Audible Nectar

Any average bloke would understand.....

Transmission interrupted....

It's SHOWTIME[H]

If there is any truth to the age old conspiracy theory that the government can see what you are doing through your teevee, then this is what they saw today. The table is a bit of a "multipurpose" spot, where my wife does crafts, dinners are cooked and eaten, and other various life projects happen. The purpose of the shot, however, is the "open nature" of the connected rooms, which allows the acoustic energy to escape - which in turn relieves me of a host of acoustic issues. It doesn't sonically "pile up" in here, so the performances are effortless and powerful without overloading the room. Granted, I never use this kit to it's full capability - but that's OK, as that means the system will do what it does effortlessly. The room is still a bit of an artistic work in progress, as we recently painted, carpeted, and trimmed the room, and are still putting the finishing touches on the artistic end of things. But as the movie says, "The Death Star is fully operational".

Then a wider shot of the rack, which includes the youthful computer kit, with Klipsch promedia for standalone use, or HDMI to the Sony monitor - and allowing the system to play any audio from the computer. One of the newer pastimes is the concept of "couch tour", which allows me to watch live streaming concerts on the big monitor with theater sound.

Here's another. I came up with the primitive idea of using an old pair of endtables to elevate them above ear, crossfiring them across the listening area.. There's memory foam beneath each speaker.

I did mention there are Five Cornwalls. Here's one......

The system receives 5.1 Dolby Digital broadcast signals, and lemme tell ya, it's clean. This includes sports broadcasts, such as the NFL late game this Sunday afternoon.

Sub Gear: Crown CE1010 power amplifer (265x2) and the Berhinger Feedback Destroyer - a parametric EQ that allows effective tweaking of the bass frequencies, in order to tame those otherwise out-of-control BEASTS. I spent two days with a test tone disc and SPL microphone setup doing analysis of the room response and cutting the peaks from the response. The result is a nice "house curve" that makes this room seem massively larger than it really is. It's all about SCALE. Oh, and the coup-de-grace: I paid less than $800 for both JBL cabs, Behringer, and amp combined. And while it IS some pretty serious gear, most of this was found for workingman's wages while patiently building the kit - brick by brick.

The BASS. No, I mean THE BASS[H] I present TWO sets of the JBL 4638 cabinets, each with 2 15" professional theater quality woofers, which can punch your chest quite easily. I simply cannot imagine ever needing more - even if in a bigger dwelling. And with proper equalization, they present a super clean, super scale performance that shocks me that I could do that.

The RACK - The right side first: A surprise on top, and the bonus added feature of this system you never expected: TUBES. A 2 channel tube system nestled within the 5 channel HT, because we don't wanna waste any space, now do we? So the 2 channel preamp, the ever popular Juicy Music Peach. Then the newly acquired partner to the Sony 55": The Oppo 93 Blu Ray (and just about everything else) player. A key reason why I chose the Oppo as the superlative job it does upconverting DVDs and other scaling issues, and it's no joke: It's as good as everyone says it is. It also allows me to keep my older processor, by outputting 5.1 DD or DTS from BR as well as DVD, while sending the video to the monitor. SWEET! Then an old standby, the Krell Home Theater Standard. Why use a 10+ year old HT processor - a relative dinosaur? Because Krell made SUPERB equipment, and while this processor is relatively modest in it's feature set, it does those key feature VERY well: Time delay adjust to make the audio and video match up and the speakers to sound just right, a simple but super-clean 100 hz crossover on the LFE, and the ability to handle optical digital signals from all manner of equipment. Krell bass just RIPS - it's so clean, so tight, so big in scale, it makes the bass sound oike true theater scale. Then a solid state Accuphase T101 FM tuner, an early/mid 70's component that has a superb, clean sounding FM for occasional use. A Rega Planet feeds the Peach as main source in this kit, but it is out for service - in need of a pickup. Left Rack: The forum "standard" for push-pull 2 channel amplification - NOSValves VRDs. They drive the main Cornwalls for 2 channel use, but ONLY for 2 channel. And OH, is it yummy..... The Mac MC250, currently just there for show, but at the ready for occasional 2 channel use on both systems. The Outlaw 750 (Outlaw's first 5 channel Amplifier) drives the five Cornwalls for HT use. Connections are switched manually via sturdy banana plug rigs - hard wired - to convert from 5 channel to 2 channel use. Racks are Sanus Euro.

The final touch was "last": The 55" Sony KDL-55HX729, newly acquired and just calibrated. The fifth up the line out of seven 55" offerings from Sony this year, the 729 boasts much of the guts of the top line sets in a more affordable model.

