wmilas

I think the question is phrased wrong. If you are only using the cd player for the transport (ie keeping the data streaming digital pcm to an external decoder) all you care about is that the clock stays synched to reduce jitter. Damn near any cd player thats more than 50 bux nowadays does this fine. If you are talking about using the cd players analog outs and thus using its DA converter, thats a whole other ball of wax. Thats when you can get a bunch of different sounding units.

H/K rate thier recievers conservatively. A Pioneer rated at 135 Watts per channel typically cant deliver more than 40 watts per channel driving all 7 channels. The H/K can. However The H/K does not have video upconversion at this time (if you are looking for component to HDMI). Well the new 740 can/will but its an arm and a leg and a totally different beast from the 435/635. That being said the 635 can be had really cheap if you look around. (Don't think we are allowed to quote prices here?). Add in a geffin 2 or 4 way dvi/hdmi switcher and you've got what you are looking for. Is the hk 635 in the same category as a Denon 4806/5805? No. But its a damn good reciever and if you want to add more amperage later on its got a full set of pre-outs. Plus I'm addicted to Logic-7 :

Whatever you pick, do yourself a favor and have an electrician (or you can do it yourself, its not hard if you know how to work with basic electrial panels) install a whole house surge suppresor on your panel. Its cheap (they cost from $50 to $150) depending on the model. They are the BEST suppresion (they shunt both phases to ground.. which is immediate since its right NEXT to the ground) you can buy for the money. You can go around and around talking about suppresion, but a suppresor at your audio equipment cant suppress a surge that comes up all 3 lines (hot, neutral, ground) at once since it has no where to shunt it to. If its shunt at the panel you will never have a surge coming up ground since you are right AT the ground (a lightning stike in theory could hit the few feet of line from the box to the ground and nothing else but it would then travel down into ground and not up to the box. The panel suppresor can thefore shunt any incoming 2 phase event straight to ground before it starts bouncing around in your house blowing stuff up merrily along the way. If you area is prone to lightning stikes, this is a no brainer 75 bux spent. Btw you still need point suppresion on sensitive electronics (stereo) with this setup. But at least you dont have to worry about your grage door openers, lights, microwave, oven, range, ect blowing up if the electric lines by your house are struck.

Btw if you haven't seen one of Chris' K-stacks they are really something to see. I spent some time yesterday with my voltmeter and scope (Heh I knew there was a reason I kept it for the last 10 years in the basement!) testing his build on the Academy compared to the reference design. If you've ever seen an Academy reference crossover you'll recognize that its REALLY poorly put together. The parts are cheap, it was put together in Mexico, and the build quality is generally bad. The K-Stacks tolerances are VERY tight. The build quality is some of the best I've seen. It's over engineered Whats is interesting however is that the build quality on the original Forte II crossovers isn't that bad, and the Chorus II crossovers are even better. Granted, they are not as robust as the K-Stacks but they are not the lack of quality seen in the Academy. I Can hear the difference in the Academy with the K-stack compared to the original. The Forte II's as rear surrounds I have no idea. I havent heard them enough, and I havent listened to the originals enough to know. I'm really awaiting the Chorus II K-Stacks since I spent years listening to the original crossovers My gut feeling is that there will be small subtle differences, if that. But I'll still feel good knowing that the internal wiring is al lbeefed up and those K-Stack monsters wont degrade with years of use The moral of the story so far: If you have an academy, invest in a K-Stack. Now.

Well, I just got everything wired. I spun a few cds. My wife and I just sat on the couch and grinned ear to ear. At times we started laughing. It was THAT good. Its simply amazing. I've only done basic calibration and I'm simply AMAZED at how good it sounds. I'm terribly glad I didnt go the easier reference route. This was alot harder to put together but already sounds head and shoulders above anything I demoed. I'd post pictures but I'm embarrased atm. We just moved in and things are everywhere. As soon as we get things put away, walls painted, run the speaker wires through the wall ect I'll post a ton of pictures. Although, maybe I should take one "before" shot

For those of you that have been helping me along the way I thought I'd throw out an update. Chorus II's are patiently awaiting the arival of Pod's K-Stacks. Academy has a new tweeter and k-stack is mounted Forte II's are good to go with thier K-Stacks. One got a little banged up in shipment and needs some veneer work I ordered a Harmon Kardon 635 to act as my new pre/pro and power the center and rear channels. My trusty GFA 555II will still be powering the fronts. A Denon 756s Universal cd/dvd/dvd-A/sacd is on the way too. Monday is delivery day for the H/K and the 756s. I'm so excited... Can't wait! Pod just needs to get moving on the CII's new stacks

Already sent Popbumper a message

*Bounces around in anticipation* They are mine.. ALL mine! Now I just need a pair of kstacks for my Chorus II's

Sent you a private message.

I was leaning toawards the SVS Ultra tube. The pb12-2 is large and WAF isnt gonna work. I was going to let the wife pick between the bp12 ultra and the ultra tube.. whichever she can live with is fine with me. Since its only for movies and maybe, andits a big maybe, if i can blend it into music in the room seamlessly. Missed a walnut academy on ebay last week. Damn thing sold for $515. Trying to get a walnut or oiled/clear oak. My Chrous II's are clear oak. Was thinking of redoing the crossovers in them too. Guess I need to talk to Dean or podbumper about that?

Hum. I hadn't thought of that. Thats an idea too.

