system evolution

[yepimonfire]

what was your first system like? how has it progressed, where is it heading to, whats your ultimate goal?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Panasonic boom box --> Radio Shack stereo --> Kenwood receiver + NHT Speakers -> Pioneer Elite pre-pro + Acurus 200x3 + NHT --> HK AVR + NHT + Acurus RL11(3) + 200x3 (3) + DefTech --> Denon PMA2000 (3) + DefTech + Denon BD --> Denon AVR5308 + DefTech --> Denon AVr5308 + DefTech + Denon BD + HTPCs --> Denon 5308 + ATI 3005 + 3002 + DefTech + Denon BD + HTPCs.

My next move is probably Denon AVP-A1HDCI + ATI 3005 + 3002 + DefTech + Denon BD + HTPCs.

 

[JJMP50]

Well I'm an old fart so I go back a way. My first system was a Sansui 2000a with a Dual turntable,an Akai real to real and a pair of large Pioneer Speakers. That was when I was in the USAF. First civilian sysem was a Laffayette receiver with Criterion speakers (similar to AR2a) an AR turntable and a Sony cassette deck. Next system was a Technics receiver and turntable, top of the line Sony cassette and (a true love) a pair of Allison IIs.
Although my current system cost a lot more that those, I guess I'm still trying to get back to what that felt like. Maybe it was the pot...

 

[yepimonfire]

it seems i forgot to tell my story lol. well first thing was a piece of crap sony boombox, a 4 channel aiwa shelf system, i've owned a good amount of computer based sound systems (those good ol' satellite-sub 2.1 systems) next one was a KEF system a friend gave me along with a marantz SR74000 then i somehow blew out the tweeters in the surrounds (i have no clue how) and since they were intergrated in the middle of the mid-range cone, there was no way to replace them, so since i mainly use my system for music, i used it as a 2.1 system, well either the amp or the crossover or something else, blew out in the sub and all it would do was vibrate at 60hz as loud as it possibly could. so my next move was to buy some sony SSF5000 floorstanders, and matching surround bookshelfs (like the floors without the tall cabinets) and a matching center channel. my next step is to upgrade my speaker system to EMPtek's whole impression series. but for now the Sony's may be average sound quality, but it certainly gives clear sound and beats being an embarresed owner of a BOSE tiny cube to strangely shaped sub system my ultimate goal would be Klipsch Classic RF-7 Floorstanding Speakers RB-81 bookshelfs for surrounds and an RC-64 center channel, im also considering re-doing my processing and amplification system by buying some of EMOTIVA's stuff. but thats on the bottom of my list.

 

[sholling]

I'm in my 50s so this is long. In high school my dad gave me a standalone record player for Christmas along with a Three Dog Night album and a Don Clean album. That got me started.

My first receiver was an old Rat Rack 50w that I bought from a friend back in the 70s. I paired that with a pair of no-name junk speakers but it was what I could afford. I later upgraded to a used Sansui 9090B, a Technics turntable with a MM cartridge, and a pair of the original Bose 601s. I paid $600 in 1980. Don't mistake them for other Bose crap because somehow-someway Dr. Bose screwed up and make a pretty decent speaker. A mistake that he corrected in later versions of that speaker. My roommate a couple of years later had a pair of Klipsch La Scalas driven by a Crown amp and preamp and even he agreed that the little 601s held their own up to ear bleed levels where the Klipsch just took off and left them in the dust. I went through 3 Pioneer receivers before giving the 601s away to a music loving friend with no money for speakers.

My next move was to a Pioneer VSX-912 (later a VSX-1014), CD player, and 2x Boston Acoustics VR950 mains, a VR910 center, a Velodyne VX-10 sub, and a pair of used Klipsch Quintets for surrounds. I used a Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 Ultra system hooked to my PC for bedroom tunes in those days.

When I moved into my current house I bought the gear in my signature one piece at a time starting with the VX3s and I'm pretty darn happy with my setup. I can't see me doing anything with my main system for years. But maybe someday I'll save up for an LCR set on the level of a Salk Song Tower or Varacity but honestly my family room is too small to let something like that reach its full potential. Out of my price range but I can always dream.

