Kingdome HT/Music Evolution!!

Hello All !!! I have been on these boards for awhile mostly browsing for information and offering my opinion when I can but still learning as we all are and finally decided to show some pictures/details with more to come especially as things change. My system has had several evolutions to it over years starting with old Sony Receiver and a Panasonic Plasma (that’s still running strong in another room) eventually graduating to a Pioneer Elite and LG over to my current setup below . My main room is a den originally for storage that I decided to use and although smaller in size (12’5 X 11x 8) it’s fair for now until the lower level can get finished. Things have been switched around in this room as I learn more. My main focus is learning to tweak things in my quest to understand EQ adjustments and implement room treatments better.















My current equipment is as follows:

Monitor-LG- LH55
Processor-Integra 80.3
Amplifier 1- Emotiva UPA-2
Amplifier 2- Emotiva XPA-3
Amplifier 3 -Crowson D-500
Source 1-Oppo-BDP-93
Source 2-Pioneer PL-990 Turntable
Gaming-Sony PS3 Slim
Speakers- Front, Center and Rear - (5) HSU HB-1’s
Subwoofer- HSU ULS-15 Dual Drive
Transducers-(2)Crowson
Remote - Logitech Harmony One

Room Treatments and Furniture is as follows:

GIK-Tri-Trap's
GIK- 244's
No Name Foam Squares
Sanus Speaker Stands
Walker Edison Audio Rack
Albany Theater Seats

On Deck:

Projector and 100 inch Screen,Media Server
Edited by wkingincharge - 3/2/13 at 4:26pm

Thanks !!

Its been a nice journey thus far!!! I too remember getting that first HTIB from Circuit City and thinking it cant get better. Then I drive by a local Audio Salon and decided to stop in and that's when the whole outlook changed lol!!!!

This week will consist of room treatments with running sound calibration again and then adding in my last (2) HB-1's for the rear and then finally in a couple of weeks (1) additional ULS-15.
Edited by wkingincharge - 9/23/12 at 4:20pm

Thanks!!

It almost seems like the HTIB is the gateway to were alot of us are right now lol!! Yep those are shot glasses as I used to collect them whenever I traveled somewhere new.

Well recently I have decided to take a different approach to better sound other than adding more equipment until ready for a room increase next year, so after reading tons of information from other forum members regarding sound treatment I took the plunge . I already had some foam squares and they helped some but honestly they don't hold a candle to my most recent add on's of (2) 244 Bass Traps and (2) Tri Traps from GIK Acoustics. Install was very easy and the construction was done well and I went with the black for now and future since they blend well with any future paint colors. My initial impression with just my main speakers running are that they take away alot of the echoes I remembered before giving me this dampened feeling that's very quick on music and hearing of more information in music is more prevalent. .I then added my subwoofer to the mix and to my amazement it became invisible (even when less than 6 feet away) with all low frequencies with no recalibration of my eq . The original foam panels are still in use at select locations but eventually as I understand this method more there will be a less of these and more GIK's or equivalents. This weekends plans are to add my other (2) HB-1's in the rear once the stands arrive (See Pics) and recalibrate the EQ to see if it changes much from my original settings and run music and movies.

ULS-15 subwoofer number 2 will be the final audio piece and I will need a see what my future for video displays hold.

Thank You its getting there slowly but surely!! I have talked to so many people that have or had that particular Polk subwoofer thats been on the market for so long and they still sell it I believe. It was great until one day I popped in a movie with heavy bass content and heard it port shuffing hard and I said its time to upgrade before it gets destroyed lol!!!

Keyboardist by the name George Duke- Reach for it !! Jazz,R&B,funk with a Latin flavor on certain songs.

I actually have a few of Rachelle Ferrel tracks after seeing a concert some years back . She is known to have a great range vocally and since I like to mix it up when listening to jazz from instrumentals to vocals it was a great addition for playback and demoing in my room.

A little update !!! I moved the new room treatments (mainly the 244's) on the back wall around and the tri traps needed some wedging in the front as these sit on carpet and the wall trim keeps them from being flush and level. I must say again that room treatments are a worth while purchase in the beginning of your build or later . They just seem to even the frequency response out more for me in the upper range but more importantly the lower range and with a few other speakers still to add I will need it.

Finally during my shuffling around I realized that my front left/right speakers were way to high when I was seated for music/movies at about 42 inches ear level so I picked up (2) Sanus stands to lower them and that helped with my stereo staging in front and I also crossed them in front of the seating position. The original higher stands have duty in the back for my new surround speakers which I yet to put in place. Basically all my additions are going in slower as I take in what each change brings. Once I increase the room size next year I will be set for the most part except for a upgraded audio processor for 3D and/or 4K and maybe eyeing some projection and screens;)

Couple photos to show progress grilles off this time!!




Edited by wkingincharge - 10/5/12 at 6:58pm

Thanks DDigitalGuy05!!

Big fan of these HSU's Bookshelves for how neutral they sound even if you decide to push them to high levels. The other day I was listening to some music that has decent bass guitar notes and it was a low volume level and it was not until I went to my normal listening range that I realized the subwoofer was not turned on yet lol!!, but it shows the frequency response is pretty good for speakers this size. I did a lot of listening and research from the high end to the low end speakers and know there are tons of good choices but after hearing these the decision was made.

