picky Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Our good forum friend, Michael (colterphoto1) paid us a visit today, here in Michigan at the Small House Theater, after he picked up his new set of "Roadworthy", Industrial Split LaScalas from a nearby Ebay seller. I can tell you that they look like BRAND NEW! BEAUTIFUL!!! Too bad we weren't able to audition these bad boys right in the driveway! Michael was generous enough to take the time from his 9-hour round trip drive to visit our humble, little home for a couple of hours and try our theater out for a demo ride. Michael was able to stay for about 2-1/2 hours and we covered a lot of territory with the demo. We watched a scene from the IMAX film 'Speedway' (great sound realism test) with Mario and Michael Andretti at the wheel. Then, the Christmas recon scene of 'Behind Enemy Lines' (good motion/sound mix). Next was the gunfight scene from 'Open Range' (great dynamic-range test), and finally the sub-slide scene in 'Finding Nemo' (great subwoofer action). We even watched some wedding footage that I have shot and produced (Michael is a photographer and does professional wedding photography). I appreciated his critical professional input very much. We discovered that we share a lot of the same interests and we were both bummed that he had to be back home this evening. But, for the short time we had, Michael seemd pleased with how our theater sounded, looked and felt. In fact, I had to wrestle back one of my theater loungers from him as he tried to load it into his truck! Thanks for stopping by, Michael! You are welcome back here at the Picky household any time! -Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 haha, as i started reading i couldn't help but notice his "mean face." He wanted me to make one of those when we took a pic of our speakers together...I prob looked like an idiot though (good thing he didn't post them) Looking forward to a review here pretty soon! So far the two mikes have very similar tastes so I can't wait to read about another room that we've all been reading about! I wonder how the all reference system compares to the mighty cornwall system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 You guys look like "Twin brothers from different mothers". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted March 24, 2005 Author Share Posted March 24, 2005 ---------------- On 3/24/2005 5:47:53 PM SteelerFan wrote: You guys look like "Twin brothers from different mothers". ---------------- LOLOLOL! Here's a couple of Twin Brothers from the SAME mother: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 ---------------- On 3/24/2005 5:47:53 PM SteelerFan wrote: You guys look like "Twin brothers from different mothers". ---------------- LOL... I was thinking the same thing, just differnt hair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Thanks for the visit Glenn. It was a welcome rest from the rigors of the road. It's 11 here and I JUST GOT HOME. Rain and traffic really slowed the return home. Overall just over 600 miles and it was a 13.5 hour day. Missed the I69 interchange so spent extra 46 minutes of my life on the toll road- arrrgghhh. Exhausted. Your system is AWESOME! I had seen the photos posted, but until I stepped into the 10x20 space and saw all you had done with it, I could not fully appreciate your engineering and construction details. You, sir are indeed PICKY! Every last detail was not only the best audio answer for the room, but extremely stylin as well! Quite the Man-Cave, too bad you're not single, but I'm certain Mrs. Picky has her fun in your playroom! I'll post a more thorough reaction tomorrow, slightly brain dead right now. Have to unload LSI's tomorrow am as I'm going to Mike Webb's place on west side Indy to check out that theatre seating. This is getting very expensive, but fun! Now all I need is a Mrs. Photo to go with my room! Thanks again, Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Just read the other posts. Glenn HAD hair before the RF7 system. Blew the hair clean off his body! GAWD it was loud. That Mario Andretti vid sounded just like at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I know, I've spent decades there. That RW15 SUB is killer! Guess I'll be spending more $$ at Ovation Audio next week. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 "Now all I need is a Mrs. Photo to go with my room!" Get the blow up kind, they're cheaper. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Are those Industrials BEAUTIFUL or what? Absolutely immaculate. The owner bought them from a friend closing a music store, put them in spare bedroom and played guitar through them. His house smelled like a burning skunk! LOL. But he took good care of these LS for 20+ years! Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 and from the pics it doesn't even look like the metal trimming is dented up either! Very nice score...How'd your back handle the trip? btw, are those binding posts on the back? I saw a pic on ebay of some top cabinets and was surprised to find binding posts on the top, and then another pair to daisy chain to the LF cabinet. I woulda thought a "pro" speaker would have speakon and 1/4" jacks on it! I'd hate to show up somewhere and have to tear apart a cable just to plug in tp the mains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 DrWho, In the day, bananas were the ONLY way to go. Neutrik Speak-on's weren't invented yet. 1/4 have always been horrible for speaker level lines because of the very small contact area (think about tangent point of the small 1/4" dia plug with the curved springy terminal contact- almost nil contact), plus they have an annoying tendency to break off. Banana plugs have larger surface area, easily field replaceable w/o solder iron, and can be stacked for parallel connections easily. Add to that the fact that most amps have banana outs and it really keeps your cable problems to a minimum. The way the split LSI's are wired, you plug from amp into the mid/hi pack which houses dividing network, then from a bass out jack into the lo bin. This allows easy bi-amping by just using the separate inputs jacks for each cabinet, bypassing the internal xover except for the mid/hi split. It's a very elegant solution. Industrial is also fuse protected for each section. The way to easily tell any Industrial is the jack plate, which will list a 200 watt power handling capacity, and sometimes the power capacity for each driver as well. Oh, and my back is KILLING me. Glad I had the Chevy truck in Detroit, apparantly Honda Accords are not welcome there. LOL Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted March 25, 2005 Author Share Posted March 25, 2005 Albeit a poor photo, here's a picture of the binding posts on the side of one of Michael's new horns: Back in the day (late 1970's) The Hubbell company came out with some really sturdy twist-lock connectors that I used to connect my speaker feed snakes to my speaker stacks. They were far more robust that the 1/4" phone plugs just as Micahel mentions and even more stout than the banana plugs. The Hubbells provided a large surface area for electrical connection and they could not be yanked out. The wire would fail before the connector would. I'm glad to hear you make it home okay, Michael! Thanks again for coming out our way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 I feel a little uncomfortable writing a 'review' of my new buddy Glenn's HT system, because it is so awesome. But in proud Forum tradition, here goes... First, a little bit about the journey. I first knew I might be in the Detroit area to pick up my new LSI's and Picky (I'll refer to him by Forum name here) immediately invited me up for a look/listen since I'd be so close. I was partially disappointed when my seller said he's split the driving with me and I wouldn't be going to Detroit. As it turned out, he took ill, so I hopped in the Chevy pickup and off I went. PM'd Picky the night before and told him of change of plan. He called me that am and said he'd change his work schedule to accomodate my visit to his lair, just 5 minutes from the LSI's. You could never hope to meet a more genial and likeable guy than Picky. He gave excellent directions to his place and met me at the door with a huge smile and digital camera to snap pix of me and my new babies. He's quite the photog, more on that later. He admired my new finds then we went into the 'man cave' as he calls it. The house from exterior appearance is fairly typical nice neat post WWII housing for the industrial type who would inhabit Detroits' factories. But Picky's is the neatest one on the block with updated stone on the front, nice back deck, and that massive new LP grille. Clearly a man who loves the finer things in life. Down the stairs we descend to that now familiar brick/yellow diagonal Armstrong floor tile HT room. The room is small, but not too cramped, despite everything going on in it. If anyone out there is building a HT in a restriced space, contact Picky. He's an expert on making every inch count. 20+ years in the home, and there's a lot going on. The immaculately polished floor tiles are actually pumpkin and yellow which look very rich and elegant, especially since the darker ones exactly match the 'tomato' microsuede on the 4 la-z-boy theatre recliners. These are superbly comfortable, and really felt good after my 4.5 hours in truck. There's not only seating for 4, but a bar with three stools, fridge, sink, custom built in equipment rack, library, storage for camera gear and LP- all in a 10x20 space. It's soundproofed, devoid of any reverberation due to his wall and ceiling treatments (perhaps partly due to distance to side walls). Little details like solid wood doors with weatherstripping keep the environment isolated. Very comfortable space with artsy lighting, hot sauce rack, nearby full bath and office. Everything you'd need to just hole up for an entire rainy Saturday without having to stumble up the stairs. All the electronics are top notch, receiver is the flagship Pioneer Elite and Picky had a FIREWIRE running from Elite DVD plater to receiver. Never heard of this but he says it improves bass management. Talk about BASS, the RW15 under the bar area just shook the place. Complete RF/C/S 7 system with the WDST mounted above and just behind head height and in-wall Klipsch taking up duty behind the bar for full 7.1 Klipsch glory. Once the lights were dimmed automatically (of course), the system became invisible except for the remote in Picky's hand. The usual complement of Cass/VHS/Phono (good to see) sources and HDTV, which I have no experience with. Being sensitive to my health problems, he offered a soft drink and was kind enough to not so much as pop a beer open, which might have been tough, him coming home early on a holiday weekend and all. But that's the kind of guy Glenn is. Very caring. Before he cued up the first vid, he cautioned me 'now your'e going