Cal Blacksmith

The Khorns are in their nice corners, the screen is in the center between them and the audio gear is in racks to the side of the screen.

Again, all good and fine for the mainstream gamer. But there is a significant chunk of games that never make it to pc (uncharted, last of us, beyond. 2 souls, forza, etc.). For game library, consoles are the clear leaders, yes there are games that only go to pc, but not as many as vice versa. True. But I am mainly a FPS gamer so the mouse and keyboard (along with better technical qualities such as graphics and sound) makes the PC a better platform for me. By the way, Dead Space did come to PC (which I enjoyed very much). PC was always the king of graphics. Game play is clean and smooth. But that gap has now been closed with the new systems. Game play and graphics are right there at that level. The convenience of consoles and the ease of use is light years ahead of the PC. The controller vs a mouse/keyboard is another huge win for the consoles. Yes you can add a universal controller to a PC but the game was not made with that universal controller in mind. Actually no it has not. Take a look at IGN where they compare games across all 5 systems (ps3, 4 xbox1 and 360 and pc.) The PC is still the CLEAR winner, sorry about that. There is no way a console that is all in one can have the graphics quality and speed of a good graphics card that costs a whole bunch more than an all in one system, aint gonna happen. As to game lib. the majority of games are ported for PC, a lot of games are for the Xbox AND pc or PS AND PC some are Xbox PS AND PC, There will always be some games that are on one platform and not on another but for the most part, there is a huge crossover. Most console players don't really know what is available for PC.

IDK, my PC plays through my tube pre and amp and into Khorns sooooooo, LOL!

I heartily disagree, yes shooters like CoD and Battlefield are vastly superior on computer. Your argument falls apart when we start talking about console exclusive games. I enjoy games/stories like the uncharted franchise, infamous series, dark/demon souls, dead space, the list goes on. Most of these games will never see a pc release. Besides, I really enjoy achievments and trophies... Nothing says im better than you than that trophy I have and you don't lol. This is true. To many really good games are missed on PC. Plus the ps4 has caught the PC in terms of graphics. Everything I'm reading says it's as close as it gets. Not to much left on a PC that you can't get on a ps4. PC has a few mmo games that I would like to see on ps4. But it's a very small list. There is very little on console that I can't get on PC. It may take a little while. I really don't do much with COD or BF, I am into the more expansive games such as Fallout (all) Portal, Crysis and my list goes on and on. I don't get much into Zombies on earth or in space. My internet is very limited in bandwith so I play solo and even if I had trophies that you don't I could not brag about them anyway! The mods that are available on PC completely change to the better the graphics, NPC and PC, story line, options. As I said, I have the last gen setups, there is nothing wrong with liking consoles, I am not a PC snob but there is nothing in the next gen systems that is going to take money from my pocket. UH..... just to say on topic, ...... Codec, uh, Bitstream, and SACD! Whew, I nearly jacked the thread!!!!

A preemptive edit to the "offending" post will cut short comments from those of us who are too lazy or too miffed to read to the end before posting. Hey, it is just a thought

Stay FAR away from and g-mail contacts. That's the preferred mail service of c-list spammers. While it may be true, not all of us with Gmail accounts are flakes, anymore, all I have are Gmail addresses, regardless of where I go, I have a stable email account, works for me. UH, no I am not selling anything, just saying Sorry, I just posted after I saw the above posts, I did not read to the end but it seems that the point has been made LOL!

