My Basement transition

Hello all,
I've been plugging away at the basement media room/theater for a few years now. My first goal was to get good gear for the room and once we had that we decided to change the layout of the room a bit. Pictures from the start to the current avatar of the room tell the story better than the words i guess. I really have a great time watching in this setup, its a small and cozy setup.

Here is the Gear list:

Speakers:
Fronts: Dali Helicon 400s
Center Dali Helicon c200
Sides: Energy Veritas
Backs : Energy C100s

Subwoofer: Svs Pb 13 Ultra

Screen: Dalite High Power 2.35 125 inch

Projector: Sony VPL VW 40

Processor :Marantz SR 7500 Pre-Pro
Amplifiers: Gemstone 7 Channel amp(300 watts X 7)
B&k reference 2 channel amp
Sony Networked Bluray player
Sony 5 Disc SACD/DVD Player
Dish HDTV DVR

Seating: Berkline powered recliners in front. 4 seating Ottoman in the rear(plus a couple of bar stools)

Other stuff:
Harmony One Universal Remote
Bassshakers(stopped using them since PB13Ultra)
Refrigrator in back row
GIK Acoustics- 4 first reflection acoustic panels, 2 bass traps in front corners(behind the screen wall).
Screen wall made of GOM.

Images

 

 

 

 

Edited by Daman S - 1/28/13 at 7:15pm

Sorry Mike, you caught me in the middle of getting all those damn links together Pics are up now!

Thank you, the Dali's sound is incredible, especially for music. The ribbon tweeter lends it a very high sensitivity and they are airy and at the same time warm. If you are ever in the new england area you would be welcome to audition them.


Thanks again Mike, took me a few years but i'm almost there now. I still want to lay my hands on one more PB13 Ultra for a dual sub setup and maybe a 3D projector down the line, but i'm very content now

The side-surround Energy Veritas and the Dalis are not that far off in their tonality and the rears Energies don't have that much sound input anyways.

I would have ideally preferred Dalis on the sides at least, but I had the Veritas left over from a bum speaker deal and decided to use them instead. I don't find it distracting at all overall and they seem to blend in well

I believe the dimensions are close to 18 X 16ish if i remember correctly. I haven't seen 3D on a FP screen either but have been reading good things about it recently in the screen section of the forums. 3D projectors seem to be getting more affordable by the day.

I also feel that 3D will be more immersive in a FP setup than a tv because a TV screen isn't large enough to occupy your whole view.


Thank you!! I started down this very path and took me a while to get here, all the best!

Yes 8 foot ceiling it is. The bass is very good in the current setup but very high decibel bass gives me fits with the sub being close to bottoming out.

It is very rare, has happened with maybe 2 or 3 movies at most. Hopefully another sub would add that headroom and as you said even it out. Now comes the easy part of convincing the other half

I have one port plugged in, 15hz and room compensation set to medium sized room. I recently ran audyssey again on the unit and the bass seemed noticeably better after that run.

Also i had manually gone in and setup all the speakers to small(though audyssey sets them as large- which they are). That was under the assumption that the mids and highs would be better from mains, but this time i left them all large and the bass is now much better since the subwoofer also gets that extra headroom. The xover is set at 60hz. I haven't heard a noticeable difference in the mains going from small to large so they seem to be handling things fine.

Yes, now only if i can luck out in finding a used Rosenut one since they seem to have stopped making that finish.

Anyhow, thanks for stopping by the thread Mike, it is great interacting with a fellow enthusiast like yourself!

Right, i can hold out for now till i find one.

I guess the natural wood finish they have might be the closest. But on the other hand there are a few used Ultras for sale which are in black finish.

Ultimately I might decide to go with just that. The price difference between a used and a new sub is quite significant so I try to buy used if its in good condition.

Right, i saw that also.. there is another one for 1000$ here on avs classifieds as well. I won't be able to buy immediately though,so hopefully sometime later this year.

Thanks Dan, no I didn't but there was noticeable difference just going by the ear. The whole soundstage improved a lot and the bass was much tighter. I did try my hand at REW once in the past but never got around to it after that.

I'm too lazy for it i guess

I hope we can get the meet organized so you can hear for yourself, ill be very interested to hear fellow avs'ers take on the room

I can certainly understand that, my wife is very much against any 'big' AV equipment in our living room. I recently managed to wiggle in a pair of stereo speakers there but she still is not very happy about it

I would suggest dropping someone at one of the acoustic companies an email about it. I had written to Gik acoustics and they came back with some great recommendations after getting to know my room layout etc.

Treatments like bass traps for example will almost always help a room and so will first reflection absorption panels. How much they will help can certainly be quantified with REW etc, but i have no doubt in my mind that the acoustics improved after i put them in.

Thanks Brolic, you have a fantastic setup yourself and i was just admiring it in your thread! That Pb13U sure is fun!

Thanks Dan, I did a whole lot of auditioning before i settled on them, very musical and the ribbon tweeters do a great job of producing crystalline highs. I would probably categorize the whole sound as warm.

I'm hoping more people show up in the NE meet thread so we can have that meet. Would love to have you listen to them in person and share your thoughts.