krzywica

krzywica

Audioholic Samurai
That is an excellent trait in a woman ... not the most excellent, but a good one none the less. ;)
Yeah I don't know what I would do if my woman didn't like watching movies and TV Shows. Not to mention her appreciation for high end audio. Yes I'm a lucky man. :)
 
MidnightSensi

MidnightSensi

Audioholic Samurai
I finally got Red Cliff, watched the first disc today. Wow is this movie impressive. The picture is amazing, the sound is dynamic... punches deliver 'blows' through your subwoofers, arrows whistle by your head. It's long, parts do drag in my opinion, but overall it is a really interesting movie (in addition to the amazing picture and sound).

I still feel like I want a masking system, but, for now I don't really see anything I want to buy.

I think this week I'm going to pickup a small, thin monitor with HDMI input so I can control my AppleTV without turning the projector on. The top of my rack I think it would be an easy mount and look okay. It's not so much I'm afraid of the bulb life and cost, but, rather the time it takes to 'boot' up my projector just to listen to my AppleTV. I have no more space for a pullout style (plus they are big money).

If I want to free up space in the future, I might look into a 6 channel


I forget who PM'd me about my XTi, I deleted it by accident! The Crown XTi has been great, they are good amplifiers. Really as long as you order from Crown, Crest, QSC, or other good brands, you get a good amp. They are all pretty good right now. The Crests are, in my opinion, the most overbuilt workhorses, but the Crown XTi is definetly the most tamed power (Quiet, DSP functions, low heat). The Crown XLS is cheap, but it is well made and delivers the power.... powers my M&K S-150 rears perfectly (double their IEC at 4-ohms).
 
haraldo

haraldo

Audioholic Warlord
How does Red Cliff affect your hairstyle? I guess you don't need any kind of gel in your hair for a while after watching this movie in your system now Sensi :p

Do you think any additional / extra sub's will affect your hairstyle / gel budget :D
 
MidnightSensi

MidnightSensi

Audioholic Samurai
Added new blackout drapes. Will take pictures. Room looks much bigger.

How does Red Cliff affect your hairstyle? I guess you don't need any kind of gel in your hair for a while after watching this movie in your system now Sensi :p

Do you think any additional / extra sub's will affect your hairstyle / gel budget :D
Haha, I have a buzzcut - I work outside a lot and it's hot in Florida!

I don't need any more bass, I might change subs in the future just for fun, but my subs are yawning in here. I feel like when the subwoofers are set too high, systems lack the 'punch' that is delivered by the midrange. Biggest mistake I see in home theaters is the bass set to high and the mains too weak, then they chase the punch by adding more subs... which makes things /worse/! I still crank them, but I crank them WITH the mains, I can shut my doors and my garage is below - the drop ceiling tiles dust well. Took me a few times to figure out what the white dust was on the floor :)

My bass tips:
1. Make sure your midrange is big enough to handle your subs, and don't run sub levels too high over your mains. It makes your system sound like mud, not crunchy like it should. :)
2. Add limiters so you never have to worry about clipping an amplifier (Unhook your speakers, play pink noise, turn up the gain until the clip light just begins to flash on the amp, then back it off a notch and set the limiter there with a hard knee). Limiters should be on full time, especially if you've seen the threshold light hit on the limiter ever and your power goes off a lot (storms and such).
3. Add limiters so you never have to worry about mechanical excursion problems (if you ever hear a subwoofer make a funny noise, lower the limiter threshold). This is different than where your amplifier clips, it may be higher or lower. The lower of the two is where the limiter should be set.
4. If you feel you need more output, high pass. The extra 5Hz of extension costs you a lot in power and excursion, it's not linear. If your pushing your subs, raise the low cut until they aren't being pushed too hard anymore. 15Hz is only cool if you can do it loud and can still do 50Hz loud (which is more what matters). Power and excursion are limited, choose where you want them wisely.
5. Always run stronger subwoofers than you need. This is true for all speakers, but if you can go overkill, do it. Subs always sound best when they aren't working hard.
6. If you have to make a choice between flatter response placement or better blending placement, choose the place that blends with the mains better. Blending is really hard to process, but flat frequency response can be EQd, and since you have followed tip 5, you have enough subwoofer to fill any little dips. :) Try and get a happy medium, but the magic is when your mains blend with your subs as best as possible, so that you can let your midrange PUNCH you while your subwoofers PRESSURIZE you. :):D:D
 
