Because it finally dawned on me that I could perform the cheapest tweak there is, and probably the most performance enhancing, I decided to make a change! Moved my speakers about 3" out on both sides and moved my chair back 5". Man, what a difference! The stereo image is excellent and, it may be my ears, but it sounds like an improvement in bass. I know it's good because I haven't been able to stop listening to music all afternoon.
*smacks forehead* Why didn't I do this a long time ago?
Just wanted to post this to remind others of the importance of set-up. So cheap, so simple, so hard to master--have fun experimenting!
Very good, but unless you did a double-blind test, you did not hear an improvement, and................it doesn't count.
Rest assured, I did the whole thing with my eyes closed. . .
Can you post some pictures? I'm curious to see what it looks like.
Quote:
Very good, but unless you did a double-blind test, you did not hear an improvement, and................it doesn't count. 
Remember, you have to believe... just believe!!! And yes, it WILL be tighter... oops, wait... he did test it. 
I can relate Sean, with my 80's pointing about 3ft behind me and pulled out about 6-8", they have great imaging.
Quote:
Can you post some pictures? I'm curious to see what it looks like.
Ask, and you shall receive. . .
Nothing fancy. I have a small room--11.5'x11.5'--so I redecorated about a year ago to have the speakers fire diagonally across the room.
Don't make fun of my ugly red ottoman. The matching chair didn't fit in my room after changing things so I took it apart. The TV is so I can watch baseball games while listening to music.
Proof that I moved 'em. All by myself, too.
The flash on my camera tells me I need to dust and keep my greasy fingers off my equipment.
By the way, I'm running the speakers by themselves--no subs. I like it better that way.
you must have more than one audio room? Where is the Khartago?
It's in my HT set-up. Let me see if I can get a pic of that, too. Hang on.
Here you go, Randy.
Wow, it's a good thing I cleaned today. Even wiped off the Simpsons coasters!
By the way, the light of the Khartago is almost blinding from straight on. Can't see it from the pic, though.
Do you still have m40's? I know what your saying about the blue light, I can imagine. My HTPC has a blinding blue light as well, it should look cool when I get my two Khartago/Stratos Mono Super Duper specials.
Yes, I still have them. Right now they are on top of each other in the corner. They really like each other.
Thanks for posting pics. I love those tube amps
. Have you tried toeing in your speakers a bit more so that they intersect about a foot in front of your nose?
Quote:
Have you tried toeing in your speakers a bit more so that they intersect about a foot in front of your nose?
Yes, but it seemed to congest everything into one ball of sound. I will try it again so they cross right in front of me and see if there is a difference. The speakers throw out quite a wide soundstage with seeming spaciousness. Too much toe-in collapses it.
Thanks, about the amps. These guys are massively over-powered, but I like to think that I'll be able to drive almost any speaker I want to try.
Nice setup Sean, I see you finally broke down and got yourself that HD add on for the 360, how do you like the HD movies?
Thanks, Michael. I've only seen three movies on it so far--"Batman Begins," "The Departed," and "Hollywoodland." The first two I own (thanks eBay), and the latter I rented (slightly scratched, a whole lotta skipping). Honestly, I can't tell much of a difference. The sound, though, I have to crank way up. I'll tell you, it's the cost of the movies that have kinda curbed my appetite for HD. And with the horrible performance I had with my one HD Netflix rental, which froze and stuttered through three parts of the movie, I haven't tried another one.
I'll give it another shot, though. Since I have both versions of "King Kong" I can do a comparison--just a matter of switching between video inputs on the TV.
I have both a Toshiba HD-A1 and the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on, and without a doubt the standalone player has a lot better video and sound. I couldn't believe the difference, really. I was hoping they would improve the quality with the last update they released for the HD DVD add-on, but I haven't been able to check it out thanks to my Xbox 360 dying on me. Have you already downloaded the update which came out earlier this month? There was the dashboard update, then another update. I thought it was primarily an update for the audio portion, but maybe part of it was for the video, too. I can't remember.
Anyway, size of screen would make a difference, too. I see a major difference between DVD and HD on the 60", but I was hard-pressed to see a difference on the 32" I had. The difference was there when sitting up-close, but it wasn't mind-blowing in the least.
If nothing else, though, that update for the 360 was supposed to improve the audio a lot, so I'd give it a shot, if you haven't already.
Haven't done the update. Didn't even know about it, really. I assume it requires Xbox Live, which I don't have. Not much of an on-line gamer.
Yeah, my tv is only 34", and I kinda knew the new format was beneficial for larger screens. All in all, my Denon 2900 gives me a great picture, and with a lot of standard DVDs dropping in price, I'm hard-pressed to find a reason to dive into the HD formats. Yesterday I bought "Munich," "The Constant Gardener," and "Capote," and spent less than the price of a single new HD-DVD.
Still, it's tempting. Once I start down the HD path, I'll feel the need to change. First the standalone player, then a reciever that can handle HDMI, then a larger TV that will support 1080p. Can't afford stuff like that now, especially when I'm still happy with what I've got. Hard to justify it. Besides, I pour most of my money into audio junk. Can't help it.
With the falling prices on the Toshiba HD-A2, I have to constantly fight the urge. Realistically, I know I should wait for a capable universal player, or one format to be crowned "king."
Well, you can still create a profile on Xbox Live and download updates. I'm not much for online gaming, either, but occasionally I'll play something with my nephew. However, I'm starting to think of going to a free Silver account, as I'd still be able to get the content I want. I just wouldn't be paying the $50 a year for online gaming. So yeah, if you can, hook up your 360 to the internet, if only temporarily, and you can get the updates for free. My Xbox 360 died before the dashboard update, even, but it sounded pretty cool. Even if I wasn't using Xbox Live at all, I'd still want my 360 networked so I could access music off of my computer's hard drive.
