Share your home theater setup

[SpeleoFool]

I posted my theater in the Endgame thread a while back, but I’ll do something a little different here and show off its evolution over the years…

Don’t mind the mess–this was never intended to be shared, but it’s the oldest picture of the theater that I have on hand. This was shortly after ditching the old rear-projection screen and mounting a pair of His n Hers flat panels.

I had also just picked up a second IKEA Lack coffee table for the electronics. The layout here is a bit of a disaster, but other than the clutter, this was the state of things for a couple years. It sounded great at least…

Eventually, I got a projector. It took me 11 years to buy one–not because of the expense so much as because the features never quite lined up with what I wanted–something that would be great for cinema and gaming. I got the Sony VPL-VW600ES and a Stewart Studiotek screen.

I got rid of the eyesore bookshelf, which I had originally built to house my CD collection, then later relegated to XBox games. I also painted the wall a pleasing shade of grey to minimize glare in low light. This was a massive improvement in both looks and functionality, but I wasn’t done yet…

For nearly 15 years, a B&K AVR-507 receiver was the heart of my home theater. It was a store model when I bought my first two speakers–the Left and Right channel Cremonas. I knew even then that eventually I wanted “separates,” but the B&K was so darn good that I never felt a great drive to spend the money to upgrade … until I found out that Sonus Faber had partnered with McIntosh!

So this is the state of my theater today, virtually unchanged for the last year or so. One of the unseen changes is an upgrade to a dedicated 20A circuit. I ditched my old Monster Power conditioner for the Furman Reference 20i–a hell of a beast to guard the key AV gear.

The new heart of the theater is a McIntosh MX122 Processor, feeding an MC8207 multichannel amp. I also opted for a C2600 tube preamp with a mind toward someday adding a turntable.

I’m still hanging onto my old Arcam DV79 for the rare occasion where I feel like digging up a DVD-Audio. Barely visible in the bottom left is the Ayre QB9-DSD DAC and Mac Mini that were once my sole digital path into the loudspeaker stack. These days I could add any number of desktop DACs into either the preamp or processor. At the time this picture was taken, my RME ADI-2 DAC was sitting atop a Drop 789 amp and also running XLR audio through my Stax SRM-727II energizer to the loudspeakers, enabling me to compare the Stax with the speakers, which was quite fun for a while.

–

Looking forward, I’ll eventually spring for a turntable, at which point the Stax will need to relocate (as much as I love looking at them every day through their cake dome). Otherwise, I really have no desire to change anything else. This game, at least, has ended.

[Veritas]

Super clean

[Rhodey]

Thank you!

[db_Cooper]

Dayum! Bet you couldn’t find a patriot who wouldn’t be happy with this as his final resting place.

[Rhodey]

Yeah, pretty cool theme. Multiple generations of family who served. That folded flag is my great grandfather’s. 33 years in the Army. I have some of his old leave and earning statements and his dd214. Pretty cool having that history.

[schpeeves]

I thought it might be helpful to show how I solved some wiring issues for my setup. My living room is on the 1st floor with 3 outside walls and no way into the ceiling above the room. I had wires exposed for a long time, but it was finally time to do something about it. I decided to run my wires behind some crown molding.

I made wire hangers out of 18 gauge steel wire that look like this.

The end loops over the screw head, so I can add the wires and lock them in after all the hangers are in place. They fit behind the crown like this.

I put a bunch up.

I ran all my wires around the room and let them hang down where they would be dropped into the wall.

Then I ran them vertically through the wall. The top holes would be hidden by the crown.

Then I finished the wall plugs.

Then I connected everything to make sure it worked before putting up the crown.

I am running 5.2 with speakers I bought 18 years ago.
FR / FL: Boston Acoustic VR965 (each has built in 8-inch sub)
Center: Boston Acoustic VRC
BR / BL: Boston Acoustic VRX

Last year, I finally replaced my 18 year old Denon AVR3802 with an Outlaw Audio Model 976 Pre/Pro and an Outlaw Audio Model 7000x Amplifier. It was a significant improvement going from the Denon to the Outlaws.

[M0N]

@schpeeves

Outlaw Audio Model 976 Pre/Pro and an Outlaw Audio Model 7000x Amplifier. It was a significant improvement going from the Denon to the Outlaws.

