picky

CD: I'll have to take a look at the horns on my 7's tonight when I get home from the office, but I am a plastics designer for a major auto company and I agree with wrenchpeddler that the marks sound a lot like simple mold marks to me. We, in plastics engineering, are always placing our own brand of "hieroglyphics" on our parts. It helps the machinists and molders identify single and multiple-piece molds and their orientation of assembly into the molding machine. I have not examined their construction but, I assume the horns are injection-molded in color (which eliminates the need for painting) out of some compound such as ABS or Mica-filled Polypropolene, etc. plastic using a one-shot process, such as wrenchpeddler smartly alluded to. Nice catch, wrench! The dulled finish found on the surface of the horns is refered to in the business as "stipple". There are various levels of stipple going from a barely-noticable stipple to very coarse. Stipple is usually acheicved by washing the metallic mold with very strong acid. The longer the acid is allowed to contact the metal, the more aggressive the stipple finish. -Some nickle-knowledge for you in the art of plastics molding. -Picky

popbumper: The gang here has given you good advice. I did commercial sound reinforcement for bands at the club and concert-level years ago, and I have used a lot of my commercial gear in my home from time-to-time. Everything from Crown, Shure and BGW power amps to Electrovice, JBL, Cerwin Vega and Northeast Acoustics Works speakers, and I can tell you that the commercial stuff, although "bullet-proof" and made to play loud-and-proud in large venues for hours on end without a hitch, just doesn't measure up to consumer gear when it comes to using it in a residential environment. The stuff is just, plain "rude" sounding, in my opinion! I realize there are exceptions to this. I hope this helps. -Picky

DETROIT: 4 NASHVILLE: 1 Now, THAT"S more like it! "Phew"!

yromj: First, it's always been dificult to find QUALITY outdoor speakersto begin with. It's even more difficult to find good ones under $100 bucks. I'll probably get flamed for mentioning this but even though they have been discontinued, you may be able to find a pair of Bose 151's for sale someplace in either black or white. They're about $150 and do a nice job mounted in the gables of my garage in the back yard. It seems that just in the last two years, both the quality and the price of outdoor speakers have escallated. I think it's because more people are staying home and enjoying their own backyards, now. So, the industry is naturally trying to capitalize on it. Best of luck! -Picky

An interesting page, with interesting products: http://www.certainteed.com/CertainTeed/Undefined/Insulation/Prodindex/Commercial/

I'd love to be a "toon" for a day........

Frzninvt: I would LOVE to be able to run RF-7s in the side and rear channels but room dimension limitations win out I'm afraid. -Picky

Beetle: I use RF-7s & RC-7 up front with RS-7 sides and RCW-5s for rears. I agree with m00n; I'd like to hear an RF-7 surround setup, too. The reason I am so curious is that the RS-7s in effect, are Di-Polar, which makes them more difficult for the ear to localize. I am wondering if using the Direct-Radiating RF-7s it would spoil the surround effect at all? The people at THX say that all speakers in your system should be identical. m00n uses 3 RF-7s up front. EAR? Have you noticed any issues with surround localization in your setup? HornEd: I second the vote for a horizontal RF-7!!!! I'd buy one in a New York minute!! -Picky

I have a lot of faith in the team. Heck the young guys are great and the rest are future Hall-of-Famers. But, I am losing confidence in Lewis. He refuses to make the hard decisions and make some of the big guys sit on the bench when they aren't performing at their expected level. I sure hope they can last this round. Nashville is fast and the Wings are making them look pretty good.

RFinco: Although, I am a native Michigander, having lived in Northern Nevada (years ago) I have an affinity for this sort of movie and 'Open Range' is quite possibly the best "Cowboy Movie" (not to be confused with Westerns) I have ever seen. The acting and cinematography is outstanding. I really enjoyed Robert Duvall in both, 'Open Range' and the 'Lonesome Dove' series. Kevin Costner does a very believeable job in 'Range', too. I am looking forward to viewing 'Mystic River' and 'Cold Mountain'. 'The Unforgiven' is one of my favorite Clint Eastwoods! -Picky

iXtreme: An excellent job! My hat is off to you. I like the clean lines in your design and as the others have already said; nice drywall work! I can't wait to see the finished product! Did you do all of the design and construction yourself? Best of luck! -Picky

Okay, I want to know WHO has been masquerading around in the Red Wings' uniforms!!! The way they are playing against Nashville they must be imposters! Ouch!

