The main HT room is 14'6" (W) X 11' (H) X 21' (L) with a recess of 3' in the back of the room, so the room is 24' long in reality.

Acoustically treated and optimized, this room is geared toward films sessions, but is also pretty good for multi-ch music listening (DVD-A and SACD).

Displays:
JVC DLA HD-1 (RS-1...) 1080p 3 chips LCOS projector
Da-Lite Hi-Power Da-Snap Pro-Trim 110'' diagonal screen
Pioneer Elite Kuro Pro-111FD 9G
Sony 40XBR800 (ISF calibrated by Michael TLV) (second room for the kids)
Clarion VMA5894 5.8" LCD TFT screen (in the HT, to avoid using the projector for calibrations and DVD-A listening)

Masking system:
4-way motorized masking system from HTIQ

Pre/pro for the HT:
Anthem Statement D2v (Gennum VXP scaler at 1080p out to JVC HD-1) with ARC-1 room-eq

Sources:
Oppo BDP-83 (Blu-ray player)
Toshiba HD-AX2 (HD-DVD player) (main room)
Sony PlayStation 3 80GB first gen
Sony PlayStation 3 40GB
1X X-Box 360 HD-DVD add-on
Oppo 970HD (for 480i over HDMI to Gennum scaler...)

DVD Recorder:
Pioneer DVR-633H-S

Amps (HT):
Anthem Statement P2 (2X325W)
Anthem Statement P5 (5X325W)

Speakers:
Paradigm Signature S8 (2X)
Paradigm Signature C5
Paradigm Signature S2 (4X)
Paradigm Signature Servo

HD HTPC:

OS: VISTA 64 BIT
Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe X58
Chip: Intel Core i7 920
Heatsink: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme 1366RT
RAM: 6X2GB (=12GB) Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24 Triple Channel
Display: LG W3000H-BN S-IPS 30'' LCD 2560X1600! gaming goodness! :)
Graphic card: HIS Radeon 4870 X2 (replacing a POS NVidia GTX 280) + 4870 1GB = Tri-Crossfire :)
Sound: SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium Champion PCI-E
HDD: Intel 80GB SSD X25-M (2nd gen) WD Velociraptor 300GB Seagate 7200.12 3X 1TB
PSU: Corsair HX1000 (1000W)
Case: CoolerMaster Stacker 830 Evo
HD-DVD: XBox 360 add-on drive!
Blu-ray writer: LG GBW-H20L
DVD writer: 2X Lite-On
Logitech G5
Logitech G15 (2nd gen)
Sennheiser PC161

Power conditionning:
Panamax Max Service Entrance Protection (whole house protection)
Panamax AC regenerator 5510
2x Panamax 4400-20A (for my 20A circuits): 1 for each amp
APC Back-UPS XS 1200VA (BR1200) with battery for the projector
Panamax Max2Sub for the sub
Panamax M8DBS-EX: for the LCD tft screen
Monster HTS-3500: 2ch "wife's" system

HD-decoders:
Star Choice DSR-500 (component to Sony 40XBR800)
Star Choice DSR-505 (DVI to Toshiba 34HFX83)
Star Choice DSR-530 HD-PVR

Kid's room with kid's HT, Plasma Elite Kuro:
Pioneer VSX-1018AH-K
Panasonic SA-XR50S (full digital amps)
Paradigm Studio-20v3 with J29 stand
Paradigm CC-290
Paradigm Atom (surround)
Paradigm Ultracube 12
CambridgeAudio Azur 640C CD-player
Nintendo Wii
PS3
X-Box 360

Tactile transducers:
8 Aura bass-shakers
250W Sub plate amp with remote (from PartsExpress...)

Cables and interconnects:
Audio (digital and analog): Acoustic Research Master serie
Audio (balanced-XLR): Blue Jeans Cables XLR-balanced
Video (digital): Ultralink HDMI HD Pro only
Video (analog): Acoustic Research Master Serie
Speakers: PartsExpress Carol in-wall 12 GA

Misc:
HD camcorder (AVCHD): Sony HDR-SR12 (120GB HDD)
CalMAN software + Eye-One Pro spectro
AEMC CA813 Light-Meter
X-BOX 360 (with HD-DVD drive...)
Vibrapods under: Pioneer BDP-HD1, Toshiba HD-XA2, 4XSignature S2, 2XStudio-40, sub Signature Servo, Cambridge 640C, Panasonic SA-XR50

And over 96 sheets of Owans-Corning 2'X4' fiberglass 703 spread all across.

