System Architect software was really out, then more recently I've used them and just didn't bother with the DSP because I was using a stand alone dsp. I'll play with this one and let ya know!

 

[haraldo]

Thx, I'm gonna check out the other ranges of Crest amps

 

[MidnightSensi]

I took some pictures while I replaced Crest fan.

Removed the top:

Old fan on the left, new on the right:

I twisted the strands and then soldered the new fan on:

I didn't have small enough heat shrink, so I just used some electrical tape:

Closed it back up:

No more whistle.

 

[haraldo]

Thx Sensi that you take the time to share this with us
How much did you pay for those new fans?
Are the new fans able to keep the amp at same operating temperature, meaning are amps getting hooter with these new more silent fans?

 

[krzywica]

I didn't have small enough heat shrink, so I just used some electrical tape:

No more whistle.

Gasp....no shrink tubing!!!???

 

[MidnightSensi]

Thx Sensi that you take the time to share this with us
How much did you pay for those new fans?
Are the new fans able to keep the amp at same operating temperature, meaning are amps getting hooter with these new more silent fans?

Crest actually sent me the fan. It's the same amp and voltage, and probably similar cfm, just a quieter motor. When I called he said he wasn't sure if the fan was bad in the unit I had, because he said while they are noisier at idle than the CC, it shouldn't be much. So, it's possible the old one was just a defective fan.

Gasp....no shrink tubing!!!???

I know, next I'll be using butt connectors.

 

[MidnightSensi]

Pondering some gnarly mains.

 

[rmk]

Pondering some gnarly mains.

My CC4000 is quite a bit noisier than the QSC PLX but it's also a lot beefier. I can't hear either amp in the HT room so no need for a fan mod here.

What speakers are you looking at and and what will you power them with?

 

[MidnightSensi]

My CC4000 is quite a bit noisier than the QSC PLX but it's also a lot beefier. I can't hear either amp in the HT room so no need for a fan mod here.

Your CC is NOISER than the PLX? That's amazing to me. My CC1800 and the 2800 I use in my mobile rack is nearly SILENT. I feel bad, because I told you it would be quiet. They must just use a hodgepodge of fans. I'm glad your happy with the beefy-ness of the Crest at least.

What speakers are you looking at and and what will you power them with?

I'll power with my current amps. I haven't taken pictures yet, but in my rack now I have: Crest CC1800, Crest CD2000, Crown XTi1000, Crown XLS402. The Crest CC1800 does the mains, the Crest CD2000 does the subs, the Crown XTi does the center channel (it has built in DSP, the L and R uses the dbX), and the XLS402 does the rears. I have a dedicated 20A circuit.

The Crest CC2800 I had before went to my mobile rack to power my tops.

I think these will power just about anything.

But, I'm not sure what to get as far as speakers. I'm just starting to look. Any recommendations?

I was going to call JTR about some Triple 8's.

 

[rmk]

Your CC is NOISER than the PLX? That's amazing to me. My CC1800 and the 2800 I use in my mobile rack is nearly SILENT. I feel bad, because I told you it would be quiet. They must just use a hodgepodge of fans. I'm glad your happy with the beefy-ness of the Crest at least.



I'll power with my current amps. I haven't taken pictures yet, but in my rack now I have: Crest CC1800, Crest CD2000, Crown XTi1000, Crown XLS402. The Crest CC1800 does the mains, the Crest CD2000 does the subs, the Crown XTi does the center channel (it has built in DSP, the L and R uses the dbX), and the XLS402 does the rears. I have a dedicated 20A circuit.

The Crest CC2800 I had before went to my mobile rack to power my tops.

I think these will power just about anything.

But, I'm not sure what to get as far as speakers. I'm just starting to look. Any recommendations?

I was going to call JTR about some Triple 8's.

My bad, as it turns out the QSC is the noisier of the two amps. Well since you recommended both, you are still to blame .

Seriously, I am liking both amps and if my old Sunfire ever gives up, I'm going pro amps for the speakers too.