Central Iowa Home Theater Crawl
ZLTFUL
Posts: 5,656
So today was the big day...my birthday present to myself, I decided to host one of the stops on the Central Iowa Home Theater Crawl http://www.avsforum.com/forum/61-area-home-theater-meets/1872025-central-iowa-2015-spring-ht-crawl.html
The premise was to have 3 groups visit the 3 host theaters and then for everyone to meet up at The Savoy Theater http://www.avsforum.com/forum/19-dedicated-theater-design-construction/1498786-savoy.html
I demoed pretty well to all 3 groups considering the fact that I was scrambling to basically rebuild from scratch. Only had one real glitch and quickly resolved it.
One of the guys brought an Omni with him and was running sweeps for each stop...sort of a who's got the flattest curve challenge with no smoothing on a mono all channel sweep.
Absolutely stunning to me was the fact that between the 3 hosts theaters, my giant echobox of a room returned the following:
I had a lot of fun talking to the local hobbyists and the folks from Kansas City, Minneapolis and Omaha.
Also had a chance to meet and chat with Chris Seymour of Seymour AV. Nice guy who has worked with some incredible theater projects (Skywalker Ranch has 12 of his screens). He and his wife showed up quite a bit before the rest of the third group had made it over.
Even had a chance to show off the 2 channel system as well.
After the groups had cycled through, we all headed to David's (dlbeck on AVS) house for food, beer and demos from David of his incredible theater, Jeff Permanian from JTR Speakers, Kent from Hawkeye Audio and Jim Salk of Salk Sound.
I didn't get any pics of the JTRs but they were pretty danged awesome for a HT speaker. HUGE sound, very clear and LOUD. I can see why a lot of HT builds use JTRs.
Kent demoed the Paradigm Prestige 95Fs and the Golden Ear Tritons. I really didn't spend much time with either as they aren't really anything that would make me get rid of the LSis.
But they both sounded plenty good.
The real treat for me was meeting Jim Salk and hearing the Exotica 3s and HT3s. Either of which I would *love* to have in my home. The HT2s belonged to our host, David, while the Exotica 3s were brought along by Jim from Detroit.
Both pairs of speakers were flat out amazing.
Even better, Jim came out and hauled these massive speakers all the way from Michigan simply to share his work with some fans.
All in all, it was a great way to spend my birthday.
The premise was to have 3 groups visit the 3 host theaters and then for everyone to meet up at The Savoy Theater http://www.avsforum.com/forum/19-dedicated-theater-design-construction/1498786-savoy.html
I demoed pretty well to all 3 groups considering the fact that I was scrambling to basically rebuild from scratch. Only had one real glitch and quickly resolved it.
One of the guys brought an Omni with him and was running sweeps for each stop...sort of a who's got the flattest curve challenge with no smoothing on a mono all channel sweep.
Absolutely stunning to me was the fact that between the 3 hosts theaters, my giant echobox of a room returned the following:
I had a lot of fun talking to the local hobbyists and the folks from Kansas City, Minneapolis and Omaha.
Also had a chance to meet and chat with Chris Seymour of Seymour AV. Nice guy who has worked with some incredible theater projects (Skywalker Ranch has 12 of his screens). He and his wife showed up quite a bit before the rest of the third group had made it over.
Even had a chance to show off the 2 channel system as well.
After the groups had cycled through, we all headed to David's (dlbeck on AVS) house for food, beer and demos from David of his incredible theater, Jeff Permanian from JTR Speakers, Kent from Hawkeye Audio and Jim Salk of Salk Sound.
I didn't get any pics of the JTRs but they were pretty danged awesome for a HT speaker. HUGE sound, very clear and LOUD. I can see why a lot of HT builds use JTRs.
Kent demoed the Paradigm Prestige 95Fs and the Golden Ear Tritons. I really didn't spend much time with either as they aren't really anything that would make me get rid of the LSis.
But they both sounded plenty good.
The real treat for me was meeting Jim Salk and hearing the Exotica 3s and HT3s. Either of which I would *love* to have in my home. The HT2s belonged to our host, David, while the Exotica 3s were brought along by Jim from Detroit.
Both pairs of speakers were flat out amazing.
Even better, Jim came out and hauled these massive speakers all the way from Michigan simply to share his work with some fans.
All in all, it was a great way to spend my birthday.
"Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
Comments
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Happy Birthday. That really sounds like a lot of fun. Did you watch any movies, or just compare audio?Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
Watched a bunch of clips. Demos were both audio and video throughout the day."Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip -
Happy Birthday man, that sounds like you had a great day and got to meet some awesome folks and hear some really_ nice equipment. That AVS site has some exceptional members and I always enjoy reading about the results when they do the shootouts on subs,speakers, amps ,etc... I wanted to add that the pics were excellent, really liked your graph of your room, looks like it's set up quite nicely.
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Jim Salk explaining some of the design and hardware choices...
The gear Hawkeye Audio brought with them...with the JTRs sneaking in for a photobomb on the right...
Some sexy Exotica side boob...
"Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip -
What did they think of the 2.3TL's?afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
Only a few folks were interested in the 2 channel system but all of those who heard it really enjoyed what they heard so there was that.
Chris Seymour from Seymour AV said that he had heard systems that cost tens of thousands of dollars that didn't sound as good which was some nice validation.
Skip, it actually has me seriously considering a set of Salks...and the Exoticas and HT2s both met the WAF WAY WAY better than the 2.3TLs. Hehe.
I may get Jim on the phone (he gave me a card and told me to call him when I was ready to discuss it) and see what some would set me back. The Exoticas would be great but the cost outlay would set my plans back a bit.