The best bang for buck way to go is that if your AVR is good and current, then used STEREO power amps work great, are easy to find and are at reasonable prices. Everyone hears differently but for my money, better prosumer amps tend to sound similar, similar enough that when run in pairs such as one for mains, one for sides, one for .... you get the idea, I can't hear a tonal difference. I have a reasonable quality Yamaha AVR and the addition of external amps made a HUGE difference in quality of sound. Older AVRs are pretty inexpensive and while the pre section in them may be hopelessly dated, the amps are just fine. Pick up a couple of old 5.1 amps, feed them from the good AVRs pre outs and enjoy. Sure, you will have a lot of stuff to look at with a stack of, say 3 AVRs but only 1 controls everything, the other 2 are just adding their power amps to the setup and all their knobs, switches etc won't do a thing. This is a cheep way to see if it makes a difference to you, if it does make a positive improvement then you can save to get something sleeker looking in the future. Minermark, I do come around and read but my posting has been down. The wife is getting along OK and when the fact of her missing apx 1/4 of her brain well, she is doing pretty darn good! I do still get frustrated with her from time to time, sometimes she gets into "a loop" just saying the same thing over and over etc when trying to discuss something with her, she knows it isn't right but can't help it. This board has a lot of great folks on it, a real family away from home.

Use the pre outs into power amps, the gain in quality will be huge. That would take the load off the power supply of the AVR so it can operate to its max ability. I have a Yamaha AVR feeding 2 ob power amps and the AVR only drives the center and the backs. I have had other members from the forum over who have pretty darn good setups themselves and they commented on the improvement of quality over a AVR alone.

Didn't read the whole thing but congrats on moving to the better end of the line I have H1s to Cornerhorns skipping a few here and there, I never did like the skinny new ones. The hole is deep and the slope is steep, soon you will be redesigning the room to take corner hons, I give you 2 years.

On the topic of games, I am skipping the new gen consoles. I have 2 PS3s and 2 Xbox 360s slims and fat. A good gaming PC beats the pants off either of the new units without the limitations of either. Once you go PC, you won't go back! The mods available to you let you custom tailor the game the way YOU want it to be. I am keeping my "old" units for the games I have for them and for Blueray and DVD. For audio, I have a CD player and TT etc.

I have had only one tube go belly up on me and it was when I had left the amp on and went outside for a little while, hey, it should be OK right? LOL! It was an old, 6550 made by Tung Sol, a real old timer. I returned to an amp that had only one channel working. I shut it down, tossed in a quad of Sovtek 6550s and fired it up. All was well after a rebias for the new set of tubes. I ran it that way for oh, about 20 hours and never had a problem. I then bought a matched quad of the Russian manufacture of the original Tung Sol design for the 6550 and it has been sweet since. I wish I was there to watch the old tube go south and to shut things down, perhaps I got lucky IDK, but it turned out OK for me, ....... that time! I am not sure I would spend that much for the circuit, perhaps they could toss in a few fuses like Mark said, that should be a lot less money with protection too. Good luck!

Cool iteched, your speaker is only a month older than I am, I wonder how hard it would be to find a PAIR (ok, numbers will not be matching) that were made on my birthday, that would be really cool but really hard to find!

CL here has a pair of owner painted black H1s for asking price of $300 but has them miss listed as H3, he had lots of calls but when it turns out that they are owner painted black H1s, it is thanks but no thanks.

For a TV room, the Synergy line are OK and are pretty inexpensive on the used market. Not top shelf but better than most anything in a big box store. I think I bought a 5.1 setup for $400 a few years ago, it could have been a little less. Since then, I have replaced the towers with Fort'e 1s and the SC1 is a pretty good match too. It is all we could ever want for a TV setup. The HT is another matter entirely in the next room.

Go and listen to them for yourself. When I go look at speakers, I take an amp and source and wire. My Son's KG5.5s had loose cab backs that only showed up at higher volumes, they rattled badly. We got a pretty big discount on them because of that. Lower volumes may not show up problems. When I bought my Cornerhorns, I again took gear.... and a generator as they were in a storage lot. This time, all was well and they were sold in nothing flat for full asking price. A smart phone works just fine for a source (not fond of an I anything!) and you need an amp too. A chip amp works great but if you don't have one, just take what you have.

This was discussed not all that long ago. The Pre has more affect on the signal "flavor" the amp just bumps up what the pre did. I am using tubes on both but have had tube to SS and there was not near the difference as going the other way round. YMMV!