Not a huge update for me this time around but I finally retired my Fluance rear speakers to another room and installed (2) more HB-1's for the rear today and moved the amps,processor,source equipment into a closet that really was not used to open up the room a little and reduce the heat. I re-ran the auto EQ on my processor to see what the treatments and the rear speakers changed from my previous saved settings and was surprised that the processor actually brought some of the boosted frequencies back down on the low end especially. I eventually tweaked to my taste and used the SPL meter to get everything equal.Giving the fact that without proper testing equipment I am probably leaving something on the table its pretty good and anyone that's heard everything has been impressed.

The 2nd and final HSU subwoofer is on order so that's next weekend's fun project as trying to get (2)to play nice together may take some work from what I have read on the forum boards. Truth be told my low end is fantastic since switching from a solid performing ported subwoofer to a sealed unit especially for a room this size and my better half thinks I am crazy for adding another monster ,but I have read the benefits and know that once the room size increases soon that part of the system will be in great shape.

Side note, I made a visit to a friends place this week and he has a 65 inch Panasonic Plasma my goodness!! maybe its time for me to think about video upgrades.

Must stop the madness lol!!!


Edited by wkingincharge - 2/2/13 at 3:09pm

Well all I have been busy with work and of course Sandy!!! but during that time I have been doing some more research regarding additional HSU ULS-15 subwoofer.I had not made the purchase and wonder if its necessary. The originally plan was to set it up between my left and center and yes realization is there that this may not be the best spot and could prove difficult to tune but space is limited in this current room and I like the aesthetics it offers. I have about 3 spaces for seating and all but one seat has decent frequency output even after I moved the unit around plus the sound treatments working there magic. I understand that some more balance and possibly extension is gained with some additional DB's and will offer great headroom for future but the question is whether I will be disappointed because of the current room size in other words you have a great running performance car already and then decide to add a huge exhaust system essentially making the car less powerful lol!!!

The consensus I have read in my research so far is add the 2nd one!! any advice!!!

Here are some pictures of my latest my last speaker acquisition!! for sometime to come. There was some long and hard thoughts about adding additional ULS-15 subwoofer and I did as my much research as possible to make decision and drum roll please its fantastic.

Setup:
First off I already had one of these and knew they were fairly heavy but I moved them around in a few spots based on some reading regarding dual placement but ultimately like them in the front best .I then performed some subwoofer gain matching per HSU using my trusty spl meter and changed some of my settings in the room correction on my processor as well because I found out it does something strange to the LFE if not set in a certain area.

Observation:
Wow!! The sound is even more effortless than ever before and I say this because the extension was there with the first ULS but the tactile or really the SPL level I had with my previous ported subwoofer was not until now. The volume settings actually went down a bit from 11 o'clock to around 10 and I raised my crossover too 120 hertz as a experiment on both and its shocked me that I could not localize them even at little less than 10 feet away from my seating position.My feeling is that the addition made the front soundstage better than it already was on everything I have thrown at it so far in music and movies but tomorrow I will play around some more and continue tweaking. Ok!! the final test was some other ears and eyes and I have the WAF for sure after she got past the shock lol!!!! but even she commented that the sound was fuller. My brother came through as well and I threw in the latest star trek movie and when the ships go to warp it takes your breath away.




Edited by wkingincharge - 11/10/12 at 2:19pm

Thanks for the kinds words!!! It has been an accelerated process getting this current setup going and although I am probably not complete (part of the journey) this has been great fun. The ideas came from these boards since there are just so many incredible setups to get ideas from.

Just trying to obtain a better audio/ video experience than what may be had at the current offerings from basic commercial movie theaters.

Next up
I need to get some IR sensors/extenders or upgrade the remote control capabilities since I moved all the equipment into a closet and on the fly adjustments are not so fun anymore.

We need this to complete the movie experience lol!!

Watched TDKR Friday night and Nemo last night. I kinda new what to expect from Batman since seeing it at a Imax recently but Nemo really surprised us since we had not watched it in a long time. The colors look just so vivid and I have to admit this movie was played at almost reference so when Darla taps the tank among other moments in the film WOW!!!

Thanks very much appreciated!!!! I tried watching both movies going for the marathon mode but sadly only made it through half of Nemo so we will restart again this long weekend/holiday but so far from what I have seen and heard its fantastic.

I hope everyone had a great holiday to spend with family and friends!!!

A little update I have been thinking very hard lately of changing my audio processor from the current one for a few reasons and based on some reading and a couple of member recommendations on these forums I am headed in the direction of a Integra 80.3 as my first new year purchase. I also picked up a couple of audioquest NRG-2 power cables on a trial bases for the current processor and amps to see if there is any change in sounds and maybe other cables to follow if I can discern a difference and may even look for other selections for pricing online, but I will say these cables are huge maybe if they don't work I can use them to tow a vehicle or something.
Edited by wkingincharge - 12/26/12 at 2:03pm