System #12 (reQuest, Aerius i, Theater i, Descent)

[Huey]

VERY impressive setup :bowdown:

home CINEMA

 

[STV]

Huey,

Thank you for the compliment on my system Your system is very impressive as well.

 

[FOUNTAIN]

I wondered over to your setup and all I can say is.....:bowdown: :bowdown: . Very impressive and awesome!!!!

 

[STV]

Thank you Glen for that very nice compliment!

 

[STV]

Updated system pix to include the new Denon pre/pro and Blu-ray Transport.

 

[JonFo]

Seth, looking really good there bud. Those new Denon's sure add to the sound, I'm sure.

However, since you have such top notch gear, I'd suggest one change that should noticeably enhance your multichannel performance.

Your Theater i center speaker is IMHO, sitting both to close to the wall, and in dire need of some acoustical treatments behind it. See this post.

I'd recommend building a horizontal platform upon which you would bolt the factory theater mount. This platform should extend out to the forward edge of your TV. You want the Tweeter assembly of the Theater to be flush or slightly forward of the front of the TV.

The top part of the platform not covered with the Theater should be treated with 1" OC 705 wrapped in GOM fabric.

And here's the real important part: buy or construct an absorber that will go on the front wall behind the speaker, covering the space from the new platform all the way to your ceiling juncture. Make it at least as wide as the theater (matching the width of the new platform, which should be a few inches wider than the Theater will do fine).

The wall absorber should be done using 2" OC 705 faced with some Dacron batting and covered in GOM color of your choice.
For optimum performance, offset it from the wall by 2 or 3", but I can understand that you’re probably pushing the WAF to the limit, so flush to the wall will still work.

By placing the center further forward, you will improve its dispersion characteristics, remove the boundary reflections from the top of the TV and reduce a bit the distance losses from the mid-bass drivers (not that 6" or so will make or break, but every little bit of dB counts ).
Treating the rear wall behind it will clean up the comb filtering and dampen the reflections going from the wall to the ceiling. This ceiling reflection is quite detrimental to imaging, as it will tend to pull the perceived center ‘position’ further up than it already is. By treating it, you will localize the center more in line with its actual height.
And of course, the reduction in comb filtering artifacts will greatly increase dialog perception.

Anyway, let me know if you have questions.

Cheers,

 

[STV]

Seth, looking really good there bud. Those new Denon's sure add to the sound, I'm sure.

However, since you have such top notch gear, I'd suggest one change that should noticeably enhance your multichannel performance.

Your Theater i center speaker is IMHO, sitting both to close to the wall, and in dire need of some acoustical treatments behind it. See this post.

I'd recommend building a horizontal platform upon which you would bolt the factory theater mount. This platform should extend out to the forward edge of your TV. You want the Tweeter assembly of the Theater to be flush or slightly forward of the front of the TV.

The top part of the platform not covered with the Theater should be treated with 1" OC 705 wrapped in GOM fabric.

And here's the real important part: buy or construct an absorber that will go on the front wall behind the speaker, covering the space from the new platform all the way to your ceiling juncture. Make it at least as wide as the theater (matching the width of the new platform, which should be a few inches wider than the Theater will do fine).

The wall absorber should be done using 2" OC 705 faced with some Dacron batting and covered in GOM color of your choice.
For optimum performance, offset it from the wall by 2 or 3", but I can understand that you’re probably pushing the WAF to the limit, so flush to the wall will still work.

By placing the center further forward, you will improve its dispersion characteristics, remove the boundary reflections from the top of the TV and reduce a bit the distance losses from the mid-bass drivers (not that 6" or so will make or break, but every little bit of dB counts ).
Treating the rear wall behind it will clean up the comb filtering and dampen the reflections going from the wall to the ceiling. This ceiling reflection is quite detrimental to imaging, as it will tend to pull the perceived center ‘position’ further up than it already is. By treating it, you will localize the center more in line with its actual height.
And of course, the reduction in comb filtering artifacts will greatly increase dialog perception.

Anyway, let me know if you have questions.

Cheers,

Thanks Jonathan.

While I am very satisfied with the sound coming from the Theater i, I have to say I agree that it can sound even better with the use of wall treatments. And probably placing the Center on a shelf extending to where it's even to the TV's front, is no doubt the best placement for it. But making such a shelf extending that far forward, and being sturdy enough to support the weight of the Theater i, is going to take some figuring and of course time to make.

I will definitely try this approach, but it most likely won't be until the fall sometime. Thanks for the info on this, I really appreciate it. I know that you are very knowledgeable about room treatments and I will be asking for your input once I am ready to proceed. Thanks bud.



Seth

 

[Anthony A.]

hey have you done a comparison for sd dvds using the xa2 upscaling versus the denon avp?

 

[STV]

hey have you done a comparison for sd dvds using the xa2 upscaling versus the denon avp?

Yes I have, and found the Realta to be even better. The picture using Reon was superb, but Realta takes it one step further. This is the best I have seen my DVD's.


Seth

 

[STV]

I haven't upgraded any more AV gear (yet), but I did give my Martin Logan Aerius i surrounds a bit of a face lift. They have had black wood trim for years, and I have always wanted them to match my ML reQuest mains. So I finally took 'em off and refinished them, and now they are a beautiful natural oak finish. It was a lot of work refinishing them but I think they came out just splendid.

Before

After

 

[JonFo]

Seth, nice woodworking skills!

Those sure came out looking nice.

 

[STV]

Thanks Jonathan.

 

[Brad225]

Great job Seth.

Anyone that has tried to strip and refinish any piece of wood let alone black to natural in grainy oak will appreciate and respect what you went through to complete that project.

 

[STV]

Great job Seth.

Anyone that has tried to strip and refinish any piece of wood let alone black to natural in grainy oak will appreciate and respect what you went through to complete that project.

Thank you Brad for the nice compliment. Yeah it was definitely a bit of work.

 

[PeterWhite]

Very nice! When I set up my A/V room recently, I placed all of the electronics to the side, because I just assumed that having all of those lights to either side of the screen would be a distraction. I'm assuming you haven't found that to be the case. Is that correct?

 

[STV]

Thanks Peter.

No the AV gear lights haven't been a distraction at all. And during movie watching when the room is dark, about the only gear I have on at one time is the Blu-ray (or HD DVD) player, the preamp and the power amps.



Seth

 

[twich54]

Seth, I love the contrast ! job well done !!

 

[STV]

Thanks Dave.

 

[STV]

All new home theater seating

Well after using the current HT seating for over 2 years now, it's time for a change. While the current seats are good, they just don't quite offer the level of comfort a dedicated recliner gives. Because of this the search has been on looking for something that will offer the comfort of a stand alone recliner but in a HT configuration. After trying out various brands, finally settled on these Berkline model 45016 seats.

And what's going to be a first for me is these will include ButtKicker tactile transducers in every seat. I've read about how cool it is, so now I'll actually get to use 'em at home. They're also full power recline which will be kinda cool.

The only sucky part is they're special order because of the leather grade and ButtKicker option, so I won't receive them for another 6-8 weeks. But it's cool, it'll be something to look forward to.


Seth

 

[STV]

Adding a second Descent

Well after wanting to do so for some time, I am finally replacing my faithful ADS MS3 subwoofer with a Descent. My Descent is ordered and will arrive this monday. I am really jazzed about this. Once installed I will take some pix of the new sub.

Also want to report on the new Berklines I got. They are every bit as comfortable as I was hoping they would be. Plus the built in ButtKickers do just what they claim, they kick butt!


Seth