Main room (dedicated HT):

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/DSC02685_Medium_.JPG

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/DSC02691_Medium_.JPG

4 way masking system at 2.35:1

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/DSC03589_Medium_.JPG

Kid's HT:

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/502/DSC00366_copie2.jpg

Wife's new living-room:

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/39995DSC02519_Medium_.JPG

Originally posted by LEVESQUE:

"Displays:
Toshiba MT800 DLP projector (April)"

Saw one at the 2003 WCES in Vegas and liked a lot. With an all digital source via the DVI signal path way, thing do sing! Please consider the purchase of a video scaler to match the 800's 720p native resolution. The new DVDO-HD video processor can do that as well as providing DVI output facilities (doesn't scale HD signals, however), and is modestly priced.

"Sony 40XBR800 (ISF)(second room)"

My secondary system also uses this direct-view CRT monster. Best TV set I've ever owned. But be aware that a 1080i HD signal will lock the set in 16x9 mode. I am using a Samsung SIRT-T165 STB for OTA SD and HD transmissions, to provide some aspect ratio controlling of 4:3 video material from OTA and satellite transmissions (zoom and pillar-boxing), up-convert DVDs and laserdiscs signals, as well as to provide control of the JVC 40K and Mitsubishi 2000U D-VHS decks (connected via Fire-wire interfacing).
The 1080i output (too bad this set doesn't do 720p...rats!) goes to the 40XBR800 set via the DVI output option (the Sammy can also output RGB and component video).
I think you'll greatly enjoy this big toy... :)

"Sources:
Denon DVD-5900 (main room)"

I would prefer a video processor deinterlace the DVD signal and scale it up to 720p rather than using the 5900's 480p output or the 800's own scaler.
This will avoid the creation of scaling artifacts, therefore obtaining greater performance out of the video ensemble, me thinks.

"And over 96 sheets of Owans-Corning 2'X4' fiberglass 703 spread all across."

Excellent idea, but must cost an small fortune!

Anyhow...these are my .2 cents. Cheers... :)

-THTS

Originally posted by Frank J Manrique
My secondary system also uses this direct-view CRT monster. Best TV set I've ever owned. But be aware that a 1080i HD signal will lock the set in 16x9 mode.


Just for you info, disabling the JUMP setting in the user menu let you stretch the picture to fill the complete 40" even on a 1080i signal. It's not worst then using a stretch mode with a 4:3 signal to be stretch to fill a 16:9 screen. Works pretty well for me!

2 major changes in my set-up:

I went with the JVC HX-1U instead for my projector.

Anthem AVM20 has been changed for the new Anthem Statement D1

The 3rd room is now done, and I did update my first post with a picture.

So our garage is now totally converted in a dedicated HT and this living-room. It's finally all done. It was a long 6 months...

Beautiful systems!!

Levesque:

Veryveryveryvery nice.

Which channel are you running the Bryston to (Front mains? Rear surrounds?)?

Do you find a difference in timbre between them and the P5?

Thank you.

Bryston 4BSST: Sig S8 (mains).
Anthem P5: Sig C5 (center) and the 2 pairs of Sig S2 (surrounds).

I don't find any difference in timbre between those 2 amps. Works pretty well for me.

Update.

2ch system in wife's room:

Panasonic SA-XR50S (full digital amps)
Paradigm Studio-40v3
Yamaha CDX-393MkII

Main room (HT):

Just received the DVDO IScan HD+
Pioneer Elite 59avi (for 480i over HDMI to IScan HD+)

Sold my Denon 5900-SDI modded.

Just added 4 things... the last step in the construction of the HT, but really important... surge protection...

Panamax AC regenerator 5510
2x Panamax 4400-20A (for my 20A circuits): 1 for each amp
Panamax Max Service Entrance Protection (whole house protection)
Panamax Max2Sub for the sub

For those wondering... The Panamax 5510 doesn't do anything on the sound (I don't hear anything different...), but it's cleaning the video signals a little bit, particularly the noise in the background with the satellite decoder and the DVD player...

Nice love the look.

Levesque,
Thanks for taking the time and effort to post your shots and detailed descriptions of your construction. Your attention to details is remarkable and appreciated. I noticed you came out of a sub panel for your feeds instead of directly out of a main panel. Is that so you could further isolate the ground for a dedicated circuit. I came directly out of my 200 amp main panel with my 5 20 amp circuits because it was only 8' away from my outlets.

kenabb.

thank you for your kind comments.

