[sejarzo]

Thanks.....one of the best things about making up my own OC rigid fiberglass absorber and bass traps (beyond smoothing out response and getting rid of slap echo) is that the room is amazingly quiet, and I can actually listen at higher volumes and not disturb the rest of the family compared to the untreated room.

Here's another item that has proven to be a great improvement:

http://www.automatedceilingregisters...literature.htm

You can see one installed straight up from the sub in the photo.

That soffit that runs down the middle of the room carries a large share of the HVAC airflow for the home, and when it was finished, two standard louvered metal registers were installed. To maintain adequate flow to the rest of the house, they had to be set almost fully closed.......and they whistled and whined all the time.

By accident, I found the ACR web site and ordered two of their manual units, and they are extraordinarily quiet. I actually run them fully closed a lot of the year--the basement is almost always between 68 and 73 degrees. If we do need a bit of heat or cooling in extreme weather, it's simple to reach up and unscrew the "plug" a bit, and the air flow out of them is almost silent.

The center channel is supported over the TV on a Sanus wall mount intended for a 25" TV. I did have to cut off a portion of the front lip of the shelf to allow the speaker to fit in there (went through a whole package of Dremel cutting discs to get that job done):

The front grill of the speaker then fits on over the lip. The shelf supplied with the mount had a couple of holes lined up almost exactly with the threaded inserts in the speaker, and all it took was some quick Dremel reaming to allow me to secure the speaker with a couple of Allen head screws:

 

[GreatDane]

Very nice system sejarzo. Do you have any closer pics of the processor and amps?

 

[rsaavedra]

There's more pics of it at link in my signature:

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatDane /img/forum/go_quote.gif Very nice system sejarzo. Do you have any closer pics of the processor and amps?

Not current, anyway.

My "processor" is actually simply an Onkyo SR701 receiver; its power amps only drive the center and rears in a 5.1 configuration. Front l/r are driven by the pre outs from the Onkyo, through a line input on the Musical Fidelity CDPre (with the volume knob set at the zero-gain position, which happily is right at one of the allen head screws in the knob surround), to an Outlaw ICBM, to IRD MB-100 monoblocks, driving Paradigm Studio 40v3's on J23 stands. Center channel is the CC470v3, rears are in-ceiling SA-10R's.

Sub is a Hsu VTF-3R. DVD player is just a Pioneer DV-563a, HD receiver is a Samsung (whatever DirecTV was installing in early 2004), TV is a Hitachi 60VX500.

I have to admit, I am not nearly so picky about sound when watching movies or TV as I am when focusing on music. Like many HT receivers, the power amps in the Onkyo are "current challenged".......taking the main load off by using separate power amps for the front l/r's helps that situation quite a bit.

The Outlaw ICBM makes it quite easy to integrate the CDPre with the Onkyo, as it allows the LFE output from the Onkyo to be blended with the low cut from the front channels, summed and sent onto the sub.......and if I just listen to music, the ICBM simply directs the summed low cut from the l/r to the sub. No need for a switchbox, or switching cables, which is what I have found a lot of folks like me (audiophiles who aren't massive HT enthusiasts) do, anyway.

 

[GAD]

Picture doesn't do it justice due to the wide angle and white balance (room isn't orange). I don't feel like fixing the white balance.

Sony 50" SXRD (LCoS)
Yamaha RXV1500
Atlantic Technology 4200e 7.1

The Sony has had the light engine upgrade.

GAD

 

[JMT]

Nice T.V. GAD.

Here is my humble, yet effective H/T.

Sony SXRD 50" LCoS
7 year old Yamaha 5.1 receiver
Von Schweikert VR-1 fronts
PSB Alpha center and surrounds
Sony DVP-NS3100ES DVD/SACD player
Velodyne Sub (on the right)

 

[GAD]

Nice! You get the light engine fixed in yours?

GAD

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by laxx /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why do you have a sub in the bathroom?

it's probably the best laxative money can buy

 

[JMT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GAD /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice! You get the light engine fixed in yours? GAD

I originally was going to get a Mitsubishi, but the negative comments over at the AVS Forum scared the heck outta me so I decided to go with the Sony. I've had it since March 2006 and it's worked fine. Did you have to have yours repaired?

 

[sejarzo]

Light engine repairs.........sigh..........

That Hitachi 60VX500 in my pics above has only about 650 hours on it since March of 2004 (like I said, I'm not a big TV or movie guy!) and it has developed a bright green stuck pixel just left of center, plus the shadows that should be neutral are turning greenish (as if there is a dim green light shining up from below the actor's faces....especially on male faces) and the fan is getting quite noisy.

So, I start checking on various AV forums, and find that there are a lot of people who have trashed their Hitachis after 1000-ish hours because the light engines have gone bad. To replace it with a rebuilt engine of the same design costs about $600, but Hitachi did come out with an "A" version that was installed in later production runs, but that one costs $900. After all that, many users are still highly dissatisfied with the end result and give them away.

