Pictures of your B&W Set-up

[Race Car Driver]

You have got to move that sub if possible.

And tilt the center up.

Nice gear though :T

[ironcorn]

[QUOTE=Race Car Driver]And tilt the center up.

I know, I know, I feel guilty because I know better, we're (wife and I) going to move everything to a different room soon. I'm going to get the B&W stand for the center and add the second Fathom, just need to decide which rears to get.

[scanido]

ironcorn,

Great setup, reminds me exactly of mine!

What x-over are you using for your front three? I found that 80hz really blended well with the front and F113.

[ShadowZA]

Great kit, Ironcorn! :T
Good luck with setting-up in the new room.

[Relentless]

I wonder if you could mount the display to the wall and remove the bottom shelves. Then you can put the sub where the center was, the center higher up where the display was. I would guess that would cause unwanted vibrations of the table though. Well, nice stuff and setting it up is half the battle(or fun).

[ironcorn]

ironcorn,

Great setup, reminds me exactly of mine!

What x-over are you using for your front three? I found that 80hz really blended well with the front and F113.

I'm using 80hz as well, but have been playing with it, there is a lot of tweaking you can apply in pursuit of the perfect sub/front blend. I spent about an hour this morning playing some Bach organ (same track over and over with different settings) and I was surprised that the 803S with the F113 removed does a great job on the deep notes, I would say good enough that for music alone, you can almost get by with no sub at all. But...the sub does add some power to the bass notes, a little too much, I'm playing with taking between -12 and -5 db out with the level settings for music. For HT i don't remove anything and it literally rocks the house (rocket landing to drop off Eve on Wall-E; incredible!!) .

[wettou]

You can experiment with the cross over at 80Hz, 60HZ and 40Hz..:lol:

[style]

Hi ironcorn,

Nice setup. :T

For the Xover go with 50/60hz.

I agree with Relentless--> the sub moving...if possible so a great sub need a great place.

Is a Sharp lcd? are you happy with it??

I had the 803D in black and now I have the 803D in Rosenut...the D series is amazing... I must try!!


Style

[SoCalCM]

What is the "I poured Log Cabin" all over the sound coloration? Kal's Stereophile review said nothing about that.

I've had 802Ds for going on 4 years now -- listened to Neil Young this morning (Rega P9, ARC PH5, Classe amps, Anthem D2) and Steely Dan (Ayre C-5xe). What coloration?

[ironcorn]

[QUOTE=SoCalCM]What is the "I poured Log Cabin" all over the sound coloration? Kal's Stereophile review said nothing about that.

Hi, that’s just something I made up to help me describe what I heard, side by side, the D model sounded different than the S model (both sounded good, just different) and to me the D sounded smooth, like syrup, like log cabin syrup had been poured over the music or maybe like using a Claude Lorraine glass. The dealer used the word coloration, but I’m not up on the hi-fi speak, I just know they sounded good.

[ironcorn]

Hi ironcorn,

Is a Sharp lcd? are you happy with it??

Style

Hi, It's a Toshiba 52XF550, I'm happy, it was reasonably priced and there’s a great tweak thread for it on AVSForum.

[William]

Some pictures of my new 802D's, HTM1D and my "old" 803D's moved to the rears.

[wettou]

William

Cool did you try placing your 803D on the side rather than the back

Also you, it's unfortunate that you can not place the tweeter of the HTM1 to the same level as 802D

[Noobman]

Some pictures of my new 802D's, HTM1D and my "old" 803D's moved to the rears.

;x(

For me this is the ultimate B&W setup, If i was to live in a house with a dedicated HT room then this is the way to go for me(im so jealous ).

//Mats

[ShadowZA]

Magnificent setup, William!
:T :T :T

[William]

William

Cool did you try placing your 803D on the side rather than the back

Also you, it's unfortunate that you can not place the tweeter of the HTM1 to the same level as 802D

No, they won't fit that way with my recliners and the door. Here is a picture (with my old 804N's) to give you an idea.

[artv4]

william. i count eight remote there!!!!! lol

[William]

william. i count eight remote there!!!!! lol

That is an old picture. Look at the first picture in post 2452 and you will see my Pronto.

[ironcorn]

I wonder if you could mount the display to the wall and remove the bottom shelves. Then you can put the sub where the center was, the center higher up where the display was.

Thanks for the idea, I wall mounted the LCD and picked up a FS-HTM for the center. Center now sounds much better. The stand is great, all metal, much more heavy duty than I thought it would be.

[Relentless]

Thanks for the idea, I wall mounted the LCD and picked up a FS-HTM for the center. Center now sounds much better. The stand is great, all metal, much more heavy duty than I thought it would be.

