For Those With High End Stereo Systems...

[toobfreak]

And my home theater now. Kinda have to stuff this into my small living room, have a small house, but the new Rotel RB-1590 is upper left, will fit in a lower shelf but really tight, and I want it to able to breath. Below that is the Yamaha Aventage RX-A3080 theater receiver, next to that is the new Panamax M5400-PM. I had my electrician friend come over and we ran a new dedicated 20 amp circuit for the system because the old line wasn't properly grounded and was causing an annoying ground hum on the amp, but the Panamax cleaned that up entirely. But it also cleaned the sound, and I mean noticeably, big time. So I also bought a new AQ NRG-4 power cable for the Rotel, since the stock cord has a funky shaped plug on the wall end that caused fitment problems on the Panamax. The speakers are Bowers & Wilkins CM-10 S1 front LR, and the new model Bowers & Wilkins HTM71 center channel. All in all, I'm impressed. The amp, the AQ Mackenzie XLR cables and the Panamax are an incredible sounding system, in my opinion. The Rotel is open and airy and super detailed, and even playing at reference levels is barely warm to the touch. It's loafing at levels loud enough to be uncomfortable to listen to. The TV is a 65" LG 4K HDR 10, and covered up on the bottom shelf is a Staton T.92 turn table. Not pictured is an SVS PB-2000 subwoofer, and Bowers & Wilkins DM-602 S3 as surround sound.

Hey, you're alive! I thought you died or something, 007. I tried to PM you way back to see if everything was OK and couldn't and saw your posts had stopped. Wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Glad to hear everything is working for you. Power conditioning can do a lot, I actually use a pair of Power Wedges, and impingement from the dirty power line varies GREATLY by time of day. When you get the chance, try listening to detailed music late at night, like after 2AM, and you'll likely hear an added level of transparency and detail.

 

[007]

And my home theater now. Kinda have to stuff this into my small living room, have a small house, but the new Rotel RB-1590 is upper left, will fit in a lower shelf but really tight, and I want it to able to breath. Below that is the Yamaha Aventage RX-A3080 theater receiver, next to that is the new Panamax M5400-PM. I had my electrician friend come over and we ran a new dedicated 20 amp circuit for the system because the old line wasn't properly grounded and was causing an annoying ground hum on the amp, but the Panamax cleaned that up entirely. But it also cleaned the sound, and I mean noticeably, big time. So I also bought a new AQ NRG-4 power cable for the Rotel, since the stock cord has a funky shaped plug on the wall end that caused fitment problems on the Panamax. The speakers are Bowers & Wilkins CM-10 S1 front LR, and the new model Bowers & Wilkins HTM71 center channel. All in all, I'm impressed. The amp, the AQ Mackenzie XLR cables and the Panamax are an incredible sounding system, in my opinion. The Rotel is open and airy and super detailed, and even playing at reference levels is barely warm to the touch. It's loafing at levels loud enough to be uncomfortable to listen to. The TV is a 65" LG 4K HDR 10, and covered up on the bottom shelf is a Staton T.92 turn table. Not pictured is an SVS PB-2000 subwoofer, and Bowers & Wilkins DM-602 S3 as surround sound.

Hey, you're alive! I thought you died or something, 007. I tried to PM you way back to see if everything was OK and couldn't and saw your posts had stopped. Wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Glad to hear everything is working for you. Power conditioning can do a lot, I actually use a pair of Power Wedges, and impingement from the dirty power line varies GREATLY by time of day. When you get the chance, try listening to detailed music late at night, like after 2AM, and you'll likely hear an added level of transparency and detail.

Yeah I didn't get to installing the new Rotel until I had the new circuit ran and the new Panamax included so I waited to post. But yes, when you think about it, power lines are nothing more than huge antennas, and pick up everything from cell phone signals to feedback through home circuits from your all your electrical appliances. There's a youtube vid for Panamax where a guy built a speaker to produce audio of all the "noise" in your home electricity, and it's bad, and it's going into your audio equipment. So a "line conditioner" like the Panamax is a great addition to any home stereo or home theater, and now I'm a huge advocate of that, and even a good upgraded shielded power cable. But then, I know you are fully aware of all this. I comment for other's reading this thread.



