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67K views 193 replies 29 participants last post by  AU26 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello everybody!

After several months of planning and then chasing the right products (within my budget), I am really happy with my HT.

Yes, next item to tackle is to upgrade the screen. But, keep in mind that what I have now is a Samsung 51" Plasma 3D TV purchased less that a year ago. So, my new projector and fixed screen will have to wait until 2013.

Meanwhile, I will enjoy my big sound with tiny screen............:rofl:

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Updated Pics at Page 4
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Things keep evolving.....

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Updated Pics at Page 12
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Few upgrades to the front stage....

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Updated Pics at Page 19
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So, what do you think guys?



View of my HT from my basement walkout door.





Front stage.





Front stage ........... no grills!





View of my HT from the guest room.





Left channel Polk Audio RTi A9 + SVS PB13-Ultra DSP





PS3 Fat Model Upgraded to 500 Gb + Velodyne SMS-1 + Samsung 3D BluRay Player + Emotiva XPA-5





Center Channel Polk Audio CSi A6 + Panamax 5300-EX 11 + Yamaha RX-A1010





DirecTV HR24 + Logitech Revue + Emotiva XPA-2





Right channel Polk Audio RTi A9 + SVS PB13-Ultra DSP





Surround Polk Audio RC80i In-ceiling speakers + Surround Back Polk Audio RC85i In-wall speakers





My babies, I mean my PB13-Ultras on Auralex Great Grammas




:hsd:
 
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#6 ·
Yeah, I don't think the 51" is small, but when you compare it against the rest of my setup it seems is out of scale. Oh well, hopefully in the near future a PJ will fix that......;o)

Yes, the Ultras are doing a great job in my room. I watched Flight of the Phoenix last night (plane crash scene) and oh boy.....it was amazing!

:unbelievable:
 
#15 ·
I do have Batman Begins and this afternoon I was watching The Dark Knight. Tron Legacy is way up on my list of movies to buy. But, I want it on 3D and I want bidding on eBay on a 4 disc edition.

Cloverfield and Battle LA are also pretty cool movies with a lot of bass in it.

:hsd:
 
#21 ·
cr136124 said:
Man, that is really cool......she didn't say "no".

:bigsmile:

So, what are you going to order?

Oh, and you will have a 5% discount as recurrent customer....:T
I'm not for the time being. I just wanted to see what type of reaction I would get out of her. She's been too patient and understanding throughout this whole upgrade process. When I actually have a dedicated theater room then I'll be going big with projectors and such. :)
 
#33 · (Edited)
Ok. I'm glad to report that things changed a bit in my room in the last past months. I was able to purchase a projector and screen for my room. The PJ is a Panasonic PT-AE8000U and the screen is a Elite Screens ER120WH1 Sable Fixed Frame Projection Screen (120 inch 16:9 AR).










That was one of the main issues from my previous setup.........I mean the 51" plasma TV was way too small. Now, the 120" screen is in a complete new league. Of course, the fact the Panny is an amazing projector helps a lot.









Other changes were related with the AVR. I replaced the Yamaha RX-A1010 with a Denon 4311CI (mainly due to Audyssey MultEq XT32) and my Samsung 3D player for an Oppo 103 player (this thing is a beast!).



Next step, I upgraded from a 7.2 to 11.2. To achieve this, I sold one of my XPA-2s and purchased an extra XPA-5. So, pretty much I have one XPA-2 to drive the front speakers. One XPA-5 for the surround, back surround and center speakers. And one XPA-5 for the wide and height speakers.



Of course, I need to add more speakers to my room for the 11.2 configuration. So, I purchased a pair of Polk Audio 265-RT as height speakers:



And, a second pair of RTi A9's as surround speakers:




Yes, I had to run additional speaker wires and wall plates to achieve this (not fun, but I did it):






And here a couple of pics of the speaker wires that I built:








On the acoustic treatment side, I added a thick carpet and window treatments. Planning on adding a couple of acoustic treatments to the walls in the near future.

So, what do you guys think?
 
