Audioholics Showcase Home Overview

[gene]

Looks (and I bet, sounds) amazing! Certainly more than I will attain in this life, minus a lottery jackpot or something.

I have a genuine question. Why would you put the equipment rack in the front and spoil the visual and perhaps the audio of the front stage due to L-R imbalance and reflection point? Are all those LEDs and amp lights defeat-able or covered with black off when viewing a movie? On the audio side, I assume you have done ETC measurements to ensure the right speaker does not create strong reflections off the racks...

IMHO, the Kimber cable spoils the clean look of the front. Perhaps you can run them behind the baseboard and only expose the one foot vertical drop from the floor to the wall jacks. That way you can show off in a casual cool manner .

Call me a minimalist, but, with such beautiful floors and walls, the cables should be minimally visually invasive and the equipment rack should have not been there at all. For crying out loud, paint or replace those wall plates with something more color matched to the material on the panels.

On the topic of wire/cable management, BMXTRIX "brought it",

Unfortunately my room is L shaped and I didn't have the luxury of putting the equipment in its own space. The only separated room in the theater room would have worked but then I wouldn't have an office space. Plus, I like displaying the equipment and people love seeing it coming in the room.

The speakers are a few feet in front of the racks so they don't create any nasty reflections. Plus the right wall is much further from the right speaker than the left wall / left speaker. If anything, this helps to restore a lost balance from the symmetry issue. I also padded the left wall to further compensate. It's not perfect but you do get the headphone effect of perfect stereo separation when sitting in the middle of the front row.

The wiring in my racks actually looks a lot better than what i shown in the article pic. I forgot to take a new picture to update but will do so when I pull the rack out again during my next upgrade.

The wiring in the rack you show looks awesome! However, I can't commit to something that permanent since I am always swapping gear.

Marantz is sending me a PM-11S3 Integrated amp to replace my S2 after they saw this article and I'm also updating the bedroom SR6004 to an SR6008. So as you see, my equipment racks are always in a state of flux.

Good comments.

 

[katgrl]

Dream Room

How do you do it? What a layout. Wish I could copy your equipment in my over-sized basement. Starting though and the first is AMP, AMP.

 

[agarwalro]

Unfortunately my room is L shaped and I didn't have the luxury of putting the equipment in its own space. The only separated room in the theater room would have worked but then I wouldn't have an office space.

You know a true Audioholic would create/fit the home around the theater, while keeping the AV aspects uncompromised . Heck, I bought a 2 bedroom condo only because I wanted to make one into a dedicated HT.

Marantz is sending me a PM-11S3 Integrated amp to replace my S2 after they saw this article and I'm also updating the bedroom SR6004 to an SR6008

I wish this were my problem my problem too. I need to start participating in AND WINNING the reader review contests . The 'review and win contest' is a brilliant idea.

However, I can't commit to something that permanent since I am always swapping gear... my equipment racks are always in a state of flux.

Fair point.

 

[mpompey]

So does the company own the house?

And staff get to reserve it? Or did you all chip in on the house and buy it together? What if one partner leaves the company, does he divest himself of his ownership stake? How does it work if two families want to use the house at the same time?

 

[gene]

And staff get to reserve it? Or did you all chip in on the house and buy it together? What if one partner leaves the company, does he divest himself of his ownership stake? How does it work if two families want to use the house at the same time?

The house is actually my wife's and my personal residence. When we have staff gatherings, it's usually to host a listening event so there isn't a conflict unless of course it's late night and my kids are trying to sleep

 

[majorloser]

The house is actually my wife's and my personal residence. When we have staff gatherings, it's usually to host a listening event so there isn't a conflict unless of course it's late night and my kids are trying to sleep

Tica kicks the rowdy ones out long before it gets late at night

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Tica kicks the rowdy ones out long before it gets late at night

knowledge based on experience?

 

[Rich Davis]

Blue Jean cables?

Really? What do they use for a dielectric/insulation, denim? Snake oil cables? I've not seen any cables that claim they use snake oil. I wouldn't want snake oil cables in my system, just like I wouldn't want a lot of things, like denim cables either.

 

[fuzz092888]

Really? What do they use for a dielectric/insulation, denim? Snake oil cables? I've not seen any cables that claim they use snake oil. I wouldn't want snake oil cables in my system, just like I wouldn't want a lot of things, like denim cables either.

BJC = Name of the Company, not what they use to make the cables

Snake Oil = comes from the 19th-century American practice of selling cure-all elixirs in traveling medicine shows. Snake oil salesmen would falsely claim that the potions would cure any ailments. now-a-days it refers to fake products or products that make claims that they can't back up

 

[gene]

 

[gene]

Looks (and I bet, sounds) amazing! Certainly more than I will attain in this life, minus a lottery jackpot or something.

I have a genuine question. Why would you put the equipment rack in the front and spoil the visual and perhaps the audio of the front stage due to L-R imbalance and reflection point? Are all those LEDs and amp lights defeat-able or covered with black off when viewing a movie? On the audio side, I assume you have done ETC measurements to ensure the right speaker does not create strong reflections off the racks...