One thing I've noticed is that at night, the line voltage reads 120 VAC, and during the day it's 123 VAC, without fail. I do listen at night sometimes, but now with the Panamax, I don't know if I'd be able to hear the difference since it cleaned up the power to absolute silence. I'm really happy with the sound as is, streaming the Amazon Unlimited HD and Ultra HD music from my laptop over an AQ high end HDMI, but I think in the future I'll be looking at a DAC so I can bypass the onboard sound processing from the laptop. Much cleaner using a USB A to B cable since it bypasses the onboard sound processing in your computer, which is what I do on my gym/office room stereo. I have a Yamaha Natural Sound Integrated S-A801 amplifier that has Sabre ES Dacs, the only Yamaha integrated amp with built in DACs, and I run straight into that with an AQ USB A to B cable and it sounds great. I power a pair of Bowers & Wilkins DM-604 S3's with that.

You probably haven't noticed I'm a big Bowers & Wilkins fan...

 

[toobfreak]

Yeah I didn't get to installing the new Rotel until I had the new circuit ran

That was a good idea you did, BTW. Very critical to have a current supply such that under heaviest load, there is never more than 1% voltage dropped internally. Back in 2010, I actually ran a dedicated 60 amp branch feed up from my 200 amp panel in the basement to a subpanel on the 2nd floor room where my home theater and music system are.

This is the meter box and main disconnect outside, installed in 1999. You can't tell, but in the bottom is actually provisioned for four Square D breaker circuits; I use one of them for an outside circuit (not yet installed here). At this point, the house has three independent ground planes, one back to the midtap on the pole transformer, one to earth ground, and one to the metal plumbing indoors.

This is tied via a massive 4-wire (hot, hot neutral & gnd) cable to the 200 amp breaker box in the basement.

Then from there, I ran a 60 amp feed up to a subpanel hidden in a closet on the 2nd floor with four more circuits dedicated in the picture and sound room on top of what was already ordinarily there, for a total of 75 amps.

and the new Panamax included so I waited to post. But yes, when you think about it, power lines are nothing more than huge antennas, and pick up everything from cell phone signals to feedback through home circuits from your all your electrical appliances.

Another new source for RFI are the new "smartmeters" that the power company is using which actually have RF transmitters in them.

There's a youtube vid for Panamax where a guy built a speaker to produce audio of all the "noise" in your home electricity, and it's bad, and it's going into your audio equipment. So a "line conditioner" like the Panamax is a great addition to any home stereo or home theater, and now I'm a huge advocate of that, and even a good upgraded shielded power cable. But then, I know you are fully aware of all this. I comment for other's reading this thread.

I watched the Panamax video and was a little disappointed in one thing. I know they've been around for quite a while, but I was surprised that when fed the 210 volts, the Panamax shut down the power to the output rather than regulate it down. For my music system, I don't feel anything more than my Power Wedge isolation xformers are needed, but for my computer and video system, I actually used staggered devices.

One thing you might look into is adding a gas discharge arrester to your breaker box. Any severe over-voltage condition like a high surge, lightning strike, etc., is shunted to ground there. Protects the whole house as a front line defense. Then on both computer and video (computer for data protection, video because stuff can often be in the process or recording), I add several things:

1. Over/under voltage regulation to maintain 120 VAC.
2. Sine wave regeneration with crest factor limiting.
3. Back-up UPS uninterruptible power to maintain power in the case of total power failure with sinusoidal output.
4. Massive energy dissipation on the order of between 1000 - 5000 Joules.

With a 60 inch DLP TV and full gear running, I can have switching transients or total power failure up to 15 minutes before needing to shut down, and with the TV off, much longer to allow gear to complete a recording. During violent lightning storms, I don't even need to power down my computer. You can generally get all of this spread between Triplite, APC and another brand. Basically, no matter virtually what happens, the gear never sees any change in voltage, waveform, or interruption. Of course, all the RFI/EMI nasties get taken out as well. By using staggered devices, you cascade the energy dissipation with each one trapping anything the other missed, plus, should one fail, you're not dead in the water.

