Haven't posted in awhile. Things have been busy (gazebo project among others).
Thought i'd be brief, if that's ever possible....it's not really, so buckle up.
First, some quick notes then some updates.
Quick notes:After a few months with the Denon AVR, i'm mostly happy.
The Denon app worked perfectly fine for me. You can adjust the Audyssey curves for each speaker, really neat. I posted some images of that awhile back but i can post some more once i have things dialed in and done. This brings me to the next point.
I have yet to do a critical listening test with Audyssey turned off and on but i've been holding off trying to finalize anything because of the intent to swap some of these Axiom speakers out for others. There's no point in going through it all twice. However, i did reset the individual speaker SPL settings because it just wasn't sounding right with the Audyssey settings.
I have also noted that the signal to gain ratio is way different on the Denon compared to the old Onkyo. When using the same volume scale (0-100), i need to turn up the Denon to between 62 and 70 to get the same SPL as i did when the Onkyo was set 55-65). In fact, on one movie i watched last week i had the Denon at almost 75 because i just wasn't getting any bass or overall volume out of the thing (at 75 on the Onkyo it was ear bleeding SPL). This artifact remained even after i reset the speaker adjustments, nor did it change when i added the Anthem MCA30 amp down there to power the two mains and centre channel. This is really the only disappointing part of the Denon because i feel like i'm having to really push the AVR to a point that i shouldn't just to get SPL out of it.
Re: the LG OLED.
Still a damn fantastic screen. Great colour. Very happy i went with the 77" BUT, a personal observation is that if you are looking for a "big" screen, you still need to go with a projector. The LG is definitely wide but with the 'widescreen' concept, the tv is actually not that tall in comparison. Basically i'm trying to say that "i thought it would be bigger" (yes there's a joke or two in there, keep it down Mojo).
Still playing with finalizing settings, doing some reading. It seems like the 4k and HDR modes take on their own colour settings and in part i don't want to tinker much with that. Colour DEFINITELY varies depending on the source (Bluray vs. satellite vs. Roku stick with Crave or Youtube).
The updatesFinally got an amp for the main floor; Parasound Halo A21 (original)
https://parasound.com/a21.phpThat now powers the Tannoy D700s (
https://www.hificritic.com/blog/the-tannoy-700-dual-concentric) as well as a pair of vintage speakers kindly loaned from an astute stereophile friend; ADS 1590s (
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/ads/l1590.shtml).
I was at this friend's place and heard his Mirage OM-5s (omni-directionals!), a project by none other than Andrew Welker.
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/mirage_om5.htmI can provide some feedback on how all these sounded perhaps in another thread. This thread is following my home gear change arounds which this information is all leading towards especially after hearing these Mirage OM-5s.
The plan was to replace the main floor Tannoys likely with some Monitor Audio Platinum PL300s. I heard the Platinum line years ago, heard some of the new Gold series recently and loved a few things about the sound of these speakers. All that being said, after hearing the Mirage OM-5, i was reminded of the imaging and soundstage of the LFRs we heard at the Axiom factory (was considering swapping out our M60s for the LFR verions in the media room to help with a slight left/right pull because of the space limitations with speaker placement and seating). The sound of the OM-5s really brought me back to the day i heard the LFRs. This more broad soundstage was something i was preferring for the main floor system, and it was partly attained by having large speakers in this area for many years (plus it's a large room anyway and we turn it up now and again so i need something big). For a few reasons i decided not to pull the trigger on those LFRs for the media room and had a different plan to change things around in the media room instead. Notably we were going to change out some QS8s for QS10s, the VP150 to a VP180 and the EP350 to an EP500 (or maybe two). What i had not considered was perhaps getting some LFRs for the main floor and then doing something entirely different in the media room. Of course that would mean alot of Axiom brand replacement down there for another brand which means alot more cost. This whole new idea hinges on the success of the LFRs to provide a full soundstage in the main floor room. If they did not accomplish this goal, the the LFRs would go back, and the original plan would go back in effect (Monitor Audio PL300s for the main floor).
SO, here's the potential new plan which has one obvious flaw (can you spot the flaw?).
Main floor--Maybe getting LFR1100 for the main floor (no, not the actives, i have too many other things to buy). Might even consider waiting for some refurbs or B-stock to cut some of the cost.
--Adding a second amp, likely the Halo A23 to run the back channels.
Media room--Swapping out the M60 mains for Monitor Audio Gold series (probably the Gold 200 4G;
https://www.monitoraudio.com/en/support/past-products/gold-4g/gold-200/)
--Changing out the VP150, surrounds and sub as mentioned with an Axiom finish that might somewhat match the Monitor Audio speakers (e.g. if the MAs came in ebony, i could get the Axiom speakers in rosewood, match up their dark walnut with Axiom's walnut espresso or even the boston cherry).
Any thoughts? (and to get ahead of you Mojo, no waxing and drooling endless emphatic descriptions over the LFRs is needed; i'm looking for objectivity...if they don't fill the role as required, they would go back)
