picky

Flason: I agree, the SDA's do take some power. Mine were rated up to 600 Watts if I recall correctly. They certainly did have a fine, open sound. If there was anything I would have changed about them, it would have been the addition of a dome mid-range driver. -Picky

Grand11: I truely believe your perception of the noise does totally rely upon where you viewed the film. In my case, the voice wasn't simply high-output, low end. That is something I think we've all heard before. Instead, in addition to the high-ouput, low-end it also contained some extremely powerful mid-range as well and the overall perception I got was that the voice eminated from both of the rear corner surrounds and the subs. The level of energy exerted by the surrounds was quite remarkable and unique to any other effect I have witnessed thus far in a theater. So, perhaps the reason you found the voice to be rather unimpressive, could be a component of the possibility the theater's sound system may not have been up to the task? I don't really know of course. You were there, I wasn't. -Thanks. As I mentioned before, I do plan to view the film in a "normal" theater to do a comparison. I'll let you all know what I discover. I don't know how soon we'll be going as the hoilday season is nearly upon us. -Picky

Yes, I'm sure some of you lucky people out there do have systems that will handle "THE VOICE". I'm actually being a bit facetious when I say my RS-7's won't handle it. But once you hear this voice, you'll understand what m00n and I are talking about. It is incredible and unlike ANYTHING I've ever heard in a movie before! It was quite thrilling. Just to clarify a couple of things: I haven't seen the fim in the regular theater (I plan to), but in the IMAX the voice Mainly comes out of the two rear surrounds (very unsual) and the subs. It is not perceived to come at all from the fronts, at least not at the IMAX. This may differ from the normal theater. Also, when they do release films for home DVD, the sound is almost always remastered to play in a more percise manner due to the closer quarters, rather than playing in a more general fashion in order to cover most of the seating in a large theater. For example, the newly released 'Lion King' was remastered in that way for home theater. See link: http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?section_id=4&article_id=508&page_number=1 I would imagine that the 'Matrix: Revolutions' will be too. -Picky

Follow-up: Well, I am happy to report that the old Polk towers made it to our friends' in Northern Nevada in fine shape, thanks to the packing expertise of the UPS Store (AKA: Mailboxes, Etc.) and for the care shown them by UPS Ground. (4 days from Dearborn, Michigan to Dayton, Nevada. Not bad!) Our friends immediately hooked those SDA-2As up and they were thrilled with them! I'd always loved those 2 speakers, but we simply needed more room in our tiny living room for our new furniture and could no longer justify having those "monoliths" in there any longer. The B&W LM-1s are all hooked up to my Onkyo Pro-Logic receiver and I was able to tweak them the other night. I must admit there is absolutely no comparison between the small, wall-mounted B&W leisure monitors and the Polk SDA-2A towers, nor did expect there to be. But, what did surprise me is just how well the little B&Ws project and play cleanly and loudly without any discernable breakup or distortion. They have a sensitivity of 91db @ 1 watt @ 1 meter, which I think is pretty good for such small speakers. Granted, these little guys do fall on their faces with anything below 100 Hz. But, I kept my Polk 10" self-powered sub and after tweaking it certainly blends in nicely with the LM-1s. I also retained the use of our Polk CS-350 Center channel. I have always been very satisfied with its performance, especially on dialogue. So, it seems like we did the right thing: We sold our old, mint-condition Polk SDA-2As to some friends at a resonable price (split the shipping with them, too) and they are very happy, and we were able to turn around and break even with the money buying the pair of B&W LM-1's. We now have more space and only a slight compromise in sound enjoyment. Heck, if I want to do any critical listening, I'll just go downstairs to the HT and fire up the Klipsch reference series system! Happy Campers! -Picky & Wife

Easy: I must agree with you and now I understand what the THX people have been saying for years: All channels should have identical speakers and power. Unfortunately for people such as I, budget and room space prevent me from pressing ahead with this philosphy. I sometimes get "seasick" at IMAX theaters, too. However, this particular film provides sufficient relief from the motion between scenes that I did not experience that phenomenon last night, nor did my wife. The sound was not overly-loud either. This was totally pleasant experience. dblue: I totally agree with you, man! That sounded like the devil himself! Thanks! - Picky

