okay - i was at Govan Mani the other day and i was getting a quaote for a home theater setup for a friend - when the guys gave me the price i also decided i wanted one and so they had to pack up two sets - one for me and one for my friend - this set was so popular that all 60 units of it that they had got sold in two weeks

the set comprised of the following sony equipment:

1) dvd player
2) STR 697 7.1 amplifier
3) MF750 front floorstanders
4) CR350 centre and rear speakers
5) wx900 subwoofer
6) and i added a set of MF650 floorstanders for rears

i basically changed the sony dvd player for the pioneer DV575A which also plays SACD (super audio CD) as well as DIVX ......yes it plays full blooded DIVX and Xvid backups and what swung me to this dvd player is that it had 5 stars in a UK "what hi-fi" test and was their product of the year for 2004 - with credentials like that it is a definite must buy and i was happy to pay the difference for the swop

the STR 697 amplifier is capable of 7.1 audio and has all the bells and whistles you could want at this pricepoint - a plus was that the remote control of this unit includes tv controls and since i lost my tv remote this was a great bonus (i have a sony tv) - the amp pushes out 100 watts RMS per channel and thats for 7 channels

heres a pic of the dvd player and amp



next up comes the front speakers - these things stand as tall as my chest and are huge - they comprise of a midrange and tweeter as well as two 8" woofers and have a maximum power rating of 200watts apiece - these things can go really loud - though i havent driven them to anywhere near straining them yet



notice that the dvd player and amp actually match - which amazed me since that was another bonus --- and also notice that i have all my electronic equipment placed on concrete paving slabs wherever possible


CONTINUED BELOW

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next up you can see the tv with the centre channel speaker placed on it - the tv is the weak point but by the end of the year i should have either a 42" plasma or a nice XGA DLP projector so that is a point which will improve



and then its the turn of the rear speakers - for that i selected the MF650 speakers which are about 3 centimeters shorter than the 750's and these handle only 180 watts compared to the 200 of the front speakers you can see the sub peeking out behind the rears



next in the list is the subwoofer - and this thing is really massive - it pushes out 500watts RMS and can basically pound you into another zip code - it utilises 2 x 12" subwoofer drivers - one facing forward and the other down thus it sits on a platform .......if you invite loads of people over to watch a movie and you are one seat short - dont worry this thing can seat the guy and play the low down subbass as well - and it weighs in at a hefty 54 kgs .........so if you want to carry it anywhere then make sure you have 4 people around else you gonna suffer

Now why do you do that?

continued from above

last pic i have is of the rears with the rear surrounds - now im not a 7.1 channel fan since there are absolutely not 7.1 movies available - only games - so i have the small speakers set up for 7.1 for when i link the PC up to the set - but to me the rear surrounds are an afterthought since 5.1 does amazingly well when its properly setup - you will notice that these speakers are bolted to the wall but havent been wired yet since the wire is going to be visible - i will wire them since the wires are ready and dumped under the sofa - but as yet theres been no urgent need to wire them up



other than for that the pc and video machine are also switched into the loop via the digital switchbox using mostly s-video cables wherever i can (acoustic research pro 2's) and i also am using loads of acoustic research speaker cable approximately 70 meters of that stuff which accounts for the excellent picture and sound quality

future plans to improve the system basically include putting some paving blocks under all the speakers (especially the sub) and getting some spikes at the bottom of the 4 main speakers - also wanna get a playstation 3 to link up to it when thats available and also got to do the screen upgrade i mentioned earlier so everythings on track to make up an awesome superb entertainment centre with an A64 computer as the hub around which everything else centres upon

for the moment the sub is also turned down very low since when its on high you could lose your ability to create kids but the system can sound awesomely superb with movies and decent with stereo music but i still prefer my hi-fi for that

will update as things go along

well void - if you notice the units are all on a wooden surface which will actually vibrate as the music plays - thus you need to decouple those units from the surface its on - i still need to add some spiked platforms for the HT stuff like you can see on my Hi-Fi amp and cd player since those really create minimal contact with the surface that the units are placed on

the vibrating surface affects the electronics adversely since it basically creates a feedback to those electronic components which recieve a vibration of the signal that its playing thus you counteract this by using the paving slabs and spikes - its a tweak which has really worked for me since it makes my hi-fi sound as good as equipment that costs 4 times as much

