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Filterlab
15-02-2008, 11:43
Not a major AV head myself but I do have a reasonable surround system.

Sony PS3 (which is a staggeringly good machine)
Panasonic TH50PX70 50" HD Plasma
Marantz DTS processor / amplifier
Kef Q9C centre channel
Polk RTA-8T front channels
Mission 700e rear channels (left over from my budget years)

It's adequate for general film watching and good for gaming although by no means high fidelity, even by accident. Still it's decent enough to be enjoyable. I was heavily into AV a few years back and would have continued upgrading but the technology shifts so fast that it costs too much to do it at a high level. I could have bought a very expensive decoder at the start of 2006 and found that by the start of 2007 it would have been outdated as it did not have HDMI / Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD / DTS-HD Master etc etc.

Luckily as Dolby 5.1 and DTS seem to have stuck around I haven't changed the decoder in seven years, whether they will disappear on Blu-ray releases is questionable as the amount of data for six compressed channels (5.1) of audio is infinitesimal in comparison to 8 channels (7.1) of uncompressed audio and would hardly take any space on what is a 50gb disc. Eventually I will change the processor to an HDMI equipped one and I suppose add a couple more speakers, but it won't be prioritised over my two channel set up as I use that far more.

Chris Frost
16-02-2008, 13:34
100" projecton screen with IR remote
Epson TW2000 3 chip 1080p LCD projector (dem stock)
Philips 42" commercial plasma + Lumagen Vision scaler
Planar 37" 1080p LCD monitor (dem stock)
Toshiba EP35 HD-DVD player running at 1080p 24ps (dem stock)
Philips DVD963SA DVD transport and SACD player
Philips DVDR 520H hard disc DVD recorder
Sky+
Denon DCD-1550AR CD player
Sonos ZP100 & ZP80 zone players for streamed digital music (dem stock)
Philips SL300i streamed video & audio player
TAG AV32R bp192 processor/pre-amp
Rotel RB981 5ch THX power amp
Focal JM Labs Electra 900 series speakers
REL StadiumII subwoofer
Marantz RC9200 colour touch screen remote & RF link
NEVO SL colour touch screen remote & RF link (dem stock)
Philips RU990 colour touch screen remote & RF link (dem stock)
Varilight dimmers.
AW mains block
Quadraspire rack
RR Acoustics printable acoustic panels (dem stock)

All video displays are calibrated to D65 colour reference.

:oops: forgot the turntables... :o

Linn Axis with Basic Plus arm and Dynavector 10x5 into a Rega Phono

project: Roksan Xerses 1, Rega RB250 with silver wiring and Michell Technoweight


Regards

Marco
16-02-2008, 14:18
Nice set-up, Chris!

We're looking forward to your erudite contributions on all things AV, and a few interesting threads/posts of that nature in this area of the forum, so get stuck in.

Maybe you could invite a few people you know from the AV forums you frequent (with the permission of their admin) to participate in discussions here? :)

Marco.

Mr Ed
17-02-2008, 13:31
A nice simple system....

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2353/2271426772_80007582ae.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2089/2271428804_2000ce1334.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2267/2271434390_28cb5af078.jpg

:mental::mental::mental:

Lowrider
17-02-2008, 17:33
Most of the time I do watch my music, either Satellite/cable, Mezzo mostly, or DVDs, even CDs with Nat Geo or Fashion TV, but I learned 20 years ago that good sound makes the experience more realistic than big image...

Of course I wouldn't mind a huge screen, but I can live with a 32" LCD, as long as the sound is realistic...

