Post pics of your home theater audio setups!

[musman]

Originally Posted by Redeemed

Large tower speakers FTW!

Them speakers are small

[Redeemed]

Originally Posted by musman

Them speakers are small

I know.





They stand over 4' tall, each have a 12" sub, 6 1/2" full range, 5 1/4" mid range, and a 4 1/2" horn tweeter. I've yet to find an amp that can out put more power than these babies can handle. Best thing is at near any volume they sound crisp and clean- ZERO distortion. I <3 EM!

Sadly, they're currently in storage. Those pics are quite old as they are from when I was stil living with my parents. I'm now in an apartment. However, I am planning to move out in the sticks, and when I do I'm taking these babies with me.

[musman]

Who is the manufacture? I see Curtis M...something.

These are big speakers...

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/show...=129220&page=2

[crainger]

Dem are random noise makers deemed scavenged outta dem old pickups down yonder.

[musman]

Originally Posted by crainger

Dem are random noise makers deemed scavenged outta dem old pickups down yonder.

lol Nice!

Those are genuine Curtis Mathes speakers

[Redeemed]

Ya'll are right- boxes are Curtis Mathes... speakers are entirely custom. Built by none-other than yours-truly.

The look is truly astonishing (I love the wood-grain look), and the sound is incredible across the entire frequency range.

I've yet to hear a pair of top-dollar speakers that can rival these... and they only cost me a fraction of the cost.

Do-it-yer'self FTW!

To give ya'll an idea of what I'm planning for my future audio setup... I'm looking at this receiver. It's only 110w so due to it's cost that'll be what I use initially.

But, I eventually want to get one of these for each individual channel and just go off of the pre-amp outs on that receiver.

I really want to keep those Curtis-Mathes towers due to all the time and money I've invested into them, not to mention sentimental value (long story ). But I've also wanted to completely custom-build all my speakers, boxes included, so I might do that.

Anyhow, I'll bu looking at 300watts driven into each channel. No dedicated sub as each speaker will have a built-in sub-woofer, and each channel will output low-frequencies.

However, if I did go with a sub I'd probably settle for another one of those PYLE amps and just bridge it into a single large 15" or 18" sub- of course with a custom enclusure built by me.

However, this is a long ways off but it's what I'm planning. I do hope to get started on it some time next year though. Ya'll got any feedback on this?

[musman]

ooooo

[musman]

My feedback will be. that Pyle Pro P3001AT 3000W Amplifier is a piece of garbage and the Marantz will sound much better. Would be ok for a subwoofer I guess.

[Redeemed]

Originally Posted by musman

My feedback will be. that Pyle Pro P3001AT 3000W Amplifier is a piece of garbage and the Marantz will sound much better. Would be ok for a subwoofer I guess.

I'm looking for volume though. 110w will be under whelming for my speakers. I was pumping 260 to them (the Curtis Mathis) and they were still under-powered.

Can you recommend a good, high-power amp then?

Oh, and how is that Pyle garbage? Frequency response is right on target, ohm and wattage is great... poor build quality?

[musman]

Originally Posted by Redeemed

I'm looking for volume though. 110w will be under whelming for my speakers. I was pumping 260 to them (the Curtis Mathis) and they were still under-powered.

Can you recommend a good, high-power amp then?

Oh, and how is that Pyle garbage? Frequency response is right on target, ohm and wattage is great... poor build quality?

Do you know what the efficiency of your speakers are? Sounds like they need a lot of power. One thing to remember is to gain 3 decibels (3db is just noticeable to the human ear as an increase in volume) you need to double your amplifier power. So there is the same difference between a 1watt amp and a 2watt amp or a 1000watt amp and a 2000watt amp, 3db. What is more important (for better sound) is current. Think of two 100 gallon drums suspended in the air, one has a 1 inch hose at the bottom the other has a 2 inch hose. They both have the same "wattage" (water pressure) but the one with the 2 inch hose has twice as much "current" (water flow). An amplifiers ability to deliver a lot of current has a great affect on sound quality, especially if the speakers are hard to drive, like a 4Ohm or lower load.

I have a pair of Electrostatic speakers, they are rated at 8Ohms, well that is very misleading because at the high frequencies the impedance drops to 1.5Ohms!!! If you put a 500 watt amp with low current on these they will sound extremely bright and have little bass. If you power them with a very high current 50 watt amplifier they will sound great.

Pyle is not know for hi quality anything, they are know for cheap poorly built electronics and speakers. I would say yes, the build quality and parts quality are not so hot. I really suspect the power ratings on that amp. There are a few tricks manufactures use to make it seem like the amp is putting out more power than it actually is in the real world. One way is by measuring one channel at one frequency. By doing that the amp is only amplifying one frequency and one channel and can output far more power than it would if you were playing music or a movie track.

One thing you may be able to do with the Marantz is bi-amp the front speakers. That usually takes the surround back channels and assigns them as front channels. So your "front channel" amp will power your tweeters and midrange drivers and the "surround back" will drive the woofers. This can only be done if your speakers have two sets of binding posts (where the speaker wire connects to the speakers) on them. That will really help drive your speakers.

As far as recommendations go.Take a look at Rotel electronics. They make some very high quality home audio electronics without super high prices. Maybe even a used one like a RB-1090 or RB-1080.

Hope this helps.

[musman]

This is a photo of one of the speakers in my 2nd two channel system. They are one of a kind (built by my friend) speaker system, based on a speaker built by Moth Audio in California called the Cicada. They are a single driver high efficiency speaker. One driver handles all frequencies and there is no crossover. These kinds of speakers are admired by a small group of audiophiles who usually are into single ended triode tube amps with small output power, usually around 3 watts or so. The deal with speakers like this is, they are very efficient, no crossover to get in the way, and no phase problems between drivers.

I use a Quicksilver Audio Linestage tube preamp and a completely rebuilt Dynaco Stereo 70 tube amp (about 25 watts per channel) CD player is a Adcom GCD-750, Turntable is a Linn Axis with a Grado gold cartage fed into a Grado PH-1 phono preamp. Audioquest cables and a Panamax AC line conditioner.

Good things about them are... Very fast and open sounding, highly detailed, good imaging and soundstage. Need little power to play at high volume.

Bad things are... lacking in deep bass and extreme treble, don't play very loud and lacking in big dynamics.

If you have ever listened to a pair of electrostatic speakers that is the closest sound to them. Most people laugh when they see them or read about them but everyone who listens to them really are impressed, at least among my friends.