The sub panel was recommended by my electrician. It was also alot easier to work directly beside the rack and all the equipment, particularly when trying different combination of outlet and cables, and testing for ground-noise and electrical contamination.

We did try both configurations, with and w/o an isolated ground. The multi-ch amp (P5) is humming a little bit locally (not at the speakers level) w/o the isolated ground. The isolated ground get rid of this little "amp humming" totally.

The wife's living-room is now done. I just add a new photo of "her" room in the 1st post of this thread. The Toshiba 34HF83 look so small in there!

Just sold my Bryston 4BSST and bought an Anthem Statement P2 to replace it and have 7 identical channels of amplification.

wow this is really impressive!

I just took some new photos of the back of the room and the main rack. They are now in the first post of this thread. :D

Wow, awsome setups!

Can I come live at your house? :)

Personally I can't decide if I like dedicated rooms better than nicely integrated ones. It will be a while before I can afford a system like this, but I think nice integration is the thing for me. For example, depending on what you watch it is nice to be able to sit around a table. Don't get me wrong I would love to install your system at home :-P~~ I mean you have both a dedicated system and some "normal" ones ;). All and all, great :D

For example, depending on what you watch it is nice to be able to sit around a table.

That's why I have 3 different systems with displays, and a 2ch stereo system (I didn't took photos of that one). So the HT room is for serious films viewing only, but for casual music listening or watching TV with friends, then there is plenty of other choices in the house. :D

Sure, the best is to have it all ;) My current plans are to have a TV-room and a movie room (I also get a bonus room since I use rear projection in the movie room. A 90" screen in the bed room :D), but in the movie room there will also be a fire place and a "feeding" area :) That makes it harder to plan since you have different focus points, but I think it will be great :-P

Wow!!!

Ta salle est fantastique !
Your hometheater is truly impressive!

LEVESQUE, beautiful detail on the woodwork/columns/etc! I have to say i'm almost as jealous of the view as I am of the equipment.

Thank you guys! :D

Update: my new Sony "Ruby" VPL-VW100 is now up and running!

I will post some new pictures soon.

My new toy! Santa just left this by the door! :D

There was a photo of my Sony Ruby here, but since I don't have it anymore, the photo was removed... :D

Great Dedicated room!!!!! I don't think I missed it, but if I did sorry for asking again, how far from the screen is your front row? I have a similar size room and while I just ordered seating for 2 rows, I am a little concerned about the first row being too close. I was also wondering about the side tables you have. Are those freestanding tables or are they attached to the flooring and builtin? Did you purchase them or have them built? Final question is about your screenshots. Any suggestions on taking better screenshots? I have taken several experimenting with different ways of taking them and mine never seem to come out as good as the picture actually looks.

Again I love your room.
Thanks
Tony

how far from the screen is your front row? I have a similar size room and while I just ordered seating for 2 rows, I am a little concerned about the first row being too close

First row is at 10' from the screen. So 1.25X screen width.

I was also wondering about the side tables you have. Are those freestanding tables or are they attached to the flooring and builtin? Did you purchase them or have them built?

My father-in-law made them, custom built. They are totally filled with dry sand and the wood is all screwed and glued against vibration. There is a 1/2 thick glass on top of them. Really sturdy. They pass the "knock with fingers" test. :D

Final question is about your screenshots. Any suggestions on taking better screenshots? I have taken several experimenting with different ways of taking them and mine never seem to come out as good as the picture actually looks.

Always use a tripod. That's the most important thing. I'm not a "good" photograph myself. So I just do alot of shots at alot of different settings and usually there is a good one in the bunch... :D Sorry, nothing more scientifical here...

Very nice room, and incredible screen shots with the Ruby.

How do you like the HTIQ masking system? I'm thinking about going that route with a 2-way on a CH 2.35:1 system.

Very nice room, and incredible screen shots with the Ruby.


Thank you. :D In reality, the picture I get with the Ruby is better then those screenshots. Incredible projector.

How do you like the HTIQ masking system? I'm thinking about going that route with a 2-way on a CH 2.35:1 system.

For the price it can't be beat. BUT! You have to be an advanced DIY type of guy to install it. Not really user friendly. You have to find solutions of your own to alot of small "problems" during installation...

I think I may upgrade to the Ruby in a couple of years..

