My home office - WIP

[Djizasse]

In the beginning of this year I joined this forum. Bad mistake. I now have a new addiction. I've started the path on becoming an audioholic

This is my work in progress.

In the front there's a pair of Tannoy Reveal 6 and a Reveal 66 mounted on an ugly contraption i made.
I'm waiting for three acoustics and speaker building books to put on these shelves. A few World of Warcraft figures are also on the way to join the lone Troll Priest. They're really well made.

The Samsung LE32A656 is my main screen. It's big, has a beautiful image, and the colour matches the Tannoys, which gives it a 10 in the WAF scale It's mounted on a Vogels 432 Cantilever arm.
Under and on the desk there are 3 PCs, all working with different purposes. They're all old machines (the Opteron 165 is the fastest) but still accomplish their goals.

There's also a Behringer BCR 2000 and a Roland PC-180A to aid my music hobby.

Here's the rack. From top to bottom there's a Yamaha RX-V861, center of all audio operations, a Xbox 360, a Toshiba EP35, an old Philips DVD player and the Behringer EP2500. When i made this rack i had no idea i would be getting rack sized equipment. It's now becoming too small. The back is open to let the air circulate. I'm planning on mounting a few 12cm or 14cm quiet computer fans to force some air circulation.

The couch is the place where I play, listen to music and sometimes watch some videos and movies. On the shelves, two more Reveals. The Squier Esprit is waiting for some action, but i have been neglecting it. There's only 24h in each day :\
In the corner there will be a subwoofer made according to Simple 12" Infinity Kappa VQ MidQ Plans. Avaserfi, wMax and Haoleb inspired me to start this build.


Next week I'll receive a DCX 2496 and a ECM 8000 to EQ my front pair. I've also got some wire management to do. After that I'll start the subwoofer and EQ it with the DCX.

Still a lot to do

 

[mike c]

very nice, i like the finish on your speakers and how you elevated the front L and R speakers. now why didn't i think of that.

 

[Adam]

Wow! That's quite a nice office system that you've got there. I like how you have the AH forum up on your screen.

I take it that your a WOW player?

 

[Djizasse]

Thanks for the comments

The FL/FR speakers are at ear height (+- the point between the woofer and the tweeter), they're angled at the middle point between my most forward and most backward head position. The speakers and my head are the vertices of an equilateral triangle.
This positioning makes a tremendous effect on the soundstage.

The rest of the speakers are at just adequate positions, but they're only used for HT and gaming duties.

Oh! I'm not a WOW player (too time consuming), but have been a warcraft players since the original, I just love fantasy worlds like the ones in warcraft games, Baldur's Gate, Forgotten Worlds literature (Salvatore, Greenwood, etc.) and Tolkien's Middle Earth epic.

 

[Bradshawpe]

how did you mount you center channel like that? I need to do the same thing.

My system isn't too different, check it out in this forum.

 

[Djizasse]

I'll take a pic.

 

[engtaz]

Nice setup. I know you enjoying it.

engtaz

 

[Djizasse]

Thanks
I've never done anything like this. My previous setup was a Creative Labs 3500 and 2 LCDs (19" + 22"). I'm really enjoying the new setup, it's a step into a region I've never entered before.

But the best of all this is the journey, the "getting there" is filled with lots of work (play for me), learning and reaping the rewards. And the toys, I love the toys

 

[Djizasse]

Here's the center speaker support:

The red represents the speaker "harness". It is connected to the speaker at the rear mount points. It has two metal "L brackets" to provide strength to the harness. Between the bottom of the speaker and the harness I placed some rubber pads.

In green you can see two black metal brakets that support the harness and speaker. It's connected to the harness with two screws at the front. They're just to prevent the harness slipping to the front.

The blue is the last bracket, that provides extra support to the speaker (it weights 28lbs). It just has a piece wood and a rubber pad on top, they're not fixed to the bracket because I need to get a thinner piece of wood. But it doesn't move.

Here's another view where you can see two pieces of wood that lift the back of the speaker.

And a look at the Vogels 432 Cantilever arm, really useful:

The only problem with this setup is that the center speaker is too close to the wall. I'll have to plug the rear port.

I'm now getting used to the DCX 2496 and taking some measurements with REW. I don't think I'll be able to correct the room response without some acoustic treatment. I guess I'll just have more work to do. This is fun

 

[Seth=L]

Very nice setup. I was looking at some Tannoy speakers similar to those (a bit older) for around $250.

