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The prepress system

post #1 of 561
9/19/10 at 10:55am
Thread Starter 

The shadow knows...



At the request of several members, I'm taking a stab at starting a thread for my system. I have only a 2-channel setup which handles both video and audio, in a room that's 14' x 18'5" or so. The system is in a state of flux as I begin, but I hope the final config will be in place in the next couple of weeks or so. I should also point out that I don't quite have the hang of embedding photos. So with that caveat, the equipment is as follows (subject to change very soon):

Analog
VPI HW-19 MkIV/SME 309/Grado Reference Platinum

Magnum Dynalab MD-90
Day-Sequerra antenna
Digital
McIntosh MCD301
Scientific Atlanta Explorer 4250HDC (TW Cable)
Video
Pioneer Elite BDP-09FD
Oppo BDP-83
Pioneer Elite DVL-91
DVDO iScan Duo
Pioneer Elite PRO-111FD
Preamp
Audio Research LS3
Aragon 47K
Power amp
B&K M-200 Sonata monoblocks (2 pair)
Speakers
Mirage M3-si
Power
Tripplite LCR2400
Triplite HT1210ISOCTR
VPI SDS
Cables
Kimber Hero, AQ Black Mamba II
Kimber 8TC
Furniture
Sanus Euro
Hooker Entertainment console
LL

 

For the story of the system, read on. How it is here isn't what it will be . . .


Edited by prepress - 11/25/12 at 10:04am
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post #2 of 561
9/19/10 at 11:10am
Ok Dude. I can call you dude right? Welcome to the WYSC night edition.

That is a very impressive list of equipment you have. We are so happy you took the first step in posting and starting a thread and look forward to seeing many more BRIGHTER pictures in the future Now you just need to invest in a Light, Lightbulb and maybe a Digital Camera or better cell phone.

All kidding aside I am really glad to see you have your own thread and plan on stopping in everyday for a chat.
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post #3 of 561
9/19/10 at 11:27am
Thread Starter 
Hello HTG, we'll see what happens, right? Everything is in transition here. Meantime, here's a photo without the special effects from back in October when I began to move things around, it's my (then) just-purchased sofa:



It's more comfortable than the one it replaced, which was 19 years old.
LL
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post #4 of 561
9/19/10 at 11:37am
Thread Starter 
And here's one from when I was beginning to really mess with things last year. Note the food containers (hamburgers) in the foreground, sitting on the coffee table in front of me. I also hadn't dusted in a while. More when time permits, but this is a start.

By the way, that's a DVDO EDGE on the left rack, now replaced with a Duo.



LL
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post #5 of 561
9/19/10 at 11:52am
Thread Starter 
And finally, from that same time...



I had bought fans and other stuff, and the room was chaotic. Last year was crazy. I wasn't organized at all, and the stress of work, my duties with church, and fatigue issues kept the place a bit sloppy. That's being worked on. I hope as things progress that will be noticeable.

Notice the VPI record cleaner in the foreground. That's not where I want it!
LL
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post #6 of 561
9/19/10 at 12:41pm
Charles,

Although the first pic is really dark, the room feels like it has a good vibe to it!
I agree with HTgeek, very nice gear! When everything settles down a bit, take some detailed pics of the gear and speakers!!

Cheers
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post #7 of 561
9/19/10 at 1:32pm
Great gear and I always like reading your posts. Is that a fireplace I see in the background? I consider myself in good company if it is.
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post #8 of 561
9/19/10 at 2:30pm
Woohoo!

Welcome Prepress to your own thread! A nice subtle start to build up the drama...very smart!

I have the DVDO Edge...what is better about the Duo??

Mike
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post #9 of 561
9/20/10 at 2:21am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hikarate View Post

Great gear and I always like reading your posts. Is that a fireplace I see in the background? I consider myself in good company if it is.

Hello there, hikarate (with a name like that, do you use aftershave?),

It is a fireplace, but I'd have preferred a regular wall for setup reasons. There's also a big radiator behind the CD rack to the right of the system. I don't use that radiator because it makes things too hot in here; I had the building management turn it off completely, in fact. I can use all the wall space I can get, but they can't (or won't) really take the radiator away. If I move, the next person may want it and they'd have to lug it back in here.
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post #10 of 561
9/20/10 at 2:35am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by KahunaCanuck View Post

Woohoo!