There you go. I bet the whole system sounds much better. It looks good... enjoy!

[htsteve]

Recent Upgrades

All,

Been busy with some recent upgrades. I improved in three areas: Room treatments (most from Real Traps), stereo amp (Mac MC252) for the 802D's and 804S's in the rears. All three had a definite improvement. Collectively, they have made the HT an awesome place.

Pictures are attached.

[kmcheng]

Hi htsteve,

Very nice setup!

What is the brand of the component rack you are using in the front? I have been looking for something that can accommodate all my electronics and possibly the HTM2D. Is the first shelf tall enough for the HTM2D to fit inside (instead of on top)? Is the shelf height adjustable?

[htsteve]

Hi htsteve,

Very nice setup!

What is the brand of the component rack you are using in the front? I have been looking for something that can accommodate all my electronics and possibly the HTM2D. Is the first shelf tall enough for the HTM2D to fit inside (instead of on top)? Is the shelf height adjustable?

kmcheng,

The rack is from Salamander, from their Synergy line. It's customizable AV racks. They come in multiple heights. I've had 20", 30" and 40" posts, and I've re-used the shelves, top/bottoms and bridges.

The big shelves ('bridges' on Salamander's website) in the middle are completely adjustable. In fact, this is the first time I've had the center channel on top. When I had the 30" and 40" versions, the center channel was in the middle. I'm currently using the 20" version and you can definitely fit an HTM2D inside. I wanted to put the center up higher and more in the open, so it sits on top.

I've attached a couple of pictures from years ago. The bridges and all shelving are the same I am using now in the HT room. The only difference is that I'm only using the 20" posts.

Salamander isn't the least expensive stuff around, but it's quite flexible, works very well and looks good.



Hope this helps.

[planitismetal]

Thanks for the idea, I wall mounted the LCD and picked up a FS-HTM for the center. Center now sounds much better. The stand is great, all metal, much more heavy duty than I thought it would be.

Wouldn't be better if sub was somewhere else??? I think it is too close to center and left speaker, and maybe you loose some bass...Try to put it where you have put it before changing...Yes, yes, I know, it will be too close to the rack equipment, and you don't have other place... But I still think that left,sub and center are too close... All the system is in a small place... And these speakers needs space... sorry ops:

[KyaDawn]

It took awhile, but I finally have my system set up. :B

My 802Ds and 805Ss arrived at my house about ten days ago, but it wasn't until last Thursday that the installer could come over as he had to wait for a specially-ordered bracket to arrive that attaches my new Panasonic AE3000 to the ceiling mount.

I've been using the system for the past few days and WOW! Just incredible, actually even exceeding my expectations. I've been watching and listening to all types of content, from DVDs to Blu-ray to HD-DVDs to SACDs to DVD-As to CDs and even DTS encoded quadraphonic discs! Everything sounds great and my wife and I are more than pleased!

I've been especially enjoying the multi-channel audio discs and stereo SACDs, and the "live" feeling of the 802Ds is amazing. One of my discs has a saxophone quartet, and it's almost eerie how I can pick out the position of the four musicians and how REAL the saxophones sound, literally as if they were right in front of me. Just fantastic. :T

Well here are some photos of my 802Ds. I'm well aware that I don't have them even close to the ideal placement, with them being near the wall and the right speaker, in particular, being in a corner. Keep in mind, however, that I live in Hong Kong, where living spaces are a lot smaller than in most countries, particularly the US, so I am working with what I have. I also know that I'm seriously lacking in any type of acoustical treatments, but there is the WAF issue that needs to be considered, and as she has been VERY supportive of my purchases, I certainly don't want to push things. :B

















Now here are my 805Ss in the back. Again, I know they are not in an ideal position, with both of them in a corner, but as you can see, there isn't that much space in the room so my options are limited. :W

I actually had our sofa custom-designed for the room just so I could have space to put the speakers where they are, and it being low enough where the 805Ss could peep over. I had considered the 804Ss, but even though there is enough physical space for them, the woofers would have fired directly into the leather, so probably not a good idea. :rofl:

Initially, we were planning on buying some type of L-shaped sofa which would have extended across the entire back wall, and I was considering either the SCMS or DS8S mounted on the wall, but again, the WAF came into play so the idea was quickly dropped. As a good part of my use would have been for multi-channel audio, using those speakers mounted two feet about my ears wouldn't have been ideal either.













Just for fun, I also tried taking a photo that could show the length of the room (wish I had a wide-angle lens! :B). The best I could do was from the staircase as below.



