EndersShadows New Digs - Page 4

Thankfully this will be a one time deal as I plan to back the FLAC files up as soon as I am done with them lol...

Then it just becomes a manage as you go kinda deal, which is what I am focusing on hehehe. That and starting to purchase CD's rather than the MP3's from Amazon...

Living/Family room update

So I finally did it....I found a set of LSi 15's to bring home . They are currently totally stock, but I am changing that quickly.

I purchased a set of Polk db840 subs that will replace the stock 8" woofers in the LSi's and will also be dynamatting the port tube and bottom deck of the cabinet as per some useful threads on Polk’s Forums. Then up in a year or so will be getting better crossovers.

I also got a totally empty CSi5 box from a local Polkie. I ordered all the parts from Polk yesterday for it. I gotta say for the price for everything but the box I got a steal (not revealing actual prices ). I am pairing it w/ the LSi 15's.

I know its not a perfect timbre match, but I am hoping it will be better than the LSiC center which I read up on and most seem to think its a bit anemic.

I heard a CSi5 paired with a set of vintage SDA's and couldn’t tell the difference timbre match wise, so hoping that stays true. If not I will sell it and use that cash toward the purchase of the LSiC.

I also got a set of 5 Signal Cable Analog 2 interconnects to replace the Monoprice ones running from my Integra to Carver amp. I heard them at a Local Polkies house and they do make a difference over the Monoprice stuff. That cost me about 150ish which isnt bad for a set of 5 3 foot cables.

So lots of stuff is moving as a result of the new speakers. The Monitor 60's are moving upstairs into the office along with possibly the PSW125. The Primus 162's are coming from the office down to replace the Monitor 40's as surrounds. The Monitor 40's and CS2 are going into a closet to possibly be gifted to my dad for a bday/christmas gift later this year.

Office update

Major changes in the office as well. I will be moving from a set of bookshelf speakers (Infinity Primus 162's) to a set of towers (Polk Monitor 60's from downstairs) and possibly a sub (PSW125 from downstairs). The HK 3490 will still be the source.

We also got a new desk so I will have the computer on the floor, speakers in either corner of the room, HK in the middle of the desk and then the Monitor on top of it until we wall mount it.


Pics will be forthcoming once its all said and done

Yup, specially after the hospital visits and surgery last year lol..... Honestly been spending most of my time on the Polk Forums, but check in here a couple times a day.

Got the db840's in today at work. They are beasts for little 8"ers. I am not even thinking about adding dynamat to the baskets on them.

Still going to dynamat the port tube and possibly the bottom of the basket of the LSi's.

The CSi5 should look quite sexy.

Hoping to get it all together by next Monday and then spend a day or two just enjoying them.

Then gonna transport the LSi's to Lafayette possibly for a meeting on the 22nd of May. Want to do some A&B blind testing on one speaker w/ the db840 and one without.

Since the db840's will still be in the return window I can either keep em in the LSi's or go back to stock. Personally I think I will be leaving them in and selling the stock 8" online to recoup some cash.

Hehehe....picking up the LSi's tomorrow. Got the parts to pick up from work hopefully for the CSi5.

Got two new pieces of furniture for the office and got to say it looks quite swank now. Need to order a longer HDMI cable so I can finish hiding all my wires.

Switching out all my speakers this week and then once I get the cable management in order I will be posting pics.

Also got in my Signal Cable Analog 2's. They sound good but I want another set along with a a decent USB Asynchronous DAC to get the tunes from my computer to the HK reciever. Thats gonna be a long time before I can do that since I need some work done on my car.

In the meantime I will just have to put up with only using my coaxial connection from my computer lol....

Wanting at some point as well a nice 2 channel amp so I can get a nice set of bookshelves and a small sub for up here, but thats on the 3 year plan and buying a house is first lol....

Office update

Updated the pics on the 1st page but wanted to add them here too. I got a new desk and entertainment center for the office. Moved the Monitor 60's up here as I got LSi 15's downstairs. The Primus 162's are now the surrounds and the Monitor 40's and CS2 are possible gifts for my dad come his Bday/Christmas. Attached are some pics.

Got the LSi's and scored an LSiC center as well. I plan to update pics later this weekend and take some good ones this time.

Next up is to source a better used amp, possibly some dipole bipole surrounds and then modify/upgrade the crossovers in both the LSi 15's and the LSiC

Attached a couple pics of the new setup

Couple more

Oh and it gets better. I got got home back from a friends house. He's moving to Cali so he gave me a BUNCH of acoustic panels. Like enough to fill a malibus entire back seat.

They are 2' x 4' and about 6" deep. Gonna get the wife to help me cover them in the fabric of her choice and then place them in the appropriate place

Picture of the acoustic panels in the Malibu

Office update

Updated pics on the first page with these. Got the acoustic panels mounted in their temporary home for at least a year or two hopefully. Pics attached.

Living Room update

Got some extra cash so I decided it was time to finally truly protect my audio gear with something better than the cheap (~25$ Belkin) surge protector.

So an APC H15 is on its way to me. This should allow me to put all wiring through the entertainment center and make it look super clean. Be looking for pics next weekend.

I also have aquired a TurnTable that will be put upstairs with my HK3490 and Monitor 60's.

