System #45 (Monolith IIIx, SL3XC, Sequel II)

[JonFo]

Well, I just had my first occasion to be thankful for the limiters in the DriveRacks.

I was setting up the new Denon 2930ci universal player, and using its built-in test tones, adjusting the gains for analog 5.1 through the TA-P9000 preamp, and then exited the menu and hit play. And wham-O, huge blast of sound (guessing above 105 dB), as the tones are very low, but audio out levels higher by at least 10dB. The sub was ear-bleeding loud (of course, the disc was the Blue Man group - audio on DVD-Audio), but the IB sub did not bottom out (its amp will destroy voice coils as it's overpowered by a factor of 2x).

The limiters saved all the woofers. So I just had a payback on the DriveRack investment

Now, that ringing in my ears, it's worse ...

[Bernard]

Originally Posted by JonFo

Now, that ringing in my ears, it's worse ...

You have my sympathy; that can drive you round the bend. I hope it subsides.

[JonFo]

Well, at +1 weeks since the install of the 4800 and I’m still wowed by it.

This is an astonishingly clean piece, with no noise from it at any volume, even close up on the speaker.

Gain structure is now correctly set up thanks to the very flexible input selections from the DR4800.

To anyone doing Active crossovers on any speaker, this is the unit to get. It’s easy to use (well, relatively speaking ), has tons upon tons of controls, and is very transparent.

Another cool feature is the Real Time Analyzer, which shows the energy in the various frequency bands on the various inputs. You know, those dancing meters we all get mesmerized by
Anyway, the RTA on this unit let’s me look at any one input or the sums of any and all inputs.

Looking at the energy content of much of the music I listen to (lately, mostly Prog Rock), it is clear why good mid-bass performance is a must for satisfactory rock reproduction. The majority of the energy is in the 400Hz and below area. If your speakers, EQ and room tuning are not well balanced, it will just not sound right. A DriveRack gives me all the tools I need to get the most out the drivers and the room.

Also, I need to repeat my amazement at the AutoWarmth feature. This is an incredible innovation and provides very satisfactory low-volume playback. The dynamic EQ tracking of the equal-loudness contours are completely transparent and just provide a nice, even frequency response at any volume.

Oh, and it’s a tweakers dream. Sitting in my chair, running the GUI for it on my laptop (connected over WiFi into the network port on the 4800), one can just adjust anything an everything in real-time, or just watch the RTA light show. Too cool

[JonFo]

Man, finally gave in and got the Denon AVP-A1HD Pre-amp (AKA: the holy grail )



New box is in the home, but other things are ahead of it. Just wait and see what posts the 4th of July. You'll like it

[STV]

Congratulations on the shiny new AVP! Got it a day early, that's too cool! Looking forward to seeing your posts July 4th.

Thanks for sharing the news.


Seth

[FatJ]

Originally Posted by STV

Congratulations on the shiny new AVP! Got it a day early, that's too cool! Looking forward to seeing your posts July 4th.

Thanks for sharing the news.


Seth

Got it a day early in more ways than one.... I just found out that Denon has raised the retail to $7500 effective yesterday! That might have changed negotiations

Enjoy it!

[STV]

Originally Posted by FatJ

Got it a day early in more ways than one.... I just found out that Denon has raised the retail to $7500 effective yesterday! That might have changed negotiations

Enjoy it!

That's right, the MSRP did go up to $7500. Your lucked out Jonathan.

[JonFo]

Originally Posted by FatJ

Got it a day early in more ways than one.... I just found out that Denon has raised the retail to $7500 effective yesterday! That might have changed negotiations

Enjoy it!

Wow, It sure pays to listen to ones instincts

Originally Posted by STV

That's right, the MSRP did go up to $7500. Your lucked out Jonathan.

Yep, big time. I hope it holds out on the sale of the old stuff now

I did do a 'pass it on' to the buyer of my old Behringer gear. He got a great deal as well.

[STV]

Originally Posted by JonFo

Wow, It sure pays to listen to ones instincts



Yep, big time. I hope it holds out on the sale of the old stuff now

I did do a 'pass it on' to the buyer of my old Behringer gear. He got a great deal as well.

Cool.

So how's it going with the setup so far? Once all is in place I can only imagine how it's all going to be. Looking forward to some pix.



Seth

[JonFo]

Hi Seth, I’m taking a breather today. Had family over and we stayed up late yesterday finishing work on the 'other' acoustics project (see preview here).

The AVP is just sitting pretty on the counter outside my HT. My brother in law just had to see what a 65 lb pre-amp felt like and tried to pick it up. Surprise, it's heavy

So I'm enjoying one of my last Trifield soundfield sessions on the Meridian front-end. Hard to imagine something better than this, but we’ll see. I’ll be doing a shootout between the two.
I expect the AVP to win, but I’m still leery of DPL II – Music being the equal of TriField.

Saturday I'll be tearing down about a third of the rig to plug in the new preamp.

I expect to be operational by the evening.

Sunday will be measurements and fine-tuning.

[STV]

And a very well deserved breather to be sure, as everything you're doing is a helluva lot of work. And yup, the AVP is one heavy sucker! Yes, a lot of people who used Meridian loved the Trifield, it will be interesting to see how PLIIx Music compares. In my setup for 2 channel CD playback I use Pure Direct. I find the sound to be superb! I haven't really tried out any surround processing for music. But I rarely listen to CD's anymore now that I stream WAV files from my PC. The sound is exceptionally good, and so good that I use it to demo for guests. When streaming music, Pure Direct is not available but Direct is, and it takes the sound up to another level over Stereo mode. PLIIx is available for streamed music as well if not mistaken, I need to give it a try and see what I think of it.

