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picky

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Posts posted by picky

    Anybody Out There Try the new Cinema 8's or 10's yet???

    in Home Theater

    Posted

    Avman:

    Hey it's good to hear that you think the new Cinema's are great! I can't wait to hear them myself! 3.gif

    Ah! I understand completely about CO1's problem; waiting for stuff always sucks! 14.gif I can remember the wait for my Pro-Media system! 15.gif The wait still sucked, but they were worth it! 16.gif

    CO1:

    Sir! You have my DEEPEST Symapthy!! 8.gif Waits are NEVER fun! I too, may opt out of including an RW sub as well (didn't know about the "free speaker" ??), but for a different reason: Economics. I still have a Polk 10" PSW350 Sub that seems to work fine in my small room. I may simply keep that. I'm undecided at this time. It depends how it sounds with the RCX-4's or 5's. 5.gif

    NormanB:

    Oh! Good Lord, NO!!! 6.gif I would never put the RCX-4 into the same class as the RC-7!!!! 14.gif (Sacrilege for sure!) I share with you the same space limitations and I am considering using the RCX-4 to free some of this space up. I currently have a fairly large, Polk CS-350 doing "center" duty in that room. http://www.polkaudio.com/home/products.php?category=5&speaker=245&vintage=1 It does a very nice job with dialogue and has a fair amount of bass, but it may not fit into our plans, especially a year or two from now, should we decide to do a plasma screen in there. It would stick out from the wall further than the entire plasma unit! 15.gif Our RC-7 will stay "on-guard" down in our bsaement, dedicated theater. Thanks for the post!

    -Picky 2.gif

    Anybody Out There Try the new Cinema 8's or 10's yet???

    in Home Theater

    Posted

    Norman:

    That's good information as so many center speakers do tend to "fall-on-their-faces" while facing dialogue. My RC-7 does an excellent job of projecting dialogue (and everything else) and I would expect the same for either of these new Cinema offerings. Thanks. I'll let you know what I think should I have the chance to audition a full set of these.

    CO1:

    Based on your reaction, I take you do not care for them much? Any specific reasons? I do not plan to use these as my reference system, just for casual usage. My reference system is in our dedicated, basement theater. In fact, the livingroom system still runs on an Onkyo receiver and Dolby Pro-Logic with good results. So, these are not going to be placed into a "hyper-critical" environment. Any thoughts?

    -Picky 2.gif

    How can I improve stereo imaging in my small room?

    in Home Theater

    Posted

    Hi, Pete: Sorry to hear of your room issues. I can relate as I have been dealing with sound within small rooms myself for years as I live in a small house which has small rooms. I'm sure having a simple diagram of your room would probably help us on the forum visualize your setup a bit better. But, it you are unable to provide one, that is fine. It's just a friendly suggestion. One way I have discovered to make a room "work" as if it were a larger room, it to isolate the left and right front speakers from the side walls that are immediately adjacent the two speakers. I try to do so by either moving them as far away from either wall as possible, which it sounds like you have already done, or, I install something absorbtive on the walls directly adjacent the two speakers that will help to block any early reflections from reaching the listeners. These early reflections can have a cancellation effect, that can both diminish the sound's overall body and timbre, but it can also destroy the sound stage and imaging of the sound. If possible, a decorative hanging, rug or tapestry may be used, or in your case, strategically-placed sound deadening panels from companies such as Sonex (Illbruck Industries) may be the answer. Illbruck makes "Fabritech Wall Panels", which I have examined. They are very effective and are pleasing to look at. The entire wall does not need to be covered, just the area where the reflection occurs. Check out this site if you wish http://www.illbruck-sonex.com/products/products_FABRITEC.html I hope this helps you. I'm sure many of the forum participants will have plenty more ideas for you, too. Best of luck! -Picky 2.gif

    Pioneer Elite 47ai vs Denon DVD 1600

    in Home Theater

    Posted

    Thanks, AVS Fan:

    I must admit, I am using my Elite 47Ai using the Firewire connection to my VSX-49TXi and I don't recall ever noticing the problems illustrated on the Chroma Bug site. But, nowt that I know about it, I will make it a point to look at it more objectively. I'll let you all know if I see anything resembling this issue. Thanks for the info!

    -Picky 2.gif

    OUCH!! I am not sure this was such a good deal or not....

    in Home Theater

    Posted

    **YEOUCH!!!*** 14.gif Seeing that damage is enough to make a grown man cry! 15.gif I suddenly have the urge to run home and check to see that my own RF-Series "Babies" are alright! I can't believe the guy paid $1,000. The damage looks pretty severe on the RC-7. In looking at all of the SUPERSIZE photos, it looks like somebody (perhaps an angry, spiteful spouse) took a claw hammer to the system. OOOOOooooooooh! The Pain! 6.gif

    Bummer, dude!