OMG! All I can say is, seeing 'Maxtrix: Revolutions' in the IMAX format (70mm) was incredible! Don't worry, for those of you whom have not yet seen the movie, I am not going to give anything away regarding the plot. But, in reading m00n's thread a week or two ago, (When Matrix Revolutions comes out on DVD it will be bitter sweet) he mentioned a voice that occurs in a portion of the movie that he said he'd never be able to reproduce on his HT system at home. Considering this theater has a 12,000 watt sound system with 8-18 inch subwoofers, that voice sounded unlike any voice I have ever heard before! m00n was right: I doubt I'll ever be able to get my RS-7s to do the job those huge monsters hanging up in the rear corners of the Henry Ford IMAX theater did! My wife and I walked out of there speechless last night. I will say this about the movie; I liked this 3rd version of the movie better than the first two I think, although the first one was very remarkable. I thought they over-did the special effects in the second and it was not quite as good as the 1st and 3rd, but it was still thrilling to watch. However, this third iteration of the Matrix was just outstanding! If any of you ever get the opportunity to see it, please do so. And, if you get the chance to witness it in IMAX, DO SO!! http://www.hfmgv.com/imax/showtimes.asp Life will no longer be the same.......time to go look at bigger power amps! ...the wife is going to kill me! -Picky

Space: Nope. Not all SACD's are 5.1. In fact, I own a 'Journey' SACD that is totally Stereo. However, it is some of the best 'Journey' my wife and I have ever heard for stereo and we have heard them live. That's her favorite group. Be sure to read the label before buying. I was fooled too, and wound up enjoying the improved sound anyway. -Picky

Hey, Easy: Nice-looking setup. I, too was wondering about your fish and the SVS Sub. That thing must be like a defibrillator to them. They probably think that you are always watching episodes of 'ER'.... "CLEAR!!" .......SPLOOOSH!!!! -Picky

m00n: You may remember that you and I were discussing the subject of bass trapping off-line, via email some time ago. This was right after I'd told you that I'd had that meeting with an acoustics specialist over at Memtech. They handle Sonex and other Illbruck acoustics products. One of the things you and I had discussed was the idea of trapping the bass in the room corners and plane intersections rather than mid-way along the wall as you had began to do beneath your surround speakers. That was something that this specialist had related to me at that meeting. Well, because of your diligence, tenacity, and ingenuity, we all can now witness through your design and installation that the corner bass traps are most effective after all! Way to go, dude! Nice job! -Picky

No, m00n! THESE SPEAKERS are just about as wide as your room! (see attachment) Subs are the middle portion! Like, "CAN YOU HEAR ME KNOW?" .....GOOD (Lord)! -Picky

Scott: How to tell if your subs are pissing-off your neighbors: We have a gigantic salt mine under the ground (International Salt Mine) just north of us that is 1,400 feet deep. At one time, is was the largest salt mine in the world. At night they used dynamite to blast the salt loose so they could collect it and bring it up from the ground to ship and sell. Sometimes, late at night, those blasts were audible and shook some of the homes just north of here. The mine has now been closed for a number of years and when it closed, the blasts stopped. Well, about the time we got our Klipsch's, including our RSW-15 Sub, stories of shaking homes and the sound of blasts in the area returned. The mine remains closed. Hmmm.....could it be???? -Picky

Michael: Yep, Thunder Bay is a long drive, or a bit of a boat ride, from my home for sure. Beautiful country up where you are! My hat is off to you for being fortunate enough to live there. Unlike most of us here in Michigan, what a lot of people in our country have yet to have the opportunity to discover is just how beautiful your country of Canada is and how wonderfully-warm the people are who live there. I have spent a lot of time in Ontario, primarily across the Detroit River in Windsor and I have done a lot of work for Ford up in Oakville near T.O.. So, I know the area well. I love the fact that we are all neighbors and that our hockey & baseball teams compete with one-another. It's all great fun! So, certainly, the door here is always open to you and we'll keep the light on for you! -Picky

Hey Noz! Nice going! T.O. isn't that far from Detroit (just 4 hours on the 401!). Next time I'm up there, maybe we can hook up for some Stella's and a test drive around that theater? Nice-looking theater, man! I'll have you over (Michael, Reactor and m00n are welcome, too) (sorry, I didn't know you don't fly, m00n) to our place next time you're in Day-Twah if you'd like (beer, too and HOCKEY anybody?), just as soon as the room is completed (hopefully done by Christmas week): http://mywebpages.comcast.net/smallhousetheater/index.htm Let me know. We're south of the city about 15 minutes from the bridge! -Picky

AV MAN: Good Boy!!!

