My Summits are FINALLY installed!

[kcl]

You've perhaps seen the chronicles of my current upgrade. I decided to purchase some well-loved Summits back on February 2 and closed the deal within a week, but they were not able to be packed up and shipped (from Ohio to California) until the 19th. They arrived in Sacramento on the 23rd when I was able to pick them up and bring them home. Then, for various reasons, I had to let them set next to the current system for two whole weeks! Needless to say its been killing me not being able to listen to my new Summits.

But the wait is finally over! I took the day off and a buddy and I spent all day (over 8 hours) breaking down the system, reconfiguring it, and adding in the new components. (Along with the Summits, there was a Sunfire TGP-5 pre-processor, Sunfire TGA-7400, two Series-3 Tivos, a Panasonic DVD Writer, a Squeezebox, and a CIAudio VDA-2 DAC. These replaced a pair of Ascents, B&K AVR317 receiver, two DirecTV HR10-250, a Sony 5-disc CD player, and a ReplayTV DVR. I also had to prepare for the addition of a modified Oppo DV970HD that is arriving within a couple of weeks.)

But let me tell you, the wait was definitely worth it. After we spent a couple of hours at the end "dialing in" the speakers and overall system, I was able to sit down and just listen for awhile. I listened to CDs, high-quality digital music, and 'impact' DVDs, and it was simply glorious. I knew the sound was going to be better, I just didn't know how much better. I was frankly satisfied with the level of improvement I got after the initial configuration, but the 'tuning' took it to another level. I never conceived that I would be able to get this kind of performance out of this kind of system (a Home Theater) in this kind of a room (an open, large family room). I've got all of these gushing words that I want to put down, but I'm afraid to start because once I do I don't think I can stop! I think I'll just set back and listen to some more music.

Ahhhhhhhh. Its good to be the king.

 

[lugano]

WE WANT PICS !

:drool:

 

[benleeys]

But the wait is finally over!........ I think I'll just set back and listen to some more music.

Ahhhhhhhh. Its good to be the king.

Hey kcl,
Welcome to the Summit Club! Now for Joey's secret handshake. :cheers:

 

[jtwrace]

Hmm. Wonder if you need rear spikes....

 

[TomDac]

Wow.. that is like being 7 years old on Christmas day!!

sah-weeeeeeeeeet!

 

[Joey_V]

I'm in the middle of morning patient report... surfing secretly in the back of the room on my pocketpc.... but had to wish Ken CONGRATS on finally setting up the babies! Now you have an idea of what we Summit owners rave about!

Congrats!!

Joey

 

[Burke]

Welcome to the Summit club.

When I bought my Vistas last summer, I did not even audition the Summits. The Vistas were over what I had intended to spend and they sound wonderful. Nothing but raves from my everyone who heard them. Then in Jan I heard the Summits and that was it, Joeyists struck like a bolt of lighting. You just can not believe how much better the Summits sound, Like you I now know what the fuss is all about.

I have about two more weeks till my Summits arrive at the local tweeter then we can change out the store demos.

Congrats and welcome

 

[kcl]

WE WANT PICS !

Ok, ok, here's two. One of the overall system, and another of the opened racks with their components:

 

[Pcar928fan]

Ok, ok, here's two. One of the overall system, and another of the opened racks with their components:

Looks like two Salamander single 30's and a very familiar TV. Which one is that? I have a Pro 510 that has just been moved out to make room for a Sony 70". My mom and dad are about to have the best TV they will EVER have as they will get the 510.

The system looks GREAT! What did you do w/ the old HR10-250 TiVo's? I have one of those then a regular non HD TiVo and a plain jane DirecTV receiver. Thinking about going Dish for more HD content...

 

[TomDac]

You really need to post your system in the Member Systems area if you haven't already..... That is freakin' BEAUTIFUL! What are those three pieces of equipment on the left??

Davis, huh? Maybe you should host a NorCal listening party. I'd come!

 

[aerius007]

Looks fantastic.

 

[kcl]

You really need to post your system in the Member Systems area if you haven't already..... That is freakin' BEAUTIFUL! What are those three pieces of equipment on the left??

Davis, huh? Maybe you should host a NorCal listening party. I'd come!

Thanks for the complement, Tom.

The rack on the left is the DVD management system. On the bottom is an Escient DVDM-100 that is the controller, and the three units above it are Sony DVP-CX777ES 400-DVD carousel players. Its basically our entire DVD library in a searchable, automated form. (What's sad, though, is that's room for 1200 DVDs and CDs, but only about 90 slots are left in one unit. Sigh. Fortunately, now that I've got a music server and Squeezebox/DAC in the system, I'll be able to free up over 100 CD slots by moving them to the server.)