Outlaw is real solid gear, pretty sweet

[Rhodey]

Nice setup! I like the crown molding trick.

[Veritas]

Niceeee, super clean.

[Nick_Mimi]

Very nice, ingenious actually. Bravo.

[Nick_Mimi]

Audio system in my Main living room; This particular set-up is very pleasing and finally offers a 2.2 audio set-up i can live with for a while. Klipsch Heresy speakers each mated to a sub. I also wired in the HT system for a 5.2.2 set-up for movies. It’s a mish mosh of old and new gear but sounds nice overall.

[Veritas]

I love it! I’m sure it sounds fun for party music and movies!

[Nick_Mimi]

Movies do well, music varies i’ve got it tuned for blues, jazz, vintage rock and vocals currently, The little tube Amp has a nice batch of tubes in it and those Klipsch really excel with it. The subs are real easy to work with and tune well.

[Veritas]

Kind of curious on how that Monolith Power Amp does

[Nick_Mimi]

It’s a solid A/B class amplifier, you have to be careful when you start jamming, it really doesn’t feel the push and there is zero strain, so sensitive speakers like the Klipsch are in danger of popping and blowing a voicecoil or tweeter if you get overzealous.

This is honestly the first time i have used it for serious 2.2 music listening and I’m very pleased. I had my Emotiva Pa-1’s and my Adcom ready to use on the off chance that it wasn’t pleasing but as you can see clearly in the pictures that was an unnecessary precaution and not needed. When i “need’ a bit more volume for the more modern genre’s of tunes, ie GF wants some Meegan Thee Stallion or some Niki Manaj, I need to play with the subs a few minutes and be careful not to get too overzealous but the power and quality of watts is there. You can turn that right into milder tunes with headroom to spare, nice soundstage and plenty of control.

I need more hours on it with my blues, jazz etc. i have a tendency to go Right to the Glow II for those Genre’s but the Monolith is NO slouch and a damned fine example of an A/B. It’s really clean i have zero complaints. Movies are fantastic, I don’t feel lacking in any area especially given the size of the room, an 18’ ceiling is a bitch on sound.

The Monolth Heresy combination is NOT fatiguing and i was very worried that would be the case. I was wrong, very wrong. The worst part about the Monolith is that i WANT to spend more money on a fancier amplifier and I am having an impossible time justifying this action. Heck i have spare amplifiers sitting around at the moment and as you can see by the empty spaces on the rack i pulled them and didn’t bother with the complicated wiring, it wasn’t worth the effort.

Now having said this, i don’t know How well it would play with speakers of a much higher caliber and more refined nature. All my speakers are within a similar price category and i believe a fair pairing dollar wise across the board. I assume i would have To double or triple my budget to get beyond these pairing and that ain’t happening unless i stumble across a lottery win or a rare “Steal of a deal“ from a widow of a serious audiophile…

Edit: i also cheated, and i Know a bunch of stuff i did is considered audiophile “NoNo’s” but i was desperate and determined to make THIS equipment work in this space. I put the speakers on a rubber coated moving rack, which has rubber wheels. This way i can move them and better tune for the music. I can widen or pull back the soundstage. Tighten or loosen the bass. I can bring them in closer to the wall or well out into the room and that varies the sound signature. It’s a bit unorthodox but it works
Here they are in Jazz mode, Diana Krall, Tidal masters and the sound is nice, very nice.

[Veritas]

You have enough firepower to bring down the house many times over

[Nick_Mimi]

Yeah…since the living room Is 2 story with 2 massive openings, there’s basically no room In the entire house you can go hide in and hear yourself think when these speakers start cranking with the monolith. The Sound seems to be all encompassing and you realize sheetrock is basically paper walls with no ability to dampen the sound anywhere in the house🤣 oh well, it is what it is.

[PABastien]

I’m a bit reticent to share my setup because its so messy. Due to the fact that
A) lack of giving a fuck due to Covid
B) I use this as a primary research space as a writer and board artist so my media consoles literally double as bookshelves and backlog racks for my backlogs

[Nick_Mimi]

It’s all good, This is supposed to be a safe space and no pressure. Gives you a reason to get off your ass and tidy up a bit LOL

[PABastien]

The other problem is that a lot of these were poised for a refresh. My system is running off 15 year old tech that’s starting to die and I have no means to replace it atm
mainly my plasma which has been losing contrast the last few months.