The whole mac/apple only thing bugs the heck out of me. I will NOT own a mac/apple product, I think HATE is not strong enough of a word. A lot of products are made only for the "I" whatever apple products. I wish manufacturers would at least admit that there are as many of us who do not have apple items as those who do. YMMV!

I still have a CA 600 and it sounds just fine! Congrats on some good gear at a great price

UH, here I am

The KG 5.5s I bought for the son needed the backs glued, I also used Gorilla glue but I clamped the cab tight and put the glue on a 1 x 1 sq wood strip, for in the cab bracing, it worked fine and only a slight blemish on the back of one cab. No more rattle!

Heresy AND BELLS $500 I have 2 emails to him already, the first within 15 minutes of listing and the second at about 45 minutes. I hate it when the craigs list return email is the only option. http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/ele/4429052014.html

Oh I am looking forward to retirement, I will never run out of things to do, I AM a blacksmith, it is not just a screen name and to that I have a pretty full wood shop and metal working shop shoe horned into 2,250 sq ft building, just steps from my back door I would have rather had a little more time to get the house paid off first though, it was refinanced a couple years ago to a 15 year note and it would have been nice to be rid of that first but the money is there anyway, at least for now! The HT, when I bought the Khorns for my 2 ch setup, I moved the Cornwalls to the HT and it made a HUGE improvement from the Quartets that used to be up front. Just to store the Quartets, they are stacked on the Cornwalls, they are not connected yet the sound image sure makes you think they are playing, it is awesome!

The floor is concrete slab so the floor is solid. New padding and carpet but otherwise, concrete. The linked review is for the unit I bought, the HTS 5000 it is an older unit, the review was in 2001 so it could be up to 13 years old but I have no idea, it LOOKS clean and like it has been well cared for but ??? I do suspect though that the surge protection may be getting "thin", I heard that as any protector lives it's life, surges affect and "use up" the life of the anti surge devices so IDK and I have another surge protector before it, ..... just in case I am still in the snake oil camp with nearly all things uber audio, I bought the device to clean up the power cord runs only and had NO thought of affecting the sound, There has been so much fraud and snake oil sold over the years to anyone who would listen to hype that the water is very muddy indeed. Our memory is a funny thing. It is not like a tape or digital recorder. It MAKES the memory new each time we "remember" something, This is why people can clearly remember things that never happened! Each time, the memory can be and is slightly altered. So when we try to "remember" what our system sounded like on another day, we are remembering impressions of what we heard, the tape is not being played back note for note. Then add to the mix that we can hear things that we were told that we were supposed to hear whether or not it truly is there and again, the water is very muddy indeed.

I don't know how I missed so much, I guess I was off doing other things. Forgive me for skipping to the end from St Paddys day. Ran out of beans so I made a trip to a local coffee chain, bought a 2 pound bag of Sumatra, it is roasted a bit dark for my tastes and has more roast flavor than Sumatra coffee but it will serve to make something drinkable until I can buy better uh..... Cables.

Thanks, I think you did better with paint than I could do While I would NEVER pay the $600 they were asking for this thing new, I guessed the gamble was worth it at $125, if for nothing else than to make the power cable runs much more tidy. There were supposed to be 3 or was it 4 top people in industry (not Monster) who work in the power filtering field, one with a high end audio power conditioner (also high buck) (from memory) but IDK how true it was, I read it in a review in Stereotimes of my exact unit, dial gauge not the later digital read out. click here How much the review is worth, how much the reviewer is though well of, how much is paid advertising ?????? I do SEEM to hear a difference and I sure thought I would not! I am first to admit that the mere mention of anything Monster in my system is a situation I thought I would never be in. I am the last to buy any of their cables etc and while I can admit that the quality of their cables etc is likely better than china import bulk buy cables, I do not think they are worth NEAR what places get for them.