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MidnightSensi

MidnightSensi

Audioholic Samurai
Added a small Samsung LCD tv to the second HDMI output on the Onkyo, so I can control AppleTV without turning on the projector. The Crest logo is just that I put some logos (Crest, Crown, dbX, Onkyo) in my screen saver on AppleTV for kicks. Beats the flowers they have by default haha:)

Also been adding more traps. :)







Peace & happy 4/20
 
MidnightSensi

MidnightSensi

Audioholic Samurai
I picked up Avatar today shopping for something else, didn't even know it was out.

It looks and sounds so amazing, for a movie that is otherwise not my taste. A family member wants to see it on my system this weekend, so I'll probably watch it through again then...

I didn't think it would be 16:9. I'm so tired of epics with wasted space on my screen. This feels floor to ceiling which is fun. I've grown to like the woozy feeling you get in flying scenes (Avatar), helicoper crashes (Terminator Salvation) and so on. The sound and immersion of the big screen makes those scenes pop more than anything else.
 
rmk

rmk

Audioholic Chief
Looking good there Sensi. The Samsung is a nice add and every time I see your equipment rack it makes me want to rip out the half a$$ed one I built. The only good thing is that it's out of sight :eek:.

Avitar showed up in my mailbox yesterday (I forgot I had pre-ordered it on amazon :p) and will be watching it on the new AT screen this weekend if I can get it setup. Kinda liked the movie @IMAX and hope to like it even more at home.
 
krzywica

krzywica

Audioholic Samurai
I picked up Avatar today shopping for something else, didn't even know it was out.

It looks and sounds so amazing, for a movie that is otherwise not my taste. A family member wants to see it on my system this weekend, so I'll probably watch it through again then...

I didn't think it would be 16:9. I'm so tired of epics with wasted space on my screen. This feels floor to ceiling which is fun. I've grown to like the woozy feeling you get in flying scenes (Avatar), helicoper crashes (Terminator Salvation) and so on. The sound and immersion of the big screen makes those scenes pop more than anything else.
Damn you Sensi.......make me want to get a projector for my main HT in the basement!!!

Between you and jostenmeat I will never rest until I have a 100" screen down there....

I'm going to watch Avatar when I get home today.....looking forward to it especially after getting the thumbs up on SQ and PQ from you.
 
MidnightSensi

MidnightSensi

Audioholic Samurai
Looking good there Sensi. The Samsung is a nice add and every time I see your equipment rack it makes me want to rip out the half a$$ed one I built. The only good thing is that it's out of sight :eek:.

Avitar showed up in my mailbox yesterday (I forgot I had pre-ordered it on amazon :p) and will be watching it on the new AT screen this weekend if I can get it setup. Kinda liked the movie @IMAX and hope to like it even more at home.
In your closet a nice 8-ft Middle Atlantic would be a nice addition. :) The racks become like a whole other hobby. The wire management, the faceplates, the cooling stuff....it becomes a lot to tinker with.

I can't wait to see your AT!!
*edit: Just saw the picture....amazing!!!!*

You'll really like Avatar on that screen, it's going to be so huge. I'm jealous!!!

Damn you Sensi.......make me want to get a projector for my main HT in the basement!!!

Between you and jostenmeat I will never rest until I have a 100" screen down there....

I'm going to watch Avatar when I get home today.....looking forward to it especially after getting the thumbs up on SQ and PQ from you.
You'd for sure be happy with a projector down there... maybe even a AT if your cool with loosing the fireplace. :p

Let me know what you think of it!
 
MidnightSensi

MidnightSensi

Audioholic Samurai
I think the next purchase is going to be a new subwoofer for my monitors to replace the M&K.

I use Bag End PM6 monitors, and I think I want a Bag End bass unit. The integration is just hard to beat, although I realize output wise there is much better. I'm looking for quality over quantity, though, since this is for nearfield use.

