Description

My New system in our 12.5x20.5 foot Living room.

The equipment pictured here has been accumulated over a short few months with the help of a good friend in the industry. It has been a fun spending spree to date.

Next on the agenda is room treatment, to tame some noticable reflections, along with bass trapping. Thankfully room is close to an ideal ratio (just a little longer than desired. The floor is suspended some 2-3 feet above the foundation with solid concret stumping, and the ceiling has 6-8 foot of airspace cavity height, this seems to allow allot of the Bass engery to filter out preventing muddyness and bloat. Yet I believe you can never have too much bass absorbtion so I will add traps in all corners.

Power cables and conditioning is yet to be completed, currently auditioning the Oyaide Tunami Cable, which had a noticable improvement to music weight and dynamics.

have also auditioned the Shunyata Hydra 6, but I feel my money is better spent on room treatments first.

(Will be putting in dedicated 20 amp circuits).

Whilst some purists may scoff at using the Denon 3805 receiver as main amplification, they do sound suprisingly nice in Stereo Pure Direct mode (which switches off all video and unrequired circuitry to give clean signal for stereo sound. (and I dont use it for any video processing).

the 3805 has enough headroom to drive the JMLAB Cobalts to very loud levels in my room without signs of stress, I can notice a slight flattening of dynamic range above -15db on the volume control, but this is louder than I can comfortably listen to. I am yet to have it break a sweat driving these difficult load speakers (min 3.2 ohm) It has impressed me to date.

Down the road (when funds permit) I will be adding Monoblock amplification for the front mains, (most likely Nuforce or Bel Canto, using the Denon 3805 as a pre - and rear amplification.

I will update with pictures as I progress.
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Components Toggle details

    • Custom A/V cabinet AV equipment stand Custom
    32mm Solid Vic ash entertainment unit, which I designed and had built by a local furniture maker, extremely solid and heavy (1ookg), has improved sound of system over previous flimsy Ikea stand.
    • Pioneer 436HD
    43
    • Marantz Marantz SA-15S1
    SACD, stereo redbook player from marantz new reference line.
    • Denon 3805
    7.1 surround receiver (120wpc)
    • Pioneer 520H
    (80GB Harddisc DVD recorder)
    • JM Labs Cobalt 826
    826 signature floorstander
    • JM Labs Cobalt 806
    806 Signature Bookshelf (used as rear surrounds)
    • Signal Cable Ultra Biwire
    6 foot Ultra Biwire speaker cable, used for front mains and centre
    • Oyaide Tunami GPX 1.8M
    1.8 M Oyaide power cable
    • Luminous Audio Technology Monarch 2 Signature
    1 meter Analogue Interconnect
    • Cardas Crosslink 2x Speaker Cable
    35 foot run to rear surrounds

Comments 8

Owner
Ive just added 2 x tunami cables with 079 connectors to feed my eichmann universal boards which inturn feed the Audio and video gear from separate 20 amp circuits.

Have also added a Cerious Technologies Power Cable to the Marantz SA-15, along with Solid Tech Feet of Silence

Along with 2 li/50 power cables with Furutech Fi-11 connectors to power my plasma panel and processor box.

The system has now a noticably lower noise floor (silent), along with increased dynamics, and more transparency. Very pleased with the results.

Next on the agenda is some Mono blocks for the front L/R channels, thinking of Nu-force at this stage.

kingg

Owner
Ohh Nearly forgot...I purchased a Revel B12 Sub about 4 weeks ago, really nice tight musical sub, with enough oomph for movies...650Wrms, plenty of grunt, but only a 10 inch cone so it doesnt move as much air as some bigger subs out there, but damn its tight and fast...May eventually add a second when I find one second hand or cheaper in price.

kingg

Owner
I've just had 2 - 20 amp dedicated mains runs put in, 4mm cable - (complete overkill i know, but allows for future expansion with mono blocks and peace of mind...

Difference in sound quality was staggering, as my previous mains line shared with 3 rooms, refrigerator, 8 halogen lights etc...

Even my wife was amazed at the difference!, Less grain and glare in the sound, more spacious open sound, the soundstage now extends right back and a little wider...background is blacker...One happy camper, huge bang for your bucks.

Added an xbox 360 a little while ago, has deprived me of much sleep!...

Next on the list is another Oyaide GPX power cord for the SA-15, and some Oyaide Li50 custom made power cords for the plasma...and im still shopping for room treatments (must be approved by the wife).

kingg

Owner
Thanks for the kind words Sfdude, I'm trying to please the wife also, so aesthetics are a concern im my setup.

I've tried not to compromise on system setup and placement, whist allowing it to blend with the room decor.

The front main speakers are 2.2meters apart, and 1 meter out from the front wall (to front baffle). they are exactly the same distance from each side wall (about 90cm)

Ideally I would move the sofa from along the side wall to our lounge room to allow perfect symmetry in the room, but the wife would have none of that..
Although honestly it doesnt seem to affect imaging that I can notice. As from the listening chair, none of the drivers are obstructed from view ..and I guess it acts as a big bass trap, and first reflection point damper (with a large blanket I place over the backrest when listening.

Next purchases will be room treatments, any affordable recommendations???,

kingg

Owner
System edited: Added pics of the pioneer 436HD plasma

kingg

Very nicely done and doesn't seem to be much compromise on the way you set things up either. Always like the clean aesthetics of a well-placed system in a living room.

sfdude

Owner
Had the plasma installed yesterday, the Pioneer 436HD...very impressed so far, excellent P.Q, and nice aesthetically too...

Will post pics soon

kingg

Owner
Ok, heres the latest update..

After a few weeks auditioning the Oyaide Tunami P.C I decided the price was worth it for the improvements it had on my system...So I bought it

Next, I just purchased a Plasma, after much headscratching I opted for the Pioneer 436HD. It will be installed and calibrated this week, cant wait!

kingg

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