Thread Like Summary
aaaaaaaaaaaaa, Andrew, Kodiak, Mojo
Total Likes: 5
Original Post (Thread Starter)
Starting to oggle new gear #435113 01/07/2020 10:35 PM
by chesseroo
chesseroo
So with the inevitable change out of the old RPTV sometime this year (or perhaps next major holiday sales), I was thinking of turfing the old AVR first so i can get everything else i have connected, re-connected, and then all i have left to do is replace the tv at some point (simple hdmi plug and play).

I already have an external amp i plan to use in the HT (an Anthem MCA30) which will power the mains and centre channel but the new AVR will power the surrounds.
Considering that i only need the AVR as a basic prepro but with some amp usage and otherwise mainstream features (Dolby Digital 5.1 presently but eventually 7.2 (MAYBE 9.2 but improbable) and no plans to go Atmos, wireless connectivity, etc.), i don't need a massive thing like i bought so long ago and by looking at older (last year's) models, can save some cash. Here's what i'm considering:
https://www.crutchfield.ca/S-2b6dXa3OBTL/p_580RZ730/Onkyo-TX-RZ730.html
https://www.onkyo.ca/product/tx-rz730/
Liked Replies
Re: Starting to oggle... - Q for the Denon owners #437365 Jul 11th a 10:53 PM
by chesseroo
chesseroo
So the oggling is moving to an action phase.

Looking at trade-ups with the Axioms, moving to EP500 from EP350 (original version). The VP150 Ti is moving to a VP180 v4. Adding some QS10s as well and will keep the QS8s (original ver) for now and decide later on if i want more for their purpose. I figure using the QS8s on the side and the QS10s in the rears...we'll see how things sound. The rear surrounds would sit directly overhead the seating area with no room to move the couches forward (maybe 6" but that's about it).

Also looking at moving on some of the office speakers. Have some vintage Mission 737s and Tannoy Revolution R1s. Will probably hold onto the Angstrom Legattos for now. Looking at adding some Monitor Audio Gold 50s most likely.

Tv and AVR still not expected until late this fall or post Christmas depending on sales.
1 member likes this
Re: Starting to oggle - conclusion pending #441012 Feb 2nd a 05:17 PM
by chesseroo
chesseroo
An update on the new gear front, some headway is being made but covid has indirectly slowed things down.
Since the pandemic start, electronics supplies and inventory have tanked, understandably so. Some prices have also increased as a result. The original plan was to have the remaining gear purchased by this time last year and since the situation is ongoing, it will likely not be until this time NEXT year (2022) before everything gets into place.

So the headway made?
The new tv was bought and finally arrived (after 3 months). The LG CX 77".
https://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-oled77cxpua-oled-4k-tv

Expecting to pickup a used Emotiva pre-pro for the main floor to replace the aged Cambridge Audio unit and completely move away from legacy connectors and gear with only legacy connectors (e.g. component video). Problem was that processors are damn expensive! Trying to find a pre-pro for a reasonable price that isn't over $1500 even used and 5 year old gear is brutal. If this works out well, i'm going to become an Emotiva and Outlaw Audio fanboy for the prices they put out gear!

Have settled on a new bluray player so the aged DVDp can be moved on and sold. Looking at the Sony UBP X800. I don't have many DVD-A discs, but i have a few. If i ever want to listen to them, i need a player that plays the format and sadly Panasonics do not, nor do the lower cost Sony's (of course).
[sigh]
But at least i can probably pick that up in the next week as it appears to be in stock. This will be the last disc player i will ever buy.

Still waiting to get a new (likely Denon) AVR to replace the aged Onkyo in the media room.

Moving to a 7.2 system so the Axiom speaker switcharound (supposed to happen last year) got put on hold until a new AVR can be obtained. The old Onk is only 5.1.

The hunt is still on for a main floor amp replacement (looking for a used Parasound Halo since i can't seem to find anything else that fits all my criteria) so that the Anthem amp will join the new AVR in the media room to power the three front speakers. I've considered some newer Class D amps, but IMO, they are WAY overpriced for the level/amount of electronics inside the boxes. I swear these things don't cost more than $100 in actual materials. The markup seems crazy high. Love the idea they are >90% efficient, put out tons of power but weigh often less than 30 pounds. Been watching alot of Amir's technical tear aparts and measurements of amps.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...phono-preamp-and-analog-audio-review.13/
Really interesting stuff. He completely turned me off of ever considering a Marantz AVR but the parent company that owns both Denon and Marantz obviously runs two separate companies as the Denon AVRs get some pretty solid measurements even compared to some boutique name brands separate components while it was apparent the engineering crew at Marantz put some filters into the path which even caused a frequency rolloff around the 10kHz mark; something you never see in amp/receiver tests (usually nothing but a straight line to 20kHz). Maybe Axiom or Mojo could submit an Axiom amp for Amir to review.
Darn curious to see those results.
1 member likes this
Re: Starting to oggle - conclusion pending #442157 Apr 17th a 06:09 PM
by rrlev
rrlev
One note on AudioTools ... Andrew also offers AudioToolsMax which comes with all the modules + any future ones. At the time I bought it, he was running a sale ... $200.