You probably haven't noticed I'm a big Bowers & Wilkins fan...

Probably a little delicate for my needs I'd probably blow them up, but they are a very fine speaker highly regarded for a very long time that combines both art and science.

 

[007]

Probably a little delicate for my needs I'd probably blow them up, but they are a very fine speaker highly regarded for a very long time that combines both art and science.

The first time I read about Bowers & Wilkins being used at Abbey Road recording studio is what got me interested...

Blog - Behind the scenes at Abbey Road: 800 D3 installation | Bowers & Wilkins

Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers have arrived at the recently refurbished Studio One at Abbey Road Studios. We share a behind-the-scenes look at setting up the 800 D3s in the world's best recording studio.

www.bowerswilkins.com

Prior to owning B&W I played around with all kinds of speakers, even built a few of my own, but when I finally auditioned the Diamond Series at the Magnolia Theater at Best Buy, I was sold. I had never heard a more accurate speaker in my life. Everything I owned prior to B&W all seemed to have their own little "color," especially the cheaper speakers. Some are brighter, some have more bass, some lack good midrange, and some sound ok at lower volumes but as soon as you turn them up, they go completely off the rails. What I love about my CM-10's, and especially with the addition of the Rotel, is that they always seem to be loafing. They never sound like they're straining. You can keep cranking up the volume until it's really not comfortable to listen to, but the sound doesn't distort, even minutely, they just got louder.

But back in the day, one of my favorite pairs of speakers was a big old pair of Infinity SM-155's. I thought they sounded "boomy," so I pulled the woofer out of one of them and took a look inside and found a completely empty cabinet. Knowing that cabinet vibration is a major cause of distortion in a speaker, I glued in two 1x4 braces side to side, and two 1x4's front to back above and below the woofer, and then glued in 2" thick high density foam sound insulation on all sides and top and bottom, and that made a major difference in how they sounded. That tightened them right up and got rid of the boomy. Those were the only pair of speakers a neighbor came over and asked if I could turn them down... It was kinda late at night though, and it was out in my shop. My house actually does a much better job of insulating sound against escaping outside.

 

[toobfreak]

Prior to owning B&W I played around with all kinds of speakers, even built a few of my own, but when I finally auditioned the Diamond Series at the Magnolia Theater at Best Buy, I was sold. I had never heard a more accurate speaker in my life. Everything I owned prior to B&W all seemed to have their own little "color," especially the cheaper speakers. Some are brighter, some have more bass, some lack good midrange, and some sound ok at lower volumes but as soon as you turn them up, they go completely off the rails. What I love about my CM-10's, and especially with the addition of the Rotel, is that they always seem to be loafing. They never sound like they're straining. You can keep cranking up the volume until it's really not comfortable to listen to, but the sound doesn't distort, even minutely, they just got louder.

But back in the day, one of my favorite pairs of speakers was a big old pair of Infinity SM-155's. I thought they sounded "boomy," so I pulled the woofer out of one of them and took a look inside and found a completely empty cabinet. Knowing that cabinet vibration is a major cause of distortion in a speaker, I glued in two 1x4 braces side to side, and two 1x4's front to back above and below the woofer, and then glued in 2" thick high density foam sound insulation on all sides and top and bottom, and that made a major difference in how they sounded. That tightened them right up and got rid of the boomy. Those were the only pair of speakers a neighbor came over and asked if I could turn them down... It was kinda late at night though, and it was out in my shop. My house actually does a much better job of insulating sound against escaping outside.

Yep. The B&Ws are very respectable speakers, and beautiful. One of the greatest problems with any speaker is enclosure resonance and coloration. Much of what they do is to eliminate that, not only in the enclosures, but in the cones themselves. In some rare cases, material coloration in driver and enclosure characteristics can actually be factored in to offset electrical and other deficiencies, but that is rare. One of the hardest things in the world to accomplish is a truly inert box.

