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Thrang's Home Theater (for now...) - Page 11

post #301 of 512
2/1/13 at 9:46am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WestCoastD View Post

so there are actually holes bored into the speaker cabinets?

The 805's come with m6 bolt sockets in them, yes. This is to mount to their stands.
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post #302 of 512
2/1/13 at 9:48am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by WestCoastD View Post

looks good. Must be nice to have JL Audio subs "isolated"on platforms like you have there? Would imagine it took two people to hoist those bad-boys up onto those platforms, as they are heavy like rocks (I use one F110 and I have to call my nieghbor over to physically place it)

Yes a two person job - as I am literally sitting at a back surgeon's office as I type this, likely I should not be one of those two in the future...
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post #303 of 512
2/1/13 at 6:37pm
don't forget about that 303, that is also one heavy beast , it's actually heavier than each of the subs biggrin.gif
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post #304 of 512
2/1/13 at 6:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrang View Post

Thanks - I think I'm running out of things to change after all these years...!

biggrin.gif Nonsense tongue.gif Add two more F113 subs, or replace your two F113's with two 212's or two Gothams wink.gif
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post #305 of 512
2/1/13 at 6:46pm
Well, between you and wse you guys have the best B&W setups I have ever seen. Take care of your back man, relax and enjoy the system in all it's glory.
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post #306 of 512
2/1/13 at 7:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod#S View Post

biggrin.gif Nonsense tongue.gif Add two more F113 subs, or replace your two F113's with two 212's or two Gothams wink.gif

You are an evil voice...go away! smile.gif
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post #307 of 512
2/1/13 at 7:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod#S View Post

Well, between you and wse you guys have the best B&W setups I have ever seen. Take care of your back man, relax and enjoy the system in all it's glory.

Thanks - watching a Sum of All Fears with my wife tonight...it's better than I remember, though anything with Morgan Freeman carries a certain gravitas...
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post #308 of 512
2/4/13 at 10:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrang View Post

1_31_2013 Update:

 

- 805 height speakers with custom brackets

 


Current setup:

- B&W 802D2 L/R
- B&W HTMD2 Center
- B&W 803D2 Wides

- B&W 803D2 Surround
- B&W 805D2 Rears

- B&W 805D2 Heights
- Two JL Audio Fathom 113 Subs

- McIntosh MC303 Three Channel Amplifier
- Mcintosh MC302 x 2 Two Channel Amps

- Marantz 8801 Processor
- Sony VPL-VW1000 ES projector
- DaLite 133" 16x9 2.8 HP Fixed Screen
- Windows Media Center / MyMovies 4
- Mac Mini / Lossless Audio Library
- M2Tech Young DAC
- Sony PS3
- Oppo 103 Blu Ray Player

- Mede8er 1000 X3 Media Player

 

 

(Only a  few low res shots show the new 805 heights - new set of high quality photos soon....)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

old photo - no more 8207!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synology 20 TB LAN storage of Blu-Ray and DVD, fronted by on a Windows 7 Media Center server and MyMovies...
 

 

Whoa that is some impressive set up!

 

Here is mine I just upgraded my center front to an other 800Diamond :)

 

http://www.blu-ray.com/community/gallery.php?member=wes&folderid=3141

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post #309 of 512
2/4/13 at 2:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by wse View Post

Whoa that is some impressive set up!

Here is mine I just upgraded my center front to an other 800Diamond smile.gif

http://www.blu-ray.com/community/gallery.php?member=wes&folderid=3141

Looks fabulous - you're sicker than !

I wish I could do a 802 center, or to convince B&W to resurrect the HTM1D

Really love your wood working and details.

I toyed with getting another set of 803's for rears and move the existing 805's to the height position, but that would have pushed the rears a bit too far apart.

You're selling your Classé gear? What are you moving too?
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post #310 of 512
2/5/13 at 6:00am
Here's that evil voice again biggrin.gif you could always buy a pair of 800's, move your 802's to either the wide or surround position (probably makes more sense for them to be in the surround position as that's an actual discrete channel not a matrixed channel) and move a pair of 803's to the rear. Why do you think the 803's would be to far apart? I think only the THX recommendation is for putting the rears close together. If you want to actually hear that you have two speakers in the rear they shouldn't be placed close together anyway, otherwise you will not be able to hear the panning of sound properly between them.