to experience a change in air pressure.' WHAT???? He's got to be kidding, right- nope! First up was the INdycar movie with in car cam shots of Mario and Michael doing hot laps at Ontario(?) speedway. Having spent time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which he didn't know, I am intimately aware of the sounds of the car engine, tires on the pavement at speed, pit etc. I WAS BLOWN AWAY- it sounded SOOOO real, the movement of sounds across the screen was just phenomenal. That bass just made my hair stand on end (more than normal). Picky has apparently had some experience with showing off the system, because he knew just what movie and chapter to turn to in several excellent films to show off the dynamics of his system. He listed the scenes he showed me in an above post, all were very lifelike and the picture from his Sharp (?) projector was without parallel. His reference level of -10 is a bit higher than mine of -20 (on similarly powered systems of similar efficiency, mine is the Yamaha 2400 with Cornwalls) I don't know if I would comfortably listen at that level for a long period of time, but it was incredible. Last up, since I am a professional wedding photographer, he wanted to show me a friends wedding that he video-taped. Got to admit what went through my mind was, oh, no, home movies- the Uncle Glenn variety- probably horrible stuff. However, Glenn has a very good eye for detail, looked like he knew where to be on the wedding day, got artsy when lighting or audio wasn't quite up to snuff, did the slow mo thing/split screens, great sound overdubs, even segued a DJ song into the CD version and did some very interesting mixes. I told him that if he worked in my town, I'd recommend him in a heartbeat. He's got a nice cottage industry there if he wants it. His coverage looked like what Brides in my area pay $1500-$2000 for. We had a great time discussing this other hobby/interest of ours. Well done, Glenn! All in all, a very enjoyable visit. I'm glad I drove all the way to Detroit. The three hour stay made the drive home a bit rough, but then it's hard to leave when you're have such an enjoyable time with a new friend. Again, Glenn is a very affable fellow. He really enjoys his many pursuits. In meeting fellow Forum members, I'm not at all surprised by the depth of intelligence and friendliness in the gang. Thanks again Glenn, visit my pad in Indy any time. I'll show ya my little piddling Heritage system. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Adams Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 ---------------- On 3/24/2005 11:33:51 PM 3dzapper wrote: "Now all I need is a Mrs. Photo to go with my room!" Get the blow up kind, they're cheaper. Rick ---------------- Obviously you've never punctured one and tried holding on to it as it flew about the room! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caz1604 Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 Hey Picky I am very interested in acquiring the Speedway video you showed to colterphoto1...any idea where I could purchase a copy? Thanks Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caz1604 Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 I found it, but what is the best scene/chapter to demo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted March 25, 2005 Author Share Posted March 25, 2005 First of all, I cannot begin to tell you all just how flattered I am after reading Michael's post above. Michael, you are truly a wordsmith. You have wonderful recollection, observation, and emotion and you are able to permeate your writing with those traits. I think you may have missed your calling, as it's been a long time since I've seen someone draw together the pictures and sounds from their mind and put them to paper so well. Thanks for the glowing compliments you had on our room. And, more importantly, thank you for all of the nice things you had to say about me and about my character. It was sincerely a very nice visit. Thank you for caring enough to come by and for sharing some great conversation about what we all are here for: Sound and video. Again, you are more than welcome in our home any time. You, sir, are a Gentleman. caz1604: I use the Movie (not the Making of) version of "Racing Tests", which is Title 07 Chapter 09. I hope this helps. For those who cannot find this DVD (below) it is available through Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 Great post, guys! Michael, you make me so jealous! I've wanted to visit Glenn's place for forever and a day now. But thanks for the intimate and spicy recap. Painted a nice lush picture in my head, if I do say so myself. Sounds like you were every bit as impressed with the HT as we all were seeing it remodelled for the first time! Glenn, how very thoughtful of you not to pop a beer. Of course, we both know that if/when I come over, we'll be toasting some Glenlivet, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 so how does picky's HT compare to the IMAX theatre version of the show? I saw this movie in the IMAX and dang it was intense. I've spent my fair share of time at the local tracks too (and the brickyard 400 once...woohoo) and I couldn't believe the realism. Though it's almost expected when you've got a billion channls of audio channels and a freaky huge screen to watch it on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 Thanks Michael and Picky for your very interesting thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.