Sorry for having split your posts up.
I know about spiked platforms, and have almost managed to put a spike from one of those through my foot, but personally I noticed no difference between when the speakers were on the platforms and when they were mounted onto the wall, although the one speaker suffered a bad fall so maybe that contributes to not hearing a difference. Then again I'm not an audoiphile either I suppose, yet.

dont worry about splitting the posts - there is a reason why the reply button is there in the forum and thats for everyone to reply - thus it wasnt a train smash to split the posts

as for the results of your listening tests - i would say that the source material plays a huge role in this - listening to mp3's will never yield any improvement since its a lossy compresion - but using a reference cd which is known to be well recorded .....preferably an instrumental jazz cd will demonstrate the differences between many different configurations - i have experimented with my hi-fi for over 10 years and ive had loads of 6 hour listening sessions and each tweak ive done to me has improved the sonics of my system

part of being an audiophile is also the type of music you listen to thus if you listen to rock or rap or trance or any form of dance music as well as general pop music then the system its played back on will make a minimal difference - but to the guys who are into jazz and classical and contemporary music will find that the system can make huge differences - i dont want to sound pretentious - but loads of guys who claim that things like cable or spikes dont make a difference are only listening to the tonality of the music and are basically thinking that stereo means that you hear two different things happening from each speaker without understanding why

well basically if you have a decent system which is properly configured ie speakers on spikes and "toed in" then when you sit between them and listen you should actually hear them playing in a slightly holographic three dimensional manner ie you should imagine the band placed in an imaginery soundstage in front of you - the vocalist should most of the time be in the centre - in my case more or less where the tv is - but should also sound a bit more foreward than anyone behind him during the performance eg the drummer - the better your system and its related components and configuration - the more realistic and lifelike this effect becomes

i have reference tracks where the band seems so real that you feel that you can stand up and go and shave the lead vocalists hands - and drum tracks where you can hear the cymbals and high hats actually panning between mid centre and centre stage - with percussive instruments to the left and other tracks where you can actually hear the depth ie front to back seperation between the musicians - and all that is with a stereo set of speakers

the only problem now is that my hi-fi speaker drivers have begun cracking since they are made of polypropylene - thus i will need to order the woofers from england - i cannot replace those with alternative speaker drivers since each enclosure and port is tuned for different drivers - and every 5 years or so im gonna have to replace those since apparently sea air and heat dont go too well with polypropylene - but thankfully the cost of replacement drivers isnt too high as long as they are available since i got them around 7 years ago for R600 so im hoping it wouldnt be too far removed from that since its a discontinued model of speaker ....and i only need one this time around - in the meantime ill have to rely on the HT setup and my car system for my listening

i feel i need to explain this a little further - the engineers who record these cd's actually adjust the bass and treble as well as volume levels to be a bit "hot" ie those are all adjusted to make the cd sound super bassy and also super trebly and volume levels are adjusted to a point where (if you remember tape decks) they are falling well into the red zones which means your levels are too high

jazz and classical and contemporary recordings are generally done in two mike studios or even concert halls - and everything is adjusted for it to be as normal as possible - the engineer can play with time aligning where performers are in the soundstage by making one side softer and the other louder - thus this creates a shift in the soundstage of that particular performer - but those type of manipulations can sometimes do more harm then good and thus they arent often done

