Woo hoo! It's back!

[SomaJoe]

Joe's HT

[Lex]

It's been back Joe, where the hell you been? :LOL:

Lex

[Glenn]

Nice set-up, both stereo and loft!

Where in relation to the speakers seen in the pics, did you end up locating the REL? I've ordered a Strata III, should be arriving this week.

[skipm]

Joe-

Great setup! Whose cabinets are those?

-Skip

[SomaJoe]

The sub arrived after the pics were taken. The sub is now at far left side of all the cabinets, but I'm still experimenting with placement.

-j




Joe's HT

[SomaJoe]

Thanks Glenn; I designed the cabinets myself and had a local furniture maker build them for me.

-j




Joe's HT

[Glenn]

So does the REL subwoofer placement make as much a difference as I've read etc?

[SomaJoe]

Glenn, I don't think the REL was more difficult to place than any other sub, but the setup process in general did take a couple of days until I was happy with the results. I spent the first couple of days trying to decide where the settings for the high level crossover point should be; I was consistently setting it too high, which is apparently a pretty common mistake. Now that I'm happy with that, I'm pulling it out slightly from the corner as described in the setup guide, but I haven't heard improvement in bass extension beyond about 22Hz, I think that's an issue with the particular corner I picked. I'm going to try moving it to another corner at some point, but I'm not yet feeling motivated to move it.

-joe




Joe's HT

[Claude D D]

Nice system you have there.

[Glenn]

You'll have to put another picture on your website, that includes the REL when it's finally placed.

A final REL question, looking at the size of your room and high open ceilings etc, do you find the Storm has enough slam for DVD movies? I can't wait to get my Strata (hopefully today or tomorrow) and have read a lot of reviews about how musical they are for 2 ch stereo etc etc. Just wondering how you find it for movies.

And a Rotel question, any overheating issues with the components that are in the closed cabinets? I'm guessing they are open on the back?

[SomaJoe]

A final REL question, looking at the size of your room and high open ceilings etc, do you find the Storm has enough slam for DVD movies? I can't wait to get my Strata (hopefully today or tomorrow) and have read a lot of reviews about how musical they are for 2 ch stereo etc etc. Just wondering how you find it for movies.

Glenn, it does a fine job for me, at louder volumes that I can listen to comfortably. I I have the LFE channel from the preamp go directly to the line level of the REL (dvd), and the speaker level outputs of the amp L&R to the REL high level inputs (2-ch stereo).

And a Rotel question, any overheating issues with the components that are in the closed cabinets? I'm guessing they are open on the back?

There are a few holes drilled in the bottom, and a few holes in the back of the cabinet, near the top. In each of the holes behind the cabinet, there are 3 computer fans (12db each) which pull the hot air out, and cool air in from the bottom. They turn on automatically when the pre-pro is powered on. There's a switch to turn them off for silence, but with the doors closed, they are so quiet that I don't hear them. Did you get yours yet?




Joe's HT

[DSGCobra]

WOW thats really nice. Damn I hate being poor.

[Glenn]

I have the LFE channel from the preamp go directly to the line level of the REL (dvd), and the speaker level outputs of the amp L&R to the REL high level inputs (2-ch stereo).

The Strata has been received and is set-up. I've hooked up the connections the same way as you have. However, I'm having a very difficult time making it sound "right". I don't have much flexibility in its placement, and now I have even begun placing it in locations that I know I cannot leave it, just to see if I can get it sounding at least acceptable.

The dealer commented that it takes about 4 hours for it to sound even remotely decent, and 40 hours for it to break in. I don't know how accurate that is, as I don't usually hear much difference between something that's new and something that has been run for a couple weeks.

Right now, the sub is generating very hollow, ringing type bass that's quite unpleasant. I even have it dialed down to A3 setting.

I'll keep trying.

As for the Rotels, nice idea of the computer fans for the ventilation. I really like how clean your install is. It really is a great looking set-up.

[gd]

SomaJoe... gorgeous setup in a gorgeous space!

But your place looks like many SOMA lofts I've visited in that they seem to be very difficult spaces for audio... high open ceilings, lotsa hard surfaces, lotsa large windows, and in your case -- hardwood floors... isn't it all overly lively and reverberant?

Or have you installed hidden room treatments?... or simply got lucky (just happens to sound good in there)?