This was 10 years in the making. The audio portion has been slowly built up over that period, with the understanding that at some point I would take it to full HD capability. That day is finally here. This is a five Cornwall HT (all AlNiCo, with '74 mains, '68 vertical center, and '76 rears)

The Cat's Eye View......

Ahhhh.....A very nice touch there...... I know well what it is to find "That Sound", and have spent a bit of time here gushing about said successes. Some of us find that by way of used, clones, vintage, modified, or just dong a hello of a lotta cap rolling to find that ultimate success....it's all good here... So congratulations on "finding IT" - that's one of my favorite aspects of the hobby is to see people get "lit up" when they "find IT".

I recommend that you talk to the members of the AVS forum. They cut this new HD gear open like no other.....

If that's tube gear shown at lower right, you get triple bonus points[8-|]

Yep - and given the pleasures and addictive qualities of what we do here, it's a good thing this hasn't been made illegal (because anything this much fun usually is). I refer to the best systems here as "Schedule One" - not designed for any medical purpose, but strictly for pleasure. If the gov only knew.....but we'll keep it our little secret[]

NIIIIIIIICE[H] It's good to see more and more doing this. A few suggestions...... Since you plan to double the size of the room, keep the fourth KLF30, add two more, then increase the screen size at a later date to match the size of the sonics you will then be experiencing. You will then have a theater that would be pretty much "upgrade proof", aside from source changes that will probably occur over the future decades. I did similar with all Cornwalls, and OMG was it ever worth the effort. My wife thought I was a little nuts - especially in the "interim" stages of building the beast - but now that all the pieces of the puzzle are in place, she understands - COMPLETELY. Again, congrats on your progress. Well done!

Nice......VERY nice[H] I'll bet that Pioneer video setup is sweet! But you did all this in a WEEK? WOW. It took me almost 10 years to get my HT where I finally wanted it....well worth the wait to be sure. And yes, this place is full of enablers, but we do bring results!

Lexus just got STOMPED[8-|]

Just got one on my doorstep yesterday, and had it doing a few tricks last night. This player's "claim to fame" is it's ability to do DVD upconversion well, and that's no exaggeration: It is EXCELLENT in this regard. Haven't played with the Qdeo yet - just running straight playback on 480 DVDs and it looks really good. I am still fiddling with the audio setup on this machine, as currently DVD gives better 5.1 sound than BluRay 5.1 does. I have an older processor, where I am using the optical out on the Oppo to run bitstream to my pre/pro. That's my only issue with this so far, but I am only five or so hours in use and still playing a bit with the controls (which are very extensive), so I may well be missing something. Pretty serious piece of gear for $500.....solid build (almost 11 lbs) and did I already say how good 480 DVDs look??[H]

It is recommended that you DO listen to Heritage speakers before doing anything too serious in here. This forum can be an opportunity to listen to many differing Klipsch approaches, and the Heritage should be the first stop for the curious and eager to learn. Heritage is what this company was built on, and are literally "lifetime" speakers that can literally be handed down through generations....and worthy of the effort to feed them best. Some then go down the vacuum tube rabbit hole with Heritage (I bit on this hard, but got the glorious results desired and am lifetime happy on that front, so it was worth the effort). Others in 2 channel go "Jubilee" after Heritage, because the Jubilee approaches are "pro-sized" horn loaded setups, which is what the Heritage "buzz" is all about - what horn loading brings to the table. Then consider what Heritage does for home theater setups and one can see how they really are "all things to all listeners". Whether the lilt of the best SET, the power and liquidity of a brawny KT88, or the steely resolve of the best solid state, Heritage is great in a host of system types and wants, which is a testament to how good they are. Heritage aren't necessarily the best in the audio universe, but given the rock solid design principles they are built on they are the best value in audio history.

Those Panasonics are good looking displays. Although I opted for a Sony LED for my recent display choice, the Pannys were my favorites amongst the plasma offerings. I don't think you're losing that much vs. a Pioneer.....as good as they were....

It's hard for a guy like me to complain much about the relative efficacies of my HT rig. It took me a decade to build it, brick by brick, and by and large can be nothing but thrilled with what I have done. I got the break of lifetime on my subs (two JBL 4638 cabinets, each with two 15" woofers), and that one stroke of extreme luck took my system from "pretty good" to "I outdid myself". But if I had one thing I could realistically change it would be the HT processor (old Krell) and multichannel amp (Outlaw) to something that more perfectly matches the Heritage sound. Something selected with the care that I chose my vintage Mac and VRD/JM combo for 2 channel use. I'm thinkin' something like Classe, Mac, or other with a clear, liquid sound that would make the sonics perfect. But that said, I'm not complaining about the present, but in the realm of realistic wishes for the HT, that's about all that is realistic. Oh, and if I end up buying this place I would install a front PJ. 55" will suffice until then.