    -Picky 2.gif

    Hey Pioneer Elite owners, help inside please

    in Home Theater

    Posted

    Orange:

    I'm so glad my suggestion helped you! 1.gif I use the "Plus" setting exclusively for music (such as CD's and records.....yes, "records") 2.gif and I use the "Yes" setting for movies at all times and sometimes for music. I am running the Klipsch RSW-15 Sub and it seems to run perfectly in the "Yes" mode and configured for LFE with an 80 Hz roll-off for THX. I believe there is a way to store these as "Custom Settings" somehow for quick recall, but I haven't had the time to read the manual to figure that out as I am still in the theater construction mode.

    I run "the King", as you put it, at the "Home THX Theater" setting, which for me is 7.1 surround (I have 7 speakers plus the sub).

    If you haven't done the MCACC setup yet using the included microphone, please stop everything and do that MCACC calibration first, before you do anything else. It will automatically determine how many speakers you have connected to the receiver in addition to setting speaker distances, measure room acourtsics and echo-time and it will also set the equalization, delay and volume for every channel including your sub. It is quite amazing. Set the microphone on a tripod at seated, ear-level in your primary viewing (sweet) spot and push "calibrate". Best of luck!

    Hey Pioneer Elite owners, help inside please

    in Home Theater

    Posted

    Hey, OrangePeel:

    If your Elite works the same as mine (I think it might) try using the on-screen setup to change your LFE settings on your subwoofer from "Yes" to "Plus". "Yes" means the sub will only fire when there is true Low Frequency Effects information present to trigger it such as from a DVD, which will exclude it from being used on non-LFE-encoded material such as CDs. I normally leave this set to "Yes" and just depend on my front RF-7s to deliver the bass. However, if I am going to listen to CDs for an extended length of time, I change this to "Plus" which then makes the sub fire both when there is LFE information to process AND when there is bass below the 80 Hz THX roll-off setting I have it set to. There may be an easier way to set this, but I have not had the luxury of time to play and tweak my system yet.. There is still SO MUCH I have not learned yet about my VXS-49TXi reciever. It is VERY complex. I hope this answers your question. Please let me know.

    -Picky 2.gif

    speaker wire

    in Technical/Restorations

    Posted

    I have heard this argument regarding the use of solid core copper wire for speaker applications before. And because I have not witnessed audibly-detrimental results in the setups I have observed, I must stand neutral on the argument's validity. Perhaps these factors may be demostrated through measurements using test gear? I do know that stranded wire was first invented so that the wire could be moved numerous times before there is a loss of conducivity due to breakage of the conductors. It is my understanding that copper wire, whether stranded or solid, conducts electrons. I also understand that anytime you have current flowing through a conductor, you also have a magnetic field. How the solid wire becomes vulnerable to hysteresis loss, etc. is obviously beyond my education in this area and I appologize if I may have misinformed anyone. Thank you 3dzapper for your obvious wisdom on this subject. So, you don't want to be "picky", eh? 2.gif Good one. I use 12ga. STRANDED Tributaries wire on my system, including within the walls. The cable is run through 3/4" "Smurf Tube" (AKA Flex-Plus Blue ENT) blue corrugated, PVC flexible tubing, which is available from Home Depot. This allows me to "change-out" the wire later if I want to.

    -Picky

    20 years in this hobby and today I am a first time Klipsch owner.

    in Home Theater

    Posted

    CONGRATS!! AND WELCOME IN FROM THE "DARK SIDE"!!! 10.gif

    I know EXACTLY what you mean when you mentioned that Klipsch didn't used to do it for you. I used to be a "speaker snob" 16.gif who thought that any speaker with a horn in it sucked!! Why? Because I had decided that they all sounded "honky" to me. (Appologies to all horn owners, everywhere!) 15.gif

    I used to believe that each speaker was best-suited for a particular style of music, but there was little chance they could perform well with all types of music.

    For example (Pa-Leese do not flame me for my choices here! I am speaking in terms of the hypothetical....plus I was young-and stupid when I believed this):

    Advent & Acoustic Reasearch (AR) - I used to think they were best for Jazz and Classical music only

    JBL - What can I say? They rocked!! But, I never considered them for anything else.

    Cerwin Vega - I'd seen them in a lot of clubs and bars. Lots of bass but pretty muddy on top. Definitely Rock & Disco (we're talking the late-1970's here).

    And so-on and so-forth...I'm sure you get the idea. But last year when my wife and I went looking for speakers for our HT, we listened to 10 different brands and we were amazed by only one brand (I'm dead serious here): Klipsch Reference Series.

    They sound good no matter WHAT I ask them to play; classical, jazz, rock, hip-hop, whatever. And, as for movies, they are the most dynamic speakers we have heard outside of a real movie theater. And, guess what? Most of the movie theaters in my area use Klipsch speakers. Amazing! So, I dunno what happen. Either my hearing has changed, or Klipsch has changed. Certainly, my taste in music hasn't as I love almost everything. But, what really matters is that we have found speakers that do exactly what we ask of them, and they do so every time! Enjoy your new system! Have a blast!

