I wasn't sure where to post this as it includes other components, but I'll start here since you guys were very helpful in troubleshooting my new sub.
The system is finally completed and hooked up and has exceeded my expectations. It's a complete sleeper system. It looks nice enough on the outside (not overly so), but will bring the even the largest room to life (I have quite a "live" room and which is about 20x20x20 ft) and will knock your socks off (or at least feel the floor through your socks).
HSU Research VTF-15H -
I bought it before the crew wrote up the final review, so I wasn't swayed either way by it. I'm operating it in Mode 1, EQ2, 1 port open. It wasn't tested this way, but after a little experimenting, this is what I'm settling on for now. For me it's the most bang for the buck, a little more smooth in the approach and less "punchy". It's supposed to deliver a little more extension this way, but subjectively never thought it lacked anything for my needs. If you like to shake the floorboards loose, you can probably do it with this - it has a large presence both sonically and physically. The WAF was a little low, but keep reading to see how that changed. Hsu also says you don't need to hook it up with a splitter to the subs "out" connectors, but that's the way I have it and it works. Once the receiver knew it was there, the setup went well. I have it in the corner of my room, which was recommended by Hsu and the placement is perfect for my room.
Aperion Verus -
Smooooooooth!!! They fill my large room effortlessly with sound. I'm not listening at deafening levels either. The sub, along with Verus sound great. The receiver definitely helps, but it gave my wife goosebumps the first time we sat together for a listen.
Aperion was very helpful and everything came packaged extremely well (I love the silky purple covers they wrap them in, but I digress). They look smart, sound so detailed, but non-directional. Off-axis sound is almost non existent. I was hesitant at first as my room isn't exactly text-book perfect as far as sound goes. I have tile floors and high ceilings. The WAF for sound modifiers isn't high either.
The first thing I noticed when I hooked them up is their low end is better than I would've thought. I didn't have the sub working yet and played some Diana Krall on SACD and it was like being at a small, local venue for live music. So far so good. The entire system blends together well and you can tell they were built to work together. Nothing sounds like it's standing out.
Yamaha RX-A3000 -
Flexible and Powerful. I think Yamaha has a winner with this new line of receivers. Out of the box, w/o much reading (still need to print/read the online manual) I was able to update it with the latest firmware. The first time I ran through the Auto setup routine, it wouldn't Identify my sub and set the rest of the speakers to "large". After a cable fix, I re-ran it and it did everything correctly, even the physical measurements from the unit to my speakers were within a few inches. So far, I've found it easy to use and set up, it drives my speakers with ease and does it's job. I've played around with some of the cinema settings, but I mostly let it auto detect the source and it works great that way and plays it as originally intended. There are a series of sub-menus you can only get to by going to the unit and selecting certain buttons to pull them up (somewhat annoying), but overall I'm happy
Oppo BDP-93 -
A simple but powerful unit. I have this, my receiver, the TV and Dish box all connected to the net via my router and updating firmware doesn't get any easier. Oppo has had 2 updates since I've owned it and haven't had any issues.
It plays nicely with my other components, has almost every feature you want and need (or don't) and provides the best picture I've seen on my Plasma (Panasonic Viera 54"). It's one of the few BD players that handles most formats at this price point and I haven't seen any flaws in processing yet (my old DVD player would occasionally hiccup or freeze). The menus are easy to navigate on screen and it identifies source materials quickly and accurately.
Enough of the boring stuff you already know. Let's listen!
As I mentioned earlier, my first listen was Diana Krall SACD. I swear her piano was right there in the room. The sound from this system is so natural - it's very unobtrusive - the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. It also brings out any imperfections in the music and/or production of the music. You can also hear things you don't normally pickup, like fingers changing positions on instruments, subtleties that come out for better or worse. Vocals were smooth and instruments "alive". I could just sit and listen and it would be hard to wipe the grin off my face
.
Next up was Sting, Live in Berlin on BD. Whether you like Sting or not, you must get this and listen. It's both visually sonically compelling. It's one of the best BD's I've ever listened to. Live productions can be hit and miss depending on how it is produced and the camera work can be dizzying on some concert BD/DVD's. Not so with this. It's smooth and the sound and video quality is very professional. No quick pans or seasickness on this one. He's also playing with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, so you have many more instruments coming into play in a live setting. He plays mostly his own stuff with some improvised Police songs, that include orchestra. I loved it and this what sold my wife. She was almost giddy and smiling and really noticed how great it sounded (she normally couldn't care less). Brilliant!
That's the short of it. I will be doing some more listening to break things in more with varied material (more rock music - the Who DVD is waiting
), and some other BD movies to test out the sub's capabilities.
I'll also try and get some photos of my setup.
That's it for now.