Scott: I just KNEW you went outside to see how loud your system was! See? You're as anal as I am! (I've done the same thing) -Picky

I know it hurts. I hope this helps: http://www.excedrin.com/

HOLY-MOLY, SCOTT!!!! Them's some BIG GUNS you're a-sportin'! Nice going! How's your relationship with yer neighbors? You may want to talk to m00n about that "VOICE" he's been spoutin' about from 'Matrix: Revolutions'? Maybe them "guns" of yours could reproduce it like he was hoping? m00n? You our there? His post: When Matrix Revolutions comes out on DVD it will be bitter sweet. -Picky

m00n: I'm still going! Pa-Leese buy me a box of Kleenex for my home-coming! {Sniff-Sniff!!}

Well, I finally did it: My wife and I are re-doing the living room and now that we have the HT in the basement we both were getting tired of all the room those two monolithic-Polks SDA-2A Towers took up in our tiny home's living room. I was able to sell them to a couple of friends of ours out in Nevada who have a much-larger home than we do. I shipped them out yesterday via UPS-Ground and they will have them on Friday. The shipping from Michigan to Nevada was a killler, and our friends didn't seem to mind, but by the time we figure in the purchase price and buy our down-sized replacements, we're pretty much at the break-even point, which suits us just fine. We are picking up a pair of speakers we ordered from the local store tomorrow. At first, we were going to go with Klipsch. But, we really liked the B&W LM-1's. They hang on the wall, come in 5 colors (we choose white) and will mesh well with our Polk CS-350 Center and our Polk PSW-350 10" Powered sub. A friend of ours has the B&W LM-1's in a much-larger room (approx 18' x 25') than our 12' x 13' living room and they are really able to fill it with clear, airy sound, save for one thing....they've got NOTHING below 75 Hz and I have told him numerous times that they really could use a subwoofer! I don't see how he can stand it, but it is his house. So, knowing we already have the sub, I think we'll be happy. And because the LM-1's have dome tweeters, they should work fine with the center which also has a dome. As for the two rears, they are Radio Shack and don't matter much for us as this is Pro-Logic set-up. It will still be enjoyable as a second-system. We'll do our "critical" listening and watching downstairs on our 7.1 HT Klipsch's! Although the Polk SDA-2A's were wonderfully music-oriented speakers that we'd enjoyed since 1986, it was time for a change, and I would be very surpirsed if the LM-1's even come close to the quality the old Polks produced. Sometimes, compromises are the best way to go. Hey, the wife is happy! -Picky

m00n: I live and work very near the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. They have an IMAX theater there that is now showing 'Matrix: Revolutions'!! My wife and I are planning to go see it soon. The screen is 84 feet wide (8 stories) and 62 feet tall (6 stories). The sound system is a six-channel discrete system with more than 12,000 watts of power and a sub-bass unit with 8-18" drivers! That voice you are talking about will probably melt the wax in our soft drink cups! Our son went there and saw 'Matrix: Reloaded' over the summer. He hasn't been the same since! I'll let you know what it was like! -Picky Link to the theater: http://www.hfmgv.org/imax/default.asp

Nope. Nor have my guests noticed anything. Sharp XV-Z9000U DLP -Picky

Have you considered going with Klipsch Architectural speakers installed into the walls (presumably, above the book shelves if that is feasible) such as the RCW-5s?

So.....I guess you're okay now? That's great! Would you mind please detailing what you had to do to resolve your issue of: No on-screen menu display on your Pioneer Elite Receiver for the benefit of the rest of us on the forum? Thanks in advance.

Just remember: NEVER puke on your own shoes!

Roystr: I have the Pioneer Elite VSX49TXi receiver and according to MY Pioneer owner's manual, the on-screen set-up menu will only display if: 1) The "Monitor Out" connection is properly connected to the televison monitor. - it sounds like your is. 2) If the TV is connected to the receiver using a "Composite Video Cable", the receiver's "Color Burst" switch should be set to "ON". I believe the shipped default setting is "OFF". - Please give this one a try. Hope this helps! Best of luck! -Picky