Not a problem with most things DIY for me. I know there was talk of a DIY version of it, and a more consumer-grade version -- which did you get, or is it all basically DIY? Seems a bit on the expensive side ($1K last I looked) for so much DIY, but if it works...

wow the picture from the ruby looks very crisp!

Nice work. And the Ruby looks awesome :)

I just got some spare time and took some new screenshots. 8' wide screen (110" dia).

LOST in 1080i (Satellite STB) de-interlaced by Gennum VXP to the Ruby at 1080p:

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/DSC03726_Medium_.JPG

And King Kong at 480i over HDMI from Pio Elite 79AVi, de-interlaced and scaled to 1080p by Gennum VXP, to Ruby. That's from a regular 480i DVD.

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/DSC03773_Medium_.JPG

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/DSC03751_Medium_.JPG

And LOTR at 480i over HDMI from Pio Elite 79AVi, de-interlaced and scaled to 1080p by Gennum VXP, to Ruby.

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/DSC03611_Medium_.JPG

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/DSC03600_Medium_.JPG

How is the brightness on the Ruby at 110"?

Did you do the auto iris mod?

How is the brightness on the Ruby at 110"?


With the Da-Lite hi-Power, there is no problem at all. It's still very bright after 200 hours.


Did you do the auto iris mod?

I'm almost always using "Darin's" tweak (43/44 at 140/650).

Very nice, that 800 lumen rating scares me a bit. The 51A is rated at 1200 and I consider it a dark pro jo.

Thank you. :D In reality, the picture I get with the Ruby is better then those screenshots. Incredible projector.



For the price it can't be beat. BUT! You have to be an advanced DIY type of guy to install it. Not really user friendly. You have to find solutions of your own to alot of small "problems" during installation...


Many of us are going to be faced with replacing our CRT FP (I have a Marquee 8500) mainly because of the conspiracy by the movie and equipment industry to go with HDMI and down-res anything else.

I love my CRT and have yet to see any of the solid state device come close to the picture quality of my CRT ....that is till I saw your screen shots. Have you owned a CRT FP? If you have how does this Sony "Ruby" compare? Your screen shot may have just given me hope that I will not have to give up the quality my CRT FP offers.

Love you HT BTW!

Thanks,

Steve

P.S. Where does the term "Ruby" come from you refer to when talking about your Sony VPL-VW100?

Have you owned a CRT FP? If you have how does this Sony "Ruby" compare?

No, but I was able to see some pretty good 9" in the past, like a G90 calibrated by William Phelps, and some top of the line Marquee and NEC. The Ruby Is better in all aspects except black level. With an HD source, there was no contest.

OOTB the Ruby is not that good. It needs some tweaking and a good calibration. But after that, it's able to go head to head, and even do some things better, then any 9" (even fully tweaked) out there.


Love you HT BTW!


Thank you! :D

Alain,

Your HT system is amazing. :D This is my first post to the AVS forum. I wanted to make my first post to you. You see it was your Anthem Statement P5 review and recommendation, which played a part in my finally purchasing a P5 for my system. I have been viewing the AVS forum for about a year now as a guest. Your posts seem to connect with me the most. Thank you for all your insights and informed prospectives. You are inspiring to me. By-the-way I just love your system. I love the process it took for you to develop and build your HT system. I think my tastes in audio visual equipment run similar to yours. All your photos look fantastic. Thank you for sharing your system. :)

I am a contributing senior member of the Martin Logan Owners Club, but it feel good to broaden my audiophile out look to the AVS Forum. One of the member of the ML Club, "Zip3kx07" (Joe) is also a fan of yours as well. ;)

Anyway its good to be here. :D

One of the member of the ML Club, "Zip3kx07" (Joe) is also a fan of yours as well. ;)


WOW! :eek: I have a fan club now! :D Thank you for the kind words, I appreciate it.

AVS is the best AV forum on the net IMHO. A "strange" mix of very passionate and knowledgeable people. I hope you will post more often and contribute to some threads. Welcome aboard!

Alain,

Thank you for the kind words and the welcome. :)
I'm considering purchasing an Anthem D1 in the future and sending it to be up graded. I have read your post on "Anthem D2 tweaks". Thank you for starting that particular thread as it is very informative and helpful, even for folks like me who haven't as yet purchased an Anthem D2 (or had a D1 refurbished).