Well that's it for now. This has been my favorite thread on the forum, having always enjoyed looking at everyone's set-ups, and now I'm happy I get to post my own as well!

[Hammie]

Now here are my 805Ss in the back. Again, I know they are not in an ideal position, with both of them in a corner, but as you can see, there isn't that much space in the room so my options are limited.

Initially, we were planning on buying some type of L-shaped sofa which would have extended across the entire back wall, and I was considering either the SCMS or DS8S mounted on the wall, but again, the WAF came into play so the idea was quickly dropped.

My situation is similar with the tight seating area at the back of my room. I plan on getting the CWM DS8 in-wall dipoles for my rear surrounds.

You may want to look into them. Not sure about your dealer, but they may let you exchange the 805S's.

[KyaDawn]

My situation is similar with the tight seating area at the back of my room. I plan on getting the CWM DS8 in-wall dipoles for my rear surrounds.

You may want to look into them. Not sure about your dealer, but they may let you exchange the 805S's.

Aren't the CWM DS8s discontinued? Nevertheless, not a big fan of in-wall speakers or dipoles for that matter. If I was to get wall-mounted speakers for my surrounds, as I mentioned, I would stayed within the 800 series and gotten either the SCMS or DS8S (which like the CWM DS8s allows you to switch between monopole and dipole modes). But again, the WAF would have been a big issue with them! :B

Plus, as I listen to a lot of multi-channel audio, mounting surrounds a couple of feet above ear-level would have been a HUGE compromise (and for what? :W).

That's why I got the round sofa so I would be able to fit the 805Ss, which is what I wanted. But probably the most important reason is the 805S is a better speaker than either the SCMS or DS8S.

[audioqueso]

KyaDawn,
Great room! And that's a pretty big place for Hong Kong.
What are you powering your 802's with?

[garak]

Congrats KyaDawn! That's a beautiful setup.

If you think it sounds great now, just wait until those 802Ds are broken in.

[KyaDawn]

KyaDawn,
Great room! And that's a pretty big place for Hong Kong.
What are you powering your 802's with?

Thanks a lot, audioqueso! I run a pretty modest set-up with my electronics. For my pre/pro, I'm using a Denon 4308 which does all my HT audio processing, as well as powers my 805S surrounds with 140 wpc. This is actually the top-of-the-line Denon receiver that they sell in Hong Kong, as the 5308 is not available here.

I actually quite like the Denon a lot as it has a ton of features, and I'm definitely a features-type guy. :B Besides supporting all the latest multi-channel codecs like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD and having Audyssey Room EQ, which I can definitely use as I'm not using any room treatments, it also has some nice extras such as an optional iPod dock, which I have, Wi-Fi, and Internet radio, which I'm just discovering! Not exactly "hi-fi", but it's nice to be able to listen to some of my favorite FM stations from back home in the States, particularly the jazz stations. NPR, in particular, has really good audio quality for an Internet stream, so that was a nice bonus. Of course, the 4 HDMI inputs is a necessity as I'm running a projector in the room with 1 HDMI cable in the wall, so at the very least, it serves this purpose! :T

To power my 802Ds, I run a line out from my Denon to my Rotel 1092, which is 500 wpc. I can say, for now, I'm really pleased with the sound. I can foresee down the line, experimenting with different amps, as I've also demoed the Classe line up to the 500 wpc Omega monoblocks and could hear a difference and really liked them. But as I expect to own these speakers for many years, I wanted to ease into it and have room for upgrades later as I get used to the speakers and learn and be able to appreciate more. But I have to say, the "ice power" of the Class D 1092 has really come into play, as it fits perfectly into my component rack, which as you can see, is enclosed with doors, and the fact that it doesn't get hot at all is a big plus. If I change my amps later to huge monoblocks and Class A or A/B, I'll probably have to get a new rack. Which I don't mind doing in the future after I get a few years use out of this one, but for right now, I'm pretty content.

Congrats KyaDawn! That's a beautiful setup.

If you think it sounds great now, just wait until those 802Ds are broken in.

Thanks garak! Yes, I love that about speakers. Most things you buy, the peak is when it's new and it goes downhill from there. With speakers, the more you use them, the better they get, at least for the first 200 hundred hours or so! Almost like fine wine, but better, because you're using it all the time, not just letting it sit in a cellar. :B

I'm definitely looking forward to having them fully broken in, but I'm also enjoying the process of getting them there!

[HedgeHog]

KyaDawn,

Your place looks great...as was mentioned, it looks huge for an HK pad; unless you have one of those loaded placed at Mid Level.

BTW, does all the hard surface/windows affect your sound?