easy: LOLOLOLOL! I know what you mean about the heat! I tired to address ventilation in my room when I considered the HVAC ducting. I put in a Heating-A/C duct and a cold air return to try and keep the air moving in there. With my projector running on the ceiling, it's a bit like having a minature "heat pump" in that room. Add to that all of the equipment and halogen lighting and "PHEW"! It gets pretty warm in there at times. I may add an inline, exhaust fan to the mix (if I can find a silent one) if it's a problem during the summer when the central A/C is on. I don't expect that to be too much of an issue because the basement is usually the coolest part of the house in the summer. In fact, before I enclosed the room, it felt like a meat locker down there! BRRRR! Right now, during heating season, if I have too I can crack a window open the furnace room next to the theater and turn on the ceiling vent fan in the adjacent bathroom and it creates a constant airflow through the theater that seems to work without too much bother or noise. We do not allow smoking in our house, so at least that's not an issue either. No offense to those of you who do enjoy a smoke now and then. I used to smoke myself about 24 years ago. Now, it's maybe a cigar around the occasional campfire, and just like Mr. Clinton: I don't inhale. I just LOVE hunting and tent camping! Hmmm....I wonder if Stewart makes a portable, water-proof model screen? -Picky

easy: You certainly have plenty of power with 400W/channel x7 (I assume into 8 ohms)! Do you have a large room? I'm running the Pioneer VSX-49TXi and it has 130 W/Channel x7 into 8 ohms. In our small room, it seems to supply enough power for our current needs, but then, there is always the future to look forward to. Thanks for the tip on 'Reign of Fire'. I'll have to rent that one. m00n: No tension. I simply didn't want to leave anything to chance by leaving any doors open. Thanks. I think I can confirm that my bride of 31 years feels that things are just dandy. cluless: I understand what you are getting at: You were hoping to find something more than you did. I'm sorry this movie didn't work for you. I personally didn't enjoy every second of these 3 movies either, nor are there many movies that I do enjoy virtually every second. Especially in the second movie, the dialog (what there is of it) runs very long in the tooth and does sound much like pyscho-babble. But, it's nothing that I am going to get attacted to, nor am I implying that you would. As for the action scenes, in the second film, except for the motorcycle chase, everything else seemd to be filler. The manner in which they staged Neo against all commers during the marshall arts scenes, he almost appeared bored at times!! Well, I was, too. The first film will always be my favorite of the three, mainly because it was full of fresh ideas. I enjoyed the third because it gave alot of closure to all of the loose ends left open by the second film and truthfully, I did enjoy a lot of the effects. I am not one to get into the fantasy aspects of this adventure, nor did I think this third flick was incredible. Entertaining, yes, but not incredible. I thought first one was incredible, the first time I saw it. And yes, there is always room for improvement. I'd like to see the first one re-mastered onto D-VHS so I could see it in Hi-Def and take advantage of the extra 2 rear channels. Wouldn't it be nice to see some of the things that you brought up improved upon in a re-mix to D-VHS? But then, I would venture a simple re-mix isn't going to heal the things you found wrong with this film and that you might not be willing to sit through it one more time. I would totally understand that position, too. RFinco: I'm more prone to be seduced by the likes of a believeable movie such as 'Open Range', which has a plot that one cab climb right into and hold onto. As for the 'Matrix', I'm just here for the shallow, window dressing. i.e.: CG and effects. What do you suppose the pretense was behind the 'Matrix' series? Making money? skonopa: I agree with you that the first movie will probably be hearlded by many as a classic. Some people already do. -Picky

My expectations of the movie were on a more simplistic level: I simply wanted to see a great action flick with a lot of amazing CG and great sound effects. Well, I got that and I'm happy. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose. If you were looking for something much deeper and this movie failed some of you, hey, no problem here. To each his own. I guess you wasted $16 bucks?

m00n: Sorry, man. I didn't know what the J/K meant until I read your explanation. Apologies. Are we good?

My NEW YORK Adventure:

dr-dezibel: Our very small room is 10.5' wide and about 19' deep at one point and first row seating is about 10' from the RF-7s & RC-7: No problems at all!! In fact, I am VERY thankful we didn't go with the RF-3s we listened to in the store! And, I DO recommend buying a sub with the RF-7s! We have an RSW-15. Best of luck! -Picky

m00n: The way Intel screwed its employees out of the employee discount sort of gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Intel Inside!" Bend over! -Picky

m00n: I like Jayco. They seem to be built about the best in my opinion. -Picky

cluless: Your comments sort of sum up my feelings about the 'Lord of the Rings' series: "Here we go, yet another battle scene where countless, meaningless animated characters are destroyed". {YAWN} Or, "Here's another close-up of 'Frodo' looking sad and bewildered." {YAWN} Perhaps, if they'd been only 2 to 2-1/2 hours long each.......? But, I will admit that I believe the production quality of the LOTR series was superior to that of the 2nd and 3rd Matrix movies. Clearly, The Matrix series isn't for everyone. I, too, believe the first one to be the best of the three. -Picky