My latest projects have been my bedroom and office. I just bought two Boston CS26 bookshelves to replace the CR65s as mains because they are a timbre match for my center and the smaller CR65s. The CR65s will replace the CR57s as surrounds, and the CR57s will become little used rears. Next in there will be a better subwoofer. I'm torn between an eD A3-250 next to my side of the bed (maybe with the old TSC T250 on the other side). Or a A5s-300 on top of the highboy dresser. eD likes the idea of mounting a sealed sub up high like that. Time frame - less than 30 days if all goes as planned.

My home-office has gone from the Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Ultra setup to Energy C100 mains, a C-C50 center and my old Quintets as surrounds, and the old VX-10 sub - driven by my old VSX-1014. The Energies have now been replaced by Behringer B2030P and the Velodyne with a TSC T250 but that is still an ongoing project. It will eventually have 5x B2030Ps with Chris' suggested modifications. The speakers are here and I just have to get the mods figured out and done. Maybe someday I'll upgrade to a sub with more extension but for now it's low priority.

 

[brad1138]

Boy thats a long answer, hard to remember. I'll start about the time I got married, almost 20 yrs ago. I was working at a high end AV store at the time.

My wife bought me a Sony ES 5-disc cdp, about that time I bought a pair of Def tech DR-7s, and a used HK 30 wpc reciever (my son still uses). My next upgrade was selling my DR-7s to my Dad and getting some BP-10s. Then I picked up my "BI-AMP Eminence 300" amp. I had no preamp, so I connected it to the variable out of my ES cdp. That was the last thing I bought through the AV store I worked at. Next I picked up My PS Audio 4.6 preamp from Ebay. I had that system for some time, 3-5 years or so. My ES cdp died and I started using my DVD player, about that ime I picked up My Sound Stream DAC-1. Again years went by before making any changes, I was very happy with/proud of that setup.

The next real change came when I decided to get into Surround Sound (about 3 years ago) I picked up a Yamaha HTR-5650 receiver and retired the PS Audio and Bi-AMP for a bit. I got a Def Tech C-1 center from ebay to match my BP-10s and found some V-52s to use for surround. I then purchased, from JR Audio a JUB Sub12 ($200) to complete the system, it was really a fairly nice little setup. At the time I picked up the V-52s I also pick up a pair of Athena S1s and S2s, great little book shelf spks. I kept the Surround sys as is for a bit and hooked up the S2s to my Preamp/amp/dac that had been sitting since getting the Yamaha receiver and used that in my bedroom. After having a while to listen to my Athenas I realized that the S2s sound a LOT more musical than the BP-10s. I was sad to find out that my main spks for the previous 10+ years that I was proud of, sounded like crap. It was hard to listen to music on them after listening to the Athenas.

About 2 years ago I scored BIG twice. The first time I picked up a Yamaha RX-V995, Velodyne ULD-15 II Servo Sub, Adcom ACE-515 line conditioner, Adcom GFA-545, and Marantz rec (Daughter has now) for $100 . The Velodyne, replaced the JBL sub (BIG improvement), the Yamaha receiver replaced the Previous model. It sounded much better by itself, plus had Pre outs so I was able to hook up my BI-AMP to it and improve the sound again. I start using the Line Conditioner and used the GFA-545 to run the surrounds.

The 2nd score came about 6 months later from the same source (Divorced lady selling her ex-husbands old stuff) I picked up a Polk PSW 450 Sub (12") Audio Control TEN Plus eq, Sony ES receiver (running S1's currently) and Sony 10disc cdp and NHT Center chan spk for free

I bought a house with a large family room for my surround/Stereo sys (22+'x25+') . The Velodyne and The Polk Sub work well together. Not to long after that I ran across a pair of my Dream speakers (Mirage M-3si). They are great but I found that My BI-AMP eminence 300 (100wpc) wasn't quite powerful enough to run them well. I sold my Def Tech BP-10s and C-1 along with the JBL Sub to cover the cost of a Citation 5.1 (conservative 100 wpc x 4). The Citation does a very nice job of running the M3s. I also picked up a 2nd pair of V52s for surround. I run them in parallel to give my GFA-545 a 4 ohm load, works well.

Here is a picture of my current system, although I have made one change. The M3s run by them selves separate from the surround system. They run off the PS Audio Preamp/Soundstream DAC/ Citation 5.1. I use the Athena S2s along with a matching Athena center I picked up a bit back in the surround system. I am using the Eminence 300 amp to power the S2s.

I couldn't be happier with the setup. Love it all the way around. By finding deals I have picked up about $15k worth of gear (at retail) for about $1,600.

 

[Davemcc]

too long; didn't write.