some pics of my new speaks

Schwingding

Since you guys asked for them:

My new Strata Minis are displayed proudly in the next few photos. Also visible is my rack of 5 Outlaw 2200 monoblocks, my dual SVS PB12 +/2 subs, the CSi5 center, and the 50" panny plasma, along with all of the source components, and of course our listening couch. My newly completed room treatments have been hung, too - they are OC703 panels framed in 3"x3/4" lumber then wrapped in black fabric - quite a bigger job than I had figured on, but glad its done. 12 frames in total, still need one over the TV and a few on the ceiling. (no, the duck decoy doesn't jump up and down, those subs don't move a hair)

Thanks for looking.

Ricardo

WOW!!!

Congratulations on an outstanding job; worth of being displayed in any audio magazine. Awesome.

Great match in the Stratas/SVS by the way

VR3

Awesome setup man.

Very good looking setup, best utilization of room treatments Ive seen, thats for sure.

Beautiful. Awesome. Congrats

tonyb

Very,very nice.Those Svs's are huge.How about alittle mini review of the
Mini's.I know Joey did one but always cool to get anothers opinion.

dorokusai

Nice speakers.

haimoc

I think you have one of the best excelent listening room. Thanks for the pixs.
The acoustic panels are very similar to what I have (DIY). Are you considering to make some bass traps, too? The ceiling is not finished with drywalls that some people believe drywalls reflect sound more. Congratulations for your beautiful and excelent system. Enjoy.

steveinaz

Gorgeous, I'd love to put an ear on those...

janmike

Very, VERY nice indeed.

mldennison

wow, very nice! that is a fantastic setup! what did the mini's replace?

Nelson57

That is a beautiful setup!

dane_peterson

Hot.

josh_parsons626

Extremely nice setup man. I'm very envious. Would it be too much of a bother to ask for some rear pics?

Demiurge

There's a nice looking room, and you know it sounds good too. :eek:

bikezappa

Nice set up and intergration of sound making things and your enviroment.

What do you drink when listening to music?

Schwingding

Thanks guys! Josh I'll try to take some rear pics over the next few days.

What do I drink when listening to music? What an odd question! I drink only black coffee and water, (one of my secrets to staying skinny) so it'd have to be one of them.

mld - the Minis replaced a pair of Mirage OM10 towers that are now serving as my surrounds, and before that they replaced a pair of RTi10s - which before that were a pair of Rti8s - where I started all this nonsense! I won't be buying speakers for quite some time - these minis are beyond unbelievable.

JimBRICK

looks wilds dood. Very minimal but flashy at the same time

bikezappa

Schwingding

You could try some Baily's in that coffee.

I like a interesting single malt scotch with one ice cube with the lighrs off or very dimed while I listen to 2 channel music. That will keep you skinny also.

cstpeter

That is an awesome setup! Very well done!

By the way, gotta love the terms we audiophiles use to describe our excitement:

dane_peterson wrote:

Hot.

josh_parsons626 wrote:

Would it be too much of a bother to ask for some rear pics?

Sexy setup indeed.

jwhitakr

Schwingding wrote:

Since you guys asked for them:

My newly completed room treatments have been hung, too - they are OC703 panels framed in 3"x3/4" lumber then wrapped in black fabric - quite a bigger job than I had figured on, but glad its done. 12 frames in total, still need one over the TV and a few on the ceiling. (no, the duck decoy doesn't jump up and down, those subs don't move a hair)

Thanks for looking.

Nice setup! Congrats on a killer music and HT setup. Aside from your obviously outstanding audio gear, I really like the room treatments. I have to claim ignorance on how you made them though - what is OC703 and how does that impact the sound?

Schwingding

Very quickly - OC703 is fiberglass insulation from owens corning that has very good sound absorption properties in the mid-hi end audio frequency spectrum. It is used by audio nuts to tame room reflections. Doubled, tripled, quadrupled up it can even absorb low frequencies and is used to fill baffles for bass traps in corners. It is available in 2'x4' sheets in varying thicknesses. I used 2" thick panels.