Filterlab
19-02-2008, 21:43
Yeah it's strange just how much of a film is soundtrack, I watched Bladerunner on Blu-ray the other day and whilst the boost in image quality produces smiles, the soundtrack is what really moves it along beautifully. :)

Mr. C
20-02-2008, 09:06
Morning guys, must admit I don't believe we have ever listed our home cinema equipment before, so go easy on me here


First system (Full 7:1)

108" Projector screen with IR remote
JVC HD1 DILA 1080p LCD projector
Esoteric UX-1 PI 1080p 24fps (Multi format Dvd/Sacd/CD player)
Esoteric Go-Rb Master clock running 192 pal and 24fps
Toshiba HD XE-1 HD/DVD1080p Player
Sky HD+
Full 1.2 Tarra-byte (and full raidback-up) streaming PC audio multi-room server
Esoteric D-03 digital to analogue converter (for above PC audio)
Onkyo DTC 9.8 Full DTS master HD processor
Arcam AV9 Processor.
Bel-canto Ref 1000’ power Amplifiers (7) (All upgraded to Coherent master craft spec)
Focal JM Utopia Alto’s/Utopia center/L & R rears and SR1000 surrounds
Focal Utopia sub-woofer
Marantz RC9200 colour touch screen remote & RF link
Varilight dimmers.
Whole system has 4 dedicated mains spurs feeding via a totally independent consumer supply board
Mains solutions (conditioners and cabling (4D) by Coherent Systems)
All signal and speaker cabling Coherent Systems 4D
Isolation tables and speaker decoupling Townshend VSSS racks
Component isolation Black Ravioli
RPG acoustic panels

http://www.coherent-systems.co.uk/images/Open_shoot_mr1.jpg

http://www.coherent-systems.co.uk/images/Different-angle_mr1.jpg


Second System 5:1

Fujitsu 42” Plasma-vision P42X HA58
Arcam DV139 Diva Dvd/Sacd/CD Multi format Player
Arcam AVR350 Receiver
Focal Profile series in diamond black (918’s/CC908/SR908/SW908)
Custom Av VSSS rack by Townshend Audio.
All Isolation used is by Black Ravioli and Still-points.
Mains solutions, conditioners and cabling by Coherent Systems.
All signal and speaker cable by Coherent Systems

http://www.coherent-systems.co.uk/images/Smallroom_basic1.jpg


Play room system (3 Channel)

Samsung LE40M8 40” LCD
Toshiba HD XE-1 HD/DVD1080p Player
X-Box 360 full 1080p.
Arcam AVP 700 Processor
Belles 150 hot rod 3 channel power amplifier
Focal Electra 1027 Be’s and CC1000 be speakers (custom slate grey finish)
Custom Av VSSS rack by Townshend Audio.
All Isolation used is by Black Ravioli and Still-points.
Mains solutions, conditioners and cabling by Coherent Systems.
All signal and speaker cable 4D by Coherent Systems

Chris Frost
20-02-2008, 10:10
Bl**dy hell :wow: Someone's got a system bonkers enough to rival Mr. Ed's Multiplex.

Mucho respect, Mr.C :clap:

:)

Marco
20-02-2008, 11:54
Indeed. Fabby-doo set up there, Tony. I bet it plays music well, too!

Chris,

Have you pursued this at all from earlier?


Maybe you could invite a few people you know from the AV forums you frequent (with the permission of their admin) to participate in discussions here?


:)

Marco.

Filterlab
20-02-2008, 12:05
Serious system for the videophile there. :)

Mr. C
20-02-2008, 12:20
Thank you for the kind comments guys, we feel it spans the gap between movies and music in a way not yet heard before.
There are a few more additions in the pipeline, plus a Belles reference amplifier options available for all systems too.

JonR
20-02-2008, 12:29
Hi Tony,

Long time no speak - how's it all going?

Mr. C
20-02-2008, 12:39
Hi John,
We are doing well sir thank you :-) busy as usual, how-about your good-self John?

JonR
20-02-2008, 12:42
Not too bad thank you!

Are you going to Bristol this year?

Chris Frost
20-02-2008, 13:14
Chris,

Have you pursued this at all from earlier?


Maybe you could invite a few people you know from the AV forums you frequent (with the permission of their admin) to participate in discussions here?

Hi Marco,
No, and I don't intend to I'm afraid. It's against AV Forum rules to promote other forum sites; and as someone in the trade I get even less leeway than regular members.

I think it would be better to promote TAOS as a place where a Hi-Fi enthusiast can have an intelligent discussion about AV with specialists sympathetic to the enthusiast's Hi-Fi roots.

Regards

Mr. C
20-02-2008, 13:17
Hi Jon,

Yes we will have a presence this week at Bristol, I am away on Business for a week, however Paul (my Business Partner) will be about.