-H

[KyaDawn]

KyaDawn,

Your place looks great...as was mentioned, it looks huge for an HK pad; unless you have one of those loaded placed at Mid Level.

BTW, does all the hard surface/windows affect your sound?

-H

Thanks HedgeHog for the nice words.

About the hard surfaces and windows, they certainly don't help! :B Thankfully, I can at least draw the curtains which eliminates the glass on the right side. The wallpaper on the back is actually not smooth; rather it has some depth and texture to it, which I think helps a bit. I'm also considering maybe getting one of those white furry rugs to fill the space between the ottoman and the speakers, to calm the floor reflections, which I think I may be able to get away with with regards to WAF.

One thing that you don't see in the photos is that the living room opens up to the dining room on the left side (Hong Kong-style :lol: ), so that seems to help a bit, but this is just a guess. :P

But overall, I'm quite happy with the sound. I think the Audyssey Room EQ on my pre/pro must have helped somewhat as I don't hear a HUGE difference from, say, my dealer's showroom, which is fully treated out. Generally, imaging is very precise and with live recordings, the soundstage seems wider than the room. I do have higher ceilings than the showroom, so one thing I have noticed is that there is a bit of a "hall" effect, especially when I'm listening to live music like classical or jazz. However, in a way, I don't mind it as it almost emphasizes the "live" effect.

However, I'm absolutely sure the sound can be improved if I installed all the room treatments necessary, but again, there is the WAF issue and as she has been so supportive in my purchasing decisions, I just don't want to push the issue! :W

[HedgeHog]

Very cool! That tall ceiling must be advantageous for big sound music....like Holst - The Planets or something. Or the Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Sessions. :E

Oh, what are you doing for centers?

Cheers,
Hedwig

Thanks HedgeHog for the nice words.

About the hard surfaces and windows, they certainly don't help! :B Thankfully, I can at least draw the curtains which eliminates the glass on the right side. The wallpaper on the back is actually not smooth; rather it has some depth and texture to it, which I think helps a bit. I'm also considering maybe getting one of those white furry rugs to fill the space between the ottoman and the speakers, to calm the floor reflections, which I think I may be able to get away with with regards to WAF.

One thing that you don't see in the photos is that the living room opens up to the dining room on the left side (Hong Kong-style :lol: ), so that seems to help a bit, but this is just a guess. :P

But overall, I'm quite happy with the sound. I think the Audyssey Room EQ on my pre/pro must have helped somewhat as I don't hear a HUGE difference from, say, my dealer's showroom, which is fully treated out. Generally, imaging is very precise and with live recordings, the soundstage seems wider than the room. I do have higher ceilings than the showroom, so one thing I have noticed is that there is a bit of a "hall" effect, especially when I'm listening to live music like classical or jazz. However, in a way, I don't mind it as it almost emphasizes the "live" effect.

However, I'm absolutely sure the sound can be improved if I installed all the room treatments necessary, but again, there is the WAF issue and as she has been so supportive in my purchasing decisions, I just don't want to push the issue! :W

[ShadowZA]

Stunning setup, KyaDawn!
Wishing you many hours of musical & movie bliss. :T

[aweil]

Budget B&W setup:



703 fronts, CMC2, M1 surrounds.

[wettou]

I've been using the system for the past few days and WOW! Just incredible, actually even exceeding my expectations. I've been watching and listening to all types of content, from DVDs to Blu-ray to HD-DVDs to SACDs to DVD-As to CDs and even DTS encoded quadraphonic discs! Everything sounds great and my wife and I are more than pleased!

I've been especially enjoying the multi-channel audio discs and stereo SACDs, and the "live" feeling of the 802Ds is amazing. One of my discs has a saxophone quartet, and it's almost eerie how I can pick out the position of the four musicians and how REAL the saxophones sound, literally as if they were right in front of me. Just fantastic. :T

I actually had our sofa custom-designed for the room just so I could have space to put the speakers where they are, and it being low enough where the 805Ss could peep over. I had considered the 804Ss, but even though there is enough physical space for them, the woofers would have fired directly into the leather, so probably not a good idea. :rofl:

As a good part of my use would have been for multi-channel audio, using those speakers mounted two feet about my ears wouldn't have been ideal either.



Well that's it for now. This has been my favorite thread on the forum, having always enjoyed looking at everyone's set-ups, and now I'm happy I get to post my own as well!

Very nice ah the simple pleasure of life tall ceiling avoid first order ceiling reflections but you must have a lot of echo! Nice sofa :T

[mjb]

Budget B&W setup:



703 fronts, CMC2, M1 surrounds.