My own personal checklist for a loudspeaker is:

1. Power handling: Able to deliver at least 135 dB+ SPL without distorting. Must be able to recreate realistic rock concert power levels without strain or damage.
2. Soundstaging and imaging: Must be able to recreate the sonic height, depth and bredth of the live performance all around you as recorded in the music to give you a "big-as-life" illusion.
3. Efficiency: Generally preferred that they be at least in the 90s, and better still to be 100-105 dB/w/m efficient.
4. Benign power load: No wide phasing or impedance swings and close to 8 ohm load through much of the range.
5. Accuracy: Harmonic and impulse response able to convey textural differences in instruments as well as the transient and sonic impact of a live musical attack.
6. Bandwidth: Essentially 10.5 - 11 octave frequency response, fairly flat, even down to the lowest registers, ie, about 10/12Hz to at least 16kHz.

Try as they might, no one speaker can do all of that, those that try are IMMENSELY expensive, every speaker is a compromise somewhere, so the best solution is often a pair of satellite speakers combined with a well-matched sub. #6 is actually the hardest to achieve and once a person hears accurate bass truly flat down to the subsonic, it is a life-changing event, because that is where much of the visceral impact and "feel" of live music really happens!

 

[toobfreak]

But back in the day, one of my favorite pairs of speakers was a big old pair of Infinity SM-155's.

Here, 007, I'm going to give you these as both an audiophile and a friend. Here is the response curve chart of one of the last adjustments I made to my system back in 2014. You will note that the response is still strong even at 10 cycles! VERY FEW speakers, even those claiming flat down to 60, 40, 30 and 20 Hz have much usable output below 80 cycles. Since the ear is actually more sensitive to midrange and higher frequencies and less sensitive to bass, you'll note the output actually RISES with bass rather than dropping off! The exact opposite what most speakers actually do.

The room is key to any system and IN ROOM not anechoic response is what matters. System response should be adjusted to get overall response flat to the EAR rather than the instrument (an acquired skill), so while a sound meter is a must to start with, the ultimate end goal in any personal system is to get the sound flat as possible to the listener's ear. Rooms are a bitch.

Here is the template I made for doing my own system analysis. Maybe you can make use of it. You'll need a decent sound level meter and a tone generator / test CD, etc. You'll note that while there is essentially no "bottom" to live music (live music clearly has components probably down as low as a few hertz), the real upper limit to instruments is actually no higher than 8-10,000 Hz! Everything above that is just "air." Enjoy. I had to shrink it a little to make it load here.

 

[007]

#6 Bandwidth: Essentially 10.5 - 11 octave frequency response, fairly flat, even down to the lowest registers, ie, about 10/12Hz to at least 16kHz.
Try as they might, no one speaker can do all of that, those that try are IMMENSELY expensive, every speaker is a compromise somewhere, so the best solution is often a pair of satellite speakers combined with a well-matched sub. #6 is actually the hardest to achieve and once a person hears accurate bass truly flat down to the subsonic, it is a life-changing event, because that is where much of the visceral impact and "feel" of live music really happens!

Indeed... Even though I was impressed with the amount of bass from the CM-10's, it was imperative that I add a sub, because on a bluray disc there is an audio channel, the .1, dedicated to LFE's. For those who don't know what LFE's are, it's Low Frequency Effects, and they're generally too low for normal speakers to reproduce. You mentioned 10/12 Hz up to 16KHz, my SVS PB-2000 sub goes down to 16Hz, 4Hz below what they say humans can hear, but as you mentioned, you can certainly FEEL it, and I absolutely agree, that if you've never owned a good subwoofer that's capable of frequencies below what you can hear, then you don't know what you've been missing. I can turn the sub off or on in 2 channel listening in the Yamaha, but I prefer to leave it on because there's plenty of very low frequencies in so much music that the B&W just don't get down that low. There is a matter of adjustment though, so the transition from front LR to sub appears seemless.

 

[007]

But back in the day, one of my favorite pairs of speakers was a big old pair of Infinity SM-155's.

Here, 007, I'm going to give you these as both an audiophile and a friend. Here is the response curve chart of one of the last adjustments I made to my system back in 2014. You will note that the response is still strong even at 10 cycles! VERY FEW speakers, even those claiming flat down to 60, 40, 30 and 20 Hz have much usable output below 80 cycles. Since the ear is actually more sensitive to midrange and higher frequencies and less sensitive to bass, you'll note the output actually RISES with bass rather than dropping off! The exact opposite what most speakers actually do.

