My HT\2ch setup - Page 17

I saw that in Brolic's thread. It's a great idea. I may have converted someone else as well

Thanks. Yep. It's about 1000cf so nothing massive about that . But it looks good when you see it in person. It also does sound very good. If I am allowed to say that about my own system . Music and movies are both reproduced nicely. Give me some heads up and I am sure we can work something out.

I watched Pan's Labyrinth last night on regular DVD. I haven't seen it a long time but I still remember it pretty well. First it is a fantastic movie. A great fairy tale. Second, even on regular DVD it looks very clear and the sound was really good. I even had a few surprise moments with the Crowson. The soundtrack is also first rate. It is subtitled, so you have to read, but I don't mind that. The movie is just so good on many levels. If I can find it really cheap, I may double dip on that one as well on BR It's worth getting IMHO. I would love to see this on a bigger screen. I am sure it would look fantastic.

I agree that's it's not for everyone. And it is a fair tale for grownups. I like it because there are parts of it that can be analyzed beyond just what is basically shown on the screen. But that is for me only.

I listened to some Evanescence last night. It was there last album called "Evanescence". Man did it sound great. It is a powerful album with outstanding drum work. As always, I listened in bypass mode and it really showed off the bass power of the 1027's. Plus Amy Lee's voice is just haunting at times. Even though I am using Bryston amps that are over 10 years old, and probably not considered high end, or audiophile amps, music still sounds really good. I am still amazed at the sound stage I get. It is killer.

Alright, I not the only one here who loves it . How does the BR look and sound. Do you think it's worth a double dip to get the BR over the regular DVD that I have?

Rant is OK. "squished dog poop". Now that made me smile a bit. I think many people probably consider what I have lower end and brands like BAT, Audio Research, Pass Labs, etc.., as high end. I do know that the versions I have, ST, are well reviewed though. And for some reason, the JM's seem to be a good fit for them. In order for me to "beat" what I have, I thunk it would take much more money and every time I listen to music or watch a movie, it gets harder to justify the expense. Each record and CD sounds really good so now I just sit back and enjoy the music. If I were to change amps, which I may not be able to do anyway, because the size of my equipment rack, it would be to get more efficient amps so in the summer time it does not feel like an oven in my room. But, on the flip side I have two fans, ceiling and floor standing that I can use to cool the room so that part is sort of moot.

I may have to get it then. I mean, I really like it. It has such great imagery that I imagine it would look much better in BR. If I can find it cheap, I may pick it up.

OK, I realize that I am in the minority here with what I am about to say, and people might not even believe me but I don't care . It's my thread and I will say what I want .

Sometimes, when I listen to records I listen to one side and that’s it. Either time dictates it or it’s just what I am in the mood for. Well, I have this SRV album. I have had it for a while. Lately I have been listening to Tin Pan Alley. This is the full version not the chopped version. Any, it sounds great. So does Come on Baby part III. But this is a double album so I never really even listened to much of the other record. Now I am a huge SRV fan. So I have heard his songs a number of times. Of course I have heard his version of Voodoo Child and I knew it backwards and forwards. Or, at least I thought I did. Last night I played that song on my TT. Holy crap. Not to be overboard, but it was like I heard it for the first time. A lot of it had to do with his singing. What I thought was the end of his singing really was not(on the cd). On the record I could hear that he was extending his voice and the lyrics lasted longer than I have heard before. There was a lot more inflection in his voice. It’s hard to explain but everything was more extended and lasted longer. It was really cool. His guitar did the same thing. Notes that I thought I knew just lasted longer. I was pretty much blown away by that. I know many people think that records are just old and quaint. But I was really impressed with what I heard last night.

