Learn Me Home Audio

WHOA! I didn't look at the price, but when I bought mine they were around $400 each. Looks like Vanns stopped selling them for so cheap!

Swank Force One wrote:

sobe_death wrote: Mirage floorstanding speakers sound outrageously good. I haven't heard any of the nano-sat home theaters, but if the quality of their floorstanders is any indication then I would have no issues buying them either. I'd look into this one, though I suspect it's a bit above your price range. Mine sounded good on receiver power, but even better with a nice amp hooked up! http://www.miragespeakers.com/search/?sku=OMD-15-5-1

That whole kit is going to be outrageously expensive. The OMD-15s are a grand. EACH. That subwoofer is very good, though. I've had a bunch of Mirage subs. Two S8s (Awesome little dual sub setup), an S10, and an S10 Prestige. (The E36 M3.) He'd have to go used for either Mirage or Paradigm, i suspect.

Oh and this is how we ended up rearranging the living room. Not the best, but the couch is about 2'6" off the wall. The fun thing will be trying to figure out how to get the speaker wire back to the surrounds.

Suggestions in order of preference:

1. Run wire through walls
2. Run wire under baseboards
3. Run wire under carpet if you have carpet
4. Run wire through plastic conduits

scardeal wrote: Suggestions in order of preference: 1. Run wire through walls 2. Run wire under baseboards 3. Run wire under carpet if you have carpet 4. Run wire through plastic conduits

1. Would have to go through ceiling, then down the walls.
2. Would be nice, but you'll notice there is a break in either direction you go.
3. I like this idea (we have carpet), but I'm not familiar on the best way to do this without having to have the carpet restretched afterward?
4. Same problem as 1 and 2.

Any suggestions on how to accomplish number 3?

I've drilled holes from my living room down to my basement, just below the baseboard at a bit of an angle, right through the carpet.

By #4, I meant plastic conduits that stick to the walls or ceilings. Example:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Wiremold-Legrand-12-ft-Cordmate-II-Kit-White-C210/100657473#.UipAkRaSefE

You can combine it with #2 to guide the wire around doors/openings. They're paintable, generally. Or, if you have trim around the doorways, you can hollow out underneath the trim, and use that to guide the wires around the doorways.

Or, if you don't mind ghetto, then use duct tape or gaffers tape to tape it to the floor at doorways. Slightly less ghetto is something like this to run it along the floor:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Wiremold-Legrand-5-ft-Over-Floor-Cord-Protector-CDBK-5/100669770#.UipAUxaSefE

BTW, even if you have to run the wire through the ceiling and down, running it that way is going to be the most professional way to do it, with a little terminal box right where the speaker is going to be mounted.

RossD wrote: I've drilled holes from my living room down to my basement, just below the baseboard at a bit of an angle, right through the carpet.

Slab house.

scardeal wrote: By #4, I meant plastic conduits that stick to the walls or ceilings. Example: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Wiremold-Legrand-12-ft-Cordmate-II-Kit-White-C210/100657473#.UipAkRaSefE You can combine it with #2 to guide the wire around doors/openings. They're paintable, generally. Or, if you have trim around the doorways, you can hollow out underneath the trim, and use that to guide the wires around the doorways. Or, if you don't mind ghetto, then use duct tape or gaffers tape to tape it to the floor at doorways. Slightly less ghetto is something like this to run it along the floor: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Wiremold-Legrand-5-ft-Over-Floor-Cord-Protector-CDBK-5/100669770#.UipAUxaSefE BTW, even if you have to run the wire through the ceiling and down, running it that way is going to be the most professional way to do it, with a little terminal box right where the speaker is going to be mounted.

Textured walls/ceilings means the conduit would look crummy and be very obvious, all the openings are floor-to-ceiling....my room is a real PITA for a home theater system.

Cut a small hole in the carpet in an X with a razor knife, slide under it with a fish tape, when you feel the end of the fish in the corner you want, cut another small X, slide the fish tape out, and run your wires. No need to lift the carpet.

With thanks to the enablers and Ben for the encouragement and gentle nudging, I am now the proud owner of a pretty decent system in my Dog House

It contains the following components

We got my stuff hooked up today, running, SDA1s, Euro T90es and Monitor 50s, CSi3 Center speaker and DSW 2000 Micro Pro subwoofer.

Yamaha RX V2600 receiver, Denon DBP1611 blueray, Sony 5 disc player, Carver TFM-35 and Bang and Olufsen turntable.

Got good wire and decent plug in banana connects.

It is freaking awesome, thanks again you damned enablers

You're gonna want to get a real amp on those SDAs.... they're real power hungry and most recievers don't do well with a thirsty 4ohm load.