A listening party sounds like it would be fun. Perhaps something could be done. As long as it doesn't end up on one of the valley's infamous 105 degree days, we should be ok.

I had planned on posting to the Member Systems this weekend.

 

[kcl]

Looks like two Salamander single 30's and a very familiar TV. Which one is that?

They're actually Salamander 40's, but you're right about the TV. That's a Pioneer Elite Pro-730HD 65" TV, IMHO the best rear projection TV ever made. When Pioneer decided to shift completely over to plasma TVs, I was able to pick this baby up for sweet price. Its got three 7" CRTs and produces a simply gorgeous picture. With a G90 on the ceiling and a drop-down screen for the big theater and 1080p stuff, I'll probably have this TV for years to come.

What did you do w/ the old HR10-250 TiVo's?

I'm probably going to put them up on eBay or the like. They each have added 160GB drives for over 400GB of storage, so they should be sellable.

 

[Pcar928fan]

You're right. That's a Pioneer Elite Pro-730HD 65" TV, IMHO the best rear projection TV ever made. When Pioneer decided to shift over completely over to plasma TVs, I was able to pick this baby up for sweet price. Its got three 7" CRTs and produces a simply gorgeous picture. With a G90 on the ceiling and a drop-down screen for the big theater and 1080p stuff, I'll probably have this TV for years to come.

I'm probably going to put them up on eBay or the like. They each have added 160GB drives for over 400GB of storage, so they should be sellable.

My best friend has a 730! He got his the same way...paid like $3200 for it or something CRAZY like that! It is one AWESOME RPTV! I agree, probably one of the best ever made and still today better than 75% of what is on the market! Just amazing!

LOVE the Escient and the 777's! VERY NICE! I have considered that myself, but it starts to get a little pricey! GREAT idea though! How well does it work? I have heard mixed reviews.

What is your HD connection if you are getting rid of the HR10-250's? Thinking about a switch to Dish myself....

 

[asindc]

Congratulations on the Summits! They look great in your setup.

For the Sony DVD changers, are you running Slinke or a similar device to interact with them?

Anthony

 

[lugano]

bwahahah pure porn, please engrave it definitively into the member's systems thread.

 

[roberto]

You're right. That's a Pioneer Elite Pro-730HD 65" TV, IMHO the best rear projection TV ever made. When Pioneer decided to shift over completely over to plasma TVs, I was able to pick this baby up for sweet price. Its got three 7" CRTs and produces a simply gorgeous picture. With a G90 on the ceiling and a drop-down screen for the big theater and 1080p stuff, I'll probably have this TV for years to come.

I'm probably going to put them up on eBay or the like. They each have added 160GB drives for over 400GB of storage, so they should be sellable.

Enjoy you new Summits and happy listening,
Regards from Costa Rica,
Roberto.

 

[kcl]

For the Sony DVD changers, are you running Slinke or a similar device to interact with them?

That's the function of the Escient DVDM-100. Its a computer-based system that manages all three of the DVD units. When you put in new DVDs or CDs, the Escient box detects it, downloads info about it from the net, and enters them into a scrollable, searchable database that it maintains. Using a remote you simply go to the thumbnail or description you want, and press select. It goes to the correct unit and slot, loads it, skips (usually) menus and disclaimers, and plays the movie. You see, my wife is handicapped and can no longer perform the physical tasks of getting up, selecting, and playing a movie. So I either had to create something like this, or buy it. I chose the latter (and it was less than most of my A/V equipment.)

 

[kcl]

Beating Tom to it, discussion about the non-ML components of my system probably shouldn't be in the main forum. I'll start another thread in the off-topic A/V area when I get home later, or we can wait until I post to the Member Systems thread this weekend (probably tomorrow).

 

[asindc]

That's the function of the Escient DVDM-100. Its a computer-based system that manages all three of the DVD units. When you put in new DVDs or CDs, the Escient box detects it, downloads info about it from the net, and enters them into a scrollable, searchable database that it maintains. Using a remote you simply go to the thumbnail or description you want, and press select. It goes to the correct unit and slot, loads it, skips (usually) menus and disclaimers, and plays the movie. You see, my wife is handicapped and can no longer perform the physical tasks of getting up, selecting, and playing a movie. So I either had to create something like this, or buy it. I chose the latter (and it was less than most of my A/V equipment.)

Ken,

I had not noticed the Escient in your system before my question. Very nice setup. I had bought the Slinke a couple of years ago, but never put it to use, as I got sidetracked to something else. I've always been intrigued by what Escient offers. Thanks for the info.

Anthony