I have a dumb question... So, Let me ask you this, if I was to purchase a used Anthem D1 (Audiogon). I could then just call or e-mail the Anthem company and make arrangements and then just send them my used D1 for up-grading? And they would just bill me ($1700.00 plus shipping)(USD) and send my D1 back to me, just that simple?

Now that you've had it a while, how do you like your Sony "Ruby" VPL-VW100? As I'm considering the Ruby or may wait for an Sony or other make - LED or Laser front projector product, in the not too distant future, if it is not over $10,000.00 (USD). :o

Also, I noticed that you have an electronic four-way masking device attached to your Da-Lite High Power screen. Is the masking device a Da-Lite product as well? Is it remote controlled? Do you find it useful in your HT?

IMHO, you have a truly marvelous HT system. I was just wondering, with a system as complete as yours is their anything you see up-grading or modifying at all on down the road?

It's a real pleasure for me, to be communicating with you about audio.

So, Let me ask you this, if I was to purchase a used Anthem D1 (Audiogon). I could then just call or e-mail the Anthem company and make arrangements and then just send them my used D1 for up-grading? And they would just bill me ($1700.00 plus shipping)(USD) and send my D1 back to me, just that simple?


Exactly. They will snap the new board in and change the backplate. It will then be exactly like a D2, minus the stickers and logos on the frontplate. :D


Now that you've had it a while, how do you like your Sony "Ruby" VPL-VW100?


I've seen almost all the best 9" CRTs out there, and the Sony Ruby, paired with the new Toshiba HD-DVD player I got is the best I have ever seen. You need to tweak your Ruby tough (just like every projector), but after that there is not a single 9" CRT that can touch that unbelievable PQ with HD.

Color decoder calibration (primaries and secondaries), greyscale, iris tweaks, custom gamma curve to get rid of the "brightness compression", uniformity... A couple of hours of hard work, but a major difference in the end!


Also, I noticed that you have an electronic four-way masking device attached to your Da-Lite High Power screen. Is the masking device a Da-Lite product as well? Is it remote controlled? Do you find it useful in your HT?


No. My motorized masking system was done by Don (HTIQ).

http://www.htiq.com/

Fair prices and great products. Don is a really nice person to deal with. And I couldn,t live anymore with a masking system. It's one of those thing making you wandering how you could live w/o it before.


I was just wondering, with a system as complete as yours is their anything you see up-grading or modifying at all on down the road?

Probably a 1080p 3 chip DLP will be in my room in a couple of months... :D A Blu-Ray player should come in soon also...

That dedicated room is absolutely gorgeous!

awesome!! the quality of the tv its excelent!

Probably a 1080p 3 chip DLP will be in my room in a couple of months... :D A Blu-Ray player should come in soon also...

Very good info to know ;)

You know my email for when you will have a fully calibrated Ruby for sale :D

nice setup!

I noticed that you didnt go with the Panamax UPS.
Was there a reason?

nes

New upgrade.

HD HTPC:

Motherboard: Asus P5W-DH Deluxe
Chip: Intel Core2Duo E6600
RAM: 2 GB Corsair 4-4-4-12-2
Graphic card: XFX GeForce 8800 GTX (HDCP, DirectX 10 card)
Sound: SoundBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
HDD: 2X Seagate 320GB 7200.10 SATA-300 RAID 0 (fast!)
PSU: Antec Trio 650W
Case: Antec P180 black
HD-DVD: XBox 360 add-on drive!
DVD writer: Lite-On
Blu-ray: coming soon!
Logitech G5
Logitech G15

And coming soon also: HD-DVD and/or Blu-ray writer...

What a marvelous system... something to aspire to! Keep us posted when you get your 3 chip DLP. BTW, which one(s) are you considering?

Very very nice set up indeed! I am impressed!

Damn dude - love the Paradigm Sigs. What a gorgeous looking room.

How far away from St. Catharines, ON are you? ;)

Damn dude - love the Paradigm Sigs. What a gorgeous looking room.

How far away from St. Catharines, ON are you? ;)

Thank you! I'm probably at 10 hours form St. Catharines, but if you want to make the trip, I will be happy to show you my room! :D

I'm living at 6 hours up north from Montreal...

New players in the room.

In the red corner, the Toshiba HD-XA2 HD-DVD player, and in the blue corner, the Pioneer BDP-HD1 Blu-ray player. The clash of the titans! :D

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/DSC04485.JPG

good stuff... the HT room looks exquisite...

the living room looks very nice as well, but no room in that small cutout for anything larger...?

Can't wait for some HD DVD screenshots!

New upgrade.

HD HTPC:

Motherboard: Asus P5W-DH Deluxe
Chip: Intel Core2Duo E6600
RAM: 2 GB Corsair 4-4-4-12-2
Graphic card: XFX GeForce 8800 GTX (HDCP, DirectX 10 card)
Sound: SoundBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
HDD: 2X Seagate 320GB 7200.10 SATA-300 RAID 0 (fast!)
PSU: Antec Trio 650W
Case: Antec P180 black
HD-DVD: XBox 360 add-on drive!
DVD writer: Lite-On
Blu-ray: coming soon!
Logitech G5
Logitech G15

And coming soon also: HD-DVD and/or Blu-ray writer...

What tuner card(s) and software are you using in your HTPC?

Thanks,

Steve

New projector in the room (2 on my photo :D) .

New JVC HD-1 (RS-1 clone). 1080p 3chips D-ILA projector.

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/DSC04522_copie.jpg

Are you going to stack those suckers, or what?! :)

Hello Rob!

I didn't told you since it was supposed to be a surprise. but I'm sending you the 2nd one... :D
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.
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.
.
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I'm kidding. It's for a friend. I will calibrate both. :p

Twins!!!
Who is getting the better of the two? ;)

Twins!!!
Who is getting the better of the two? ;)

Ha! Good question! ;)

New upgrade.

HD HTPC:

Motherboard: Asus P5W-DH Deluxe
Chip: Intel Core2Duo E6600
RAM: 2 GB Corsair 4-4-4-12-2
Graphic card: XFX GeForce 8800 GTX (HDCP, DirectX 10 card)
Sound: SoundBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
HDD: 2X Seagate 320GB 7200.10 SATA-300 RAID 0 (fast!)
PSU: Antec Trio 650W
Case: Antec P180 black
HD-DVD: XBox 360 add-on drive!
DVD writer: Lite-On
Blu-ray: coming soon!
Logitech G5
Logitech G15

And coming soon also: HD-DVD and/or Blu-ray writer...

Will this card drive two displays or can you only use one DVI at a time. Doesn't make any since to have two DVI connectors if you can't use them at the same time, but to make sure?????


Thanks

I bet a system like that is about as close to being "there" as they come. My mind reels when I consider how much time and money was spent on that set up - it's amazing! I bet when you put in a movie like "Starvation In Africa" you really feel hungry.

Update.

I just sold my Pioneer Elite BDP-HD1 Blu-ray player and got the Samsung BD-P1200 and a PS3 to replace it. :D

Nice setup! Your equipment list is a great place to look to get good ideas on good equipment (aside: I also have the D2 and Paradigm Signature speakers)!!

I was actually looking for a good 20 Amp surge protector last week. 20 Amp surge protectors are hard to find. After reading your equipment list, I saw that you had a Panamax MAX 4400-20A. I ordered it last week and just installed it in my home theater. I have 2 Rotel RMB-1095 amps connected to it. Each Rotel amp has a maximum draw of 1200 amps, so I can plug both of them into the same Panamax (unlike your amps which have a lot higher power requirement, and require one Panamax per amp!!).

I only have one dedicated 20Amp circuit in the front of my room (I have a 2nd dedicated 20Amp in the rear of the room for my projector and sub).
The dedicated 20Amp circuit in the front of the room feeds 2 outlets in a PS Audio power port (http://www.psaudio.com/products/powerport.asp). For some reason, if I plug the Panamax 4400 (which feeds the 2 amps) into one plug, and I plug in all the other equipment in the front of the room into the second adjacent plug (in the exact same PS Audio Power Port), I get a ground loop hum (aside: my D2 is connected to my amps via balanced lines and a 12 volt trigger). I thought the fact that the 2 plugs are in the same PS Audio Power Port will prevent a ground loop hum, but it doesn't. If I plug everything (except the sub and projector in the rear of the room) in the exact same plug using a power strip, I don't get a ground loop.

So, as a workaround, I will plug everything in the front of the room (except the sub and projector, which are in the rear) to the same plug using the PS Audio Juice Bar (http://www.psaudio.com/products/juicebar.asp). However, this Juice Bar power strip might only be 15Amps (I sent email to their tech support to verify), despite the fact that it has 20amp outlets. If so, I need a good 20Amp power strip. I don't need a surge protector, just a power strip, which will feed my Panamax and APC units.