I think based on space recommendation I might go with a dual 10" with the integrator:
 
rmk

rmk

Audioholic Chief
Great post and it bears repeating. Should be a sticky in the subwoofer section.:)

My bass tips:
1. Make sure your midrange is big enough to handle your subs, and don't run sub levels too high over your mains. It makes your system sound like mud, not crunchy like it should. :)
2. Add limiters so you never have to worry about clipping an amplifier (Unhook your speakers, play pink noise, turn up the gain until the clip light just begins to flash on the amp, then back it off a notch and set the limiter there with a hard knee). Limiters should be on full time, especially if you've seen the threshold light hit on the limiter ever and your power goes off a lot (storms and such).
3. Add limiters so you never have to worry about mechanical excursion problems (if you ever hear a subwoofer make a funny noise, lower the limiter threshold). This is different than where your amplifier clips, it may be higher or lower. The lower of the two is where the limiter should be set.
4. If you feel you need more output, high pass. The extra 5Hz of extension costs you a lot in power and excursion, it's not linear. If your pushing your subs, raise the low cut until they aren't being pushed too hard anymore. 15Hz is only cool if you can do it loud and can still do 50Hz loud (which is more what matters). Power and excursion are limited, choose where you want them wisely.
5. Always run stronger subwoofers than you need. This is true for all speakers, but if you can go overkill, do it. Subs always sound best when they aren't working hard.
6. If you have to make a choice between flatter response placement or better blending placement, choose the place that blends with the mains better. Blending is really hard to process, but flat frequency response can be EQd, and since you have followed tip 5, you have enough subwoofer to fill any little dips. :) Try and get a happy medium, but the magic is when your mains blend with your subs as best as possible, so that you can let your midrange PUNCH you while your subwoofers PRESSURIZE you. :):D:D
 
M

MidnightSensi2

Audioholic Chief
Not much has changed. Still enjoying the system... I'm actually on projector number 3 now, as number 2 came with a dust blob.

Been programming my remote a bit, but, mostly just chillin' and enjoying!






Had the system jammin' today while cleaning out my clothing closet. :) Made it much easier!
 
M

MidnightSensi2

Audioholic Chief
....and a clean closet and desk....well as clean as I can get...

My office away from the office. Dell workstation, Wacom tablet, Bag End monitors and a little sealed M&K subwoofer for tunes to keep me going.



My theater used to be a bedroom, so the closet became my audio/video tool, cable and part storage room. :) I did this in black and white because it sorta reminds me of something from the old times.

 
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M

MidnightSensi2

Audioholic Chief
Cool RTI setup. Did you do the programming for this? RF I would think. Is it two way or IP based? Everything is looking very good. That closet is crazy.:cool:
Yeah, a friend went to a Crestron during his remodel and had this RTI left over as a brick....so I got it for free! It's RF and then the pro-amps are turned on via the switched section on the Monster voltage regulator (since they have no remote). A few things always stay on (like the dbX and U-verse so it will record).
 
M

MidnightSensi2

Audioholic Chief
Oh, I forgot to answer one of your questions. It's two-way. One of the reasons I'm not a huge fan of the universal remotes is the little IR repeaters, but, so far they are all working well. I was super careful setting them up and running them though.

I also have it programmed very simple, function based rather than a bunch of macros.

Like here is the appletv interface, just a mimic of the actual remote:


U-Verse is just the basic functions I use (stuff to surf, put channels in, record, etc.) ... I nixed the "favorites" because U-verse changes the channels so much and I basically only use the DVR anyways.

"Music" is the Western Digital and PS3 just changes the input to PS3...I need to buy a RF dongle to get it to work and haven't bothered yet, so I still use the PS3 controller now for watching blu-rays... hehe.

Then by pressing "up" on the toggle it switches the video output to the projector (HDMI out 1) and by pressing down on the toggle it switches it to the little LCD on the rack (HDMI out 2, I use this while listening to music).
 
M

MidnightSensi2

Audioholic Chief
Nothing really new, just, playing with HDR on my camera and photoshop. Verdict: Works good outdoors, looks weird indoors. But, whatever, recent pictures. :)



 
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