Quote:
With the falling prices on the Toshiba HD-A2, I have to constantly fight the urge. Realistically, I know I should wait for a capable universal player, or one format to be crowned "king."
I know the feeling. The Toshiba HD-A2 for $250.00 is VERY tempting. If it were $100 less I'd buy, and use a rental service like Netflix and go crazy!
Thanks for the info, Charles. Never really looked into the internet thing for the Xbox. If the update helps performance, it'd be worth it.
Quote:
If it were $100 less I'd buy, and use a rental service like Netflix and go crazy!
I have a gut feeling that that price may not be far off in the next couple of months. And then, yeah, it'd be a no-brainer.
The problem that I have with rental discs, is that I think some customers are confused and think they are renting frisbees. Couple that with discs that are susceptible to cracking and oversensitive lasers, you have one frustrating movie experience.
I've read multiple reports from both camps, though. Some people have rented a ton with no problems, and others that can't get anything to play properly. Go fig.
Quote:
Charles. Never really looked into the internet thing for the Xbox.
Simple procedure, doesn't cost anything, I just bought a long cat5 cable and run it from the office computer to the 360 only for updates. There have been several updates for the 360 as well as for the HDDVD drive, and you have to update to play some of the older Xbox games on the 360. When I had the add-on and did some video switching between the HDDVD and regular DVD there was a significant difference in picture quality.
As for the Toshiba HD players I just bought the HD-XA2, Imho if you can fit one in the budget get it, great HD picture, but the real bonus to me was in the upscaling of regular DVD's, I was never totally sold on upscaling DVD players, after owning a Denon 3910 which was touted as being one of the best, I could never really tell much of a difference between it and just using the 360 for movies, so when I bought the Toshiba I continued to use the 360 for standard DVD's, in part because it loads much faster. Well to make a long story short the other night the Toshiba was already fired up so I put a standard DVD in and the picture was incredible, so I did some back and forths between the 360 and the Toshiba with several different movies with the same results, the Toshibas picture quality on standard DVD's was almost as good as some of the HD movies, it blew the 360 and my old upscaling Denon 3910 right out of the water.
Michael your results seem to agree with what's been said about the Reon video processing in the HD-XA2(and in some Olevia sets and the new Onkyo 875 and 905)as being the best available for deinterlacing and upscaling.
I'm very tempted with the 875 and 905 Onkyos. They seem to have everything I want.
Oh, and Sean, to do the HD DVD update, you'll need to insert an HD DVD, and before it plays, it will say there's been an update, which you then confirm you want to apply. Or so I hear, since I haven't actually done it. Just so you're not confused about how to do that update.
Quote:
As for the Toshiba HD players I just bought the HD-XA2, Imho if you can fit one in the budget get it, great HD picture, but the real bonus to me was in the upscaling of regular DVD's, I was never totally sold on upscaling DVD players, after owning a Denon 3910 which was touted as being one of the best, I could never really tell much of a difference between it and just using the 360 for movies, so when I bought the Toshiba I continued to use the 360 for standard DVD's, in part because it loads much faster. Well to make a long story short the other night the Toshiba was already fired up so I put a standard DVD in and the picture was incredible, so I did some back and forths between the 360 and the Toshiba with several different movies with the same results, the Toshibas picture quality on standard DVD's was almost as good as some of the HD movies, it blew the 360 and my old upscaling Denon 3910 right out of the water.
Yes my sentiments as well. I knew that the Toshiba XA2 HD DVD image was going to be spectacular but the big surprise was how well it upscales standard DVD. The level of detail and contrast compared to my Panny S97/Oppos are night and day, and those 2 players were among the best for SD. I'd heard how good the HQV processing technology was for upconverting and scaling in these players and that alone was worth the price.
Wait a minute....
Evil Monkey finger-point: Those aren't AXIOMS.
Dun-dun-DUN!
What are you doing here?!
Seriously now, someone here gave me that same advice. Tweak the setup. Use a little more toe-in, pull them out from the wall, etc. It's amazing how just a few tweaks can make a big difference in sound.
Nice setups, BTW. I'm especially digging the 2-channel. MMMMMmmmm sexy tube amps...
Quote:
Wait a minute....
Evil Monkey finger-point: Those aren't AXIOMS.
Dun-dun-DUN!
What are you doing here?!
LOL!
You know, I've probably given out that advice about tweaking lots of times, but never paid much attention to my set-up. That's what I get for thinking I know it all. . .
One of the best tweaks I've made is to raise my speakers 1 inch using those auralex pads. I can't tell if the padding does anything (things certainly sound more detailed to me though and I seem to be able to put the volume up much higher without getting complaints) but I think just having the tweeters slightly above ear level makes a big difference in the smoothness of the speakers (I apologize for not being proficient with audiophile jargon)
You elevated your M3s by 1"?
Quote:
One of the best tweaks I've made is to raise my speakers 1 inch using those auralex pads. I can't tell if the padding does anything (things certainly sound more detailed to me though and I seem to be able to put the volume up much higher without getting complaints) but I think just having the tweeters slightly above ear level makes a big difference in the smoothness of the speakers (I apologize for not being proficient with audiophile jargon)
A while back I put some rubber stoppers under my bookshelf speakers and angled them toward my ears and that made a difference, too. Also, it changed the way my speakers interacted with the room. For some reason the bass became a lot less overwhelming. Another example of a small change and big difference.