Home theater, woohoo... - 03/25/05 07:02 PM
OK, hang in there folks, this stats out as a projector/dvd player post, but turns into talk about Axioms too.
(Sorry Sirquack, I decided to just post my email I sent to you as I want to get back to playing around with my speakers and PJ in their new home.)
Actually, they arrived around 12:30 yesterday afternoon, but I have been busy getting things finished up a bit in the basement. It must have taken me about 5 hours last night just hooking things up... Not because it was that difficult, but because, I hooked up the Z3, and I had to turn it on, even though I had nothing to use as an input hooked up yet, then I grabbed my equipment rack and receiver, and then the front M60s. Then I turned on the receiver just to listen to the radio. I liked the sound so far... Then the SVS made it's way down stairs, and again played with the audio a bit. Then I grabbed the S97 and hooked it up. Grabbed Ice Age (wanted a nice bright movie so I could look for SDE, etc)... I must have just sat there in awe for about 20-30 minutes. Then I grabbed the VP150 and mounted it above the screen image (no screen yet). I had to drop the image a bit to adjust for the height of the VP150. No problem there for the Z3. Just use the lens shift and done. I has able to (using the Axiom Full Metal Bracket) point the 150 down towards the listening area. WOW. That was the first time that the VP150 has ever been directed right at the listening area. In the past it was eight firing above or below the listeners' ears. Much better. I was also able to move the M60's slightly closer to create a nice arc for the front sound field. VERY NICE!...
I played around with things like I-Robot and a few others for a while. Then I had to grab the QS8's yet. Mounted them on the wall and started up Ice Age again... Some good surround field effects at the beginning of the movie, and everything else was still upstairs... I wasn't impressed. Hmmm, I know that the QS8's are better than that, so I went into the receiver's setup program. Sure enough, there were a lot of things to change. I adjusted the speakers levels and distance numbers, and then all was good. I then just played around with the Z3 settings to see what was what (who needs the manual, right?) I then put in The Blue Man Group's DVD and LOVED the sound. The PQ on the DVD was kind of bad, so it wasn't amazing on a large screen, but again that is the DVD. I hear that it is a problem with live recordings. The Z3 is kind of like Axioms. If the recording is bad (whether audio or video) it will show up. I guess that would be true with any projector.
I am sure that the PQ can be improved even more, but I didn't want to do to much tweaking until I have an actual screen to tweak to. I am pretty much set on going with a 100" - 104" (hard to measure the image that I liked without someone else to help with the tape measure)... That's OK because I won't order until next week anyway after I test out some screen matterials. My wife and kids are out of town, and I am meeting up with them tomorrow, so I will have help on Monday to measure better.
Well, I want to get back to cleaning up the basement (I move my arcade machine, pinball, and air hockey over to the size that I have been finishing, and they are all dusty inside and out, plus I need to clean windows, and of couse actually watch a movie, but before I go...
So far, and this may be different when I actually have a screen, but the PQ of the Z3 and the S97 together is about the same whether I use component output and let the Z3 upconvert, or if I use HDMI and let the S97 upconvert. Both are very impressive, but I can't tell the difference between the two. I need to get past the "wow" factor and do better A/B tests.
Well, enough typing. I need to get cleaning up so I can watch something on my day off...
(Sorry Sirquack, I decided to just post my email I sent to you as I want to get back to playing around with my speakers and PJ in their new home.)
Actually, they arrived around 12:30 yesterday afternoon, but I have been busy getting things finished up a bit in the basement. It must have taken me about 5 hours last night just hooking things up... Not because it was that difficult, but because, I hooked up the Z3, and I had to turn it on, even though I had nothing to use as an input hooked up yet, then I grabbed my equipment rack and receiver, and then the front M60s. Then I turned on the receiver just to listen to the radio. I liked the sound so far... Then the SVS made it's way down stairs, and again played with the audio a bit. Then I grabbed the S97 and hooked it up. Grabbed Ice Age (wanted a nice bright movie so I could look for SDE, etc)... I must have just sat there in awe for about 20-30 minutes. Then I grabbed the VP150 and mounted it above the screen image (no screen yet). I had to drop the image a bit to adjust for the height of the VP150. No problem there for the Z3. Just use the lens shift and done. I has able to (using the Axiom Full Metal Bracket) point the 150 down towards the listening area. WOW. That was the first time that the VP150 has ever been directed right at the listening area. In the past it was eight firing above or below the listeners' ears. Much better. I was also able to move the M60's slightly closer to create a nice arc for the front sound field. VERY NICE!...
I played around with things like I-Robot and a few others for a while. Then I had to grab the QS8's yet. Mounted them on the wall and started up Ice Age again... Some good surround field effects at the beginning of the movie, and everything else was still upstairs... I wasn't impressed. Hmmm, I know that the QS8's are better than that, so I went into the receiver's setup program. Sure enough, there were a lot of things to change. I adjusted the speakers levels and distance numbers, and then all was good. I then just played around with the Z3 settings to see what was what (who needs the manual, right?) I then put in The Blue Man Group's DVD and LOVED the sound. The PQ on the DVD was kind of bad, so it wasn't amazing on a large screen, but again that is the DVD. I hear that it is a problem with live recordings. The Z3 is kind of like Axioms. If the recording is bad (whether audio or video) it will show up. I guess that would be true with any projector.
I am sure that the PQ can be improved even more, but I didn't want to do to much tweaking until I have an actual screen to tweak to. I am pretty much set on going with a 100" - 104" (hard to measure the image that I liked without someone else to help with the tape measure)... That's OK because I won't order until next week anyway after I test out some screen matterials. My wife and kids are out of town, and I am meeting up with them tomorrow, so I will have help on Monday to measure better.
Well, I want to get back to cleaning up the basement (I move my arcade machine, pinball, and air hockey over to the size that I have been finishing, and they are all dusty inside and out, plus I need to clean windows, and of couse actually watch a movie, but before I go...
So far, and this may be different when I actually have a screen, but the PQ of the Z3 and the S97 together is about the same whether I use component output and let the Z3 upconvert, or if I use HDMI and let the S97 upconvert. Both are very impressive, but I can't tell the difference between the two. I need to get past the "wow" factor and do better A/B tests.
Well, enough typing. I need to get cleaning up so I can watch something on my day off...
you got the basement done faster than I.....