most (note:not all) modern rap and rock and dance and trance tracks are just overengineered for tonality and dont even have a decent soundstage - but that doesnt really matter since most of these sources are played in circumstances where a soundstage doesnt matter - and most listeners are not educated about sound quality and will never notice a lack thereoff - but will be impressed by7 loud sounds which dont even sound like a musical instrument - most of the time when i listen to other systems i cannot make out a difference between the double bass and the kick drums - and if you have a track with lots of toms and kick drums being played and a bass guitar and double bass is also present well goodby to any sembelance of defenition - its all going to be a huge mush of wooshing and hard hitting bass which everyone is gonna call "awesome" - even though im a basshead too i still like it to be defined - which is why i dont bother with much modern music unless it falls into a genre which requires it to be well recorded

a system like my hi-fi demands that you dont listen to stuff that isnt recorded well - since it sounds like the terrible noise that it really is - but the performers were actually playing it well - and dont even let me get started on how local engineers also ruin the cd's with their adjustments before they print them here at CDT - i have many imports and comparing those with the local versions shows you that these are chalk and cheese so yeah my musical taste has me trying to relive the past rather than getting all the new stuff unless its really well recorded which is very rare these days (i dont really mind that since it saves me money cos i dont have to buy much music besides for the occasional jazz disc every now and then )

also i apologise if im coming across as a lecturer - but maybe you play some form of music which means you should understand what im saying better - as should anyone who performs

the rant was just cause most people dont really understand audio and what its all about

listening to your favourite tracks loud is only one aspect of it - but its multi-facetted so i suppose if you just like it loud and coming from anywhere or everywhere then i suppose you have a right to listen to it like that with no need to really adjust your listening habits ........main thing though is as long as you enjoy what you are listening to

Don't worry naughty. As usual you are passing on your guru skillz



DVD with DivX are so very scarce. When I was looking the only one I could find at my favourite HIFI retailer was the Philips. I know Philips make some good stuff, but just couldn't convince myself to get a Philips. Thus I ended up with the Sony.

Talking about computers and home entertainment you have to give Intel credit for their Dolby Master Studio. Just imagine of these certified mobo's.

Intel HD Audio supports current Dolby sound technologies, including Dolby Digital*, Dolby Digital Live, and Dolby Digital EX; Dolby Pro Logic* IIx, Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby Digital Recording, Dolby Digital Stereo Creator, Dolby Headphone*, and Dolby Virtual Speaker*.

Specifications

Multi-streaming technology. Intel HD Audio features multi-streaming capabilities that allow users to send several audio streams from one PC to different locations at the same time. It supports multiple channels at 192-kHz/32-bit quality, dependent on the audio hardware codec capabilities, compared to the previous AC'97 maximum of six channels at 48-kHz/20-bit quality.

What you think of that

Damn, all that for a lounge! I've got sitting in my garage at least 2500Watts RMS speaker and amp equipment, but never have time or opportunity to set it up for my own listening pleasure

The neighbours would probably call the police anyway...

but on the other hand, when I do set it up I get to play it as loud as I can

Obviously I'm talking mostly quantity while you've got some awesome quality there, big difference in needs. But mine can still sound really good when its setup right. When I retire my lounge is gonna shake

How does that dvd player handle DIVX?

I've got a Wharfdale one that says it plays DIVX, but struggles to play without jumps, skips and staling with divx files I've made direct from dvd using dvd decrypter and AGK. Downloaded ones obviously arent any better. I havent been able to watch many all the way through. It is nice being able to put 6 divx files on a single dvd and play any one of them though. If only they played better on my dvd player!

well i have 4 movies on divx - and this player plays them alsmost as good as the origional dvd's - only thing is pan & scan option doesnt work on these and i have to stick to the 16:9 format which means those ugly lines at the top and bottom of the screen

djmike - im sure that your setup will sound awesome when it is set properly



that sony probably isnt bad - but that phillips is awesome - ive seen it and it was my second choice - but only the pioneer has better video playback quality when you use s-video thus i sacrificed the dvd+r/rw playback and got the pioneer - the phillips was cheaper too by about R400 but i stuck to my guns with the pioneer



damn - that sounds awesome - gives onboard a new dimension - now if only AMD starts using something like this for their mobo's



well my dvd player is only capable of 192khz at 24 bit so this spec is already higher - and even though the final sound depends on many factors such as the quality of your DAC's etc i am impressed

and the big question on everybodies lips... how much does an exercise like this cost?

