PDA

View Full Version : Markiii system pics



Markiii
19-01-2013, 19:05
so chaps

following my intro post some pics

overall lounge pics first

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m583/montechristo358/AV/63256599-3333-47C4-A96B-656B81C01B36-11235-000028949244E68D.jpg

AV gear on the left in more detail later but overall pic showing Monitor Audio RS6on granite plinths and 70" Sharp 836LE LED screen

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m583/montechristo358/AV/EEF568E2-CD43-48F6-BE48-E41E8C3C0014-11235-00002894B739B88E.jpg

The AV rack (if you can call it that) was a bit of a brainwave that I hoped was going to work.

The lounge was being completely gutted and remodelled so I took the opportunity.

The "Rack" is fed from a dedcated Ring from its own consumer unit in the garage behind that wall.

The actual rack itself is built from engineering bricks which go from the sub floor foundations all the way to the ceiling, each shelf is 10mm toughend glass which sits on metal brackets bolted directly to the engineering bricks with 3" frame fixing bolts.

The amp sits on a shelf built from concrete lintels to make sure it could cope with the weight.

My plan was to isolate everything in the rack from as many vibrations from the wooden floor as possible. The floor is 1" solid oak so pretty dead anyway, but the end result is I can jump on the floor near the rack and the turntable shelf neither feels any vibration or jumps, so I guess it worked as planned.

The rack has a false back to accomadate the cabling and the stud wall behnd the TV has wastes pipes inside carying the speaker cables so that I can change things without too much inconvenience.

The wife and I had an agreement that I could build what I wanted as long as it looked tidy, which again seens to have worked.

When I built it the sub was sitting elsewhere but the BK Downward Firing Monolith sub just happened to be a perfect fit for the gap at the bottom so I tried it.

very surprisingly its doesn't sound bloated there and its only used for movies so has no impact on the turntable anyway.

more to come

Markiii
19-01-2013, 19:18
So to work backwards for the shear hell of it

Amplification

Arcam AV9
This was my cunning plan (I have lots of these as you will soon realise:)) to get the best Hifi sound and AV from the same system. End of line clearance bargain at £1K but it would have cost £7K when new. Since it was highly rated in audio terms I figured at £7Ks worth of kit for a grand it had to be at least as good as a hifi preamp at £1K

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m583/montechristo358/AV/C6D5FDCD-7472-44F8-A967-636B03C0BF74-11235-000028949904EC39.jpg

Arcam P7
http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m583/montechristo358/AV/2B8482BF-60C8-4583-820B-7B5121701C76-11235-00002894AF9CD80A.jpg

probably the weak point in hifi terms (however its earth shattering how much difference it makes turning off the THX functions), and next on my list to address after some room treatment. The lounge has rather a loft conversion kind of field with wooden floor, shutters rather than curtains and painted plaster walls.

coupled with the all leather suite the room is a little bright and needs its slap echo taming.

Markiii
19-01-2013, 19:42
and so on to Sources

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m583/montechristo358/AV/F28DE737-0F5B-42C3-85CB-FCC2131F43C3-11235-000028947E6E9A0A.jpg

Asus EeePC running XBMC Dharma to serve my Movies and TV Shows from a DIY NAS in the loft. SSD installed to minimise noise from the hard drive, but next job is to replace the Switching PSU with something better if I can find it

Sky+ 2TB HD hooked up to the AV9 inbuilt DAC via Optical

Sony Blu Ray Player (rarely used since the EeePC arrived) running Electrical Digital out to the AV9 DAC. Sitting on Sorbothane feet

Original Logitech Transporter, currently unmodified other than the Sorbothane feet. Using Electrical Digital out to the AV9 DAC (sounded generally better than using its internal DAC but it was a close run thing). Streaming FLAC from the same NAS serving the movies.

Markiii
19-01-2013, 19:51
more sources

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m583/montechristo358/AV/15597C32-4A88-48D9-B700-69003846E714-11235-000028948BFC4130.jpg

Pioneer PDS904 Stable Platter CD Player. The Legato Link DAC built into this was supposed to be pseudo vinyl in sound and interpolate the missing information lost in the digitising of music and add it back in.

Contentious at the time I found it worked surprisingly well with Jazz and female vocal, but feed it Rock or anything with pace and complexity it rather lost its way.

Anyway these days I find running Electrical Digital out to the AV9 DAC is an improvement for all types of music, so thats what I do.

its been modified to fit a proper IEC power outlet rather than the captive cable and I have lined the case with a Dynomat type matting to reduce case resonance. The granite slab on to also aids in this regard.

Finally it sits on sorbothane feet and then in turn on another granite slab. Next mod when the mood takes me is to disable the analogue out board and see if this yields any improvement, as for traansport only use its being pwered up for no good reason.

Markiii
19-01-2013, 19:56
and finally the reason I found AOS over Christmas

the Technics SL210Mk2 (its staying until I find a MK5G)

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m583/montechristo358/AV/D3947558-DA39-497A-AB16-6D17983BC68E-11235-0000289485F8177D.jpg

Mods so far

Audio Technica AT120E
Sorbothane feet (though from the reviews so far I may have to try the Vantage Feet)
Sitting on a Granite Plinth
DIY modded to add Gold Phono sockets
DIY Modded to add a proper IEC power socket
Cork Mat
Michel Record clamp

Next mod if I don't find a Mk5G in the near future is the PSU so expect questions :)

Zoidburg
21-01-2013, 11:12
Nice looking room and system there Mark, I used the same MA centre as yours with my RS8's and was well impressed with it. Having just bought a 50 LED myself I can imagine that tv of yours is enormous!

Markiii
21-01-2013, 12:04
its amazing how quickly you adjust and start thinking, hmm should have gone bigger

that said the 80" was over twice the price and, no way was it worth it for an extra 10"

1000RPM
21-01-2013, 23:01
what men will pay for an few extra inches...

sorry, couldn't resist it.

splendid job on the 'rack' there Mark, looks really good and I bet it sounds good too.

Sovereign
22-01-2013, 05:48
what men will pay for an few extra inches...

sorry, couldn't resist it.

splendid job on the 'rack' there Mark, looks really good and I bet it sounds good too.

How is your system looking these days Phil?

Idlewithnodrive
22-01-2013, 07:55
Love the look / idea of that rack Mark. Nicely done !

Now if we could just nudge you from AV to 2 channel you would be making the best use of it :)

Markiii
22-01-2013, 10:30
yeah I know :-)

unless a bargain too good to miss comes along improvements will be made in the following order

room treatment to fix the echo
technics PSU tweaks
Power Amp

can't get too carried aways spending as the drive and garden need cash spending on them in the next year