I got the opportunity to demo some LSiM 703's a couple weeks back. Hoping to get some LSi 9's in my setup upstairs at some point, hopefully modded, if not I will be doing that shortly after purchase.

So I finally got my H15 installed. Took all day as I tore apart my rack top to bottom to re-route everything. Had a lot of fun along the way (my wife about died when she came home from lunch and saw it all apart on the floor). Looks pretty darn awesome IMHO.

I decided to use 2 channels per front and put the Integra on bi-amp. As a result I use 2 IC's per L/R (one from surround rear L one from front L, etc) but I think it sounds better after recalibrating via Audysee. Its not like my Integra cant handle my surrounds.

Also have the front 3 set at full range w/ the surrounds @ 60hz and the sub @ 80hz

From this:





To this:





Pretty awesome IMHO. Cant do anything about the rest of the cords in the back, but now if we get a new TV, I can push the rack back flush with the wall with NO problem at all. :smile:

P.S. Looks like with the new apartment we will end up with a Plasma rather than a PJ. Too much ambient light issues. Looking at a Panasonic 60" S30, ST30 or GT30 model. Wont be for a bit though as we gotta save up the cash.

Gotta love winning the LCD v. Plasma battle (I hate any refresh rate over 60hz as it tends to add too much motion blur when playing Halo or watching movies IMHO).

Yup, cable management is something I am OCD on lol. My wife is OCD about keeping the place clean so I say I am trying to keep the cords just as clean. I also have this OCD about the internal wiring in my computer which you cant even see

LED's kill the blacklevels in pictures IMHO. They are brighter so for those who dont want to close windows they are great, but you give up on the detail in black levels to do it. Everything is just to saturated for me

That and the new 3d Plasma's are supposed to be better with glare than the older non 3d TV's.

I keep forgetting to bring a flashlight with me to so I can test it lol.

It seriously focused in the sound, however I didn't really mount them right so I wont comment too much.

I wouldn't wait till you get a dedicated room to purchase them. The room is the single most important thing you cant really change. You can get new speakers, get new amps, wire's, etc but if you have a horrible room they will all sound bad. You don't have to go crazy but simple things like a nice thick area rug on a wood floor, spiking floorstanding speakers, isolating your sub via a platform, make big differences. GIK Acoustics offers lots of fabric choices and there are lots of DIY guides to make your own treatments that you can use whatever fabric, printed canvas, etc on so they blend into your decor better.

If you haven't treated your room, I would honestly suggest doing that before looking at anything else. That way when you upgrade speakers/gear you will be listening to it in a good enviorment. And you don't have to go crazy. Treating your front wall and 1st reflection points should be enough, 2nd if you can.

Realistically I should have mounted 1 behind each speaker (vertical), one in the dead middle of the room (horizontal), and a set at each reflection point on the side, all about 2 feet up from the floor.

I believe I probably over treated the room, but it was the only way to place them for storage purposes.

I will say I really like the GIK ones and they are very affordable. I am probably going to get my hands on some more of them as they are just rock solid and if you dont like the color, just get some fabric (of the right kind of course) and go over the top of whats there.

I have 1 GIK 244 (bass trap) and the others are all GIK 242's.


Hehehe, just wait till version 2.0 later this year when I get my bonus . New 55" Plasma TV, 450x5 5 channel amp, new AVR and possibly 2 more LSi 15's.

Couple updates to this setup, mostly gear at this point. I purchased 2 sets of MIT EXp1 Analog interconnects as they were on sale for a price I couldnt pass up. I also aquired a pair of 12 foot Audioquest CV-4 38v dbs solid core copper speaker cables. I am currently working on making some custom jumpers from 14/4 Audioquest FLX speaker wire that is tinned on the end and attached to GLS locking banana's. I have 3/8 nylon techflex coming in this week and will be attaching heatshrink to them as well. I will then be purchasing some Audioquest spade connectors for the CV-4 wires so I can attach them to the high's and then jumper to the lows on my LSi 15's.

Couple pics are attached at the bottom

Here in the next couple months I will be moving to a new place. Its much more condusive for a 7.1 setup but I probably wont go that route just yet. I will post a pic of the layout later.

I am getting my bonus in May and currently plan on purchasing the following pieces of gear:

Home Theater:
Sunfire Signature 450x5 amplifier (750x5 @ 4 ohms)
4 pair of MIT EXp2 speaker wire (use 3 to bi-wire all my LSi speakers and the remaining one for the surrounds)
1 MIT EXp1 2m Analog Interconnect (to complete my 5 channel)
2 custom powercables for my Integra DTR 5.9 and Polk PSW125
1 custom sub cable for my PSW125

I might purchase the following:
1 Velodyne SMS-1 sub eq (my Integra doesnt EQ the sub at all)

Office:
~300-500 dollar Digital to Audio Converter (from one of the following)
KECES DA-151
Audio GD NFB-3
PeachTree Audio DAC-iT
Schiit Bitfrost
Arcan rDac
~300-600 Vintage Integrated Amp (i.e. older Marantz, Kenwood, etc)

Portable Audio:
Beyerdynamic DT-770 OR Audio Technica ATH-M50s headphones
JDSLABS c421 headphone amplifier

Those are just jumpers lol... interconnects I have yet to build...

LOL, no worries mate, looking forward to finishing them and seeing how they sound, otherwise it is all in vain lol.....