The room is key to any system and IN ROOM not anechoic response is what matters. System response should be adjusted to get overall response flat to the EAR rather than the instrument (an acquired skill), so while a sound meter is a must to start with, the ultimate end goal in any personal system is to get the sound flat as possible to the listener's ear. Rooms are a bitch.

View attachment 339523


Here is the template I made for doing my own system analysis. Maybe you can make use of it. You'll need a decent sound level meter and a tone generator / test CD, etc. You'll note that while there is essentially no "bottom" to live music (live music clearly has components probably down as low as a few hertz), the real upper limit to instruments is actually no higher than 8-10,000 Hz! Everything above that is just "air." Enjoy. I had to shrink it a little to make it load here.

View attachment 339526

Impressive. Although I tried my hand at building a couple sets of speakers, I quickly realized that without an oscilloscope, etc, and other analytical equipment, I was really just taking a crap shoot at matching speakers and cross over networks with cabinet harmonics. I could make some calculations or try and build an infinite cabinet, but I'd never truly be able to get it "right."

I agree with the "bring it back live." That's been one of my prerequisites as well. The more it sounds live, or "as it was recorded," the better I like it.

 

[007]

My latest project is building my own amplifier based on an EC82 triode/tetrode.

Can't wait to see if I can hear the difference between that and my Onkyo.

I've had two Onkyo's, and both of them took a crap, the last of which, a TX-NR808, developed the very common and well documented HDMI switching problem. I sent it in and they repaired it even though it was a month past warranty, but the repair didn't last long. The same thing started happening again but was worse, and it finally got to the point where there was no switching at all and it was useless. I beat it with a ten pound maul and took it to the dump.

 

[toobfreak]

#6 Bandwidth: Essentially 10.5 - 11 octave frequency response, fairly flat, even down to the lowest registers, ie, about 10/12Hz to at least 16kHz.
Try as they might, no one speaker can do all of that, those that try are IMMENSELY expensive, every speaker is a compromise somewhere, so the best solution is often a pair of satellite speakers combined with a well-matched sub. #6 is actually the hardest to achieve and once a person hears accurate bass truly flat down to the subsonic, it is a life-changing event, because that is where much of the visceral impact and "feel" of live music really happens!

Indeed... Even though I was impressed with the amount of bass from the CM-10's, it was imperative that I add a sub, because on a bluray disc there is an audio channel, the .1, dedicated to LFE's. For those who don't know what LFE's are, it's Low Frequency Effects, and they're generally too low for normal speakers to reproduce. You mentioned 10/12 Hz up to 16KHz, my SVS PB-2000 sub goes down to 16Hz, 4Hz below what they say humans can hear, but as you mentioned, you can certainly FEEL it, and I absolutely agree, that if you've never owned a good subwoofer that's capable of frequencies below what you can hear, then you don't know what you've been missing. I can turn the sub off or on in 2 channel listening in the Yamaha, but I prefer to leave it on because there's plenty of very low frequencies in so much music that the B&W just don't get down that low. There is a matter of adjustment though, so the transition from front LR to sub appears seemless.

Only comment I'd make here is that I'm much less interested in home theater than music. Home theater kind of lost its interest after a while. I use a completely different set of equipment to drive the audio for the theater and only occasionally am compelled to do the full monte where I fire up the full speaker system for a movie. The movie has to have really spectacular sound for me to do it, like a Godzilla movie that came out several years ago, and Madonna of all people put out a really spectacular video of one of her concerts with really great pop music with phenomenal sound! I think part of it in general is the decline in good movies coming out of Hollywood. Everything is a repeat and a spin off of an old hit or idea. Good god, they are even running Star Wars into the ground. But then, my TV actually has pretty good sound and LF extension because it actually has a cabinet with room for real speakers.

