System #179 (Summit, Theater, Descent)

Ken Lidster
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Davis, California (about 20 miles west of Sacramento)
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Main L/R - 2 Summits
Center - 1 Theater
Front Sub - 1 Descent sub
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Theater and Descent - Purchased new in 2002
Summits - Bought used (14 months old) in March, 2007
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None.
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Non-ML Speakers:

Surround L/R - 2 Definitive UIW BP/A Bipolar In-Ceiling
Rear L/R - 2 Definitive UIW 64/A Cast Basket In-Ceiling
Rear Sub - 1 Definitive ProSub 100TL Subwoofer

Audio:

1 Oppo DV970HD player w/Reference Audio Mods
1 Slim Devices Squeezebox 3 digital music client
1 Infrant ReadyNAS NV+ digital music server w/4 320GB drives

1 CIAudio VDA-2 24 DAC / VAC-1 PS
1 Sunfire TGP-5 preprocessor
1 Sunfire TGA-7400 amp

Video:

2 Series-3 High-Definition TiVos (Comcast cable)
1 Escient DVDM-100 DVD Manager
3 Sony DVP CX777ES 400-DVD players (1200 total, 1000+ in use)

1 Lumagen VisionPro HDP video processor
1 Panasonic DMR-ES46V DVD writer

1 Pioneer Pro-730HD, 65-inch, high definition TV
1 Sony G90 projector
1 Stewart Studiotek 130, motorized, drop-down screen

Cabinetry:

2 Salamander S40 racks, each w/black perf steel sides, extended depth rear panels, and perf doors w/cherry panels.

Power:

1 Richard Gray RGPC 400 line conditioner
1 APC SUA1500 Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
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This system and the room it is in (the 'great' room) is the focal point of our home. My wife and I are 60 (this is 2007) and we've been married for 40 years. She is handicapped and we built this house in 2002 with her limitations in mind, and for it to be our 'last' home. We probably spend 95% of our time when at home in this room.

I first heard Martin Logan speakers when I was in an old business partner's high-end A/V shop back in about 1990. It was the first time I had really heard audiophile music, and I fell in love with the detail and quality of the sound produced by the Logans. I also fell in love with the Sony projectors, but both they and the Logans were way out of my price range at the time. But I always dreamed of owning them both.

Fast forward now to 2002 when we were designing our house. My wife and I agreed that we would each be able to have one 'extravagance' in the house. She chose a wall-to-wall custom china cabinet in the dining room. I chose Martin Logan Ascents, Theater, and Descent speakers. (We both think we got the best of the deal.) At that time I also 'fell into' an unbelievable deal on a Sony G90 projector, which is generally accepted as one of the two best projectors in the world. I was able to get that, too, so I ended up with both of my dream components. Then, when I retired this year (well, I was supposed to), I decided to give myself a present and bought a pair of Summits to replace the Ascents.

Our A/V system is by necessity a music/HT hybrid. I love listening to music so I want the best 2-channel setup I can get. My wife enjoys listening to music too, but her real passion is her recorded TV shows and watching the movies she loves. So the overall goal of this system as it evolved was to provide the best of each. I would say that I've been able to achieve each to a level I didn't believe was possible.
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There will be a total of four photos in this and follow-up posts:

• Overall system (below in this post)
• Right rack opened (in 1st follow-up post)
• Left rack opened (in 2nd follow-up)
• G90 projector with screen lowered (3rd follow-up)