Recommendation For A Decent Sound System.

[mars73 0]

Yeah, saw the antimode on sale, though not sure what it does lol

I got the XPA-3. Not bad. Quite fast and tight in terms of bass and transients. Had a nice time at the seller's place, listened to some cables he was auditioning. Some of the forumers had a cable shootout yesterday but alas last minute family commitments kept me away.

My new speakers came in over the weekend too. Gonna get me some shoes for the speakers, as the original spikes look kinda dangerous with a young kid around. It's now sitting on its 'bare feet'. Heard that the spikies will improve the sound.

Oh yeah, just to add, the XPA runs pretty cool even on extended playing. Compared to my Audiolab 8200 CDQ which gets abit hot, as I believe it's a Class A.

Managed to spend some time listening to my old CDs. Nice.

[RimBlock 0]

Oh yeah, just to add, the XPA runs pretty cool even on extended playing. Compared to my Audiolab 8200 CDQ which gets abit hot, as I believe it's a Class A.

Managed to spend some time listening to my old CDs. Nice.

I ended up getting one of the Rotel 1582s on XP. Lovely unit. Only stereo but sounds great. Runs hot though .

Put basically, the antimode works out the acoustics of your room and tunes the signal to your sub to take in to account any peaks and so flatten the response. Most rooms have certain characteristics which cause certain frequencies to jump in volume. The antimode and other devices like it amend these frequencies so the spike is hidden. The reviews I have read are all pretty good.

One review here from AVForums.

One point of note is that the antimode only tunes your sub and so if there are frequencies playing havoc higher than the sub can manage it will not help. You would need one of the more expensive alternatives like the Audyssey.

The idea of spikes is to, as much as possible, insulate the speaker drivers from outside influence which could colour the sound. The vibration of a bus going past may cause the speaker cone to vibrate a little and so 'muddy' the sound for example. Spikes maintain the minimum contact area with the floor and so reduce the influence of vibrations travelling through the floor whilst still maintaining a secure base. The same logic is used when people put things like CD players on plinths, they do it to minimise external vibration which may affect the reading of the CD data.

The using of spikes is pretty much set in stone for improving quality although there are other options for those who do not want to scratch their wooden floor or need to protect their kids.

Something like this may be better. They are more like cones than spikes.

RB

Edited April 25, 2011 by RimBlock

[mars73 0]

I ended up getting one of the Rotel 1582s on XP. Lovely unit. Only stereo but sounds great. Runs hot though .

Put basically, the antimode works out the acoustics of your room and tunes the signal to your sub to take in to account any peaks and so flatten the response. Most rooms have certain characteristics which cause certain frequencies to jump in volume. The antimode and other devices like it amend these frequencies so the spike is hidden. The reviews I have read are all pretty good.

One review here from AVForums.

One point of note is that the antimode only tunes your sub and so if there are frequencies playing havoc higher than the sub can manage it will not help. You would need one of the more expensive alternatives like the Audyssey.

The idea of spikes is to, as much as possible, insulate the speaker drivers from outside influence which could colour the sound. The vibration of a bus going past may cause the speaker cone to vibrate a little and so 'muddy' the sound for example. Spikes maintain the minimum contact area with the floor and so reduce the influence of vibrations travelling through the floor whilst still maintaining a secure base. The same logic is used when people put things like CD players on plinths, they do it to minimise external vibration which may affect the reading of the CD data.

The using of spikes is pretty much set in stone for improving quality although there are other options for those who do not want to scratch their wooden floor or need to protect their kids.

Something like this may be better. They are more like cones than spikes.

RB

Interesting, this antimode. Not sure if it works with Audyssey though.

[RimBlock 0]

Interesting, this antimode. Not sure if it works with Audyssey though.

The audyssey you have in the amp will work out the distances and volume adjustments. Then you use the antimode to flatten out the response of the bass. The unit goes between the sub and amp and filters as the sub is in use.

Both should work together fine.

RB

[mars73 0]

Thanks. By the way, congrats on the Rotels? So no more bi-amping your fronts?

[RimBlock 0]

Thanks. By the way, congrats on the Rotels? So no more bi-amping your fronts?

The Rotel has 4 binding posts for each channel with a high / low filter built in so I am still bi-amping .

But this means I can use the two rear channels again and there is now more power from the Yamaha 667 to drive the center and rears.

I would probably buy the other Rotel 1582 on sale at XP if I had the cash left....

RB

[Drexter 0]

Mine are too

And I've got news that will might add to your bills - the 709 is already here

You sure 709 is here? How much?

[mars73 0]

You sure 709 is here? How much?

