I'm pretty happy with this 'compromise' rig. You can't have your cake and eat it two but this is the closest I've heard to good 2ch out of a HT setup. I am moving shortly to a new apt and going back to only 2ch so feel free to contact me at [email protected] to inquire about any of this gear -- let the vultures start circling hehe!
basically a model-1 sig on it's side w/ a bigger cabinet and extra mid driver. wow.
Totem Acoustics Lynks Dipole
essentially 2 dreamcatchers set up as switchable di/bi pole. excellent included mounting hardware. surprisingly, biwirable just like the dreamcatcher/arro. 8ohm.
Totem Acoustics Dreamcatcher
small but impressive 2-way monitor (used as center-backs). same mid-driver as the Arro and Lynks, same tweeter as the Lynks and integratets nicely with the model 1 sig center and forests.
Velodyne DD-10
AMAZING sub using the HGS (high-gain-servo) technology but also adding an 11-band room EQ (heck, how many subs have composite and s-video with a GUI??!). nice and flat down to about 17hz.... take THAT room-modes!!
Bryston SP 1.7
pre-pro with excellent analog bypass.
Krell KAV-500
3ch (of 5) version, powering the L/C/R array.
Rotel RB-985
5x100W - using 4/5 ch. for the SR/SL and CB1/2 chan.
Rotel RDV-1060
Rotel's RDV-1060 has the best video DAC I've seen in any sub-$2000 player.
Musical Fidelity TriVista DAC 21
upsampling 24/192 or 24/96 (user-selectable) 2-ch D/A with optical and coaxial inputs (auto-sensing). excellent power supply / regulation, small mil-spec tubes on the output stage.
Panamax Max 5500
3 separate filtered banks (10 outlets total). transformer-powered regen for digital sources. sexy backlit VU meter ;)
icsi, it integrates perfectly, the system never ceases to amaze me... 2ch it's astounding, and movies are so much less fatiguing (i used to feel HT was bright / thin / brittle / had no depth. nope!!).
How does the Totem Model 1 Center Signature match-up/sound with the Totem Forest? I own Totem Forests and am thinking about getting the Model 1 Center Signature for my center-channel to complete my HT setup.
the panamax seems to make the background blacker - i'm really looking forward to having the 5500, in borrowing it, i found putting digital sources on the isolation transformer (and having no electrical links between everything, by using glass optical vs digi-coax) made a HUGE difference for 2ch D/A and also for surround processing.
surprisingly the biggest improvements were in video quality, but I guess since video is timed on our 60hz electrical signal... it makes sense. better black levels (rather, better separation of super-black and a few shades lighter) and better color rendition / separation, less noise (when you sat up close, aka 1-2 feet from the set, it used to have a bit of swimming green 'grain' in the luminance channel).
even the 5300 delivered about 85-90% of these improvements, but that isolation transformer makes all the difference (separating digital and analog stages).
Nice system. The Totem speakers are a great choice. Can you please comment on the panamax filter. What is the difference soundwise with and without the filter. Thanks for your time.
System edited: replaced everything b&w with totem acoustic. the RSX-1055 is going to the house my parents are building, and is being replaced with a Bryston SP1.7 shortly. the panamax max 5300 is getting upgraded to a 5500. the hitachi plasma is also going to my folks, and i'm picking up a 52" HD-ILA from JVC. i'm considering picking up 2 more amp rails for the Krell and using it for the center and surrounds, and grabbing a bigger/better 2ch-only Krell for the front pair (since the bryston has such amazing 2ch capabilities) - the Forests are hungry, as is the Model 1 Sig Center, and the KAV-500 delivers, but I think it is at or near it's limits. quite a drastic change all at once, but even without proper break-in, cds and movies sound dramatic and wonderful!
eclipse911t thanks for the compliments - to get to some of your comments / questions, i've been auditioning several DACs but now i've moved the music server to my 2ch rig in my bedroom so i kinda have to do it again to narrow things down. my current favorite is the Bel Canto DAC 2.
re: your system i would highly recommend checking out m-audio to replace the sound blaster card, while sound blaster (creative) advertises an extremely low noise floor (that was the basis of the whole 'live' and 'audigy' lines) the m-audio cards are much better performers - and i'd stay away from letting the computer / software upsample things, i think you may cause more problems with jitter, drop-outs etc that way rather than letting an upsampling DAC do it or just sending out 16/44.1 ;)
sub, i was waiting to get the 'right' one - i had an ASW-600 for a bit, tried the ASW-675, both great for the $ but my (old loft had 960+ sq feet in ONE ROOM and my) current place the 'room' is 25x18x14 ish off the top of my head, but is open to a huge 35-40 foot hall (same ceilings) and the kitchen which is probably another 12-15x25 if i had to guess, so standing waves, room modes, and just plain needing a stupid driver / amp in the sub kinda dwarfed the ASW-6xx series, but the DD-10 does quite respectably here.
lexhamfox - the PC is in a different room on a different circuit with it's own APC BackUPS 1000VA so I don't think there's any issue there (part of why I used optical / EIAJ Toslink - no electrical connection).