IMHO, the Kimber cable spoils the clean look of the front. Perhaps you can run them behind the baseboard and only expose the one foot vertical drop from the floor to the wall jacks. That way you can show off in a casual cool manner .

Call me a minimalist, but, with such beautiful floors and walls, the cables should be minimally visually invasive and the equipment rack should have not been there at all. For crying out loud, paint or replace those wall plates with something more color matched to the material on the panels.

On the topic of wire/cable management, BMXTRIX "brought it",

All good points. Actually I tried to create more reflections for the right speaker hence partly why I added the bar (well that's the reason I told my wife anyways ). The rack doesn't really add any ill behavior from what I've found. In reality the right speaker may be a tad more lively than the left but the balance is pretty good considering.

I have the rack there for functional purposes. I'm always swapping gear out and this slides out. I know it's an eye sore for some but most folks that visit really like it. Yes the displays are defeatable of course but I never really have a problem with it.

Yea the Kimber cable does mess stuff up. With my old system I had everything run off the wall plates with 10AWG blue-jeans. I just felt it was a waste to continue using wallplates when my amps are in a separate rack away from those connections. Plus since the Status 8T speakers are targeting the audiophile crowd, I wanted to dress them up with some audio cable jewelery. I probably do need to clean that up a bit though.

I do have some really good wire management in my Middle Atlantic Rack like you showed in the image above.

 

[andyblackcat]

Gene,

If rack would/might have small reflectiveness on the sides and some of the front. Its occurred with mine but I'm far from sweating over it.

Your home cinema system smart and flashy and we all have little differences of taste but we mostly have the same film LD DVD HD-DVD bluray content just not the same equipment but the music or film will have the same frequency response only played differently in each home.

 

[andyblackcat]

Gene,

The edge LED light around the back seat riser. Link or full name of that type or product. I can see all the individual LED on top part of the edging shining/reflecting onto the laminated flooring.

I have idea of doing similar at cheap cost.

Also is where is the other video playing? I see the one in your post but there is a phantom invisible one and I can't play the other video not without having overlapping sound.

 

[Ryan Robinson]

Hi Gene,

What pre/pro did you replace the DENON AVP-A1HDCIA with? Just curious. Please advise.

 

[TechHDS]

A 2008 Thread, jumps from hibernation. Man I love this site!

 

[gene]

Hi Gene,

What pre/pro did you replace the DENON AVP-A1HDCIA with? Just curious. Please advise.

For now, a Yamaha CX-A5100 but looking to test out the Emotiva RMC-1 and possibly the Storm Audio processor in the near future.

 

[gene]

Hey guys it's been a while but I've updated the Audioholics Showcase home with some new equipment, Atmos/DTS:X in 2 of the 3 rooms and and Control4 whole home automation.

see: https://www.audioholics.com/reference-systems/audioholics-showcase-home

More to come soon...

 

[Danzilla31]

Same here except I don't play bass.

Congratulations on such an amazing setup! Someday I plan to bribe er..... I mean bring! You a lot of requested wine and organic popcorn kernels to someday hopefully get a chance to visit and experience what you guys have managed to build

You know I finished my own home theater setup. Posted it in the gallery section. And I'm so proud of it! And then went and did your tour of this setup

And weeeeeeeell..... I kind off feel like that scene in that Eddie Murphy movie Harlem Knights? Where Arsonio Hall is in the alley with a machine gun blasting away and that little dude is beside him shooting off that little pop tart of a pistol?

Arsenio just looks at him finally and goes stop it!!!! Just stop shooting that thing!
Hilarious scene favorite part of the movie hands down!

Well your theater room is like Arsenio's machine gun and my theater room is like his sidekicks little pop tart gun!

But I love it! So happy for what your hard work has built and I'm very happy to be a member here and have come this far.

Now thanks to your tour I'm on to the next obsessive step up in performance! Lol

 

[gene]

Congratulations on such an amazing setup! Someday I plan to bribe er..... I mean bring! You a lot of requested wine and organic popcorn kernels to someday hopefully get a chance to visit and experience what you guys have managed to build

You know I finished my own home theater setup. Posted it in the gallery section. And I'm so proud of it! And then went and did your tour of this setup

And weeeeeeeell..... I kind off feel like that scene in that Eddie Murphy movie Harlem Knights? Where Arsonio Hall is in the alley with a machine gun blasting away and that little dude is beside him shooting off that little pop tart of a pistol?

Arsenio just looks at him finally and goes stop it!!!! Just stop shooting that thing!
Hilarious scene favorite part of the movie hands down!

Well your theater room is like Arsenio's machine gun and my theater room is like his sidekicks little pop tart gun!

But I love it! So happy for what your hard work has built and I'm very happy to be a member here and have come this far.

Now thanks to your tour I'm on to the next obsessive step up in performance! Lol

I love the Harlem Nights reference. What a classic

 

[Danzilla31]

I love the Harlem Nights reference. What a classic

I know right! I grew up just loving that movie