I too wish the HTM1D was not discontinued. We need to start a petition smile.gif
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post #311 of 512
2/5/13 at 6:25am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod#S View Post

Here's that evil voice again biggrin.gif you could always buy a pair of 800's, move your 802's to either the wide or surround position (probably makes more sense for them to be in the surround position as that's an actual discrete channel not a matrixed channel) and move a pair of 803's to the rear. Why do you think the 803's would be to far apart? I think only the THX recommendation is for putting the rears close together. If you want to actually hear that you have two speakers in the rear they shouldn't be placed close together anyway, otherwise you will not be able to hear the panning of sound properly between them.

I too wish the HTM1D was not discontinued. We need to start a petition smile.gif
I thought about this, but I think I would be introducing greater disparity between the mains the the center channel - yes, I would have put the 802's as surrounds, and put the 803's are rears.

My 805 rears are already about 7 or 8 feet apart on top of the credenza, which is very wide. To put 803's as rears would spread them to about 10-12 feet to clear the credenza, but with the rear wall only about 6 feet from the line of seats, I'm not sure that would be ideal.
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post #312 of 512
2/5/13 at 12:04pm
Ah, 10 to 12 feet is quite a ways apart but that may not be an issue, it would definitely give good separation of the channels. Your 802's must be roughly 12 feet are they, perhaps a bit more? 6 feet is a bit close but I think also within reason. When I was running my 7.1 layout my rear speakers were 7 feet behind me and that seemed to work quite well even with the speakers being towers, they were Paradigm Studio 60v2's. They were a lot closer together though at about 3 or 4 feet, not by choice but by room layout limitations, I would have preferred them to be much further apart. With your 805's on the credenza they are safe and out of the way. If you were to do 803's I think it would only make sense if they were out of harms way. If they were in the line of traffice where they could be bumped by passers by would not be good.
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post #313 of 512
2/5/13 at 12:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod#S View Post

Ah, 10 to 12 feet is quite a ways apart but that may not be an issue, it would definitely give good separation of the channels. Your 802's must be roughly 12 feet are they, perhaps a bit more? 6 feet is a bit close but I think also within reason. When I was running my 7.1 layout my rear speakers were 7 feet behind me and that seemed to work quite well even with the speakers being towers, they were Paradigm Studio 60v2's. They were a lot closer together though at about 3 or 4 feet, not by choice but by room layout limitations, I would have preferred them to be much further apart. With your 805's on the credenza they are safe and out of the way. If you were to do 803's I think it would only make sense if they were out of harms way. If they were in the line of traffice where they could be bumped by passers by would not be good.

The fronts are about 12-13 feet apart, but of course I'm back about 12 feet or so...rear towers would be reasonably protected, but I have to sit in the room every time the cleaning crew comes by to stand guard for the rest of my speakers...

I can always try the 805's on stands further apart, where the 803's would go, to get some sense if the separation is too great for the distance from the plane of the seats....
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post #314 of 512
2/5/13 at 1:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrang View Post

The fronts are about 12-13 feet apart, but of course I'm back about 12 feet or so...rear towers would be reasonably protected, but I have to sit in the room every time the cleaning crew comes by to stand guard for the rest of my speakers...

I can always try the 805's on stands further apart, where the 803's would go, to get some sense if the separation is too great for the distance from the plane of the seats....

LOL..I know the feeling of guarding the gear. I watch people very closely when they approach the 802's smile.gif

That's actally a good idea about putting the 805's on stands to get them further apart to see how the sound images from where 803's would need to be placed.

I'm going to, or at least make my best attempt at the 800's this Spring. Given they are the same overall design as the 802's I don't think there will be any major variance with the HTM2 integration. The biggest difference is due to the lack of the marlan head and how that effects the sound compared to the 802 with an obvious lack of bass in comparison as well so my hopes are other than a slightly larger bass performance gap there won't be a huge change in the rest. That's a theory anyways biggrin.gif
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post #315 of 512
2/7/13 at 10:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wse View Post

Whoa that is some impressive set up!