None of the options seems very desirable.......for cryin' out loud, I paid $4400 for that @$#@%^ thing in 2004........and the dealer took my money on Saturday then called back on Tuesday, saying there was confusion.......the one that they thought they had in stock for me was actually committed to a previous customer (a Fortune 500 CEO who had his new home broken into the day after his 60VX500 was delivered.....and guess what turned up missing????) So, I waited over two months for the unit, and when it came in, the Plateau stand (which holds much more gear than the Hitachi stand) wasn't delivered as expected....and that took another month to arrive!

$4400 divided by 3 year and three months......eeesh, I don't even want to think more about that.

So.......any other Hitachi (or other) rear-proj LCD owners out there have any comment....or horror stories?

The posts above make it appear that not only Hitachi, but also Sonys and Mitsubishis haven't been the pinnacles of reliability.

I can buy a new 55" DLP for about $2k......but OUCH, why, oh why should I have to even consider that option????

 

[johnnylexus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sejarzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks.....one of the best things about making up my own OC rigid fiberglass absorber and bass traps (beyond smoothing out response and getting rid of slap echo) is that the room is amazingly quiet, and I can actually listen at higher volumes and not disturb the rest of the family compared to the untreated room. Here's another item that has proven to be a great improvement: http://www.automatedceilingregisters...literature.htm You can see one installed straight up from the sub in the photo. That soffit that runs down the middle of the room carries a large share of the HVAC airflow for the home, and when it was finished, two standard louvered metal registers were installed. To maintain adequate flow to the rest of the house, they had to be set almost fully closed.......and they whistled and whined all the time. By accident, I found the ACR web site and ordered two of their manual units, and they are extraordinarily quiet. I actually run them fully closed a lot of the year--the basement is almost always between 68 and 73 degrees. If we do need a bit of heat or cooling in extreme weather, it's simple to reach up and unscrew the "plug" a bit, and the air flow out of them is almost silent. The center channel is supported over the TV on a Sanus wall mount intended for a 25" TV. I did have to cut off a portion of the front lip of the shelf to allow the speaker to fit in there (went through a whole package of Dremel cutting discs to get that job done): The front grill of the speaker then fits on over the lip. The shelf supplied with the mount had a couple of holes lined up almost exactly with the threaded inserts in the speaker, and all it took was some quick Dremel reaming to allow me to secure the speaker with a couple of Allen head screws:

Do you find that the register covers help with soundproofing at all? I spent a lot of money on my basement soundproofing but I still have standard louvered registers and I think a lot of sound travels back up through the house from them.

Which "model" is the manual register on their website?

 

[madmax7]

Muwhahah!!

Okay, first pic is my basement "sports"/"college football saturday" room.

Next photos are a room off to the side of my "sports" room where I built a theater room.

Message anyone? 15 inch Definitive Tech 750 watt sub and smaller sony.

 

[hugz]

I'm a strictly 2channel guy, but i occaisionally hook my projector up to my 2ch setup to watch some tv or movies, but there's one problem that I'm hoping someone can provide me with a clean solution to

You want the speakers to be in front of you and the projector behind you.. but both the sound (speakers/amp/dac) and video (projector) is connected to the same source (the movie on the laptop). Is there any elegant way of doing this, or should i just locate my laptop at the back of the room with the projector and use a long coax cable running from the laptop to my DAC at the front of the room?

 

[madmax7]

That is probably your best bet.

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnylexus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you find that the register covers help with soundproofing at all? I spent a lot of money on my basement soundproofing but I still have standard louvered registers and I think a lot of sound travels back up through the house from them. Which "model" is the manual register on their website?

Do you have the registers closed? My problem was that the standard metal ones whistled even when "fully shut off", which still let more than enough air through to create substantial noise. With the ACR units, I can shut the air off completely--so I presume very little sound can travel up via the ductwork. I honestly don't know if that much more sound makes it upstairs if I do crack one open a bit.

Here's the direct link to the manual version:

http://www.automatedceilingregisters...model_100m.htm

It is a fair bit larger, at 16" by 10", than any standard metal adjustable register that I have seen used in basement ceilings. If your registers are close to the wall or some other obstruction, it would be a good idea to check the dimensions closely to make sure they will fit.

ACR's installation instructions suggested that they not be screwed in so tight that they are flush to the drywall (or Sheetrock, whatever you call it in your part of the country!) They suggest that you instead leave a small 1/16" or so gap and then caulk around it, probably to allow for some temperature expansion/flexing of the plastic, perhaps--my memory is a bit foggy on that one, and the instruction sheet is long gone.

I didn't like that idea, I just hate to use caulk for anything....so I bought some fairly thick, sticky-back white foam weatherstripping, and ran that around the inside perimeter of the register. The foam is thick enough so it forms a good seal without having the hard plastic dead tight against the drywall. That seems to have been just fine, I don't hear any air leakage nor do they creak or pop during the heating season......which is, unfortunately, more than I can say for the metal ductwork on the other side!