Thanks for the Reply! Chorus II's for the back are probably out because of the size. Forte II's I can swing. Are quartet's timbre matched to the Chors/Forte II's or the original Chorus/Forte's? They look to be matched to the II's (no ports, passive back) but I'm not 100% sure. Also I'm thinking the quartets might be out because they might sit too low, ie under earlevel and fire into the couch itself instead of over to the listeners head? I don't think the quartets would have a problem with the SPL level since I dont listen to things trememdously loud. I'm just trying to narrow down my choices. I'm leaning towards the Forte II's right now. I've made up my mind that I'm going with a Harmon Kardon 435 or 635 as the pre/pro and to amplfy the center and rear channels for the time being. I'll keep my adcom GFA 555 II as the front amp. I'll add a 3 channel amp in the future to round out the center and rears. I've listened to the HK as opposed to the Denon 3805 and I like the way the HK sounds. Granted I only listed 2 channel music but I don't have the expertise to A/B 5.1 theater sound.. I tried and the denon and HK units sound the same... but I really dont know what to listen for. Not only that the places I demoed them at had the sub set up wrong.. sounded like muddy crap half the time. I figure the HK should be good enough for now and I can always upgrade it later.

5 days and no replys. Thought one of the heritage HT guys would have made a suggestion or two

Bump? Also based on this room layout, it doesn't look like I have a prayer of a 7.1 system, being that I have no back wall to hang the rear speakers on. Plus, cabling up into the ceiling at this point might be a nightmare. I was thinking of maybe putting small speakers on the table behind the couch, but that would be too close to the listening position I think. From what I've read the distance from the side surrounds to teh listening poition must be the same as the rear surrounds?

Some of you may have remembered my posting a month ago about my Chorus II's, new house, and WAF. The WAF has mostly been taken care of by caving in on bathroom, bedroom and other stuff she wants. It still exists but shes consented to living with my Chorus II's in the family room. At some point I will finish the basement and most likely put in a dedicated HT but for our lifestyles, with two young children, I'd like a family room that doubles as a good HT and music listening room within reason. I've attached a basic schematic of the back of the house first floor. Left part is the family room, right is kitchen, middle is bar and eatting area. Notice that is one largeish room with no "back" to teh family room part. I've never set up a system in a room like this and I'm not sure what to expect. The floor is all hardwood. Notice two windows in the living room, and a sliding glass door in the eatting area. Kitches is all hardwood and granite. Wife likes rugs and stuff so I'll be able to partially treat the floors and I'll figure something out for the walls when it gets there. Since the kitchen is not "flat" its going to be interesting to see how the sound bounces off all the stuff back there I'm planning on putting the electronics in a rack to the left of the fireplace. The Chorus II's will of course go on either side of the fireplace. Eventually wife also wants builtins to the left and right of the fireplace. I could integrate the electronic stuff but I'd have to be careful about the speakers. I was planning on putting a plasma above the fireplace. The fireplace is all stone so its going to be tricky. First step is to get a plasma and put it on the fireplace surround itself at eye level and make sure I'm comfortable with it. I was planning on picking up an Academy for the center as there is no real room to have a smaller heritage floorstanding speaker anywhere in the middle. The fireplace and surround are on the bottom, there is a mantle, and plasma above the mantle. I was going to either mount the plasma slightly above the mantle and the academy above that, or vice versa. I'm not planning on mounting anything till i get everythign and play around with speaker placement to make sure I'm happy. Now the surrounds. The real choices are Forte II's or RS7's. Btw I demoed the 7 series for fronts and I just plain like my Choruis II's better. I spent the better part of 3 hours really listening to the front 7's in stereo for music, and i just can't live with them. They are very good speakers, but unless I'm forced to, I'm not going from my Chorus II's to the 7's. Anyways, The RS7's would be better WAF and for movies, but the Forte II's would be better for SACD ect. I plan to use the system 50% for movies and 50% for music. Actually I listen to more music, but wife watches more movies. If i can get her hooked on it for movies, its going to increase WAF From what I've heard, as long as the seating is pretty much parallel, I should not worry about the Fort II's for movies? Also, if im sitting on a couch, are the Forte II's goign to be high enough for the surround setup if they are on the floor? Another thing is i currently dont actually own any SACD's or DVD-A's I just want the flexability for 5.1 music if I decide to go that route. I'm kind of a loss here if i should go Forte II's or RS7's. I know the forte II's will be timbre matched but I don't know if thats really a big issue for the surround. I was planning on going with a SVS ultra for LFE. I have not heard a sub I like for music, and with the Chorus II's i dont particularly need a sub with music. I guess let me rephrase that. I have not heard a sub that seems to blend effortlessly with large floorstand speakers that I've liked... doenst mean they dont exists. I have not looked that hard. I've heard the ultra and for the price point I don't think I'll do any better. If i get to play with it, I might be able to blend it down low with the Chorus II's but its not a priority or anything. Its simply there for a little extra chest thumping when watching a movie. Plan to feed the LFE to the fronts (Prabably not the center?) and should it be fed to the surrounds if I go forte II's? 9 foot ceilings so the "family" room part works out to about 2500 cubic feet. But without the back wall I guess thats not a really fair number since its actually much larger. I won't overpower the area with the Chrous II's, Academy, and forte II's + a svs ultra sub.. will I? Also, In the back of my mind I almost imagine a pair of khorns in the corner. I have the corners to do it. But from what I can tell at a 45 degree angle that makes the listening spot at 7.55 feet from the wall. Thats not nearly far back enough. So from what I can tell I should probably just stick with my Chrous II's as the wall isn't long enough. I cant use the longer wall as I'd have to build a false corner and thats not going to work with the WAF. Any input, comments, and or suggestions would be much appreciated