I've never bought into any of that Dolby Labs stuff or 5.1 channel biz. I don't believe in surround sound. A couple things I've learned over the years is:

1. Set up your sound system for the ultimate music audio 1st and the home theater aspect will take care of itself.
2. Set up properly, you can get away with only two channels, creating a virtual center channel and surround with stuff happening in front of you and beside you, 180°. My own personal theory is that since the movie / TV is in FRONT of you, there is no real need or wish to have stuff sounding 360---- and actually, if I want to really take it over the hill, I can fire up this really cool Hughes processor that has the best 3-D surround sound you can ever imagine hearing from just two front speakers! I've heard stuff that I swore was coming from other rooms in the house and even outside behind me in my back yard! I've actually had to go to the window a few times to LOOK just to be sure.

Put another way, I've found that if the QUALITY of the sound is there, it is far less important to have bells and whistles, 9 channels, speakers everywhere, and especially, NOT to use any of that DSP sound effects (hall, stadium, etc.) that supposedly simulates various room acoustics. Just get the basics right, or as they often say, you can't put lipstick on a pig. Good, solid, basic, straightforward gear will take you farther than gimmicks, but then, I'm sure you understand that.

 

[007]

#6 Bandwidth: Essentially 10.5 - 11 octave frequency response, fairly flat, even down to the lowest registers, ie, about 10/12Hz to at least 16kHz.
Try as they might, no one speaker can do all of that, those that try are IMMENSELY expensive, every speaker is a compromise somewhere, so the best solution is often a pair of satellite speakers combined with a well-matched sub. #6 is actually the hardest to achieve and once a person hears accurate bass truly flat down to the subsonic, it is a life-changing event, because that is where much of the visceral impact and "feel" of live music really happens!

Indeed... Even though I was impressed with the amount of bass from the CM-10's, it was imperative that I add a sub, because on a bluray disc there is an audio channel, the .1, dedicated to LFE's. For those who don't know what LFE's are, it's Low Frequency Effects, and they're generally too low for normal speakers to reproduce. You mentioned 10/12 Hz up to 16KHz, my SVS PB-2000 sub goes down to 16Hz, 4Hz below what they say humans can hear, but as you mentioned, you can certainly FEEL it, and I absolutely agree, that if you've never owned a good subwoofer that's capable of frequencies below what you can hear, then you don't know what you've been missing. I can turn the sub off or on in 2 channel listening in the Yamaha, but I prefer to leave it on because there's plenty of very low frequencies in so much music that the B&W just don't get down that low. There is a matter of adjustment though, so the transition from front LR to sub appears seemless.

Only comment I'd make here is that I'm much less interested in home theater than music. Home theater kind of lost its interest after a while. I use a completely different set of equipment to drive the audio for the theater and only occasionally am compelled to do the full monte where I fire up the full speaker system for a movie. The movie has to have really spectacular sound for me to do it, like a Godzilla movie that came out several years ago, and Madonna of all people put out a really spectacular video of one of her concerts with really great pop music with phenomenal sound! I think part of it in general is the decline in good movies coming out of Hollywood. Everything is a repeat and a spin off of an old hit or idea. Good god, they are even running Star Wars into the ground. But then, my TV actually has pretty good sound and LF extension because it actually has a cabinet with room for real speakers.

I've never bought into any of that Dolby Labs stuff or 5.1 channel biz. I don't believe in surround sound. A couple things I've learned over the years is:

1. Set up your sound system for the ultimate music audio 1st and the home theater aspect will take care of itself.
2. Set up properly, you can get away with only two channels, creating a virtual center channel and surround with stuff happening in front of you and beside you, 180°. My own personal theory is that since the movie / TV is in FRONT of you, there is no real need or wish to have stuff sounding 360---- and actually, if I want to really take it over the hill, I can fire up this really cool Hughes processor that has the best 3-D surround sound you can ever imagine hearing from just two front speakers! I've heard stuff that I swore was coming from other rooms in the house and even outside behind me in my back yard! I've actually had to go to the window a few times to LOOK just to be sure.