Looks really good, nice to see an Apple Express in there too :T

[joetama]

Budget B&W setup:



703 fronts, CMC2, M1 surrounds.

How does that center channel voice with the 703. Curious because I hate my HTM-7.

[artv4]

budget???? system looks awesome!!!

[aweil]

Thanks guys! I've only got a couple hours on the setup so far but it seems to match fairly well to my ear. It's got two woofers the same size as the 703's, a nautilus technology based tweeter, and an FST midrange driver, though it's a bit smaller than the 703 FST. Yeah, it doesn't have a top mounted tweeter, but it is much cheaper than an HTM3S.

Anyone got some good suggestions for source material to test out the timbre matching on this setup?

mjb, The apple express has a cool factor going for it, but I really need to pick up a mini toslink to toslink cable. Whatever DAC the express has in it really doesn't do the music justice (any idea what's in there? I haven't been able to find out what it is as of yet). Then again, most of the media I play over it is non-lossless so maybe I expect to much? FWIW I can hear the difference between a 384 kbps encoded mp3 played over the express and the same CD.

[gross30]

Finally got around to some better pics of the "new" N800's and MC 1201's, very much enjoying the Mac sound. Really impressed so far.

Images not available

The N800's are quite a jump from the Matrix 801 s3's.

[KyaDawn]

Very cool! That tall ceiling must be advantageous for big sound music....like Holst - The Planets or something. Or the Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Sessions. :E

Oh, what are you doing for centers?

Cheers,
Hedwig

Thanks again! Yes, it's certainly a sound that I like, especially for "live" recordings. :B

For the center, I was seriously considering the HTM2D, but I was holding off to buying it until I had my 802Ds and projector set up. Basically, when I bought my speakers (which took over 45 days to deliver), I hadn't found a component rack that I liked yet, and I wasn't sure what I was going to end up with.

Surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be than many quality ones on sale in HK, and I was thinking possibly I might have to order one of those vertical "steel and glass" racks, but which would have affected my center placement. Also, I wasn't sure how the projector image would look with the 802Ds, so that's why I held off.

But now that I have everything set up, I see I can definitely get the HTM2D. As I have the Rotel 1092 powering my 802Ds, I would get an additional Rotel 1091 to power the center.

However, I'm now debating whether I even need a center. Having lived with my system for almost a week, I've been really enjoying the "phantom center" sound. Since it's mostly my wife and I that use the system, we only sit in the middle of the sofa, well within the "phantom center" sweet spot, and it's been great.

Another thing is that I'm starting to really enjoy listening to music in "stereo" again. Before I moved into this house a few months ago, my old flat in the Mid-levels had one of those typical Hong Kong living rooms, which was more wide than long. So my old AV set-up (which I've moved into the bedroom now) was 5 identical monitor sized speakers, which I set up rather horizontally, to better match my old projector image. As these speakers were rather low powered (and not really "hi-fi" quality), I found that listening to any music was better using all 5 speakers with Dolby Pro-logic II than with just the two stereo channels.

So I lived with that set-up for about 5 years, and now just re-discovering the beauty of stereo with a nice set-up. And while I know even with a center speaker, I can still listen to my system in stereo, I'm just getting back used to and loving hearing that "phantom center" for everything.

So basically I don't feel a rush now to buy the HTM2Ds at the moment. No doubt it's a great speaker and would improve the multi-channel soundstage outside of the sweet spot, and I still might get it down the line, but as of right now, I'm not feeling a huge need for it.

[KyaDawn]

Stunning setup, KyaDawn!
Wishing you many hours of musical & movie bliss. :T

Thanks a lot, ShadowZA! :B

Very nice ah the simple pleasure of life tall ceiling avoid first order ceiling reflections but you must have a lot of echo! Nice sofa :T

Thanks wettou, yes, the tall ceiling was a bit of an unexpected "surprise", and not a bad one! Yes, there is a bit of a "hall" sound right now, which I don't mind as it adds a bit to the "live" feeling, particularly with jazz and classical recordings. 8) Overall, it seems the soundstage is "taller" than what I've heard at my dealer's. Perhaps not the most "accurate", but I like what I hear! :B

[KyaDawn]

Budget B&W setup:

703 fronts, CMC2, M1 surrounds.

Cool set-up! Love the theater seats as well! :T

[KyaDawn]

Finally got around to some better pics of the "new" N800's and MC 1201's, very much enjoying the Mac sound. Really impressed so far.

The N800's are quite a jump from the Matrix 801 s3's.

Wow, amazing gear! I love the Macs and the N800s look awesome! What center are you using?