Marco
20-02-2008, 13:51
Hi Marco,
No, and I don't intend to I'm afraid. It's against AV Forum rules to promote other forum sites; and as someone in the trade I get even less leeway than regular members.

I think it would be better to promote TAOS as a place where a Hi-Fi enthusiast can have an intelligent discussion about AV with specialists sympathetic to the enthusiast's Hi-Fi roots.


No problem, Chris. That's fine. Different forums have different rules regarding that sort of thing so I was just checking. I totally agree with your latter paragraph - it is exactly what we are aiming to do, so any pearls of wisdom from you (interesting threads on the subject) would be most appeciated!

The Art of Sound will be sharing a room with The Funk Firm, so we will also have a presence at Bristol. We aim to promote the forum and introduce it to people attending the show.

Jon,

Nice to see you posting here. If you're going to the show, pop into the Funk room and say hello :)

Marco.

pjdowns
07-04-2008, 18:32
Me,

I have the following:

Source

Home Theatre Amp: Yamaha RX-V800RDS
DVD Player: Denon DVD-2910
Digital Television: Sky
Games Console 1: Sony Playstation 2
Games Console 2: Nintendo Wii

Visual

Television: Fujitsu P42XHA58 (42” – 16:9 Plasma)

Loudspeakers

Speaker Package: Kef Home Theatre 3000 Series


Cables

DVD Player to TV: Wire World Island 52 (HDMI)
Digital Television to Adaptor: QED Performace SQart P21 to QED QCV
Adaptor to TV: QED QCV to Bespoke Composite Cable
Games Console 1 to TV: Standard Sony Playstation 2 Cables (Composite)
Games Console 2 to TV: Standard Nintendo Wii Cables (Composite)
DVD Player to Amp: Chord Optichord
Digital Television to Amp: QED Qunex OT
Games Console 1 to Amp: Tech+Link Optical
Games Console 2 to Amp: Standard Nintendo Wii Cables
Amp to Speaker Package: QED Silver Micro (Bare Wire)
Subwoofer IC: Merlin Tarantula (Figure 8)

Equipment Stand:

3 Tier Double Width Stand: Ash Designs Cosmic 4

BajaGringo
25-05-2008, 20:01
I have set up a surround system in my living room to include 10 speakers, 5 amps and a powered Yamaha sub-woofer being decoded off a Yamaha A-1 DSP. I have a Yamaha AX-450 amplifier pushing two HPM-100's (200w) in parallel for a dual center channel effect and they are raised up 8 feet off the floor and pointed towards the sweet spot of my listening room from each respective corner. I run my front channels off two sets of speakers fed by two SAE A102 amplifiers from a SAE P102 preamp.

The speakers are arranged in a box-like arrangement to surround the room's sweet spot and include my HPM-150's in the front, 10" off the ground and 10 feet away in each corner. The front channel "box" is completed with a pair of HPM-1100's just behind and 8 feet to each side, 20" off the floor. For rear speakers I use another pair of HPM-100's (200w) fed off a Sansui AU-717 amplifier and are placed approximately 15 feet behind the sweet spot and to each side, 24" off the floor. The rear center channel is fed from the DSP in parallel to a pair of Polk Audio's M60's suspended 10 feet back and 10 feet high, pointed at an angle down towards the sweet spot.

A Sansui TU-717 tuner, Sansui SC-1330 Cassette Deck and Tascam CD-01U CD Player round out the rest of the gear. All of my audio gear is rack mounted in a 7 foot high Compaq server cabinet that includes a 30,000+ song digital library with rack mounted pull out keyboard and monitor and high speed internet access. It is all set up so I can easily go from surround to pure stereo with a flick of a switch and push some great old school through my analog amps and the speakers of my choice.

This arrangement includes almost a 1000 watts RMS power through the different amps and allows me to "personalize" the audio response in each surround channel and speaker. It is a bit unique I suppose but I could never go back to anything else now. My wife is a saint and never once has complained - no she doesn't have a twin sister - ha!

You can see photos of the setup in my signature line link...

:peace: