Our Theater (Third and Final one)

Note:  Current Room Photos Begin   HERE

 

 

 

Equipment when I started this thread:

JVC RS2 w/ Powered Anamorphic Lens; Dunlavy SC-IVA's, HRCC, SC-I's; Bryston 7B-ST amps (2); Seaton SubMersive Subs (4) ;Onkyo 885 Surround Processor; Oppo BD83 Blueray Player; Emotive Audio XPA-3 Amp; Acoustic Innovations Seating; RPG ARC BAD Panels; BPT 3.5 Signature Plus, BPT Ultra 1, RPG Skylines (38), VPI TNT 3.5 Turntable, Audio Research Phono Stage; Jeff Rowland Capri Preamp; QSonix Music Server; stupid expensive power cords; Room design by Rives Audio; Blue Jeans Cables; Michael Green Justa Racks; Rear and Center Channel Speaker Stands by Sound Anchor; Digital Processing by QSC (Parametric EQ and rear sub time delay)

 

Before ending up where I am now, I upgraded to the Dunlavy SC VI's.  I had owned this pair previously but had to sell them due to a divorce.  Still an amazing speaker but the tweeters just did not do well at high volume.

 

Current Equipment

VIDEO EQUIPMENT:

JVC RS55 w/ Powered Anamorphic Lens
Screen Masking System by Somis Systems
Stewart Filmscreen 2:35 120 x 51 inch screen (1.3 Gain)
Lumagen XD Video Processor
DARBEE DARBLET High-Defintion Image Enhancer

SPEAKERS:

LCR: Seaton Catalysts Powered Speakers on sand-filled Seaton Stands
SUBS: Seaton SubMersive HP (4);
Surrounds: Seaton Sparks (4) Powered Speakers

ELECTRONICS:

Integra 80.2 SSP (with Audyssey Pro)
APS 1050 Power Conditioner
APS 2000 Power Conditioner

Emotiva XPS-1 --  2 Chan Preamp with built in Bass Management & HT Pass-through

Emotiva XDA-2  -- USB D to A Converter (2 ch only)

Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core room correction device used for HT Subs only

qøl™ – signal completion stage by BSG Technologies

SOURCES:

Music Vault Diamond Music Server (J River and J Remote for controlling my music server)

Dirac Live room correction software running on MusicVault
Oppo BD83 Bluray Player
DirecTV DVR

ROOM STUFF:

Theater chairs by Berkline
RPG BAD Panels
RPG BAD ARC Panels
Acoustic Panels by GIK
RPG Skylines

MISCELLANEOUS:

BlueJeans Interconnect Cables (XLR and Single Ended)
Monoprice XLR interconnects
Control4 Equipment Controller

 

Room is 22.5 feet long; 17.5 feet wide with 9.75 foot ceilings. Bass traps in sofits and all four corners

These are photos of the room when I first completed it. On page 3 of this thread (Post 69) [HERE], you can see what the room now looks like with current speakers and other cosmetic/acoustic changes. The front wall has been treated on all four sides of the screen, a masking system has been installed, new chairs have been installed, and the surround speakers have changed to all Seaton and two addtional surrounds have been added. Additional room treatment has also been included









Currently looking into Mark Seaton Mains (Catalyst).

Edited by audioguy - 3/13/13 at 8:23pm

Thanks for the very nice comments. This "journey" began in 1964. (And yes, it is an addiction ).

I'm one who believes you can place an average system in an acoustically well done room and outperform a system costing 10 times that amount in a crappy room.

My love is primarily two channel but my bride likes movies (as do I) so we are spending (for now) more time watching movies than listening to music.

The four new Seaton SubMersives have done more to enhance the movie experience than any other single component.

It does indeed. Eight (8) 15 inch drivers with 2400 watt amp with each sub (each has dual 15's) is a bit crazy. Incredibly, I am only about 4db down at 5Hz. The bump at 50Hz and 65Hz have been smoothed out with Audyssey Pro.

I have found a much different solution. That would be called: Out of Money/Broke

But I'm not complaining. As you know, if you allow yourself, there is always something brighter, faster, better, cooler, more powerful, cleaner, etc. I have (for the most part) gone way past that point on the upgrade curve where it now cost LOTS and LOTS and LOTS to get very little improvement.

Now if I were to win the lottery

croseiv:

Thank you for the kind comments:

You have some serious woof in your room -- very nice!

BigRed: Some of the photos have acoustic paneling on the front wall and some don't.

Very nice looking room.

Thank you. It is a sealed room. Purpose built listening room/theater in the basement but with no attention given to sound leaking into the rest of the house. ( Built before I go married )

120 inches wide with 2:35 aspect ratio.

If your room is really 20x20 you are going to have some serious bass issues and will need trapping and EQ.

Good luck with your theater!

You can purchase the model just prior to the ones I use for under $2K per pair when you can find them on Audiogon (Dunlavy SC _IV). The steal of high end audio. Put those in the front, some SC I's in the rear and center (when you can find them) and for less than $3500 have a truly world class speaker surround system.

ddgtr:

Thanks for the complement.

I had tried numerous amps (ML, Krell) with Dunlavy's and (for me) the Brystons had much better control of all aspects of the sound... and you can find them used for great value.

Dunlavy sound is incredibly accurate but that is not to lots of listeners liking. If you don't have the right sized room, bass can be overwhelming and correct placement is critical. EQ/Room correction will really help.

There are speakers that have more transparent midrange, others with more mid bass slam, others with better high end ---- but I have yet to hear anything (at any price) that does it ALL better than the Dunlay's that would make me want to change.....but I never stop looking.

mrlittlejeans:

I had seen those. I used to own VI's and am familiar (I believe) with the pair listed. If they are the pair I think they are, they were severely abused by the original owner who used them in a recording studio and played them at ear-crushing levels and blew out the tweeters on a regular basis ---- and no tellilng what other damage may have occured to other components.

If they are not that pair, I would not want them without grills and they are overpriced for my budget.

But thanks for the heads up.

I had to sell my VI's when I went through a divorce and I sold them to a friend. They have been handled properly and if he ever decided to sell them, I would buy them back.

hometheatergeek:

Thanks for the heads up. I will check it out. Any chance of me coming by anytime soon and hearing your system?