Well, I'm clear on one thing now, you guys were just kidding and everyone's happy. That's great. RFinco: First I want to say that I definetly agree with you: I too, was very disappointed with how low the third and the second Matrix movies were recorded! You and I have the same receivers but my room is much smaller and has a low ceiling. Most DVD movies run excellent in my room between -10db and -15 db on the volume setting. The Matrix ran around -8 and I was a bit apprehendsive about goosing the knob up further as I am still a bit unfamiliar with my system and don't wish to do it any harm. I think the max setting is +20 db and of course the calibration reference level is 0db. avman: I run my RSW-15 sub around the 2 o'clock setting. That explains the dancing liquor bottles. Makaveli: Because that Machine God voice is mostly all surround and sub information and the fact that you are apparently running a 2.1 setup, that may explain why the voice is so uneventful on your system, perhaps. I'm only guessing of course. -Picky

My {HIC} liquor bottles {HIC} don't lie! {HIC} I didn't imagine it {HIC} when they moved {HIC} from all of the {HIC} bass energy! {HIC} But, seriously folks there is always room for improvement in things. And with sound being so subjective and personal, I can understand that everyone does not agree with me such as RFinco. Heck, that's what makes this forum so great; difference of opinion. If everyone agreed, this would all be pretty boring. So, dissing RF's Definitives isn't really being very constructive, in my opinion. I enjoyed the 'Revloutions' movie more than the 'Reloaded' movie. And I discovered that it's quite possible that the 'Reloaded' movie may actually have more bass energy than 'Revolutions'. I am going to have to watch it again and compare. As far as discussing the channel-steering issues and such, I think RFinco may be more educated in that area than I to be able to discuss it at that level, as I am more basic in that I simply know what I like when I hear it. And, this I liked. m00n: Thank you once again for all of the good words about my room and my design and construction abilities. I am very flattered by your comments. Thanks. I'm really just a "weekend warrior" with a hammer like many of you fellow forums members. I was an art student through high school and an engineering student in college, so I do have that right-brain/left-brain thing going for me that helps me visualize my ideas fairly well. The basement (office, bath & theater) has been my first real construction project I have ever done on my own in my life, and at 52 I'm sitting here thinking, "What took me so long?" It's been a lot of fun, and a pain in the arse at times, too. I did build a cedar deck in the back yard about 14 years ago, but I did have some help with that from a carpenter friend of mine. But this theater has primarily been just me, with some help from my adult son, Bill. I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel as the suspended ceiling is in and so is the low-voltage track lighting I've installed along the ceiling grid over the weekend. I'm starting to wonder what I will do with my time when this project finally comes to an end in a few weeks? OH YEAH! WATCH MOVIES!!!!! m00n, I would love to take a look at your building if I'm out in Oregon anytime soon. Email me a floorplan of the building. I'd love to "play around" with the room's features! Thanks again, my friend. -Picky

BREAKING NEWS: THE QUAKE OF 2004 HITS ALLEN PARK, MICHIGAN!! 7.0 on the RICHTER SCALE!! MASSIVE DAMAGE (ALMOST) Well, we have now watched 'The Matrix:Evolutions' at home Thursday night (with our son) and all I can say is, I certainly have my work cut out for me! As many of you know, I am just about three weeks from finishing our theater. I Began what is hopefully, the last month's worth of work on it around April 1st. Our project began in late August of 2002. It will be great to have everything done! 'Revolutions' was nothing but amazing! I enjoyed every minute of it and the Machine God voice did not disappoint. There is also a segment during the big fight between Neo and Smith when there is extremely loud upper-bass coming out of all the speakers, including the surrounds! I've never heard them do that before. The following day was Good Friday and my son and I both had the day off. So we worked together installing the suspended ceiling grid for our new black, melamine, acoustic foam ceiling. We installed all of the tiles that did not need to be cut, and finished up about 5PM. We cracked-open a couple of beers and sat down and watched 'Matrix:Reloaded'. OMG!!!! The ceiling isn't even completed and compared with the open joists that were exposed before, the pronouncement and focus of the sound is now amazing and the bass is much more percussive! I do not mean boomy, either. There's just more punch to the bass. In fact, while watching 'Reloaded' we had to get up twice to adjust the liquor bottles on the bar back as they were rattling towards the front of the shelf, ready to fall forward like an earthquake! The new ceiling did not buzz at all, nor did I ever notice any reflections from it. There are also some obvious things I'll need to tweak (isolate with rubber feet, etc). after the theater is done so they do not buzz. I will also have to make a lip on the liquor shelf because if any of my booze bottles ever fell off and broke, my friends would all lock me up for alcohol abuse! So, there you have it: 'The Matrix:Revolutions' and 'Reloaded' really quaked Southeast lower Michigan this week. Looks like we've have to watch the first one now, just to give it equal time! Man, do I ever love this hobby!!! -Picky