 

[Djizasse]

Tannoy has been around for ~80 years, how old are those speakers?

 

[Djizasse]

My office has been through some changes.

I've sent the Yammy 861 and two of the Tannoys to the living room, to keep company to my new LCD. Tomorrow they'll be back, as I got a pair of MA RS6s for the living room. The yammy will stay (for now) in the living room. I need to decide if I get a new receiver for the living room or a new 5 channel amp for the office... haven't got a clue.

I'm now using the EP2500 to power the front pair in the office and my temp sub is disconnected.
I'm also using the DCX2496 to be able to use the EP2500 with the Tannoys. Even with the output gain on both output channels at -15dB, I can only move the volume knobs on the EP just a little or the volume will be just too loud. This amp is a little insane for two small monitors. I'm really careful now.

The DCX2496 is wonderful. I've even connected it to my PC, but really prefer to look at the small LCD and play with the buttons. It's a joy that I don't have by using the mouse to set the parameters. Am I alone in this?

Today was cleaning day. I've disconnected everything and rearranged it.
The gaming PC was sold. I've also moved a lot of stuff out of the office.
It was just too crowded and I believe it was negatively impacting the sound quality. The room sounded a little dead. And I really want a clutter free room.

I took the opportunity to invert the center channel, now the tweeter is lower.

I got a new PC (the only one in the office), just for working, browsing and making music. It's built inside a very special case, one that I've been wanting to get since they were announced. It's the Zalman TNN 500AF. I've been able to get it second hand for a very low price.

You can view info on this case here:
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/Product_Read.asp?Idx=116
http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=402333&sid=647b41c0d5cf95c27a79f4578ade0d31

Putting all in a few words, this case is a giant radiator. The processor, motherboard chipset and graphic card are all cooled with special pipes (heatpipes) that transfer the heat to the case. With no fans inside, you can imagine this is really quiet. I just don't say silent because I can still hear the two suspended HDDs spinning. But the noise is so low that during the day, outside noise is louder. I live in a modern house with brick walls and double windows, on the 5th floor. It's this quiet. It's bliss

All this rearranging has brought the first reward. I've been able to clear a large space under my desk that has more than enough volume to make the final sub for this room. I've got the volume needed for the Infinity kappa 12VQ simple plan subwoofer. This is great My wife just lost her final argument against the build of this mamoth It won't be a cube, but it will have the same internal volume. 20Hzs, here I go


Tomorrow I'll post some pics, if the RS6s fail to arrive

 

[Djizasse]

"Tomorrow" took a while

Empty desk:

It's in these time I'm glad for getting a cantilever arm for the LCD:

The toys waiting for some cleaning action:

The center channel needs to be rotated:

Almost there:

I took the opportunity to install my DIM port bung:

The center in place, with the tweeter nearer to my head:

 

[Djizasse]

My current rack. I now use a M-Audio Profire 610, the DCX and the EP2500 (overkill? ). You can also see my external HDD plugged into a eSata Dock (hotplug). On the right is the TNN 500.

The EP2500 is set for tolerable listening levels, only possible due to -15dbs gain on the DCX. What a beast It will be used as a stereo amp until the receiver (RX-V861) gets back from the living room.

I had to make my first two TRS to XLR balanced cables, to connect the interface to the DCX. Here's my work area:

I got 15 feet of Lynx 2 core cable, they're nice and cheap, it will be enough for many cables of various lengths:

After a while (soldering XLRs and TRS is not so easy for me):

They look nice and short. 1.5 feet of balanced cable? I know it's overkill, but I need to practice

Everything's working, this is Propellerheads Reason 4:

Next steps are re-configuring the DCX for neutral response of the front speakers.
I'll also connect the rest of my toys (midi controllers, tablet, ergodex, etc.) and reinstall the sound library and the software guitar amps.

For now this setup is making me happy. The M-Audio Profire 610 is really something, the sound quality is way above the creative labs X-Fi (sold and gone!). The pre-amps for the mic and guitar very clean. The headphones amps are very nice, now the Sony MDR-7506 shows it's quality.
The TNN 500 case is very quiet, making the setup almost dead silent and much more enjoyable.
The EP2500 is a beast with loud breathing. I'll have to unplug the fan or make it drop its speed.

 

[MidnightSensi]

Somehow I missed this, great stuff man!

Love that computer case.

Computer setups are the best, I use mine more than my main for sure.

 

[Porschetech]

nice setup

 

[vizionut]

Thats one nice setup