Just moved back to my loft after a remodel and the system is sounding good. The room is 70 feet long and 22 feet wide with a 22 ft high ceiling. It used to be a beer brewery and they converted the place to lofts. Concrete floors and ceiling.
The Audio Research Reference 3 preamp raised the system to a whole new level. It sounds outstanding.
The home theater portion really cooks....I plan to get the top of the line InFocus projector later this year.
Paste this link into your browser to see more photos of the whole room when the Kappa 9's were my main speakers.
VPI Industries HW-16.5 Record Cleaning Machine. A must-have if you are serious about your vinyl.
Audio Research PH-5 Tube Phono Preamp
Nice phono pre...
Oracle Audio Technologies Delphi
Nice table...I don't play it anymore since I got the Michell. It is beautiful and I keep it for eye candy.
Grado Platinum Cartdridge
Nice cartridge when I played my Oracle. I may try it on my Michell one day.
Audio Research Reference 3 Tube Preamp
Tube Preamp
All of the hype is true about this preamp. Outstanding.
Pass Labs X-600 Solid State Monoblocks
Nice amps. Open and detailed and fast. I'm using four of them, a pair to run the planar columns and a pair to drive the bass.
Infinity IRS BETA Speaker System
This speaker is everything that you've heard about it.
Infinity Kappa 9 Full Range Speaker
Very nice sound..... and good looking too! I use two of them for the rear channels and one for the center channel. These speakers would excel as main speakers in anyones 2 channel rig...they are exceptional as surrounds and center channel.
Signal Cable Premium XLR and RCA Cables
Nice cable...All Signal Cable interconnects throughout the entire system.
Signal Cable Ultra Double Run Speaker Cable
nice cables...used for the front mains and center channel.
Signal Cable Magic Power Cords
I have this power cord on all of my components. Excellent value.
Sansui TU-X1 Tuner
Baddest tuner on the planet.
Radio Shack Antenna FM
Grabs the stations by the throat and puts them in my living room.
Dave (Fabio) Ratcliff Hat Trick Component Feet
Ratcliff sound pucks under the amps, line conditioner and tuner. 18 month wait to get these from Dave.
Carver Silver 9t Monoblocks
I run three of them, one each for the center channel and two rears.
Velodyne DD-18 Subwoofer
Slam bam earthshaker
Optoma UHD35STx Short Throw True 4K UHD Short Throw Projector...that throws an amazing 16 foot wide image.
It is great to have the projector in front of you and not overhead and behind you.
Da-Lite Scenic Roller 16 Foot Wide Movie Screen
Sceen is 12 feet tall and 16 feet wide for a 240 inch diagonal picture.
Marantz AV-7705 Processor
Great on movies...incredible hi-def surround processor.
Sony Sony UBP-X700 4K Ultra HD Home Theater Streaming Blu-Ray Player
Killer player....the images are truly film-like. .
Audio Research DAC-8
Killer DAC
X-Box 360 by Microsoft
Gaming Console...playing a video game on a 12 foot high and 16 foot wide screen in high definition with killer surround sound is an incredibly immersive experience.
NVIDIA Shield Pro video streaming device
This was an incredible upgrade....forget about that Roku and Fire Stick stuff and get one of these as your video streamer.
BlueSound Node
Streaming device
Roon Digital Music Software
Amazing companion to a digital music library...you need this!!
System edited: Just added the Marantz BD-8002 Blu-Ray player...a truly outstanding player. The images are truly film-like. If you've got a high end home theater...you've got to get this player.
System edited: Switched to a full-range Infinity Kappa 9 as the center channel speaker. Intended to be a front main speaker, it is incredible as a center channel. I was previously using a smaller Kappa 7.
System edited: ...upgraded a Sharp PG-F310X Projector...allows me to go from DVI to HDMI to get 180p/60 image. I also increased brightness to 3000 lumens. A nice brightness boost for my huge screen. The old projector was 2300 lumens.