System edited: it is 'only' a home theater now but is very engaging and immersive - i wanted the speakers to not be point-source but to create a soundscape / environment and i feel that it's been pretty effective thus far - i find myself having to ask, was that a bird outside waking up or the dolby digital track accompanying the broadcast of Nature on WXXI PBS-HD at 4:30 am ;)
I would highly reccommend that you reconsider your power setup. You need to isolate the PC from everything else.. trust me I used a PC as a studio device once adn found that if you isolate it from yourhome ac circuit with a ps audio ultimate outlet your entire system will sound better and you pc-cd will send a better signal. PC produce very dirty power adn I am suspicious that the panamax may cause problems too. Try auditioning the ultimate outlet with a ps pc 300. Isolating the PC with the UO will be cheap but help everything.
Your system looks quite nice, but it's also really making me think about turning my already silent windows machine into something similar. I have a Sound Blaster Audigy with a SPIDF out that will upsample into 96k, I guess I'll just have to try it. Are you using iTunes to import your songs? I'm trying it out and also trying the variable bit rate WMA, any thoughts. You mentioned errror correction, do you mean just during the ripping process or is there any kind of postprocessing going on in your G5 before your digital output. Ever considered any kind of DSP between your G5 and your DAC, I have no experience with such things, just curious. Your system looks like a rotel advertisement, as they use B&W in them. That's a compliment. I'm also a college student and recently posted my system. In your search for a DAC I've heard the older Adcom (ugly) GDA-700 are great especially for the money, and there is always Theta Digital's used stuff. I'm currently looking at DACs as my CD player is not the greatest, I think I'll get the Adcom. Best of luck with your system, it looks quite enjoyable.
You're not alone. Click on my system to see how I've done something quite similar. I also have a second system using a G5 with 600Gb of music. Using a computer as a transport can result in excellent sonics, but the real benefit is how you can access your music. The customized playlist concept is so superior to listening to individual albums.
thus far noise hasn't been a problem, by timing do you mean jitter or just a delay from hitting "play" on the system? since it's uncompressed off a VERY fast array, there's no delay, in fact, faster track seek than any cd player i've seen (non-linear stuff has a big advantage there). my biggest thing is finding a DAC i like because i was pretty happy with the one in my rdv-1060 (going analog 2ch using coral for music and digi-coax for home theater).
granted my whole system is perhaps one or two steps above 'entry level' but i am inclined to think it sounds pretty darned good, esp. for a film student (there of course are those "who needs to eat i need better interconnects" weeks... but hey, weight-loss thru the love of music).
I'm glad to hear others are doing this...I'm going that way myself... I have an older 933 mHz G4 with all my CD's on it @ 192mbs.....currently it's only for listening while on the computer, but I must admit, it's WONDERFUL to have immediate access to ALL of your music! iTunes also makes it so easy! I am several steps away from where you are, but it won't be too long before the entire house is networked and all my music is accessaible anywhere!!!!!
How have you found the sound from the computer verses a transport?? I understand noise is an issue, and the timing mightbe slightly off from a computer feed....what do you think??
lol yes, TB. typo at 5am. :) It's a promise external 8-bay enclosure, 7x200gb western digital drives with an extra 200gb "hot spare" (running raid 5 so data-integrity and such isn't a big worry).
re: silencing a pc, i'm using a g5 for that reason, i often forget it's on unless i see the white power led. however, without having to get a whole new system there is quite a large lineup of products and techniques by which to slience an ordinary PC - check out www.frozencpu.com - they have dynamat products for PC, as well as water cooling (getting rid of fan noise does a TON, leaving only the noise of the physical disks, which is why my drives are outside the case in an already decently quiet enclosure, and then i've put up a barrier arround that hard-drive case of 2 layers of accoustic foam (leaving enough room so it doesn't overheat, approx 8-10in per side for fan circulation, and the top is open).