If you search for OC703 and audio related words you'll find a lot information on the subject. Best bet is probably to go to avsforum.com and search through the "home theater design and construction" forum.

My construction method was simple - I framed them in 3/4" ponderosa pine that was 3" wide, using pocket hole screws. Ordered very thin black fabric from joann.com and glued and stapled the fabric on. they're hung on the walls using standard picture hanging methods.

They do a very good job of helping to ensure that the sound you are hearing is coming directly from the speakers as intended, and not bouncing around your room, messing up the soundstage and frequency response. Moving just a single panel can have an affect on a room response graph (as can a couch, etc..)

cfrizz

Very nice, congratulations!

dkg999

Absolutely awesome! Very nice job!

And your address is .......................

Jet_olson

Outstanding Job......Stellar look..I can only imagine the sound!!!! Cheers!

hearingimpared

That is a very classy looking set up, congrats.

JimBRICK

I'd love to hear these, they look real sweet. I've read tons of reviews on them too and they're highly rated

Sherardp

that room is very nicely done, love the speakers though, that setup is very impressive.

Holydoc

I really love the look of the Strata Mini's. They have definitely been getting some great reviews for two channel rigs.

What I haven't heard much of is how they perform in a HT environment. You need to give us a review.

AV123 does not yet produce a timbre matching center channel. I noticed you are using the CSi5 still as your center. How does the front stage perform with this combination? Is the dialogue still clear? Any considerations of changing out the center channel?

I know the Mini's are not real efficient (i.e., it takes a bit of power to push them). How do they stand up in a HT environment? Do they get loud enough and give enough impact to present movies at near reference level volume? Would you recommend them for HT use? Would you change anything if you could?

These are definitely some of my drool speakers. Only thing that has been holding me back has been concern that they would not give me the HT impact that I have now. But now that you have them and just about the same components, display, and set-up as me, I can finally get an honest review.

P.S. You definitely like earth-shaking bass. Wonder if you are setting off seismic meters around your neighborhood.

MillerLiteScott

Very nice Mike. I really like the look and you room and gear do look like they are from an article in an audio magazine. Again, very nice.

It looks like you have been busy since the last pictures I saw when the first SVS arrived.

Look for me Saturday if you are still available. I am looking forward to putting an ear on your gear.

Scott

By the way, I drink Miller Lite to stay skinny.:D

heiney9

Very nice indeed. Polk Fest 2008 is being held in that room!!!

Systems

Very nice setup.The speakers are gorgeous and those black acoustic panels look great and I bet you find they made a big improvement.You should also consider building a pair or even 4 triangle shaped corner traps as these will improve your bass and mid bass considerably.

Schwingding

Holydoc - my plans are to retire the CSi5 when the matching center is available. They've also promised on wall versions of the Minis for surrounds, which I'll probably also purchase. The Minis are an 87db efficiency speaker - thats not terribly bad, but they do take more power to drive than the other speakers I had in place prior. BUT, I couldn't possibly tolerate them at the loudest levels they'll achieve - way more than necessary for even the loudest HT buff. How do they do in HT? I was watching something the other day and in one of the speakers a dog barked, and I thought one of my dogs had somehow slipped into the basement. It is uncannily realistic. The mid-bass of the powered woofers completely rounds out the range in between the highs and the SVS subs. The woofers in the Minis pound you in the chest, and then the SVS subs take over and shake you up and down. They are a great combo! (and I was worried about having 4 subs!)

The problem with these Stratas is that they sound so good I half want to watch movies in 2 channel! They really highlight the inadequacies of my other speakers so much that I'm not really enjoying multichannel music at present, but am REALLY enjoying even standard redbook 2 channel CD music.

Scott, it looks like Sat is still good. 3 or 4 pm work for you? Good weather forecast, I'll be riding my bicycle for a couple of hours around mid-day.