aCe - this was a special at Govan Mani - they had it marked at R5999 and the additional floorstanders go for around R1299 and the various cables and digital switchbox as well as rechargeable batteries for the remote with the charger would be around R1000 more - but i did not pay that price - in fact it was just a wee bit more than what a logitech Z5500 would retail for - but it would be unfair of me to mention the actual price i paid

in terms of this the price at Govan Mani was amazing since the subwoofer is normally R4999 and the set sells with a much smaller subwoofer which retails at around R1899 - that set with the smaller sub is also to be found at other places complete as a 7.1 setup for around R8999 but that has the small speakers only all around the rear and uses the MF650 floorstanders upfront and also uses the smaller sub

normally this type of a system would go for over 10k but i was lucky to get it for a lot less - thanks to BABLOO of Govan Mani

Nice setup naughty! Its like my dads heaven... Nice job man.

I have an LG DVD/VCR combo machine, that came with 5 speakers and a woofer for around R1300, and it plays DIVX and VCD perfectly, no drops in sounds (from the DIVX, not from the DVD obviously, because I can never find top quality DIVX) or video quality.

Naughty, you have a PM

very nice setup, home theatre is a worthy investment in the end. it really depends on what gets your going. my uncle has a B&W setup worth over R100k. the specs of each little thing fail my memory though (B&W speakers kind of stay in your head so i remember that one - you wont forget them believe me)

Click to view attachment

Bwahaha own3d

model number? I also have the dvd/vcr combo (which was recently repaired by LG cause the DVD Pc Board blew, they were kind enough to multizone it for me) and I don't know if mine is capable of DIVX or not.

LH CX245W
I think thats what you are after.
Mine has a line of logo's on the front panel at the top right, including Windows Media Player, DVD, CD etc.. maybe have a look if yours has?

Lol

Naughty has actually gone the right way here. I started with this exact setup. The sony's arn't bad but there is allot lacking in that setup (although it is more than adequate for most) Just dont be bitten by the AV bug I have in the last 2 months built a setup worth over 100K and soon I will be extending my house with a dedicated soundproof AV Room. This stuff can get so out of hand!!!!

Yeah you are outta hand

sorry for going a little of topic, but how does the enviroment affect your sound? Like for instance in a room with naked tiles on the floor and moslty naked walls? and what can you do to improve it?

Man, it has the biggest effect on the sound.
I never thought it would, until I moved to Dubai, where all the walls are concrete block bricks, not the regular clay that is used in SA, also, our floors are tiled, and the rooms are irregularly shaped.
We HAD to get a surround sound system otherwise you couldn't hear any dialogue in a movie when sitting any further than 2 meters away from the tv.

Good luck with the AV room W( at )RP( at )T}{, I hope you are going to invite me over for a screening or some hardcore big screen gaming?

well you will be hearing lots of reflected sound - and this causes echoes etc - thus you need to carpet the floors and use diffusers at the walls - but most people just dont worry about the walls - a huge rug on the tiled floor will help too - just remember to have spikes under the speakers - or if you have bookshelf speakers then you need to have those on spiked stands



LOL - yeah - the AV setup is just an afterthought for me - these are basically just gonna be the pc speakers and its a bonus that i have a dvd player with it .......though my Hi-Fi is a priority and someday im gonna get me a krell setup ......but i gotta move out of this apartment though ......maybe when i build my dream house ill do what you are doing and organise a special Hi-Fi room

but you are right - its not a hobby for the budget concious LOL

As Naughty said, acoustically treating your room can add up to 40% better sounding AV stuff.

Personally AV is extremely rewarding (when the wife is not around) LOL

And Extremely Expensive!!!!!

If you want to look at some of my stuff go here: http://chill.vault9.net/forums/Home_Theater-t22450.html

Still waiting on my room although that will cost another 50K or so