Here is mine I just upgraded my center front to an other 800Diamond smile.gif

http://www.blu-ray.com/community/gallery.php?member=wes&folderid=3141
wow, that is some killer set-up there too! I'm a little confused, am I seeing two different B&W 802 set-up's?

Also how is fit with Classe components in that cabinet? Is the depth very close? How is cabling on rear, very tight?
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post #316 of 512
2/16/13 at 2:15pm
Thread Starter 
Updated photos, including eval of new McIntish D100 DAC...VERY SWEET!
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post #317 of 512
2/16/13 at 3:12pm
That room has to sound amazing at reference level!
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post #318 of 512
2/16/13 at 3:57pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mookie b View Post

That room has to sound amazing at reference level!

It does, though I'm generally -5 to -8 for most titles.

System is extremely revealing; you can really hear difference between how audio was recorded, mixed, and mastered...
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post #319 of 512
2/19/13 at 6:13pm
noticed you're using Synology network (NAS) server for hosting music and movie files. Are you actually doing extractions of BD and DVD video and audio modules and archiving yourself? If so what software are you using?
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post #320 of 512
2/19/13 at 7:00pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WestCoastD View Post

noticed you're using Synology network (NAS) server for hosting music and movie files. Are you actually doing extractions of BD and DVD video and audio modules and archiving yourself? If so what software are you using?

It's just for movies, and yes, I'm ripping everything I buy - about 410 titles so far.

I have been using AnyDVD HD for the longest time, ripping either to BDMV folder structures, or, in the case of 3D, ISO. And I have been using Total Media Theater 5 (Windows Media Center plug in) for playback.

However, I'm moving away from the PC because it takes too much time to keep running smoothly, too many weird playback issues always crop up, and, most importantly, ArcSoft's upgrade to version 6 includes Cinavia detection, and since there's no way yet to defeat this detection, any rips from AnyDVD HD of discs that have Cinavia will not play back (Arcsoft must support Cinavia or lose their license from the BDA). BMDV or ISO rips through TMT 5 was nice (when things worked smoothly) because Arcsoft, as a fully licensed player, supports regular Blu Ray menus.

Now I'm using a stand alone media player, the Mede8er 1000, and so I'm experimenting with MakeMKV for rips instead. Why? Well, since stand alone media players aren't BDA licensee's, they are not required to support Cinavia detection, which is good. However, this means they cannot support full menus either (essentially, the main title just starts to play). This is generally fine, HOWEVER, an increasing percentage of Blu Rays have branching features or multiple playlists that can make it difficult to playback the "correct" main title without the overarching logic full blu ray playback provides.

With MakeMKV, it will analyze all the available playlists on the disc, and you can choose one or more to rip as separate files (and delete the titles which you find are not the main titles). Its not perfect, but until someone hacks Cinavia (if possible), this is a pebble-in-the-shoe issue. At times, ther could be two dozen playlists to choose from, and short of a user-contributed, master database of identified main titles, it can be cumbersome to find the main movie.
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post #321 of 512
2/19/13 at 7:18pm
Been using MakeMKV for all 789 of my blurays and it works perfect biggrin.gif
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post #322 of 512
2/19/13 at 7:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrang View Post

It's just for movies, and yes, I'm ripping everything I buy - about 410 titles so far.

I have been using AnyDVD HD for the longest time, ripping either to BDMV folder structures, or, in the case of 3D, ISO. And I have been using Total Media Theater 5 (Windows Media Center plug in) for playback.

However, I'm moving away from the PC because it takes too much time to keep running smoothly, too many weird playback issues always crop up, and, most importantly, ArcSoft's upgrade to version 6 includes Cinavia detection, and since there's no way yet to defeat this detection, any rips from AnyDVD HD of discs that have Cinavia will not play back (Arcsoft must support Cinavia or lose their license from the BDA). BMDV or ISO rips through TMT 5 was nice (when things worked smoothly) because Arcsoft, as a fully licensed player, supports regular Blu Ray menus.