I was told by KEC that stocks just came in but no confirmed pricing yet. You may want to call to check

[mars73 0]

The Rotel has 4 binding posts for each channel with a high / low filter built in so I am still bi-amping .

But this means I can use the two rear channels again and there is now more power from the Yamaha 667 to drive the center and rears.

I would probably buy the other Rotel 1582 on sale at XP if I had the cash left....

RB

The Rotel has built in high/ low pass filter? Thats nice, didn't know that. Does it have balanced XLR inputs?

[RimBlock 0]

The Rotel has built in high/ low pass filter? Thats nice, didn't know that. Does it have balanced XLR inputs?

Nope. Only thing missing but I cannot use from the 667 anyway so no loss to me.

RB

[demonyi 0]

How much was your purchase for HTS and your 46"?

Pmed u le bro.

[demonyi 0]

Haha. great. Show her small pic from far away to get the ok from the wife. Top tip .

It is interesting how the two of us have listened to the same things and have different impressions. Just goes to show the way different people take different sounds.

It is interesting how you found the SB12 directional as the bass levels it produces are of a level the human hearing cannot determine direction. Don't get me wrong, not suggesting anything more than it is an interesting comment. Maybe your perception was at play as you liked the cylinder better. My perception tried very hard to swing me to the cylinder too .

The cylinder does look fantastic but I am pretty happy with my sealed box.

Did you try with a reference set to see what a more expensive sub would be like. I went in expecting vibrating windows and rattling dvds and was quite surprised that as the price range went up the rattling and vibrating went down. There was no buzzing or rumpling I had associated with bass in the past but only a deep controlled sound. LOTR - Fellowship of the ring where they have the mass battle at the very beginning and Sauron explodes is a great example of really deep bass.

Oh and movie night. Check my t-blog for details if you are interested. Err limited spaces . Anyone let me know if interested in my blog please.

RB

Actually at 1st when i try the PC12 it was not tat good the bass was not strong enough when playing "2012", after tat i tried the the SB12 with the same scene at it was like i can feel the bass right at me which was very shiok haha. After tat my fren ask me to try a sword fighting scene from his demo DVD it was like as if they were right in front of me lagi shiok. Then i tried the PC12 again sound was the same at 1st then i itchy hand went to turn knobs behind to try out the effect of the sub and IT CAME ALIVE!!!! WOOT!! The bass sound stronger and alot better so faster tried out out all the scene again was impressed with the PC12-ncd. So ask dennis if its the PC12-plus will it be better? He told me of cos!! so after thinking finally confirm the PC12-plus But need to wait till hse ready by july then can fix up all.. but its vreally true tat different ppl have diff preference so cannot compare better try out on ur own. dun forget the setup r all inside their auditing rooms so sound may be different when setup at ur own hse so dun later buy liao complain y like tat hehe. Quote of the day: u test, u buy, dun complain..

BTW the Onkyo 709 come out liao price at ard $1200 something.

Edited April 25, 2011 by demonyi

[csingeu 0]

BTW the Onkyo 709 come out liao price at ard $1200 something.

woah... busted my budget...

[demonyi 0]

woah... busted my budget...

Bro get the 708 enough Liao. For me also just get the 708.

[cubeball 0]

Hi, i went to adelphi yesterday to chk out a 5.1 HTS for my 4 rm hdb. 1st iwent to kef and the uncle there let me test 2 set of speckers with i dun know what amp (told me they dun sell amp) was impress with the sound of KHT3005SE ($2.4), it sounds clear and crisp to me. Movie shown was tron. And other set i forgot the model but cost abt 3K but i dun quite like the sound as compared to the other. He told me i could pair it with yamaha RX 3667 ($850) coz i use it mainly for movies/TV (HBO, Football) n games abt 75% n 25% music.

Nx i went to AV One, the uncle there let me tested the morel speakers MT-0.5 n MT-1 with marantz 1601 ($2699 n $3399 respectively). I told him my requirements 75% movie, game n TV, 25% music. Anyway it sounds all rite but i still prefer the soung of KEF but i luv the design of morel.Movie played was terminator n the dialogue part seems abit flat, is it the speakers or the amp? Anyway the uncle told me the marantz sounds warm while yamaha sounds more sharp.

Now the question is i have yet to try out the speakers with yamaha amp n onkyo amp, i prefer sounds tat are clear, sharp n crisp. Will KEC have the morel & KEf speakers for me to test with yamaha n onkyo amp? This is my 1st self assemble set (so called self assemble). will the set up last me a few years at least am pairing it with a 46' led 3d tv n ps3

* i went thru all the 22 pages n i find i can't understand most of them, it's really technical.

Edited April 26, 2011 by cubeball