    -Picky 2.gif

    speaker wire

    in Technical/Restorations

    Posted

    Size DOES matter6.gif ....when it comes to power handling, bass response and wire gauge anyway9.gif

    I have seen solid-conductor, 12-2 & 14-2 house wire (Romex) used on permanent speaker setups in new construction. They terminate at either end of the wall-run in gold-plated, female banana-plug recepticles for appropriate patch cords made from 14 gauge lamp cord (or equivalent). Solid copper definitely carries the current. Stranded copper wire is really only needed in places where the wire will be moved. This setup, although quite eccentric, worked very well and for many years.

    A wise man once said, "Copper is as copper does." {Huh? 11.gif } What's in a name, for sure?

    -Picky 2.gif

    AVIA CALIBRATE DVD??

    in Technical/Restorations

    Posted

    Welp, I just messed around with the new DVE DVD last Saturday for about an hour on my Sharpvision projector. I must admit, I was a bit confused, but it may be because I was ill that day and had a hard time concentrating on the dialog on the disk. There are a lot of test patterns on the disk and it will take me a while to discover which projector controls corellate to which adjustments for the various patterns. Please remember: When it comes to projector calibration, I am a rookie. I will be giving it another shot this weekend as I am feeling much better now. I will report back my findings. My initial feelings are that the disk is worth the money I spent (under $20 at Amazon) and it is packed full of techical information, relative to both sound and video. It's well worth a look. Despite the small amount of adjusting I did (contrast, brightness, color level and color balance) the picture looks a lot better and more realistic than it did with the factory settings. The blacks are now "blacker". Sorry folks, I wish I could be of more help at this time....but, I'll give it another go and write up my findings.

    -Picky 2.gif

    how does a Pioneer VSX receiver compare

    in Home Theater

    Posted

    Glenbarn:

    As another satisfied Pioneer Elite VSX-49TXi and DV-47Ai user I totally agree with Mr. McGoo: I love the results I am getting from this combination via the Firewire (i-Link). In addition, I must tell you that the VSX-49TXi also makes a huge difference in how all of my other components sound within the room as well. That includes my (ancient) turntable, and my Digital High-Definition Cable decoder box (Comcast). The sound I get off the cable is remarkable. The receiver's self-calibration is easy and quick to do. The results illustrate that the receiver's adjustments are quite thorough. Although, I cannot on report a comparison with Yamaha products as you have asked, I can tell you that I have always highly respected their offerings. When I purchased my system late, last year, my initial considerations for a receiver were offering from Pioneer Elite, Yamaha and Denon (all respected brands). I did not get the opportunity to audition the Yamaha products (Sorry).

    I also agree with Mark's Dad: These are all very good machines, and ultimately, it really does end up with your own ears and personal desires being the deciding factor. I will tell you that many people do find the 150-page VSX-49TXi Owner's Manual to be quite intimidating. But, rest assured, the self-calibration has already read the manual (and apparently, it understands it, too!). So, give these babies a whirl at your local dealer and see what you think. Perhaps, the saleman will be able to answer any set-up questions you may have? Best of luck!

    -Picky 2.gif

    AVIA CALIBRATE DVD??

    in Technical/Restorations

    Posted

    Lovehertz:

    'Video Essentials' (Joe Kane Productions) just released a brand new version of their calibration DVD called 'Digital Video Essentials' (DVD for NTSC). It was released September 9, 2003. It contains the very latest information of any of the calibrations disks I've seen and includes High-definition anamorphic widescreen setup. I just received a copy last Friday that I had ordered through Amazon.com for $17.49. Although the AVIA disk is good, it was released in 1999 and it is more expensive ($37.46). The old Video Essentials was originally released in 1997. I have not had the chance to try my new disk out yet. I'll let you know what I think of it. The reviews I have read say that the Digital Video Essentials DVD tends to have more video setup stuff and the AVIA DVD tends to lean more towards Audio-setup stuff, although both DVDs do cover both topics. So, you will have to decide which you prefer. One last note, 'Digital Video Essentials' is also available in D-VHS tape format for the calibration of 720p and 1080i HDTV theaters. They are understandibly more costly at $89.99. I may get one to calibrate my projector for my JVC D-VHS deck. I hope this information helps you. Best of luck!

    -Picky 2.gif

    Question on Bass Shakers

    in Home Theater

    Posted

    Sorry, m00n. I've only seen this theater from his site. I haven't had the pleasure of visiting it yet first hand. I'm sure I will some day. I'll let you know how it sounds then. I'm sure it's awesome. He is a perfectionist and I'm sure everything in his theater mirrors that image.

    -Picky 2.gif

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