Now I'm using a stand alone media player, the Mede8er 1000, and so I'm experimenting with MakeMKV for rips instead. Why? Well, since stand alone media players aren't BDA licensee's, they are not required to support Cinavia detection, which is good. However, this means they cannot support full menus either (essentially, the main title just starts to play). This is generally fine, HOWEVER, an increasing percentage of Blu Rays have branching features or multiple playlists that can make it difficult to playback the "correct" main title without the overarching logic full blu ray playback provides.

With MakeMKV, it will analyze all the available playlists on the disc, and you can choose one or more to rip as separate files (and delete the titles which you find are not the main titles). Its not perfect, but until someone hacks Cinavia (if possible), this is a pebble-in-the-shoe issue. At times, ther could be two dozen playlists to choose from, and short of a user-contributed, master database of identified main titles, it can be cumbersome to find the main movie.

I echo this completely--I'm a MakeMKV user, but selecting the right title can be hassle sometimes. I've had to do a couple re-rips early on, after which point I just started ripping all selections in the 23-43 GB range. I just skip through to triage and discard the files not needed for a title.
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post #323 of 512
2/19/13 at 8:01pm
Thread Starter 
I'd like to think that someone, either slysoft, or the makers of makemkv could start a master database of title information, perhaps user contributed. This is becoming a form of anti piracy, by making it too cumbersome to find the right title. Of course I'm not pirating anything as I own every disc, but that doesn't help me.

So if some poor slob wastes an hour figuring out which title is what, throw that in the database and save others the hassle. Eventually, it would become a good resource. Unless I'm missing something as to why this wouldn't be possible...
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post #324 of 512
2/20/13 at 5:21am
Thread Starter 
Here's a warning - listened to Led Zeppelin's Celebration Day Blu Ray last night (or tried to), and the "lossless" audio is amongst the worst recorded i've heard in years! Shrill, no dynamics, horribly compressed mix (crowd in surrounds too loud, center channel too low) Piss poor. Sounds like an mp3 file from 10 years ago.
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post #325 of 512
2/20/13 at 5:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrang View Post

Here's a warning - listened to Led Zeppelin's Celebration Day Blu Ray last night (or tried to), and the "lossless" audio is amongst the worst recorded i've heard in years! Shrill, no dynamics, horribly compressed mix (crowd in surrounds too loud, center channel too low) Piss poor. Sounds like an mp3 file from 10 years ago.

Ah, lossless audio is a double-edged sword. It doesn’t lose any quality—if quality is there to begin with, but on the other side of that coin, it doesn’t lose the garbageness (new word) of a recording either.
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post #326 of 512
2/20/13 at 6:08am
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Originally Posted by BrolicBeast View Post

Ah, lossless audio is a double-edged sword. It doesn’t lose any quality—if quality is there to begin with, but on the other side of that coin, it doesn’t lose the garbageness (new word) of a recording either.

Yeah, GIGO

Not that I'm a huge Zeppelin fan, but I heard it was a great concert and Bonham's son, sitting in the throne for his father, was really good. What a let down - at times, he's banging on toms and they are barely in the mix...
Edited by thrang - 2/20/13 at 6:38am
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post #327 of 512
2/20/13 at 10:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrang View Post

Here's a warning - listened to Led Zeppelin's Celebration Day Blu Ray last night (or tried to), and the "lossless" audio is amongst the worst recorded i've heard in years! Shrill, no dynamics, horribly compressed mix (crowd in surrounds too loud, center channel too low) Piss poor. Sounds like an mp3 file from 10 years ago.
that's too bad, I had purchased this disc back when it first released, waiting to get my AV8801 system set-up and running so I can watch it (did'nt want to watch it using my Denon AVR-2112CI system). I read a number of mostly good reviews, will have to wait and experience it for myself.
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post #328 of 512
2/20/13 at 11:25am
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Originally Posted by WestCoastD View Post

that's too bad, I had purchased this disc back when it first released, waiting to get my AV8801 system set-up and running so I can watch it (did'nt want to watch it using my Denon AVR-2112CI system). I read a number of mostly good reviews, will have to wait and experience it for myself.

