The System

I've been asked countless times about my system and what I use. I've never gotten around to taking any pictures but my good friend Shawn McGrath is an amazing photographer so I asked if he could do some shots for me. Room was done completely by the wife and I. Both of us work in acoustics professionally. The room was designed to be a reference for both video and audio playback with as little compromise possible for both. The room is obviously painted black with black velvet curtains made by my wife surrounding the screen and covering the side windows (along with black-out blinds). I also put Protostar flocking paper on the ceiling from the screen to the first reflection panels to cut down any reflections. Everything done in this room short of laying down the carpet and installing four dedicated 20-amp circuits was done by the two of us.

The System:

Video

JVC X75 D-ILA Projector (Chief Mount on custom rails for changes to throw)
Lumagen Radiance 2021
Oppo BDP-105 Blu-ray Player
Stewart Filmscreen Studiotek 130 G3 (120" diagonal)
Carada Masquerade Masking System

Audio

Anthem Statement D2V 3D AV Processor
Parasound Halo JC1 amplifiers (Mains)
Parasound Halo A51 (Center/Surrounds)
Audyssey SubEQ
Paradigm Signature S8 (L/R)
Paradigm Signature C5 (C)
Paradigm Signature ADPs (Surrounds)
Dual Seaton Sound Submersive HP Subwoofers
Dual SVS SB13-Ultra Subwoofers
Logitech Squeezebox Touch (USB Async mod)
VPI Traveller Turntable
Lyra Kleos Cartridge
Parasound JC3 Phono Pre
Parasound JC2 Preamp (Oppo balanced 2-channel and Turntable)

Cabling by Audioquest, Bettercables and Bluejeancables

Exact Power EP-15A Voltage Regulator
Exact Power SP-15 Balanced Power Transformer

Remote system using iRule

Onix Equipment Racks
Lutron Lighting
Acoustic Treatments by GIK and Real Traps
Riser designed by Auralex, Auralex Risers used for JC1s and SVS subs

Seating by Berkline and Costco

All calibrations done with Spectracal Calman 5 software and a Spectracal C6 tri-stim and i1Pro spectra

For the photos Shawn used a variety of lenses and exposures to try and capture the theater. I also took tape off of most of the LEDs on the gear to look nicer but during normal use there are NO lights emitting from any gear that you can see or could compromise the picture.

Front of the room with lights on medium


From the front of the room back at the seating


Shot from the front corner with the equipment lights on and the LED lights in my vinyl shelves on for effect


Equipment Racks in the back


Better look at the VPI, such a gorgeous table. Suspended with a SolidSteel wall shelf and a Gingko platform


Image from Sensaria with Masking System engaged. Exposure is higher and lights are on dim to get a sense of the room around it.


Avatar with the exposure done a little higher


Same but with exposure to mimic the true look to the viewer in the room


Avatar


The Dark Knight Rises with lights on dim


Me in the photo for a sense of size. I was height limited on the screen overall, but next time I may go with a wider aspect screen (2.1 maybe).

Edited by Kris Deering - 5/14/13 at 9:10am

I ended up stapling the Protostar material in place and then using extra material to stick over the staples so you can't see them.

Honestly I like them both. I think this question really boils down to how good your response in the room is without the correction. If you saw my pre and post calibration graphs for 2-channel, they are almost identical. ARC is doing very little. I tend to use the Anthem with more aggressive electronica or industrial music with lots of low bass to incorporate the subs. Any other listening is typically done in pure direct from the Oppo to the Parasound JC-2. But honestly, I could go either way here. The Anthem sounds outstanding even with the extra conversions and processing.

All the lights on the amps are blacked out so you can't really see the amps when watching a movie.

Hasn't been an issue at all.

Unless you need 3D the 83 is a great piece. Even the analog section of the new Oppo 105 doesn't really improve enough on the Anthem to justify upgrading to it unless you just want some of the other features. The Anthem is an outstanding processor and preamp.

21x16x8 I believe, though it may be 24. Been awhile since I measured it.

Few changes since the photos were taken. I have replaced the Radiance XE-3D and Darbee Darblet with the new Radiance 2021 which essentially fuses the two products together. I have also changed out my low end system completely. I sold my Dual JL Audio F-113s and the SVS PB12 Plus/2 subwoofer and added a pair of Seaton Sound Submersive HPs for the front wall and a pair of SVS SB13-Ultras for the back of the room. This delivers far more low end extension and head room. I have also swapped out the SVS AS-EQ1 with the Audyssey Sub EQ to help a friend out that didn't have the Audyssey Pro Installer kit. These are essentially the same but the Audyssey requires the pro kit which I had but my friend didn't. I'll post some new pictures soon!