Johnnydrama's Home Theater Past, Present, & Future

[johnnydrama]

I've ran both at the strip and the jeep ran a tenth of a second quicker.... i have videos of both here on my youtube channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/johnnydramafia?feature=mhee

However the Z if a much greater driving experience and from any sort of a roll is faster than the jeep its just impossible to launch from a stand still due to the stiff suspension. The Jeep is a blast tho and a total sleeper.... people really make a **** face when i launch at a stop light, the Z on the other hand looks fast so people arent all that surprised. Both are amazing vehicles but would probably choose the Z if I had to choose one, but Im a car guy anyways, the jeep a much more fun daily driver tho.

[carbon summit]

Just got my new reference system put together last friday and it turned out great. The cherry veneer matches my cherry hardwood perfectly. Just wanted to share my home theater story and background. I got started in home theater a few years back when HDDVDs and BluRays came out. First I was just fascinated with HDTV and had a good friend that worked at HHGregg. Then one day he told me I should get some nice speakers and he had a set of JBL Cinema Sound CST55 towers marked down from $499 ea. to $100 ea. so I pulled the trigger and bought a reciever and JBL ES250P sub to go with it. This is when I began to appreciate good audio. I had always liked speakers but back then I was impressed by most HTIBs, this is when I really began to seek more knowledge and the desire for more performance. Eventually I purchased a matching center CSC55, and bookshelf surrounds CSB5 to match my towers. I was blown away by how much excitement I had been missing all of these years when watching a movie with poor audio. Then I upgraded my reciever to an Onkyo TX-SR606 and was introduced to high def audio, again another milestone that kept me engaged. I loved my JBL system, it was a looker and it sounded great. However I was always drawn to Klipsch, perhaps because my friend that worked at HHGregg had a Synergy system. I was still in college so I was on a pretty tight budget back then but was able to put together my JBL system, reciever and sub all for around $700, retail was probably somewhere around $2300 for my system so I was happy with it. However I'm the type of person that loves to change things up and after getting my business up and running and making a decent living I wanted to change things up a bit...I ended up purchasing a Klipsch SUB12 to replace my JBL ES250P first. Then shortly after Klipsch discontinued the XF line and Vanns had a blowout on them. I was always drawn to this speaker setup but never dreamed I would spend that much on speakers ($4495 retail), therefore never thought I would see those speakers anytime soon. I was able to unload my JBL system and SUB12 and Onkyo 606 to my brother in law for $1000 and put that money towards the XF-48 system and a new Onkyo 608 reciever which total ran me about $1600. The XF system is a beautiful speaker. And it sounded great, bass wasn't as great as I was hoping for or what I was used to with the SUB12, however living in a townhouse I couldn't play at a desired volume as often as I would of liked, so the XFs seemed like an even more reasonable move for me at the time. I had the XF system for a little over a year however it always left something to be desired, it was a cobination of the XL-23s lack of power and the lack of bass of the entire system. Sometimes the bass was there but sometimes it just wasn't when it should have been. So I tossed around the idea of adding a sub and switching out my center to a definitive mythos 9 or 10 but while I love good audio, cosmetics and esthetics mean alot to me and my wife as well so I think the cosmetic difference of the definitive would've bothered me even if it sounded better. So I just decided to change it all up again and unload my XF-48 system and wanted to get a reference line. Sold my XF system to a local guy for $1200 which was essentially what I paid for it a year ago so I was happy with that. Was able to put together a beautiful cherry RF-62ii, RC-62ii, and RB-61ii combo. Would like to thank JasonJCarney for the RFs, and USNRET for the RBs, and Acoustic Sound Design for the RC. The RFs arrived first from Jason just as described 9.5/10 and got them hooked up immediately. Was kinda glad it happened this way as it gave me some time with them as a stereo setup and would've been happy with just that. Got to listen and know the speaker well before I added the center and surrounds.The bass output on the 62s is greater than my XF48s which I wasn't expecting. Monday my RC and RBs showed up and got them installed immediately. Like I said cosmetics are important to me as well and these are beautiful speakers. The cherry veneer is beautifully matched with my cherry hardwoods. I made special mounts for the RC (I own a machine shop so this was easy to do, essentially copied the pinpoint center channel mount, just beefed it up a bit to hold the monster of an RC-62) to give it the floating on the wall effect which turned out great. I had to mount the RBs a little higher than ideal due to room constraints but still turned out good. At first my wife and I just thought wow these are huge speakers, especially compared to the JBL and XF48 systems we had previously had since both of those systems were flat panel design driven. However the size has grown on me and they really look great in the room. I've been blown away by the RF-62 setup, the sound is perfect. I am adding a subwoofer still even though the bass output with this system is greater than the XF system. It's something that I won't have turned on very often but want to have the capability to use the sub if the guys are over and we really wanna feel the bass. The subwoofer choice was the hardest decision of all. Literally for a week every single day I went back and forth between 4 or 5 subs. (Jason's Paradigm DSP3100, Epik Legend or Empire, HSU VTF-15H, or a Lava LSP12) Pretty broad range I know but let me explain. Considered the paradigm because I felt comfortable with Jason now after making the RF transaction and knew the sub would be as described for a great price $350. The EPIKs have always been the subs I've always wanted and been drawn to. Why ? I dunno really I just have. The HSU only because there was a like new one I could get basically for half off of what a brand new one would run me. The LAVA well because it seemed like the most practical choice, If you're an AVS forum member you can grab one of these for $287. And with my previous 2 subs, the ES250P and SUB12 were both more than enough for my room. I figured the LSP12 was going to atleast be on par with these if not a little better at a great price, plus I like the look of the sub, again cosmetics are important. The deciding factor was LAVA offers a 30 day trial period where if you're not happy send it back and they will refund your money. So I pulled the trigger on it and it should be here tomorrow. The output is supposed to be great from 35hz and up but falls off pretty quickly once you go below that. So EQing and room placement will be a key factor. I already know the sweet spot in my room and with audysseys help I think this will be more than enough sub for my room, but if not i'll send it back and most likely get a Legend. I've searched the Klipsch forum for LAVA subs and found no results and was a little surprised. Anyways I'll let you guys know my subjective opinion on the sub when I get it setup tomorrow and how it compares to the SUB12 in case anyone else is interested. Below I'm gonna post some pictures of my past JBL system, XF system, my new RF system, and some other random photos. Hope you guys enjoy my thread and thanks for looking and thanks for the wealth of knowledge this forum provides. Cheers!