#35 ·
Thanks a lot! Yeah, the projector/fixed screen combo just made it the trick for my room. It was my first projector, so I was a bit concerned about how it is going to perform at my room. Specially, due to the fact of the two windows to the size of the room. During the day, I can switch picture mode to Dynamic in order to have a brighter image. But, my wife gave me the window treatments as a gift, so when I need to block the light I just need to close them and all is good.

Here are a couple of extra pics of the PJ on its shelf:



 
#37 ·
@ robsong

No issue whatsoever on reproducing 3D material on this screen and thanks God no hotspot issues to report. I'm really happy on the performance of this screen. Yeah, is one of the entry level models, but I cannot tell you how impressive the picture quality is. Here a couple of pics, but still they are not making any justice to this PJ/Screen combo:





Oh, and thanks for the tip on the OC 703 material, that is exactly the product that I purchased. I built already 4 acoustic panels. I need to measure my room using REW before applying the treatments, so I can clearly see the improvement made after the panels are installed.

Cheers!
 
#38 ·
I see that your AVR is the Denon 4311ci and using Emotiva amp's to power your speakers. Did you notice an improvement in SQ vs AVR only powering your speakers. I'm using the Denon 4311ci to power my KEF Q900 center KEF Q600 for surrounds my using NHT for now. If you don't mine what part of the country do you live in.
 
#39 ·
No change on the SQ, what you gain is headroom. In other words, you can play your movies/music louder, no distortion and without the risk on clipping/damaging your speakers.

I guess you noticed on my pics, that I'm using large floorstanding speakers as fronts and also as surrounds. So, the extra power on the external amps is helping me to drive all the speakers and at the same time I have the benefit on not forcing my Denon's internal amps at all. In other words, all the work is done by the Emotiva's amps. If you don't listen at high volume levels, then your AVR will do a fine job.

I'm in Georgia, like one hour north of Atlanta.
 
#40 ·
But to play that loud you will damage your ears. I understand the headroom but does it make that much difference vs AVR amp's. I'm just trying to understand if your need all that power to drive your speakers. Also someday I would like to try out REW and see what is happening in my room. :dontknow:
 
#41 ·
I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I didn't hear you...........LOL!

You are right, listening for long periods of time at high levels will permanently damage your hearing. So, you need to be very careful about it. In my case, I don't tend to listen music all the time at high levels. But, there are some records that begs you to crank the volume a bit.

Personally, I think there is a difference. In "my" case (likes) and due to my current speakers. They actually perform much better when they are properly powered. These speakers can handle up to 500 watts, so you can definitely notice how things are more clear and detailed at lower levels. No need to crank the volume all the way up to hear all instruments or sounds (that was key for me!).

Others might disagree, and that is the trick. They might say is not worth it, but they will base the comment on their current system / room / taste.

I personally had the chance to try it myself and oh boy, I'm glad I did it. I'm not familiar with your speakers, so I really cannot tell you how they are going to perform if they are externally amplified.

However, if you have a chance to try it yourself. Just order an amp from one of those companies with risk free return policies, I would strongly recommend you to go ahead and do it. So, you will have first hand experience at your room and with your system. Worst case scenario, you just simple return the amp and everybody will be happy.

My two cents!
 
#43 ·
Good morning my friend! Yes, I did purchase the Elite Screens from Amazon. I do have a Premier account with them, so shipping was free. On top of that, it gave me peace of mind that if something was wrong with the screen I could return it without any hassle. And the price was just right for me.

As this is not a conventional dedicated HT room, I didn't contemplate the idea of painting walls or ceiling to a darker color. This for us, is a multi-purpose room, actually we have an extra guest room and full bath at the basement. So, we (my wife.....:whistling:) don't want to change the look of the room.

But, for folks with dedicated HT rooms are indeed reporting improvement on the PQ by going with darker paint color on walls and ceiling. If you can do that at your room, I'm positive is going to help you.

In my case, well is a bit of compromise, with what I have now..........honestly I can complain.........:T

What is that flashlight test that you are referring to?
 
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