I had to quick throw on one of the Chris Botti concerts to cleanse my ears...
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post #329 of 512
2/20/13 at 2:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrang View Post

I had to quick throw on one of the Chris Botti concerts to cleanse my ears...
haaa. Yeah I like Chris Botti, his "live" BD performances [are] very nice sources. Matter-of-fact I was recently at my local Best Buy/Magnolia test listening to their McIntosh MX-121/B&W 802 Diamond system (my first time ever experiencing these components functioning in-person), the sales-person used Chris Botti "Live In Boston" BD, the soundstage an imaging was incredible.

I have seen him "live" in-person quite a few times, playing with Sting as well as within his own jazz ensemble, great trumpeter and arranger. It's amazing how much of a following he has.




I'm really hoping Steely Dan releases a "live" BD mix from one of their recent concert reunion tours. I attended a few of their concerts in the last few years, they were incredible, they replicated all their famous music perfectly and cleanly, would provide for excellent "live" recording mix.
Edited by WestCoastD - 2/20/13 at 2:58pm
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post #330 of 512
2/20/13 at 3:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrang View Post

It's just for movies, and yes, I'm ripping everything I buy - about 410 titles so far
I see, wow that's quite a large archive, definitely would require ton's of memory. I have probably a few hundred titles myself (combination of DVD's and BD's), I've been researching popular file extraction software' trying to figure out which are best products to use. I'm at a point where I want to physically reduce the volume of video's from my shelves. Although I'll probably hold-onto my BluRay's.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrang View Post

I have been using AnyDVD HD for the longest time, ripping either to BDMV folder structures, or, in the case of 3D, ISO. And I have been using Total Media Theater 5 (Windows Media Center plug in) for playback
yes, I was reading about AnyDVD HD, seems to be a popular product. Not familiar with Total Media Theater product.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrang View Post

However, I'm moving away from the PC because it takes too much time to keep running smoothly, too many weird playback issues always crop up, and, most importantly, ArcSoft's upgrade to version 6 includes Cinavia detection, and since there's no way yet to defeat this detection, any rips from AnyDVD HD of discs that have Cinavia will not play back (Arcsoft must support Cinavia or lose their license from the BDA). BMDV or ISO rips through TMT 5 was nice (when things worked smoothly) because Arcsoft, as a fully licensed player, supports regular Blu Ray menus
yeah, PC's can be flakey, even a brand-new machine. I have been using a fairly new Dell/AlienWare Aurora gaming machine, mostly for running CAD programs (AutoCAD, Revit, etc.,...), it's amazing how many issues I experience on a weekly basis keeping things running and stable, including chronic system "freezing" episodes, where the cursor is stuck (no activity), forcing me to hard-boot, at least once per week. I have been using Iolo System Mechanic optimizer virusware/utility software for maybe 6 months now, a big help in maintaining some level of stability.

I'm sure a product such as ArcSoft's would have to support Cinavia to stay in business.

Since I have'nt yet experimented streaming (extracted) movie titles, I was wondering: can't we playback (via-NAS archive) using Oppo BDP-105 via-etherNet, and not screw with PC-based player? Will the Oppo read these BDMV and ISO modules?
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrang View Post

Now I'm using a stand alone media player, the Mede8er 1000, and so I'm experimenting with MakeMKV for rips instead. Why? Well, since stand alone media players aren't BDA licensee's, they are not required to support Cinavia detection, which is good. However, this means they cannot support full menus either (essentially, the main title just starts to play). This is generally fine, HOWEVER, an increasing percentage of Blu Rays have branching features or multiple playlists that can make it difficult to playback the "correct" main title without the overarching logic full blu ray playback provides.

With MakeMKV, it will analyze all the available playlists on the disc, and you can choose one or more to rip as separate files (and delete the titles which you find are not the main titles). Its not perfect, but until someone hacks Cinavia (if possible), this is a pebble-in-the-shoe issue. At times, ther could be two dozen playlists to choose from, and short of a user-contributed, master database of identified main titles, it can be cumbersome to find the main movie
very interesting, thanks for that explanation. So what you're saying here is there are quite an array of files on any given recent BluRay release, it's just a matter of deciphering which are the proper file(s)? This is not done by the manufacturer purposely to make it difficult for extracting though? Are these "branches" representing various language versions?

I've read about MakeMKV as well. Seems many "extractors" are using. both, MakeMKV and AnyDVD products.
Edited by WestCoastD - 2/20/13 at 4:01pm
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