wow... could use a few paragraph breaks before I try to read that! Just looking at it makes my head hurt []

[johnnydrama]

Just got my new reference system put together last friday and it turned out great. The cherry veneer matches my cherry hardwood perfectly. Just wanted to share my home theater story and background. I got started in home theater a few years back when HDDVDs and BluRays came out. First I was just fascinated with HDTV and had a good friend that worked at HHGregg. Then one day he told me I should get some nice speakers and he had a set of JBL Cinema Sound CST55 towers marked down from $499 ea. to $100 ea. so I pulled the trigger and bought a reciever and JBL ES250P sub to go with it. This is when I began to appreciate good audio. I had always liked speakers but back then I was impressed by most HTIBs, this is when I really began to seek more knowledge and the desire for more performance. Eventually I purchased a matching center CSC55, and bookshelf surrounds CSB5 to match my towers. I was blown away by how much excitement I had been missing all of these years when watching a movie with poor audio. Then I upgraded my reciever to an Onkyo TX-SR606 and was introduced to high def audio, again another milestone that kept me engaged. I loved my JBL system, it was a looker and it sounded great. However I was always drawn to Klipsch, perhaps because my friend that worked at HHGregg had a Synergy system. I was still in college so I was on a pretty tight budget back then but was able to put together my JBL system, reciever and sub all for around $700, retail was probably somewhere around $2300 for my system so I was happy with it. However I'm the type of person that loves to change things up and after getting my business up and running and making a decent living I wanted to change things up a bit...I ended up purchasing a Klipsch SUB12 to replace my JBL ES250P first. Then shortly after Klipsch discontinued the XF line and Vanns had a blowout on them. I was always drawn to this speaker setup but never dreamed I would spend that much on speakers ($4495 retail), therefore never thought I would see those speakers anytime soon. I was able to unload my JBL system and SUB12 and Onkyo 606 to my brother in law for $1000 and put that money towards the XF-48 system and a new Onkyo 608 reciever which total ran me about $1600. The XF system is a beautiful speaker. And it sounded great, bass wasn't as great as I was hoping for or what I was used to with the SUB12, however living in a townhouse I couldn't play at a desired volume as often as I would of liked, so the XFs seemed like an even more reasonable move for me at the time. I had the XF system for a little over a year however it always left something to be desired, it was a cobination of the XL-23s lack of power and the lack of bass of the entire system. Sometimes the bass was there but sometimes it just wasn't when it should have been. So I tossed around the idea of adding a sub and switching out my center to a definitive mythos 9 or 10 but while I love good audio, cosmetics and esthetics mean alot to me and my wife as well so I think the cosmetic difference of the definitive would've bothered me even if it sounded better. So I just decided to change it all up again and unload my XF-48 system and wanted to get a reference line. Sold my XF system to a local guy for $1200 which was essentially what I paid for it a year ago so I was happy with that. Was able to put together a beautiful cherry RF-62ii, RC-62ii, and RB-61ii combo. Would like to thank JasonJCarney for the RFs, and USNRET for the RBs, and Acoustic Sound Design for the RC. The RFs arrived first from Jason just as described 9.5/10 and got them hooked up immediately. Was kinda glad it happened this way as it gave me some time with them as a stereo setup and would've been happy with just that. Got to listen and know the speaker well before I added the center and surrounds.The bass output on the 62s is greater than my XF48s which I wasn't expecting. Monday my RC and RBs showed up and got them installed immediately. Like I said cosmetics are important to me as well and these are beautiful speakers. The cherry veneer is beautifully matched with my cherry hardwoods. I made special mounts for the RC (I own a machine shop so this was easy to do, essentially copied the pinpoint center channel