TJIann

Awesome looking rig and room!

WOW!!! Nice score man. Congrats.

This is very much like my setup except i use headphones.......................could not agree more about ITunes. which hard drive do you use ?? I am using a Toshiba hard drive. I back it up periodically to a second drive as well. Have you had good luck with any particular hard drive type over another Joe? And, by the way, I've really been using headphones a lot lately as well.

I use Foobar too, and just use the program to convert DSD files to HD Flac format.

I bought a small cheap Acer mini laptop to hook up to my audio system as a dedicated music server for HD and other digital files. I keep the music on an external 2TB hard drive and use Foobar2000 to manage the music. Computer connected to Outlaw Audio 975 preamp via HDMI, then into my vintage McIntosh/Klipsch system. I really like it a lot. I used to use Itunes, but really could not stand the constant changes by CrApple with every update. Foobar is great for managing files, adding any artwork you want via tagging, converting between formats, etc. I keep everything as Flac files.

The block parties would be killer!

I've been listening to all my music in this format lately. I have Cornwall II mains, Heresy rears and a Heresy center. The multi speaker stereo sound is incredible.

Chance to help a fellow Marylander? You bet! I just joined this forum a month or two ago and you were the first person who responded to a post of mine giving me advice on headphones. Funds on the way.

So, I have a full Heritage setup in my listening room with Cornwall II fronts, Heresey backs and a Hersey center. My Outlaw Audio preamp has a 5.1 output that is non-proprietary (i.e., not Dolby, DTS, etc.) but simply allows you to send the same exact signal to the front and back speakers. So, in essence I have my fronts and backs running the same. The result is nothing short of phenomenal in my opinion. The CIIs and Heresys compliment each other so well, and the articulation of instrument layers and voices is just incredible. Just curious if other preamps/receivers offer this format as well? I had not run into it before.

I do all my conversions in Foobar2000. If it plays the AIFF files, it seems like it should be able to convert them. It will tell you to download the free FLAC frontend software it needs to do conversion to FLAC files. I convert dsp files to FLAC a lot.

An update. I just added a Heresy center that I scored off Ebay. Recalibrated things. Now listening to stereo CDs through the Heritage speakers with the subwoofer turned off. First up is some Gov't Mule so I can hear the various Warren Haynes guitar layers. Just sounds incredible. Love the way the music distributes and how articulate the various guitar parts are.

For me personally, I bought the OPPO-103 earlier this year because I wanted first and foremost a high quality, multi-faceted music player (SACD, DVD-A, etc) with a really good DAC, and also I wanted the unit to secondarily be my Blu-Ray/DVD player (I listen to music much more than watch movies). I don't own a gaming system, but have owned Samsung and Sony Blu-Ray players and the OPPO build quality is far superior, it has a great DAC, Blu-Rays/CDs load much quicker than the previous players which I like a lot.

I play (just for fun and jamming with friends, not in a band) and collect. I've bought, sold and traded a lot of guitars over the past few years.

I was just going to ask how the RC was playing with Heritage. Soooo, not so well? Also, how did you find an RC-25 at Best Buy? Or is it from the newer Reference/Icon line? Sorry, newer reference line. Just didn't do it for me. Decided that other than the sub, I wanted all Heritage speakers in the mix.

Just an update. I ended up returning the RC-25 center channel speaker to Best Buy for a refund. Going to put those funds towards a single Heresy for the center. Until I get that, the phantom center will do.

Outstanding! Congratulations. I bet you will love them. Just awesome speakers.

So, I guess on a regular CD or other stereo recording without surround the preamp is just sending the same signal to the front and rear power amp and they are just essentially duplicates running in parallel?

This depends on what music your listening to. Being a firm believer in subs, I think all systems should have one including yours. Well, flipping the sub on is easy. No preamp reprogramming needed like for the center. I think you are right. The style of music matters for sure. But after living with Heresy speakers as my mains for a while, it's nice to be able to shut off the sub with the Cornwalls which provide a lot of bass.

I'm guessing this has been covered several times before, but before I was a member. As seen in my other post, I've set up my 5.1 system around Klipsch Heritage speakers. However, after learning here on the forum about the "phantom center" concept, I decided to turn off my small RC-25 center and try that so I was just running my Cornwall IIs as mains and Heresys as rears. Then I went ahead and turned off the sub since it's not needed to listen to music with these speakers. So, I effectively had a 4.0 system with a phantom center. I started by listening to SACDs to get the surround. But to my surprise, when I put regular CDs and HD stereo music on and left the system in surround mode, it sounded amazing. I am blown away at how well the Cornwall and Heresy speakers work together. The sound dynamics are just incredible. So, how many use their system like this for stereo recordings? Any pitfalls, 'cause it really seems to sound great to me.

That's just a slate candle holder. Nothing sonically-related

Yeah, I keep FLAC files on a 2GB external hard drive hooked to the PC and out to my preamp via HDMI cable. Some HD Tracks and shows I download from band websites. I've started uploading my favorite CDs to FLAC as well.

No worries. Pics added to OP.

Thanks for the nice comments guys. I'm working on getting some photos up. To Schu, get off your high horse. You could have just been nice and asked for pics like others instead of making an arrogant statement.

So, I recently took over the basement in our house to set up a man cave consisting of a lounge room (bar, audio/video equipment. my guitar collection hanging on the wall. etc.) and a separate studio room for amps/instruments/jamming. Right away I knew I wanted the vintage stereo set-up I never had when I was younger (i.e., McIntosh and Klipsch), and I wanted to build a 5.1 system around it. I recently purchased a beautiful set of Cornwall IIs as the mains, and wanted my Heresy speakers to become the surround. Last night I finally got the full system set up. See the list of components below. Spending this morning listening to some SACDs on the system. Just outstanding sounding. I love the Cornwall/Heresy combination. I think to complete it, I may now be in the market for a single Heresy to use for the center and replace the RC-25. Outlaw Audio 975 Preamp Project Carbon Debut Turntable Oppo BDP-103 Multidisc Player Notebook PC w/HD music McIntosh MC2105 Stereo (Main) Amp Rotel RB-976 6 Channel Amp, Bridged to 3 channels for Centers/Rears Klipsch Cornwall II Mains Klipsch Heresy Rears Klipsch RC-25 Center Klipsch R-12SW Sub Samsung 51" Plasma 3D TV

Let me add another perspective. Gov't Mule (probably my favorite band still going today) did their annual Mule-O-Ween show last night in Cincinnati. Every year at Halloween they page homage to an artist or band that they love. This year it was Neil Young. After their first set of their own songs, the played 29 Neil songs the rest of the night. The show ended in the wee hours of this morning. At 7PM tonight, I had a 24 bit, HD download of the show with cover art from their website to enjoy over a few bourbons this evening. The music download technology has become amazing. Tomorrow, I am hoping to download the HD version of the final Allman Brothers show from this past Tuesday night. That will be cool too. I love this HD download technology.