Doing an HT redo...

Mikey081057

I've been toying with this idea for a while now, and have decided move on it now.

I upgraded my tv to a 75" QLED Samsung.
I now have dual SVS SB4000 subs
My AV processor is still ok (Marantz AV7704)
Using an Oppo BDP203 source
And have Directv HD/4K DVR

So I am moving some speakers around and have decided to:

Move the Usher Dancer Mini-X's to the surrounds
Move the SVS Ultra surrounds to the rears
Move the Usher BE-616 to the center
and I have purchased a new set of Usher Dancer Mini-2's from our old friend @DSkip ... (he gave me a really nice deal):

I have also moved the:
Parasound A21 to power the mains
Parasound A52+ to power the surrounds and the center.

I am also thinking of moving all of the other 2 channel stuff (Brooklyn dac+, Lumin Mini and the PSAudio gain cell preamp/dac ) to the family room as well so I can enjoy 2 channel listening as well with the Ushers as they out class the Polk LSIm's by a good measure SQ wise and aesthetically.

My only conundrum would be bass mgmt and will figure something out if the new Ushers need more bass in 2 channel. I'm thinking that the specs say they should have enough bass on their own and perhaps no need for a sub in 2 channel mode and only to just let the AV pre pro manage the LFE for HT.

Here are the specs for the Dancer Mini -2's

2-way system : Diamond DMD dome tweeter 1.25" ,
mid-low woofer 7"x2 (8948A),
sensitivity: 90 dB @ 1 watt / 1m
nominal impedance: 4 ohms
frequency response (-3 dB): 28 Hz ~ 40 kHz
power handling: 120 watts
crossover frequencies: 2.7 kHz

Any thoughts or advice?

Emlyn

I think the Marantz processors can be set up to use subs in stereo mode and not use them in Direct and Pure Direct modes. Been a while since I thought about it though.

Mikey081057

I believe that to be correct.

Mikey081057

It's evolving....

Yesterday evening I had some time to re-do the component layout in the cabinet and get it wired in... still some to do but it will get there...

Willow

Scrap it all, start over and send me your gear!

mantis

I really don't care what main channel speakers you end up using in this awesome system you have but I think it would be wise to get rid of the Polks and use Ushers as mains so the Center channel matches. I think you kinda hinted at that with the comment that the Ushers out perform the polks but a lot.
Either way you end up for this system, Run ALL speakers in small and let the SVS sub's do ALL of the low end extension. You can move around the subs to get even proper bass in the room, you can't however do that with any of the channels ground level.
What most people get hooked on me included many years ago is the fact that if a speaker can play down to a certain frequency that I need to do that or I wasted my money buying speakers that can do so. What gets really missed here is how bass reacts in the room.
Everything above lets be honest 100-150hz needs to play out of the ground level channels. The sub however need to be crossed over at 120hz for 2 reasons. 1- to play the entire LFE soundtrack of movies. LFE starts at 120hz. 2- Bass management is better suited for subwoofers properly placed in the room and tweaked to perfection.
Your amps will now have more dynamic range as they will not have to send speaker level signals to your ground level speakers . 80hz usually is a nice point of crossover for all channels due to the slope of the point and the in room response. Just about all of the time all kinds of different kinds of speakers sound much cleaner fuller and rich with the removal of low end. Especially when they are integrated perfectly with the subwoofers in the room and you my friend have a nice pair there (LOL).

Mikey081057

I just ordered a pair of Usher Mini Dancer 2's that should be here in a few days. I am really in to the Usher sound. The DMD tweeters are so nice. I like their performance and aesthetics at their price point. I think it would be hard to find something that delivers both in the $4K-$5K range.



I might experiment with using the Sunfire TGA 7401 to drive the center and surrounds adding a set of front height speakers.


The intent is to move all the Polk gear into a secondary system with this becoming my main listening/viewing room...

Mikey081057

Been tweakin' the 2 channel stuff while I await the new Ushers. I have the Lumin playing thru the Brooklyn DAC+ into the Stellar Gain Cell Pre bypassed to the A21 to the LSIm 705's (for now). I swapped Oppo 203's and put the unit I hade upgradded with the OppoMod i2s upgrade in this rig and can now listen to SACD into the 2chan rig.

The 705's never sounded as good as they do now.

Jimbo18

Mikey081057 wrote: »

Been tweakin' the 2 channel stuff while I await the new Ushers. I have the Lumin playing thru the Brooklyn DAC+ into the Stellar Gain Cell Pre bypassed to the A21 to the LSIm 705's (for now). I swapped Oppo 203's and put the unit I hade upgradded with the OppoMod i2s upgrade in this rig and can now listen to SACD into the 2chan rig.

The 705's never sounded as good as they do now.

Not to derail your thread but I like your profile pic

Mikey081057

Thanks, that's Tommy my <1 Y.O. JRT... Yours is quite nice too...

Mikey081057

Oh well with the world shutdown might as well listen to 9 discs of Beethoven's complete piano concertos.

Mikey081057

Mikey081057

Today I mounted a pair of SVS Ultra surrounds (Configured as Bi-Pole) in the HT. They were matched with the Ushers in the other room and match up better than the LSIm 702f/x's

Mikey081057

So the new Usher MD-2's are in place; I have re-run Audessy using the Android App that I downloaded today. Here is what it looks like from the app.