mount, just beefed it up a bit to hold the monster of an RC-62) to give it the floating on the wall effect which turned out great. I had to mount the RBs a little higher than ideal due to room constraints but still turned out good. At first my wife and I just thought wow these are huge speakers, especially compared to the JBL and XF48 systems we had previously had since both of those systems were flat panel design driven. However the size has grown on me and they really look great in the room. I've been blown away by the RF-62 setup, the sound is perfect. I am adding a subwoofer still even though the bass output with this system is greater than the XF system. It's something that I won't have turned on very often but want to have the capability to use the sub if the guys are over and we really wanna feel the bass. The subwoofer choice was the hardest decision of all. Literally for a week every single day I went back and forth between 4 or 5 subs. (Jason's Paradigm DSP3100, Epik Legend or Empire, HSU VTF-15H, or a Lava LSP12) Pretty broad range I know but let me explain. Considered the paradigm because I felt comfortable with Jason now after making the RF transaction and knew the sub would be as described for a great price $350. The EPIKs have always been the subs I've always wanted and been drawn to. Why ? I dunno really I just have. The HSU only because there was a like new one I could get basically for half off of what a brand new one would run me. The LAVA well because it seemed like the most practical choice, If you're an AVS forum member you can grab one of these for $287. And with my previous 2 subs, the ES250P and SUB12 were both more than enough for my room. I figured the LSP12 was going to atleast be on par with these if not a little better at a great price, plus I like the look of the sub, again cosmetics are important. The deciding factor was LAVA offers a 30 day trial period where if you're not happy send it back and they will refund your money. So I pulled the trigger on it and it should be here tomorrow. The output is supposed to be great from 35hz and up but falls off pretty quickly once you go below that. So EQing and room placement will be a key factor. I already know the sweet spot in my room and with audysseys help I think this will be more than enough sub for my room, but if not i'll send it back and most likely get a Legend. I've searched the Klipsch forum for LAVA subs and found no results and was a little surprised. Anyways I'll let you guys know my subjective opinion on the sub when I get it setup tomorrow and how it compares to the SUB12 in case anyone else is interested. Below I'm gonna post some pictures of my past JBL system, XF system, my new RF system, and some other random photos. Hope you guys enjoy my thread and thanks for looking and thanks for the wealth of knowledge this forum provides. Cheers!

wow... could use a few paragraph breaks before I try to read that! Just looking at it makes my head hurt

edited just for you! sorry when i look back that would be terrible to read. just started typing and got carried away I guess. Changes coming soon! tomorrrow actually!

[johnnydrama]

So Ive changed it up again, as some of you may have noticed I have my reference system for sale in the garage sale section. Ive replaced it with a new Klipsch Gallery system. I did G-28s on all five channels. I loved my reference system and am extremely sad to see it go. It was just a bit large for my space, and when I say large i mean physically and the sound. I could never really push the system like I would have liked. I was attracted to the Gallery system when it was released but all of the reviews I have read were less than stellar. I was leaning towards going with a Goldenear supersat50 system after hearing an impressive demo of the Triton Two Goldenears. I also looked at the Definitive Mythos XTR50s however when going back and forth between the 3 in the demo room I was much more impressed with the sound of the Klipsch G-28s. I requested qoutes on all 3 systems and was able to get a much better price on the Gallery series also. So it really was a no brainer on which system to go with. Im going to start a thread for Gallery owners shortly after this post and will include the link in this post as well. I have plenty of pictures and will also give my subjective opinion on the G-28s sound.