Hi Mitch I am glad to hear that you got it up and running. I agree with you re the CDP player being better. But I wonder how much better the Modright will sound. One day...... Take care, Mike
System edited: Just added a Squeezebox.....verrry convenient for background and casual listening. No, it won't replace a top shelf cd player. I have a Rhapsody account, and the Squeezebox allows me to audition whole cd's via web sreaming before I decide to purchase the cd.
The high ceilings and the large room really gives a great sense of "being there". My system wouldn't be the same in a conventional residential-sized room. *
I bet your son is "diggin' his digs", any kid would if they had a place like that! Plus you've got cool neighbors too.
I was checkin' out some lofts in downton LA yesterday, saw a nice place in Little Tokyo, but the prices are crazy in LA. They wanted one million Turkish dollars for a two level 1500 sq ft unit with a corner street view. Kind of a mini-mini -Mitch-loft with hardwood floors and all stainless steel built-ins, but barely enough room for a Brunswick Gold Crown IV pool table. You could open a POOL HALL at your place, heheh.
Same ol' excuse, Mitch. I haven't had time to work on my art, because work has been knutz lately. Digital art has been winning out over traditional art in my life the last decade or two. I would love to get back to my roots.
I'm gonna get a Panny plasma soon, and...I still gotta rebuild my 2-channel system!!!!!
Dean......the wall was punched out right after you were here....pretty dramatic now that both sides open up to each other.
The ArtWalk was very good....I'm still waiting for you to put your works on display here during the ArtWalk. You've got to come over and watch a movie sometime and bring some friends, it is really a great movie watching experience.
The screen rolls up into the ceiling out of the way and I pull the curtain all the way back so that I still have my view out of the window.
Wholly cow, Mitch, that's the first time I've seen the giant movie screen in your place! It's actually blocking out the monstrous window, heheh.
It's been awhile since I've been in A'goN, how was the Spring Artwalk at the Brewery last April? Have you punched out the wall over the hallway for your son's room yet?
Stay with the Pass amps and forget the tube amps; too much noise and hassle; raises the noise floor. I ditched mine and went back to solid state! Don't miss them at all!
Hi Mitch I have been going nuts with the HD DVD vs Blue Ray issue. The next purchase will be top Toshiba as well. Too many titles on HD DVD that I am presently missing. The SD DVDs are supposed to look their best on the Toshiba. Thanks, Mike
Mike, I borrowed a PS3 from a friend for a week...it was outstanding. The Toshiba A2 is also a great player also. I decided on the Toshiba A2. The Toshiba A1 had too many quirks...it was a first generation player and quirks were to be expected, but I just couldn't deal with them any longer, so I sold it and got the A2.
I decided against the PS3 because of the lack of game titles and there is no clear winner now in the number of movie titles in Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. The A2 won out because of price.
Now it really gets weird. I found out after I got the A2 home this week that it only has a toslink output for audio and does not have the 5.1 analog outputs that that A1 had. If I want to be able to hear Hi-Def audio, I'll need to upgrade to the HD-XA2 for about $700.
The big problem for me is that my projector or pre-pro does not have HDMI and I'm forced to try and compensate in other ways.
Because PS3 only offers True HD sound over HDMI, I'm going with Toshiba because I can get True HD-Audio via the 5.1 analog connection on the flagship Toshiba model.
There is no clear winner in the on-screen image.... on both units the pitcture is exceptional...even with my modest projector.
To me the Toshiba XA2 has the edge in audio since I don't have HDMI.
I'm returning the A2 this week and getting the XA2. Because of my room size and screen size, I think it is important that I get the unit with the best sound available sound minus HDMI. The XA2 has on on-board processor that will process the new Hi-Def Audio formats and deliver playback though the discrete 5.1 analog outputs on the player.
Hi Mitch Hope that all is well with you. How do you like your new Toshiba HD DVD player, especially compared to the Sony PS3 for the Blue ray. Thanks, Mike