So, I decided to give a pair of Magnepans a listen. There is a nice shop in Jacksonville, FL, that is an authorized dealer. Without any reference material, I stopped in, since I wasn't planning on auditioning a pair of multi-thousand dollar speakers. The owner of the shop, aptly named "The House of Stereo" (no affiliation), did have a good collection of vinyl to select from, as well as some tracks that really show off the speakers.

After listening to them for about an hour, I can't stand my Polk Monitor 5Bs with sub anymore. From previous craigslist searches, I know I can pick up a set for under $500. I sold my Monitor 7Cs to a friend for $100, so after I sell off the 5Bs and a few other sets I have no use for, I won't be too far from having a set of Maggies.

What that does leave me with is needing an amp for now. A computer is my only source right now. I have a good(ish) sound card available for this computer, which paired with pretty much any decent amp should hold me over, until I start adding in my gaming consoles. This brings me into the world of video switching.

I have an old DBX video switcher from the 70's or so that I can use with my NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, and Wii, along with my VHS (yes, seriously) and planned Betamax and Laserdisc players. That leaves the HDMI consoles and the computer video. Since their audio is output via digital, I am left with decoding it and sending it via good old analog over to the amp. What would you guys recommend for the HDMI stuff? Do I need to pony up for a real switcher, or is there a GRM way to handle this task? I could use my existing receiver's output, but that feels like a major hack to me.

Additionally, those of you have either built up tube amp kits or Chinese or Russian tube amps, how do they seem to be holding up? My only reason for using tube amps is "because tubes", not for their sound. I'd likely be satisfied with a good solid state amp, but tubes. It's just a hipster thing, I guess.

I'm afraid you'd be disappointed using a computer as the source. When I got my maggies I had good stuff. Then I listened to the maggies and realized my 'good stuff' was horrible. When I upgraded to audiophile stuff the difference was like night and day. Magnepans will show EVERY flaw in your system, from crappy Columbia House CDs to Radio Shack interconnects.
I'm not hip on PC sound cards, so maybe it'll be good enough???

It's good enough that the input can be used as a reasonably accurate oscilloscope, and the output a reasonably good function gen. Nothing fancy, but a decent quality card. FWIW, there are some Burr-Brown DACs on the thing. Not that equipment having Burr-Brown DACs is a sign that it's good, but they usually don't pony up the extra cost unless they're serious about the performance.

No matter what, it's probably the best way for me to play all of my FLAC audio and archived movies. Eventually, I'll probably add a good record player and CD player to my sources, but for now and for a while, a PC will be my primary source.

These are my primary speakers, as well. They'll be playing movies as much as anything else. No cable TV, just a fat pipe of an internet connection.

I agree, while Burr-Brown doesn't guarantee high quality, it's a big deal.
I didn't mean to come off as an elitist snob with my post. It's just funny that I was happy with my system 'till I got the Magnepans.

I didn't take it as an snobby comment at all. As a matter of fact, the guy at the stereo shop was having an issue with a pair of interconnects that we didn't hear with what he had set up before he set up the Maggies. That made me realize that the only RCA interconnects I had that were worth a damn were the ones I built.

In a past life, I was a computer tech. Some sound cards do sound really bad, but these days, if you're willing to pony up $150 or so, you can get a really nice sound card. The one I have isn't that nice, it's still pretty decent. If it ever does become an issue, the onboard sound card has both an optical and an S/PDIF output, and the sound card has an S/PDIF output, so an audio processor could handle most of the heavy lifting if required.

Good, glad you didn't take it that way. It's hard to know how you'll be taken when it's only text.
I didn't know you could get some truly good sound cards. Interesting.....
If the mac mini I'm using as a DVR dies on me, it'd be nice to have options out there that are worth listening to.

Off to look at maggies on ebay now......someone stop me!

Yeah, I just found a set of old Maggies for $275 about 2 hours away from me. If my pennies weren't being saved for something else, I'd have a set of speakers that I really didn't have the system to support.

Are they functional or do they need the wire repair? I found a pair of MGIIa's that need the repair for around that same price a few weeks ago. I thought that was a decent deal. $275 for some that are in good nick would be hard to pass up, even though it'd cost me a happy marriage.

They lacked stands and had a couple of minor cosmetic issues, but reportedly worked fine. Obviously, I'd be giving them a listen before handing over any money, as taking a chance on a pair of $275 Maggies could likely give me a pair of nice doors instead of good sounding speakers.

Oh, and the marriage wouldn't be ruined by speakers, FWIW.

If you look at Odd Watt diy kits, youll see some decent wattage per dollar but the design will be lightyears beyond any of the chinese kits. The designer is active on diyaudioprojects forum so you can ask question and get a quick response. If you feel comfortable finding the parts on your own, you can find cheaper wattage per dollar price point schematic. Ive done a few tube amps now only low wattage single ended ones. Youll probably need push pull for the ineffecinent magnepans speakers.

Awesome, another electronics forum for me to join!