It's just me again. With some music and movie updates. First the music. A while back I said that I tried some of the multi-channel modes for regular CD's and I said I was not to impressed. Well, that is still the case. I tried all of the music modes and Neural modes and while it sort of added something to the front stage, I got nothing from the surrounds. Not even ambient sounds. I would much rather listen to regular CD's in bypass mode. But, and this is a big one for me, MC SACD's sound incredible. SACD's that were mixed for all speakers from the get go are much better then regular CD's in one of the Integra's music modes. For ex, I listened to a Buddy Guy MC SACD' It was out of this world. While the drums, bass, and Buddy(guitar and vocals) were coming from the front, the other guitar players, were focused in the surround speakers. Meaning, when one of them took a solo it was in that speaker. It was really cool. I never heard it that good before. It made for a room filling experience where music was coming at you from all directions but you were still able to pick each person and instrument out. Again, I was really impressed with how good all of the focused music was coming from the surrounds was. And this is just with Chorus 705's as my surrounds. Sort of makes me wish I could put better surrounds back there. Another SACD that was like that was a disk from Guitar Shorty. It is also a MC disk and sounded equally good. Horns and other instruments coming from the surrounds were really good. This is going to make me look for more MC SACD's now.

I was also able to watch a few movies. I watched Transformers DOTM, Hanna, and The Avengers. All sounded great, even The Avengers which is supposed to be filtered. With the Crowson, it is still a great movie to watch. DOTM was of course fantastic but what really got me was Hanna. That movie had my Crowson going almost from the beginning of the movie to the end. I know people have said that this movie is great for bass but with the Crowson, it just brings it to another level. I am very pleased with how good each movie sounded. The Focal speakers really are fantastic for music and movies. At least in my room . Anyway, two posts in a row in a short time I will just stop here.
Edited by MIkeDuke - 2/11/13 at 11:37am

I agree that on its own The Avengers is a pretty good sounding sound tack. Yep, that's a blues SACD. I am mainly Blues\Rock\Heavy Rock kind of guy. I like some jazz, classical not so much. All of my Jazz stuff is straight 2ch. I have some XRCD disks and they seem to focus mostly on Jazz. I will probably go back and forth between LP's and disks since both sound really good to me. It's fun finding stuff that makes a system sound really great.

I remember that. The SACD did sound pretty awesome. I know we listened to "Ride Across the River" as well. That is one of my favorite songs on the cd.

There are SACD's out there for just about every type of music. There are a few online stores I can point you to, but it will have to wait until Monday. I have a whole list I can share.
Here are two. I know right now
http://store.acousticsounds.com/c/4/SACD
Here is the main page for that site
http://store.acousticsounds.com/index.cfm
That is the one I use the most. Check out the menu on the side. And the SACD link on the top menu.


Here is another one
http://www.musicdirect.com/c-511-sacd.aspx
Edited by MIkeDuke - 2/16/13 at 8:26am

Server update:
The server has been ordered and Dennis should get in two weeks. Then we just need wait for the other stuff. I probably won't order the OPPO 103 until April to let my funds replenish. Then Dennis will set his up and get comfortable with it. Then he will come over and help me install mine. So maybe April or May I should have it installed .

Craig may have come up with a plan so I won't need to get a new OPPO. He thinks we can go through the SMS-1 and have it not alter the signnal too much. I am all for that because no matter what, it will save me a little cash. Craig said he would be willing to come by one night and do a test run to see how it works. Let me say it again, although I am running out of words. I appreciate Craig's help so much when it comes to my system. His help and knowledge has been so important in getting my system to where it is now. And Dennis also .

His is one of Craig's friends that is close to where he is. His avs name is Dmark1. He has also been a great help to me. He has a Legacy system with Seaton subs. Per your other reply, the server, with Jriver, does everything. DVD's, music, and BR's. It's going to be great.
Edited by MIkeDuke - 3/8/13 at 11:42am

Nope. I not only doing BR's. Most of my videos are regular DVD's. I am putting a lot of those on there as well. I have a lot of series and mini series that would work better on the server as opposed to me having to put in a disk for each season or episode of the show I want to watch. My main goal is to get all my DVD racks out of my room so it just looks cleaner. I have been narrowing down the videos I know I want on the server. I have taken about 30 out all ready. I will continue to look to see if there are anymore that don't have to be on there. This is going to a lot of fun.