Put another way, I've found that if the QUALITY of the sound is there, it is far less important to have bells and whistles, 9 channels, speakers everywhere, and especially, NOT to use any of that DSP sound effects (hall, stadium, etc.) that supposedly simulates various room acoustics. Just get the basics right, or as they often say, you can't put lipstick on a pig. Good, solid, basic, straightforward gear will take you farther than gimmicks, but then, I'm sure you understand that.

Oh I agree, pretty much... as in even though my home theater receiver has 11.2 channels, the only ones I use are front LR, center and surround. I don't use the side, rear, height or Atmos. I don't need speakers all over the damn room. I do like the center channel. But far as movies go, yep, hollyweird has just been pumping out the cookie cutter garbage for years now, and that's why I sold my oppo disc player. I hadn't bought a new disc in years. Couldn't see paying $25-30 for a 4K movie that sucked, and with Amazon Prime, which I have, you get their streaming video so, with 135Mbps down cable, I can stream movies. Have a Cat8 ethernet cable plugged directly into the back of the TV. Most are free but Amazon, among others, now wants TWENTY FREAKIN' DOLLARS to RENT a new release/popular UHD 4K movie. Well... aaaahh... NO... ain't happenin' there either. You can buy it also for another $5, but then it exists in digital purgatory on Amazon's servers.

I'm playing my favorites list right now from Amazon Music Unlimited, and trying to get some laundry folded but, I keep sitting down in front of the stereo having to listen, because to me, as good as this sounds now, it's like an EVENT to listen to music.

I think us audiophiles are a rare breed, because in my entire life, I've never met another person that shared my enthusiasm for stereos, and thus never met anyone that had anything even remotely close to my setups, even long ago when I had much lessor systems. I have three systems now, and even the least of the three, the man cave stereo in the shop, is nicer than anything anyone I know has, in fact most don't have a stereo period, let alone a home theater.

 

[toobfreak]

Oh I agree, pretty much... as in even though my home theater receiver has 11.2 channels

Wow. I had to look that one up. All I can tell you, is the more discreet channels you add, the less well it works, and the more dependent you are on a sweet spot. Put another way, the more likely people in the room will be closer to a rear speaker somewhere that they will hear skewed sounds from discreet locations: ie: where the speakers are. You should never hear a speaker, ie, closing your eyes, you shouldn't be able to tell where the speakers are. Just a sound field. Fewer speakers envelop the room more with overlapping fields creating a larger, more contiguous soundstage, and because all the speakers are up front, the more stable the aural image is in more positions in the room.

Dolby vs. DTS: I always pick DTS. Either vs. dbX, I pick dbX. Dolby actually ripped dbX off. I have a pair of dbX pro sound rack mount noise reduction units that are amazing---- can take the hiss and background noise right out of bad recordings.

Most are free but Amazon, among others, now wants TWENTY FREAKIN' DOLLARS to RENT a new release/popular UHD 4K movie.

Screw that.

I think us audiophiles are a rare breed, because in my entire life, I've never met another person that shared my enthusiasm for stereos, and thus never met anyone that had anything even remotely close to my setups, even long ago when I had much lessor systems. I have three systems now, and even the least of the three, the man cave stereo in the shop, is nicer than anything anyone I know has, in fact most don't have a stereo period, let alone a home theater.

Well, at least now you know someone else. After posting my worksheet to you earlier, I was actually was inspired to go back to my master worksheet which is larger and more detailed, and redo a bunch of stuff to correct some small details which were never quite right from years ago. The reason for that sheet is to keep records on set up because far from just hooking stuff up and plugging it in and turning it on, my system totally depends on being "set up" carefully electrically to integrate everything together and match the room characteristics, etc. So it has a sort of "brain" central control which actually determines what and how everything gets signal and sounds, shown here:

And involves about 5 minutes and about 17 steps to turn everything on in the correct sequence, using a Variac and complicated switching center to switch devices into the Variac, bring them up, then switch them out to line power one at a time.

Then maybe another 10-20 minutes to warm up and stabilize. If I'm going to play music, it is for the long haul, and doesn't get turned on unless I have time and intend to listen for at least 4 hours or longer. It probably costs me about $60, every time I turn my stereo on, in wear on components + electricity.

But I'm not complaining.