Finally Upgraded

[indulger]

Finally got some work done. I've been acquiring piece by piece since Christmas. To date I am about 95% finished. I still have to hang some automated drapes to cover the screen, when we are not watching the projector. I also have to repaint the living room, since my wife let me cut into the wall to hook up the ceiling outlet. I figure it's a small price to pay for getting permission to turn the living room into a mini theater.
I previously had b*se 901's as mains, w/acoustimas surrounds and a technics receiver. They lasted for about 15 years. The Tv and Projector screen were on opposite sides of the room.
Now:
Denon AVR-4310CI
Oppo-80 Bluray
(old) Sony DVD player
Dishnetwork for HDTV
Pioneer Plasma
Epson 8100 projector
Ascend Acoustic Sierra-1 L/C/R
Ascend Acoustic HTM 200SE Surrounds/Heights
Rythmik D15SE Subwoofer
Nintendo Wii (daughters)
Squeezed in a Salamander Triple w/Plasma Mount

I threw in a Logitech Squeezebox Duet and Harmony One, an 8-port gigabit switch, Auralex Great Gramma & a set of mopads, and a home built computer.

Setup with screen

Closer look

Projector

Rt Surround with battle damage on the wall caused by installing the ceiling outlet myself

Lft Surround

Seating

Link to all Pics:
http://s827.photobucket.com/albums/zz197/indulger64/Home Theater/

 

[jostenmeat]

You have nice stuff. Do you ever find the height of the screen to be uncomfortable enough that you might splurge for a tab tensioned in the future, with extra drop? Second question, the one I'm more curious about, how would you describe the overall changes with what I assume are the added DSX height speakers? Thanks.

 

[indulger]

Thanks,

As far as the screen height, it has never been a bother. We're usually laying down

As for the DSX & PLIIz goes for the front heights, I've just spent one day with it so far and it has not been that big of a deal. We have noticed some effects but all it seems to do is extend the mains a bit. I guess that's what it is suppose to do. However, it isn't a life changing experience, 5.1 was just as good. Until there is actually some movies made with soundtrack to enhance the experience, all I can say is, "Hey, I got front heights, and hope some placebo effect takes place"

 

[gholt]

Nice setup. I also have the Cieling to almost the floor. I don't notice having to strain, but our ceileing is 8ft.

 

[SopRage]

:: Drooling over your Sierra-1s ::

If I were made of money, I'd pick up a pair myself. Not sure I could bring myself to part with my CMT-340SEs, though!

 

[indulger]

Thanks, they sound excellent in this setup. You could always sell the 340's on audiogon and then just pay the difference to upgrade. But depending what your music to movies ratio is, you may be better off with the 340's

 

[indulger]

Well, after all the trouble of this set up, the network has failed on the 4310. I called Denon and went through all the crap I had already tried:
Reboot router, reboot modem, factory reset, disable upnp on router, connect 4310 directly to modem.
What a pain. Good news is I called the vendor I received it from and they said they would replace it. I just hate going through all the setup all over again and doing without for probably a 3-4 week turn around time. At least it will be easier/quicker this time.

 

[CypherMax]

Nice set up! I also have height channels in place for when I upgrade to the Onkyo TX NR 3007 and then I will have 9.2ch. Have you experienced anymore effects from the those speaks over the last few days? Oh and whats your model # on your pioneer? Is it an elite?

 

[indulger]

I haven't really been able to distinguish the heights out from the fronts. Maybe we just like it to loud. I may end up moving them to the rear because I just don't have the space to try wides.

The TV is a Pioneer PDP-5050HD. We brought it back in 2005 and paid about 4k for it. It's only 1080i, but still has a great pic. My wife told me once we brought that, because of the price, we were going to keep it until the last pixel went out. We watch bluray through the projector and regular DVD's through the TV.

 

[jostenmeat]

The TV is a Pioneer PDP-5050HD. We brought it back in 2005 and paid about 4k for it. It's only 1080i, but still has a great pic.

Technically, it is 768p, but it's almost good that you think of it as 1080i, as that should be the output selected by hi def sources, namely bluray, so that you avoid scaling two times, as opposed to one. If DVD, output it as 480i, again to avoid scaling twice.

I have to admit how much more effective the heights would be if they were 170SE or something, rather than the HTM200. Probably no difference, but I just wonder . . .

 

[indulger]

Well, my replacement 4310, arrived today. After shaking off the thoughts of another one going tits up, I plugged everything in and the network kicked right in. For what it's worth, I decided to fore go the firmware update; to chicken I guess. I ran the calibration and we are enjoying music and movies again. The Sierra-1's were well worth the purchase.

For jostenmeat; I have been playing with the front heights and I can say now that I like it better running the 4310 in the standard PLIIz mode better then DSX. My wife and daughter both agree. We hear more effects when PLIIz is running and it just sounds all around better. I sure wish I had room for the wides, I would like to try that out too. And by the way, I am very satisfied with the HTM's and I do believe they are a better match for the Sierra-1's. If I had purchased the 340's, then I definitely would have got the 170's to go with them.

Now if I can just get my wife to go back to watching her chick flicks in the bedroom so I can enjoy my action movies in the livingroom