Welcome Prepress to your own thread! A nice subtle start to build up the drama...very smart!

I have the DVDO Edge...what is better about the Duo??

Mike

Off the top of my head, more inputs and a color management system. I don't use the CMS, but I wanted more analog inputs. I was able to do a trade-in with the EDGE (which had gone back for repair). It's the same 2010 chip, though.

Thanks for the welcome.
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post #11 of 561
9/20/10 at 5:57am
Very sweet set-up!
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post #12 of 561
9/20/10 at 4:52pm
Thread Starter 
And here's one more recent, with "cable mountain" in the front...



At this point, I have all this leftover cable that I couldn't use. It's Tara Labs stuff which I wanted to use but couldn't because the TV stand's rear slots aren't wide enough to pass it through (I destroyed one pair in the attempt). There are several HDMI cables as well (Blue Jeans, one Belden). But at this point I'd begun to modify things. The Denon tuner is on top of my turntable temporarily, as I figure out what to do with it. The MD-90 is in the cabinet, there on the lower left.
LL
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post #13 of 561
9/21/10 at 12:10am
Whoa! What's going on here? Has the Earth reversed it's rotation around the sun? Prepress has his own thread, dogs & cats living together.

Hey man, congrats! I echo everyone else in saying you have a great system and I look forward to seeing more picks.
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post #14 of 561
9/21/10 at 12:15am
Finally prepress fantastic setup well done !!
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post #15 of 561
9/21/10 at 2:44am
Thread Starter 
Thanks, gentlemen. Here's one from a slightly different angle, days before I began reworking things in earnest. And that does include dusting! This is an older building, and dust is a constant issue.



From this angle, you can just make out the second Tripplite in the larger Sanus rack to the right (the silver guy with the multi-color LEDs) and the Day-Sequerra antenna connected to the MD-90 (on top of the LP/LD cabinet).
LL
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post #16 of 561
9/21/10 at 4:28am
Well, now that you have started your thread and have all of us stopping by, you could start a side business and auctioning off all of your
Quote:


I have all this leftover cable that I couldn't use. It's Tara Labs stuff



I don't know if it is my computer or the work police but I can not see any of your attachments. I am going to have to switch NIC cards on my computer and go through the other router we have here back in the PC lab. BRB
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post #17 of 561
9/21/10 at 4:33am
Nope, I still can not see your pictures. Is it my computer or are the rest of you having the same issue? Charles can you see your pictures on your work computer? I only see the pics in post 1 and 4.
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post #18 of 561
9/21/10 at 5:20am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hometheatergeek View Post

Nope, I still can not see your pictures. Is it my computer or are the rest of you having the same issue? Charles can you see your pictures on your work computer? I only see the pics in post 1 and 4.

I'm at work now (on a quick break) and I see the pics in #1 and #4 only as well. At home, I can see them all. It may be the work police, but it also may mean I'm not embedding some of them properly. I am still figuring that part out. I note that #1 and #4 have attached thumbnails, whereas the others don't. I may be on to something with that idea.
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post #19 of 561
9/21/10 at 6:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by prepress View Post

I'm at work now (on a quick break) and I see the pics in #1 and #4 only as well. At home, I can see them all. It may be the work police, but it also may mean I'm not embedding some of them properly. I am still figuring that part out. I note that #1 and #4 have attached thumbnails, whereas the others don't. I may be on to something with that idea.

Charles, same here I cannot see any new pics. It just shows a blank space. I don't think it's the work police...
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post #20 of 561
9/21/10 at 11:09am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ddgtr View Post

Charles, same here I cannot see any new pics. It just shows a blank space. I don't think it's the work police...

