My first foray into projection home theater. I've had a 61 inch television for a few years until I went the projector route. I figured since I have the room, I might as well max out the screen size.
The screen is 16 feet wide and 12 feet high.
Beautiful picture and total immersion into the movie. It is truly special to view a movie in this room.
The room is 22 feet wide, 70 feet long with a 22 ft high concrete ceiling.
. Doug, everything you've heard about how great the TU-X1 is is true...it's actually better than all of the accolades. It is one incredible piece. Sadly, in the 21st century, it has become a relic. I live in Los Angeles, and we have only one jazz station here. Pandora and Rhapsody get most of my listening time now for discovering new music...they offer a much larger library and a much more diversified playlist than any FM radio station could dream of. I rarely play the tuner any more. I fire it up periodically for posterity. If I lived in an area with multiple jazz stations, it would be my go-to component as it was ten years ago. Still, I cannot bring myself to ever sell it...it's that good.
If you live in an area with with great FM stations for the type of music you listen to, the TU-X1 has no equal. .
. Tim, I love the sound of my Pass amps and I'm in no hurry to change. However, I have no loyalty or sentimental attachment to them. If I hear a set of switching amps that outshine them for less money, I'd change in a heartbeat and never look back. To me, its all about how an amp makes the music sound...and nothing else. For me, the best sounding amp wins, period.
Congrats to you for making the leap to a switching amp. I agree with you that having tubes in the chain could help warm things up. I should be fine in that area since I have tubes in my preamp, cd player and phono stage.
Thanks for the compliment on my system, I really appreciate it.
03-17-13: Mitch4t . "Hey Tim, I think you are right on the money. I believe with a decent amount of money thrown at R&D, the switching amp could be to linear amps what digital cameras did to film cameras."
Mitch, Excellent analogy.
The R&D funding and progression of class D is happening right now. It started with the I.C.E. modules/amps, moved on to the Hypex modules/amps and the latest is the Abletec technology from Norway and Sweden. D-sonic is supposedly using this latest version in their top of the line monoblocs.
Major trends are probably identified more easily when looking retrospectively. It's much more difficult to distinquish between a major trend, as oppossed to a passing fad, when all of us are in the midst of the fast paced technology changes. My money is on later generations identifying class D as a major trend and paradigm shift in home audio. It's too good to be just a fad.
I recently 'put my money where my mouth is', replacing a 23 yr old Aragon 400 watt class A/B 65lb amp with a Class D Audio 440 watt SDS440CS amp that is 1/3rd the size and weight. My system, for both 2-channel and ht, has never sounded better. This amp has no problem driving my older magnepans and I've never heard them reproduce better bass. I do think, though, that pairing class D with tubes in the chain(preamp,DAC,phono stage, CDP) is important to acheiving the magic. Class D amps seem to be inherently very detailed and neutral, which is perfect for some but I prefer more warmth and dimension.
However, I just took a look at your very nice system. I would completely understand if you're not in a hurry to replace those Pass amps. Maybe you should wait until the next latest and greatest class D incarnations come out.
You have boldly went where no man has {at least that I have seem}gone before. Wow what a viewing space. You have really made the most of your viewing space.
Nikki.....yeah it has its challenges, but the payoff is immense.
I am currently running 5.1 and I'm cosidering going with an additional four more surround speakers for a 9.1 setup. My processor has outputs for two "side axis" speakers that are matrixed from the front speakers, and it has outputs for regular surrounds and back surrounds. I do know that there is no 9.1 content, but the processor will route the 5.1 signal to the additional speakers. Every since I saw The Dark Knight at an IMAX theater, I've stayed awake nights trying to figure out a way to replicate the incredible sound that I heard in that theater. I counted six speakers on each side of the room overhead and four speakers in the rear....not counting the fronts and the center channel and the obvious subwoofers. I kind of got the feeling that more is better. I've looked at the layout of my room and I could easily add the additional four surround speakers without ruining my room decor.
Gmorris....you probably meant the ARC Ref3 to replace your LS25. If you get the Ref3, it will be money well spent.
No gain issues with the PH5 and the Sumiko Celebration cartridge. When I had a Ref2 Mk2, I had gain issues with the PH5. I sold the PH5 and got the PH3SE which was much better with that preamp. When I got the Ref3, I gave the PH5 another shot, and it was a quantum leap over the PH3SE.
The Infinity IRS is one of my all time favorite speakers.
I have been considering the ARC REF5 to replace my LS25. However, it has only 12dB gain, which is not sufficient for my Helikon. Did you have any gain issues with your PH5?
Your screen is probably the largest I have seen in a home theatre system. Wow!
I thought that would be a problem too, but it did not materialize. I had a tensioned wire 14ft off the floor stretched the length of the mirrors in order to hang a black drop cloth if it presented a problem. I am able to totally black out the light from the window which makes the room pitch black. I hung the black drapes to cover the mirrors and any improvement to the picture was not noticeable....so I don't use them anymore. The picture does not wash out because the lamp is pointed directly at the screen from a perpindicular angle. If any light were aimed directly at the mirrors, I'm sure it could cause the image to wash out. The image I get is excellent and the movie watching experience is outstanding.