I really think you're going to love the AVP's streaming capability.

I am also looking forward to how TrueHD and DTS-HD MA sound through your system. I know that it has impressed me so much that I now only want to watch Blu-rays and HD DVD's with lossless audio. Believe me the dynamic improvement over the legacy formats isn't subtle. Give Alien vs. Predator 2, Spider-Man 3, or Rambo a listen and you'll know what I'm talking about. It's good stuff!

You've still got your work cut out for you over the weekend. Hopefully if everything goes as planned I'll be looking forward to your initial impressions sometime Sunday.

Have fun and enjoy your 4th!


Seth

[JonFo]

Whew!

14+ hours of installation later, and We have sound again

I tell ya, it’s no picnic making changes to such a large and complex system.

I had to move the DriveRacks around to place them closer to the preamp so the balanced cables could reach. This means moving shelves on the highly adjustable Salamander Synergy racks.
I love these racks BTW – Every time I make major changes, these racks allow me to adapt to the new.

I placed the new pre-amp on one of the middle fixed shelves, as they are rated for hundreds of pounds, so a measly 65 lb. preamp should be fine

It took both my wife and I to drag that bad boy into the room and carefully place it in the rack. Again, it fills the Synergy racks as much as the big Sunfire amps do. It’s a behemoth alright.

I took so long also because as I took out gear, I cleaned up really well, some of that gear had been sitting there for six plus years

I also focused on being neat on the new install, using tons of zip-ties to strap down the cables in key locales (see pics below). So the rats nest is largely gone. Still, there are tons of cables. But now, except for one lone feed from the LD player, everything is some form of a digital cable from the sources.

The connections from the pre-amp to downstream processors and amps are all Balanced now

So after lots of wiring and double checking, I fired it up and she ran right out of the gate.

Once I did the automated setup, it generated he Audessey corrections. Mostly a serious reduction in low-end (the IB sub is a beast in its own right), and a good bit of boost on the highs.
Even though the room is very well treated acoustically now, the corrections across the board are significant. So I’ll pull out he measuring rig tomorrow and double check.

I’m now finally able to relax with some wine and enjoy a Porcupine Tree Concert on DVD.

Sounds very good, but I still need to tune the rear speakers a bit more on Sunday.

[JonFo]

Oh, the Denon AVP is not only huge, but generates heat proportional to its size and weight!

Good thing the equipment room has its own dedicated AC now. Otherwise I'd worry about it.

I even have 7" inches of airspace above it just to be sure it gets good airflow.

If you get this pre-amp, count of dealing with cooling challenges.

[STV]

Originally Posted by JonFo

Whew!

14+ hours of installation later, and We have sound again

I tell ya, it’s no picnic making changes to such a large and complex system.

I had to move the DriveRacks around to place them closer to the preamp so the balanced cables could reach. This means moving shelves on the highly adjustable Salamander Synergy racks.
I love these racks BTW – Every time I make major changes, these racks allow me to adapt to the new.

I placed the new pre-amp on one of the middle fixed shelves, as they are rated for hundreds of pounds, so a measly 65 lb. preamp should be fine

It took both my wife and I to drag that bad boy into the room and carefully place it in the rack. Again, it fills the Synergy racks as much as the big Sunfire amps do. It’s a behemoth alright.

I took so long also because as I took out gear, I cleaned up really well, some of that gear had been sitting there for six plus years

I also focused on being neat on the new install, using tons of zip-ties to strap down the cables in key locales (see pics below). So the rats nest is largely gone. Still, there are tons of cables. But now, except for one lone feed from the LD player, everything is some form of a digital cable from the sources.

The connections from the pre-amp to downstream processors and amps are all Balanced now

So after lots of wiring and double checking, I fired it up and she ran right out of the gate.

Once I did the automated setup, it generated he Audessey corrections. Mostly a serious reduction in low-end (the IB sub is a beast in its own right), and a good bit of boost on the highs.
Even though the room is very well treated acoustically now, the corrections across the board are significant. So I’ll pull out he measuring rig tomorrow and double check.

I’m now finally able to relax with some wine and enjoy a Porcupine Tree Concert on DVD.

Sounds very good, but I still need to tune the rear speakers a bit more on Sunday.

Yikes, that was an all day install! But I can only imagine all that was involved with everything you have going in that setup. I'll bet you're tired. Glad to hear that everything went smoothly, and that after you were finished for the day that all was a success! Good to know that initial listening is really good. After you get it all fine tuned, I'm looking forward to your impressions. Thanks for sharing that with us.

Originally Posted by JonFo

Oh, the Denon AVP is not only huge, but generates heat proportional to its size and weight!

Good thing the equipment room has its own dedicated AC now. Otherwise I'd worry about it.

I even have 7" inches of airspace above it just to be sure it gets good airflow.

If you get this pre-amp, count of dealing with cooling challenges.

Yes the AVP gets a bit warm, and like you, I have also allowed plenty of breathing room for mine. After using mine for many months, I have found it to now run even cooler. It now gets only moderately warm but never hot.

There is no denying that this thing is a beast of a pre/pro.


Seth

[C.A.P]

With all them inputs and outputs , I would have to take a long hard drink to get my head right......... I am glad I run, ONE ,thats right, 1 set of IC . Well if you count the sub woofer hook up I guess there is two .........

I bet it runs warm with all that hardware stuffed in there. Great to hear its working out for ya Jon! I would love to hear your system some day if I'm traveling through town !