Question - are you aware of any good 20amp power strips? I have a PS Audio Juice Bar, which comes with 20amp outlets, but after reading their web site, it seems it's only rated for 15amps. I'm thinking of maybe getting the APC AP9563 (http://www.apcc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=AP9563). Anyone else have any other recommendations for a 20 amp power strip?

Finally, I see that you have an AEMC CA813 Light-Meter. What do you use this for?

Thanks!

randman.

There is a ground screw/nut on the Panamax. You have to link all your power strips together using those screws. You can use a speaker wire for example. Really easy to do.

randman.

There is a ground screw/nut on the Panamax. You have to link all your power strips together using those screws. You can use a speaker wire for example. Really easy to do.

Levesque - Really?? I have 4 power devices: 2 APC H15 surge protectors, 1 APC Smart-UPS SUA750RM2U UPS, and 1 Panamax 4400 (not counting the Monster HTUPS 500 UPS for my projector in another part of the room). These 4 devices all have a ground lug. All I need to do is wire their ground lugs together in a serial fashion??

The Panamax 4400 manual says that the ground lug "provides a common grounding point for equipment with separate ground." However, the APC manuals say that the grounding lug is "for grounding the device to an external Transient Voltage Surge Suppression (TVSS) device." I don't know what a TVSS is. Do I need to do that, or do I just wire the 4 devices' ground lugs serially?

Thanks.

Levesque very nice only wish I could build a ht half as good as yours trying to learn from you and the others on this forum

how close is the closest listener to the side surorund speakers? have you had any problems with the listener being to close to the side surround speaker so that it is too loud for that person or the sound is too localized to the speaker itself, or in any way annoying? the reason i ask is that i have a fairly narrow room so that my seats will only be about 3 feet from the side column with the speaker (so the closest listener will be about 3 feet away) and i am worried about that being too close to the speaker. it seems liek you have some similar distances, at least from the pictures, i could be wrong. thanks for the help.

Ok,
I think I'll just pull my junk off of this site now!

Speakers:
Paradigm Signature S8 (2X)
Paradigm Signature C5
Paradigm Signature S2 (4X)

Man you have the speakers I've been wanting.. But I just can see dropping the $$$$ just yet.

WoW!!!
Anthem Statement D2

Dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Top Notch!

Shannon

The kid's HT was updated:

Pioneer Elite Kuro Pro-111FD (9G...)
Pioneer VSX-1018
Paradigm: Studio-20, CC-290, Atom x4, Ultracube 12
Toshiba HD-XA2(HD DVD)
PS3 40 GB (Blu-ray)
Star Choice 530
Plasma furniture: Meubles Laurier Opra Serie
http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/502/DSC00366_copie2.jpg

Very Nice. Studio 20 in Kid's HT room and Atoms relegated to surrounds...I feel so ashamed of my system. :)

HTPC upgrade.

New Intel Core i7 920 OC at 4.0 :D
Asus P6T Deluxe X58
6X2GB = 12GB Corsair DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24 Triple channel memory
LG Blu-ray writer/reader

What do you have to say about the pio 1018??

How do you like the Paradigm subwoofers? I have Paradigm all around but my sub is a DefTech Pro 250.. nice setup ..

the Kids have a pioneer elite kuro .... really???

What do you have to say about the pio 1018??

I really like it. Working flawlessly with my PX3, Toshiba HD-XA2 and my Star Choice DSR-530. And compared to Onkyo's receivers, the Pio stays REALLY cool, even after hours of heavy work. Since I'm using it in a closed cabinet behind a glass, it's impressive.

How do you like the Paradigm subwoofers? I have Paradigm all around but my sub is a DefTech Pro 250.. nice setup ..

It's not a Paradigm Servo... but for the price, it's doing a great job. Clean, tight bass. :)

the Kids have a pioneer elite kuro .... really???

Yes. Don't they deserve the best? :D

Honestly, the wife is also listening to her soaps on the Kuro. :)

This deserves a bump.

I'm loving your system Levisque. Especially that stand you have your Pio Elite on, just breathtaking. All the best and enjoy.

Very nice indeed. Hopefully you can post updated results of your setup

Yes. Don't they deserve the best? :D

Honestly, the wife is also listening to her soaps on the Kuro. :)

If by "deserve the best" you mean giving you a chance to buy something like that and get away with it then yes. :)

Love the whole room, i bet once you sit in one of those seats you don't want to get up.