System #194 (Aerius i, Cinema)

[greg_slo]

1. Name: greg gonzales

2. Location: San Luis Obispo, CA. USA

3. ML Model: Aerius i, cinema

4. Year Purchased: jan. 2007

5. Mods/Changes: none at the moment...and i probably wont for awhile, if anything.

6. Associated Electronics: Rotel 1068 pre/pro. Rotel 1080 DVD. Rotel 976 Mk II Amp for rears (bridged 150 x 3 -- onlyusing 2 chs) and Rotel 1075 to bi-amp the fronts and givve the center juice.

other spkrs/gear: my surround duties are done with a pr of paradigm ADP- 370's
the sub (which im borrowing from the store i work at for an undefined period of time) is a sunfire true signature (before the EQ model)...i love this sub for HT!!!
my rack space are two sanus system shelf units (the model im not sure on cuz they are a discontinued model, but they are the old natural foundations i think)
cabling (for now) is mix of audio quest and junk wire...im waiting to get the gear 1st before i spend time on cable...cable is important, dont get me wrong...but more noticeable benifits can be had messing with the other parts of the system.

future:...CDP and DAC...TT...maybe not that order...and the time frame is years .hahahaha


7. Comments: So a guy walks into the store i work at and wanted to sell his spkrs on consingment...but we didnt have room for them...so i chimed in right away and asked how much...a week later i went to the guys house and all the logans were flawless including the $1250 price tag (for all 3 ML spkrs) -- minus some dust. 2 weeks later when he dropped them off at my house for me, he had that 976 amp that he was just going to throw away! so naturally i took that too...thats really my only story, but it makes me smile everytime i think about it

 

[MiTT]

Greg, doesn't matter how long it took - you're here now among friends. Good looking setup! I'll bet it gives you many hours of pleasure. Can't believe the deal you got on both the speakers and the amp. SCORE!

 

[MotorToad]

That's AWESOME! I lucked into my Sequels in a similar way, but it was a friend who works at the audio store and not myself. I'm not as worried about the stuff that holds the good stuff up, as long as the stuff being held off the floor is making me happy!

 

[Joey_V]

That's an AWESOME catch, Greg!

Tim's right.. you're among friends now!

:welcome: to the Martin Logan Club!

Joey

 

[greg_slo]

thanks for the welcome folks! its good to finally be completely official as a member.

quick question, and it is one i could figure out myself, but i wanted some other input on the topic. if i move the spkrs wider, but in front of the gear racks, do you think this might help the soundstage i bit? i wondering this cuz, its already rather cluttered behind the spkrs, and they are off the back wall as much as reasonable at this point...something is missing right now in the music side...the music is kinda there... and pops a bit a less then before i rearanged (it wasnt all my choice...i got roommates to share the space with).

incase you want/need dimensions:

~28'
~ ,~~,~~~~
| |
20' | . . |- -
| ____ |
~17' []

the ~ is the wall with the TV centered b/w the ,
which is about where the speakers are ~30" off the wall and the gear racks slightly off the outer edges of the spkrs

the . . is about the main listening chair about 9' in front of the spkrs
the surounds are about 3' behind the main listening spot

the [] is the opening to a hall way
the - - is an opening to the kitchen from the dinning room which is open to the living room.


haha
i guess what i am asking: is the much hope for me getting music to sound more lively and open by moving my spkrs around?

 

[greg_slo]

well ignore all the garbage in the middle...i was trying to get a diagram goin of the room...

the room is an 'L'

long length ~28' which has the TV/F spkrs on the left
the short length is about 20 feet and makes a rectangle with the other length ~17'


wow...this turned out to be a horrible description...

~greg

 

[Jeff Zaret]

Greg,

From your description and cryptic diagram D) I do believe you will improve the overall "soundstage" by moving them farther apart. Having said that you may have to toe them in a bit but that is not really an issue.

If you get too close to the side walls you will increase the first reflection but that can be tamed easily. Every room has limitations and challenges. For example, my room, while not a "L", has no back wall! It is open to a hallway and kitchen. Sound familiar?

Look at the Tweaks section in regards to the toe-in procedure Jim Power describes. It is a great place to start. I would also take measurements of speakers positions in relation to the back wall and side wall. This will give you a reference point to start so you will not go in circles. You can also mark the floor with masking tape once you get things how you like them.

Just some thoughts

Jeff

 

[MotorToad]

well ignore all the garbage in the middle...i was trying to get a diagram goin of the room...

~greg

I've made similar attempts at ASCII art, for some reason the forum ignores the ever-important spaces.

 

[greg_slo]

thanks for thought jeff,

glad to hear my internal thinking was going in the right direction. another reason i asked here w/o trying is the next week or so a couple roommates are packin up there stuff and boxes are places they normally wouldnt be and the house furniture will likely be playing musical chairs...just wanted to see if i was goin in the right direction so i could be spending this tweeking downtime thinking of other solutions

im just real worried that the racks will rob all lively-ness out of the speakers and destroy soundstage/imaging. because if i move them any farther apart they will be in the center of the racks. (unless i move them 24" which then puts the left spkr about 6 inches from the left wall and the right spkr almost in the middle of the walk way to the dinning room/kitchen.

