My work in progress...

Serendipity

bsoko2 wrote: »

Sealed is just as good as ported if not better for SQ. I have dual Empires and they get down below 15 hz and have better SQ then the Conquest that I have (selling it).

Bill

IMO, I find that sealed is better for SQ but ported is more suited for HT. I don't have nearly as much "slam" as an SVS sub (such as the PB12-NSD/2), but can come close to a high-end Velodyne for SQ.

The SVS's sound totally different from my sub - much louder, powerful, and thunder-like output - whereas my sub is fast, clean, and quiet.

Sherardp

Serendipity wrote: »

Are you referring to the setup in Post 4? That's the current setup.

(The pic with the Monster unit on top is from before I redid the room)

Also, I'm definitely looking into a 16:9 screen as once I start using Blu-ray or PS3 - right now my friends bring over their PS3 - I'll definitely need it!

Yes I was talking about post 4. If you could install some shelfs in there to seperate the gear for better cooling. Overall nice selection of gear and nice cable management. How are you enjoying the Epson?

Serendipity

Sherardp wrote: »

Yes I was talking about post 4. If you could install some shelfs in there to seperate the gear for better cooling. Overall nice selection of gear and nice cable management. How are you enjoying the Epson?

That's a good idea. I'll go to Home Depot, get some plywood, and cut it to fit the Onkyo AVR, Toshiba HD-DVD, and Onkyo 5 Disc Changer. Also considering some cooling fans such as the Middle Atlantic units to keep everything cool.

As for the Epson - it's a good projector, but I'm not using it to its fullest potential. I'm only using approximately 2/3 of the LCD because the left and right are off the screen. So everytime I go to change sources, the bar that pops up (for example "Source: HDMI1") is off the screen and on the wall.

When funds allow, I'll try a 16:9 screen to use the Epson's panels completely. Or should I just roll up the current screen part of the way and use it as a 16:9?

Thanks for the advice!

TECHNOKID

Willow wrote: »

Didn't know we were best buds, but I'll take the sub!

NOPE, he was referring to me

Serendipity

Tried the Epson in 16:9 mode with the screen rolled up a little. It looks good, with HD material. The pic is much smaller than the past 4:3 image but at least now the entire portion of the LCD panel(s) is being used. Now the dilemma is choosing between 4:3 material such as old games (SNES, PS2) and 16:9 material which I only have from HD-DVD, HTPC, and OTA HD.

Thanks!

Serendipity

Shelves coming soon...

Then a DVDO iScan VP30 hopefully by September...
http://www.anchorbaytech.com/products/systems/

Last a 16:9 screen but I will probably build one myself

Serendipity

Looking at the Onkyo BD-507 bluray player right now.

What do I need for this to work? A new receiver with Dolby TrueHD decoding?

bigaudiofanatic

Pretty cool man, Are you going to do wall treatment or put carpet down in the ht room?

To get the best out of a BR player and take advantage of the higher sound quality you need a receiver with hdmi inputs. Maybe a pioneer elite?

Serendipity

bigaudiofanatic wrote: »

Pretty cool man, Are you going to do wall treatment or put carpet down in the ht room?

To get the best out of a BR player and take advantage of the higher sound quality you need a receiver with hdmi inputs. Maybe a pioneer elite?

I'm going to do both wall treatments and acoustic tiles. But recently I moved out of my parents' place so I am trying to build a new system. My first priority is to get everything integrated here, hopefully a HTPC for viewing and a Mac Pro (8-core, 6GB RAM) for content creation.

As for the BR player - what if I connected the 7.1 analog outs to the AVR like a DVD-A or SACD player? Would that be enough as the pricessing is done in the player? Or would I need to upgrade to a new receiver?

I'm looking at the Onkyo TX-NR5008.

Thanks!

bigaudiofanatic

You can use a 7.1 or 6.1 analog input if your BR player supports it. My elite does not have hdmi so if I wanted the real dts hd I would have to get a BR player that supports analog outputs. I have not done this yet.

Serendipity

Thanks. I have multichannel audio out on the HP, and also on the Toshiba HD-XA1. I'll try to find a BD player that has this capability too.

Serendipity

bigaudiofanatic wrote: »

You can use a 7.1 or 6.1 analog input if your BR player supports it. My elite does not have hdmi so if I wanted the real dts hd I would have to get a BR player that supports analog outputs. I have not done this yet.

I am interested the following player:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158BDCX960/Sony-BDP-CX960.html?tp=171

This would solve the problem of swapping DVD's, as I hate handling discs and am afraid to scratch 'em. With its large capacity and on-screen guide, I can just pick a BD movie/CD/music DVD from the remote and not have to worry about loading discs.

It's a hefty unit too - most Sony players are *not* built like that!

Serendipity

bigaudiofanatic

I would love to pick up one of those I have been looking at one for a while. I could easily store all my BR's and most of my movies. Great idea.

Serendipity

bigaudiofanatic wrote: »

I would love to pick up one of those I have been looking at one for a while. I could easily store all my BR's and most of my movies. Great idea.

Thanks, the other option I was thinking about is a media server running Windows Media Center with a 400-DVD changer attached. Sony has done this before but I am not sure how well it works. Basically you have the PC cue up a DVD from the megachanger, and then it loads the title info into the PC. When you want to watch a movie, you still start up Windows but you are viewing directly off the DVD.

Would that be a better alternative?

Serendipity

After searching for a good PC to TV solution, I settled on the ATI Radeon's TV-out in the Living Room System. It provides great picture quality and is very convenient for playing videos, surfing the web, or reading the news on the big screen. I can do everything on the computer now on the TV. I like it!

steveinaz

Very cool man, alot of you guys have some seriously nice home theaters.

Serendipity

steveinaz wrote: »

Very cool man, alot of you guys have some seriously nice home theaters.

Thanks!!

Serendipity

Last, dedicated circuits added for the gaming consoles and subwoofer (Pics 1 and 2):

Also ran Coax cable through the molding to get to the outside of the house (Pic 3):

Serendipity

Installed a Netgear AP for Music Streaming:

Vette C6.r

Great looking setup.

How about some carpet in the basment. With all the paneling, and the bare floor, I am sure that is a rather live room.

brettw22

Serendipity wrote: »

I ran some wires in the crawl space:

Are any of the wires in this post power? If so, i would look to separate the power line as that will introduce noise.......

Serendipity

Vette C6.r wrote: »

Great looking setup.

How about some carpet in the basment. With all the paneling, and the bare floor, I am sure that is a rather live room.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that it rains and sometimes rain water enters the basement, carpeting would not work well here. We've installed a sump pump and a french drain system, but occasionally some water does enter the basement. I've also purchased a nice dehumidifier to deal with the dampness in the room.

brettw22 wrote: »

Are any of the wires in this post power? If so, i would look to separate the power line as that will introduce noise.......

What do you mean? Are you referring to power cords? All of the gear is plugged into dedicated circuits connected to the subpanel I installed. The projector has an outlet placed right next to it, so no long power cord is needed. And if you look at Post #2, all of the power is wired to this breaker panel.

Serendipity

New shot of the rig after dark.