Would appreciate knowing if anyone out there can't see pics at home, especially the ones without attached thumbnails.

ddgtr, HTG, thanks for the alert.
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post #21 of 561
9/21/10 at 11:39am
Post #1 and Post #4 show pictures (Both have thumbnails). Others do not show up for me.
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post #22 of 561
9/21/10 at 12:47pm
Thread Starter 
Okay, I went back and added thumbnails to the offending photos. I hope they can all be seen now. I'm thinking of just making attachments rather than try to embed, since that takes up more space. We'll see.
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post #23 of 561
9/21/10 at 1:20pm
Thread Starter 
Here's a look inside the Hooker cabinet. The Marantz is redundant, but I have shelf space, so it's in there. That triangular thing next to the VPI SDS (lower right shelf) is an upgraded power supply for the Aragon 47k phono preamp. The smaller one which came with the unit is in its box, stored away.


LL
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post #24 of 561
9/21/10 at 1:31pm
Thread Starter 
Now, things are changing. First, I finally put together my CVD/CD rack last weekend (with help) which sat here for over a year. It's a Wood Technology TO-1260. It's great because it'll hold 560 DVDs, 1260 CDs or any combination. I don't have any VHS tapes, so I won't worry about those. Not sure this is the final location, but it will stay where it is for now.


LL
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post #25 of 561
9/21/10 at 3:10pm
Hey can you pop the covers on those speakers? What year are those? I've only seen mirage speakers in a few threads but they don't look like yours. Yours look very old school and I really like that.
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post #26 of 561
9/21/10 at 3:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hikarate View Post

Hey can you pop the covers on those speakers? What year are those? I've only seen mirage speakers in a few threads but they don't look like yours. Yours look very old school and I really like that.

I bought them in February 1993. No plans to upgrade (no money either). It was a case of being comfortable immediately when I auditioned them; the feeling that says, "this one." Mirage doesn't make full-range speakers like this any more; unfortunate, in my view. If I had to replace them, I'd go for Definitive Technology, since they make bipolar speakers also and I like the concept. Such speakers have more independence from the room, so here's more freedom of placement.

The piano black caps do come off, but they don't get me inside the speaker. And the grille isn't designed to come off; it's like a sock on the speaker.
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post #27 of 561
9/22/10 at 12:57pm
Thread Starter 
Here's one from Saturday, when I completed the reconfig of the first (near) rack.


LL
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post #28 of 561
9/22/10 at 1:02pm
Thread Starter 
And a change to the inside of the cabinet. Notice the VPI SDS is gone, and the 47k is moved down a shelf.



I've also ordered a couple of these.
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PGAC9
LL
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post #29 of 561
9/23/10 at 4:35am
Morning Charles,

Looks like you got the handle on the picture situation. Now that we can see them I am throughly impress with your collection of HT and 2 channel gear. I really like the older Mirage speakers. I almost bought them myself back then but decided on the Klipsch's Forte II instead. I think it was right around the same time back in 93. I think it's great that our speakers have lasted this long and says alot about the quality of the speakers that were built back then. Have you ever thought of redoing or is there anyone out there that makes new or improved crossovers for the Mirage like there are for Klipsch speakers? Only reason I'm asking is the componets in the crossovers do wear out over time and after I did my Forte IIs they now perform better then when they were new.

Al
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post #30 of 561
9/23/10 at 5:28am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hometheatergeek View Post

Morning Charles,

Looks like you got the handle on the picture situation. Now that we can see them I am throughly impress with your collection of HT and 2 channel gear. I really like the older Mirage speakers. I almost bought them myself back then but decided on the Klipsch's Forte II instead. I think it was right around the same time back in 93. I think it's great that our speakers have lasted this long and says alot about the quality of the speakers that were built back then. Have you ever thought of redoing or is there anyone out there that makes new or improved crossovers for the Mirage like there are for Klipsch speakers? Only reason I'm asking is the componets in the crossovers do wear out over time and after I did my Forte IIs they now perform better then when they were new.

Al

I hadn't thought of this, actually. I had thought more of something with the drivers maybe wearing out at some point. Thanks for the heads-up. How did you research your Klipsch work?

I also notice (I'm at work) that the sofa photo is still hidden; I must have forgotten to update it. I don't need to I guess, with the thumbnail there, but why not be consistent, right?
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