Might sound like a lot but I justified it as an inexpensive alternative to buying specialized equipment for the bench.
1 member likes this
Re: Starting to oggle new gear -Rm sweeps #442212 Apr 19th a 11:45 PM
by chesseroo
chesseroo
Originally Posted by Mojo
It's obvious your room is correcting all the M60ti deficiencies. smile
Now there's the Mojo i was expecting!
1 member likes this
Re: Starting to oggle new gear #443477 Sep 11th a 04:44 PM
by chesseroo
chesseroo
Originally Posted by rrlev
Originally Posted by chesseroo
Actually IMO, the sound should anchored to the screen, not specifically the 'centre' of the screen. Presently when someone is located on the left of the screen, the sound comes too much from the middle of the screen, which isn't correct.
I'm sitting a bit further back than I want to at the moment because of the temporary furniture. I'll be setting things up a bit closer in the future. In any case ...

I did do a bit of testing when considering where MLP should be. Screen wise I wanted to be in the the 6' to 8' range. Sound wise even at 6' the sound was fairly even across the screen (although a bit too close for two channel). I'm wondering if your running the center a bit too hot or if something else is off.

I had the opposite happen when I was testing the surround setup in the HT. My speakers were setup for a 150" screen while I was watch the picture on a 27" monitor ... that was very weird. The action on the right and left was way outside where visually it should have been coming from. Oh ... I had a VP180 under the monitor ... talk about a wide center smile

It's all in the speaker positioning.
Seats are 10' from the speakers but the chairs are so wide they span about 7' with almost 2' of padded arms in the middle (the actual sweet stereo imaging spot is where the chair arms are!). Hence, when sitting in the left hand chair, you are staring directly forward to the left speaker with the right speaker way off to the right.
Did a quick text layout.
Think this kind of triangle setup which ideally would be more of an isoceles shape from mains to the sweet spot for a seated position (i can provide pics later; was going to wait until i swapped out all the speakers to repost the new setup in the gallery)

_______<----6 feet b/w mains---->
--------------------WALL----------------------
Spkr (L)__*******Screen Size*******_Spkr (R)
_____________***VP150***
__________********VP180**********
[
[
[ 10 feet back
...[ .....................}..................{ ......................}
...[ .....................}..................{ ......................}
...[ .....................}chair arms { ......................}
...[ .....Chair .......}chair arms { .....Chair .......}
-----------Wall----------------------------------------

Note how the screen size to centre channel size varies dramatically.
Also note how the seated spots for left and right are very off the actual centred location for a sweet spot which in this room is impossible to get a solid stereo image at either seated position.
The back wall with the chairs is about 14 feet from the TV but it is a an angled downward wall, plus the back chair width and cushion depth leaves the user at 10 feet from the mains with no possible movement back any farther.
The main speakers are about 10" out from the opposing wall with the TV so no additional distance backward is possible.
Configurations for moving the mains closer together at most cuts the distance to 5 feet apart from 6 which has been tried and the stereo image gets even smaller....moving the mains apart any farther worsens the left/right pull).
The chairs cannot move to the left or right more than an inch or two.
There is no more room to adjust speakers or chairs beyond a few inches at most.

Many years ago i tried all these variations and where the mains sit presently is about the best i was able to get to minimize the left/right pull. This is why having the wide front soundstage becomes necessary. It was why i auditioned the LFR at the Axiom factory specifically.

The room sounds great. Some of the best DVD-A recordings are quite stellar even though at the two listening positions you have a bit of left/right pull. Adding some back surrounds will only increase the surround effects (and technically i could go as far as Atmos and add heights and ceilings but with the room all finished at this point, plus the extra cost, i'm not going to bother and am stopping at a 7.2 system).

I'm just limited unfortunately due to the room size and the size of our lounge chairs. If i had a row of 3 or 4 home theatre chairs instead of our double size lounges, at least one chair would have the actual sweet spot.
1 member likes this

Need Help Graphic

Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics24,945
Posts442,479
Members15,617
Most Online2,082
Jan 22nd, 2020
Top Posters
Ken.C 18,044
pmbuko 16,441
SirQuack 13,840
CV 12,077
MarkSJohnson 11,458
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 1,353 guests, and 2 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newsletter Signup
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4