***
also: at the closest, assuming some furniture moving, the right wall would be no closer than 12' from the right spkr... so that plays some problems. and behind the right spkr is a glass door (no matter how far right i move it, and it cant move left). any thoughts from anyone about these potential "setbacks"?
***


note: i consider myself quite knowledgable about the workings of equipemtn/software/setup etc. but im kinda an obsessive person when it comes to getting things right when it comes to things i really care about; thus i want to get as much info as i can. im pretty sure a million other people have asked the same questions, and im sorry if ur tired of answering them. i supose i could search the forum for others in my sitch. but i kinda think i got a more unusal room to deal with than avg...

thanks in advance folks!

~greg


OH! as a side: i know its not for a couple weeks, but i hope everyone has a blast at the ML get-together. whish i could come but i dont have the cash (what else is new around here [stupid upgrades]), and i cant get enough time off work as i already have a trip planned back east.

 

[Jeff Zaret]

Greg,

The reality is we do not all live in perfect houses or in a perfect world. There will be compromises you will have to make. We all do so you are not alone. Look at the positive side of this which no matter how it ends up it still will be a great sounding system.

Windows and sometimes sliding glass doors can be treated with drapes or even shutters/vertical blinds to diffuse sound. Drapes will be absorption and if that is what you need it maybe a cheap (?) alternative. Also inexpensive wall treatments may work too like getting a small rug which can be hung on a wall to absorb first reflections. Can we say Ikea?

Just some more thoughts from another southern California guy.
:music:

Good Luck


Jeff

 

[greg_slo]

well all summer has been sp[ent tweeking and listening. new roommates came in to the house (one of which is the installer at the hi-fi store i work at)...short of the long: i wish there was room for 2 pairs of aerius i's. but with no room for that and a lack of money and a desire for something "different" some changes were made. dont have time (nor pics) rite now to update, but i will update soon!

~greg

 

[Pcar928fan]

well all summer has been sp[ent tweeking and listening. new roommates came in to the house (one of which is the installer at the hi-fi store i work at)...short of the long: i wish there was room for 2 pairs of aerius i's. but with no room for that and a lack of money and a desire for something "different" some changes were made. dont have time (nor pics) rite now to update, but i will update soon!

~greg

It is not nice to tease like that!!!

 

[greg_slo]

my "new" system

so i rotated things to the left and i am bi-amping the fronts now with the rotel amp. an HK citation amp is for the rears (quite over kill at 200 W a side...but it works well (enough)). the cables are over the closet door (which is actually a room (for andy who is the guy in the bottom pic).

sorry it took so long pcar...school started for me, and i just found some major free time to take pics and load them here.

as for the sound dif: yes...wow. when i first moved them ai still had a single amp set up for the fronts. i did not have gear racks behund them, which brought the sound stage alive (both wide and front to back). better detail as well. then once i bi-amp'ed even more detail...seperation of instruments and placement was improved...bottom line, much happier. i just need a better TV some line conditioning...ill be set for awhile after that...maybe

oh, once the TV arrives (when ever that happens) the wire was run for comp. vid with MAc 3G from audio quest. the spkr wire is done with tributaries CS-144/142. the rear spkr wire is through attic space to clean things up a bit the cable in the right corner is a bit more neat right now. the orange cable will sperated from the rest of the lines since its a power cable for the tv, left and center spk. im still playing with sub placement, but right now i really like it front and center, so im thinking ill just run a sub line with the rest of the cables. and now the TV and center are on a premeire (sp) gear racks, which are another roommates (the installer for the store i work at). too bad the living room isnt bigger...he had to sell his aerius'...oh well... it still sound bit-chin!

~greg

 

[greg_slo]

Updates ...again!

so some of may have read i was looking to buy the new Pioneer Elite Pro-111 TV...that didnt happen...but the Pro-110 DID! along with the Furman PF-15 power conditioner/protector.

The Blu-ray will have to wait a few months [a year(s) (?)] which is totally fine since i can borrow one if needed.

Here are couple pics of the new gear. i will get a better shot of the new system in a few days when i have to clean up the re-routed cables and such.

........well apparently i suck with linux and cant get the file type proper for this site, ill have to get some photos up in the next couple days when im on my windows machine.

 

[RichTeer]

........well apparently i suck with linux and cant get the file type proper for this site, ill have to get some photos up in the next couple days when im on my windows machine.

Make sure that you're using the correct case (e.g., JPG vs jpg). Unlike Windoze, UNIX filenames are case-sensitive so "FOO.JPEG" and "foo.jpeg" are two different files.

 

[greg_slo]

yeah, the case is perfect...the attachment feature here doesnt like my files, and they are under the max size too...i think its just the way kolourpaint saves files as jpg...after tom night ill have time to do things a dif way.