Of course, I could always do my own cabinets, buy the drivers myself and collaborate with someone on the crossover..."Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip -
The 2-way is already done: http://www.madisound.com/pdf/exotic-2way-plans.pdf....Of course, I could always do my own cabinets, buy the drivers myself and collaborate with someone on the crossover...
Would just seal off the mid and design a high-pass. The Exotic drivers are about $2900 and the Rhythmic Servo kit is $1200. Add about $500-$1000 for high quality crossover components, $600-$800 enclosure, veneer, finish, hardware, etc ...total about $6000 DIY for half the cost but still not budget friendly by any means.
Very nice sounding speakers those Exoticas...I told you they were special! I can't wait to spend more time hearing them again. Salks room had a lot of traffic last year.2.2 Office Setup | LG 29UB55 21:9 UltraWide | HP Probook 630 G8 | Dell Latitude | Cabasse Stream Amp 100 | Boston Acoustics VS 240 | AUDIORAX Desk Stands | Mirage Omni S8 sub1 | Mirage Omni S8 Sub2 -
what a way to spend the day! Happy birthday to you and a job well done on your
HT for "scrambling".
I purchased a Paradigm sub from Kent couple of weeks back..... he and TJ are good people.Polk Lsi9
N.E.W. A-20 class A 20W
NAD 1020 completely refurbished
Keces DA-131 mk.II
Analysis Plus Copper Oval, Douglass, Morrow SUB3, Huffman Digital
Paradigm DSP-3100 v.2 -
Jimmy boy makes a darn good speaker for sure. Have heard the HT3's before and loved what I heard. His speakers have a sound that could keep you off the speaker merry-go round for a very long time.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
Appears you had a great time a belated birthday wish to you. I was wondering what AVR did you end up going with since you needed one with 4k pass?Home Theater
Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable
2 Channel
Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+
Stuff for the Head
JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365
Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin
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Appears you had a great time a belated birthday wish to you. I was wondering what AVR did you end up going with since you needed one with 4k pass?
Denon X4100
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
Dan beat me to the reply.
Ended up getting a fantastic too good to pass up on deal for the 4100 so I went that route.
It was a very enjoyable weekend all around...yesterday I had some friends stop over for a movie and lunch and then got to watch "my guy" win the MotoGP race in Qatar!"Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip -
Wow, what a cool day! I heard a pair of Salk's and they are amazing.
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I am genuinely humbled by the feedback I have gotten from some of the folks on the crawl.
Quoting the comments here as I know some of you don't visit the AVSForums...deewan wrote:Ryan - Great room with the new (and last minute replacement) equipment. Please apologize to your neighbors for any damage from things rattled off their walls. You have amazing sound for a multi-purpose room. I was really impressed. Also, I loved your DIY Rack. WELL DONE!!!carp wrote:Ryan's room - I loved many of your demo choices especially One - nice call! That new tv looks great and very, very sharp to my eyes and you sure had those SVS subs working over time. Like Joel, your wife was so friendly to all of us, and seems to be very supportive of your hobby.kjlewie wrote:Ryan -Your last minute rally for the TV and AVR was quite strong, especially since you didn't have a chance to really tweak anything before the streaming throngs of enthusiasts arrived; The seats at the snack table were the money seats to me; No need for room treatments here, I thought the sound was great (very smooth and natural sounding); There was no doubt that you had multiple SVS subs doin' work in there.d_c wrote:Ryan - 2nd on the display - you can't get much better than that, in my opinion. You had an expensive week that made me shutter when you told the story, but ended up with some great gear to last for years. I see some big horn subs in your future, Man. I'm also a fan of 10db hot ULF and am afraid that you are destined to follow the bass-chase when you get into your new house and more space.desertdome wrote:Ryan (ZLTFUL) - One thing I love about the Crawls is seeing how others make use of their space and hearing their story about gear selection. The story about having to buy a new 4K 70" TV and receiver for the crawl was funny. From my perspective its always nice to have a good excuse to buy new gear. The Polk towers were very unobtrusive looking and I liked being able to look at the stack of gear while sitting in the couch. The dipole surrounds did a excellent job above the couch. I was able to sit in the middle seat for one of the demo's and enjoyed the smooth surround transitions. I also loved it that you had two subs in the room. It showed your dedication to getting bass. I never get tired of watching and hearing the Super 8 train crash. It was nice that your wife was there and that she also attended at David's house. Thank her for the food - the scone was awesome.
It is very humbling to know that your hard work has paid off. Or I am just a validation ****...LOL. Either way, I am happy that the majority of the folks who visited had a positive experience.
Now...time to head home and try to figure out if I managed to kill one of my subs on Saturday.
"Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip -
Now...time to head home and try to figure out if I managed to kill one of my subs on Saturday.
Even if you didnt.... you did...... then just discover after you bought a new one that you can fix the old one...
BOOM 3 subs.....
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
Forwarding this to my wife Dan. That way she will know how much of a horrible influence on me you are and then she will ground me from coming to your house and and and...yeah! So there!"Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."
"Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip -
Lol like me calling you and getting you to buy a Pangea Powercable while she's sitting next to you didn't ALREADY put me in the no fly list.
PS you know your thought that, I just said it out loud."....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
I agree with the one guy the train crash scene from Super 8 is a good way to test out your subs your SVS subs probably shook the foundation for sure. I run dual PSW 111's and on that scene they shake the basement real good. Sounds like you got it all together.Home Theater
Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable
2 Channel
Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+
Stuff for the Head
JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365
Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin -
Happy belated Birthday!!!
I can tell you had fun
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
