Description

This is as far as I've gotten in the last four years. I went through a receiver and a marantz pre before I ended up here. I made my own stand and am going to work on some panels and bass traps for the corners of my concrete bunker of an apartment. I think it sounds pretty good. I just wish I could get the stage to feel deeper and a little wider. I'd love suggestions on how to make that happen. I think my CD/DVD player is the weakest link at this point. I'd love to hear what you guys think about possible upgrades in the
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Components Toggle details

    • NAD T 531
    It's a DVD/CD player that I picked up super cheap years ago. I think it might be dying, and it seems to be the weak link, so it's next for an upgrade--suggestions welcome
    • Rotel RSP-976
    It is what it is. It's serving me well. I guess ignorance is bliss at this point. I'll wait for HDMI 1.3 to upgrade.
    • B&K Components Video 5 Sonata
    I don't know much about this amp, except that I seem to have gotten a decent deal on it.
    • JM Labs Cobalt 806
    They're treating me well. I'd love to get some floor standers, though.
    • Polk Audio PSW-650
    Apparently I got a good deal on this, too.
    • Kimber Hero
    CD to Pre
    • PS Audio Prelude
    4M pair for the fronts plus one for the center when the HT is hooked up. I came from Monster MCX-1 at the same time as other upgrades so I can't really say how much different they are. I like them and my friends freak out at how big they are.
    • PS Audio Plus
    one for the pre and one for the amp. Love them, especially when hooked up to my ultimate outlet.

Comments 5

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Hello Dave, to answer your plea for recommendations on a universal player look out for Cambridge audio's player currently in development (they make really great sounding stuff for cheap! Also, you asked for an opinion on what speakers to purchase...I'd have to say that my Duevel omni's are pretty amazing & unfussy about setup! Quad makes some really unbelievably high quality and super sweet sounding floorstanders (& monitors) called the 22L2 & 21L2's which you can purchase on A'gon for around $1400 & $1000 respectively through Underwood Hi-Fi.

I'd also like to 2nd Chadnliz's thought of pulling those speakers (& seating) out into the room, as well as, picking up a set of Echobuster's Cornerbusters ($160/4pack) to treat the corners; removing the shoutiness of the acoustic space.

I found a great formula for finding the starting points (of speaker placement) in a rectangular room from my awesome hi-fi shop Arizona HiFi:

"Initial Speaker Placement
Please note that the following is for a basic rectangular room."

"Start by determining the distance of the front wall (wall behind speakers) to the front panel of the speakers. This distance will be at the center of the front panel. To determine the distance, multiply the ceiling height by .618. Example: ceiling height is 9 feet, thus 9 x .618 = 5.56 ft. (or 66.7 inches) This is also the distance your seating position should be from the back wall (wall behind your seat)."

"Now determine the distance of the speaker to the side walls. Divide the room width (the wall behind speakers) in feet by 18 and multiply by 5. So, if the room is 15 ft. wide we have: 15 divided by 18 = .83. .83 x 5 = 4.16 ft.
The center of the speakers should be about 50 inches from the side walls (4.16 x 12)."

"At this position, start with the speakers toed slightly towards you. Listen for awhile to get used to the sound. Play a simple recording containing a vocalist. Listen for a solid center image. Add "toe in" until the image is dead center between the speakers. Now "toe out" the speakers as far as possible without losing the center image."

"You must strike a balance of image, soundstage, and tonality. If the walls to the side of the speakers are very reflective, try damping them. I have found that in most cases however that defusion is better than damping. Be careful not to damp the room heavily. This will only suck the life and impact out of the music. This is probably the most common mistake. Remember that small changes in speaker movement can make or break a set-up. Use a tape measure and make sure both speakers are equal in position as possible. You might want to try tilting the speakers backward/forward also. This can be very effective."

bruce30