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My Starter Project

post #1 of 15
6/26/09 at 2:40pm
Thread Starter 
Hello all, I made a thread here a while ago, can't find it, and it's a bit different now.


Anyhow, as my starter system I have aquired the following.

I am looking for advice on what people think of it, and where I should go from here.

I don't have an unlimited budget, and as of now, I am thinking of either keeping my integrate, and going with a decent pair of monoblocks for the fronts, or getting a new integrate. Ideas?

The equipment is as follows.

Integrate:

Arcam AVR100

Fronts:
Monitor Audio BR6

Centre:
Monitor Audio BRLCR

Rears
JM Labs Focal Cobalt SR800

10AWG wire for fronts/center
14AWG for rears

TOSLINK Interconnect from PS3 --> Integrate


As for music, I am using a 3.5MM -> RCA adapter, than RCA into the Monitor input on the Integrate. I am also looking for ways to upgrade this connection, to achieve better sound.


All this was done for under $1,000CDN, BR6/BRLCR were BNIB, how did I do?

Thanks for your time in reading this.
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post #2 of 15
6/26/09 at 2:54pm
Thread Starter 

Re: My Starter Project

I should add, because the majority of my music is MP3, what bitrate should I be looking for?

I try to stay around the 320kb rate. I understand that the higher quality the equipment the worse it sounds. I know this by trial and error, seems I am always adjusting the EQ to tone out the imperfections from the compressed file.

Thanks again!
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post #3 of 15
6/26/09 at 4:36pm

Re: My Starter Project

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rotasol
I don't have an unlimited budget, and as of now, I am thinking of either keeping my integrate, and going with a decent pair of monoblocks for the fronts, or getting a new integrate. Ideas?.......

All this was done for under $1,000CDN, BR6/BRLCR were BNIB, how did I do?
First, what is an 'integrate'?

How does it sound to you? That's all that matters.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rotasol
I should add, because the majority of my music is MP3, what bitrate should I be looking for?
Some type of lossless format is best. Anything less and you are sacrificing sound quality. And 320kbps can sound different depending on the source material, encoder and encoder settings.

-Robert
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post #4 of 15
6/26/09 at 7:37pm
Thread Starter 

Re: My Starter Project

Sorry, I should have said Integrated.

It sounds good, however, the AVR100 puts out 90WPC @ 8OHMS in 2 CH stereo.

I am unsure what it does @ 4OHM (What the BR6 are rated for), so I was looking for something with a little more power to properly power up these BR6's.
Either that, or get a pair of mono's to power them.

I haven't explored the world of SACD yet, are SACD's recordable media?

What exactly are the benefits of SACD over normal CD's? Is it simply a bitrate thing?
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post #5 of 15
6/26/09 at 8:38pm

Re: My Starter Project

Are you pushing your current amp to its limits? If not, then there is no reason to get a more powerful one. Just turn up the volume on the one you have now. If you double the power you will get at most more 3db. In reality you will get less than 2db due to power compression.

I don't think that SACD's are recordable. The difference between CD and SACD are listed here. There is also DVD Audio that is another high bit rate audio format. Comparing these formats to CD is like comparing CD to MP3.

-Robert
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post #6 of 15
6/26/09 at 8:43pm
Thread Starter 

Re: My Starter Project

The ARCAM handles it pretty damn good. However, if I get into a bass heavy style of music, the bass tends to fade, making me believe the caps are draining.

I am just looking for something that may be rated a little more than these BR6's, to keep them running smooth, and to eliminate any cause for distortion or over draining.

I would rather have a little bit of power left over, and run more efficient, than having it run less efficient, at full power.

There are no specs that I found about this AVR100 in 4OHM load.

If it runs 90WPC @ 8OHMS, is there a formula to determine the power output @ 4OHM?

Thanks.

Also, part of my first question, how is this for a starter system? Is it decent, o should I be looking to upgrade immediately?
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post #7 of 15
6/27/09 at 4:33am

Re: My Starter Project

It all depends on circuit design. The 4 ohm power may be the same as 8 ohm power. It may double. More than likely it is somewhere in between. What sub do you have? I didn't see one mentioned.

Most people have a HTiB from Wal-Mart as a starter system. I've been in this hobby since I bought a stereo VCR in 1987 and your system has higher priced components than what I have currently. But it's not about price or brand names, it's how you integrate them together and into the room. Calibration, placement, EQ, sound treatments, etc can all contribute to make an average system sound great. Ignore these steps and no matter what you pay you will end up with a crappy sounding system.

-Robert
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post #8 of 15
6/27/09 at 1:38pm
Thread Starter 

Re: My Starter Project

I do not have a sub yet.

I am caught up between Velodyne, and the matching Monitor sub.

I was offered a 15" Velodyne sub, for $800, or I can get the matching 10" Monitor BR sub for $1,000.

As for placement, calibation, etc. I am going to be surfing those sections of this forum to see exactly how to go about doing it.
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post #9 of 15
6/27/09 at 1:59pm
Thread Starter 

Re: My Starter Project

Also, this isn't my first HT setup, this is my first step into high end stuff.

My old setup was a 7.1 Pioneer receiver, and KLH Plat6 5.1 speaker setup.
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post #10 of 15
6/29/09 at 6:14am

Re: My Starter Project

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rotasol
I do not have a sub yet.

I am caught up between Velodyne, and the matching Monitor sub.

I was offered a 15" Velodyne sub, for $800, or I can get the matching 10" Monitor BR sub for $1,000.

As for placement, calibation, etc. I am going to be surfing those sections of this forum to see exactly how to go about doing it.
A 15" sub will move more air than a 10" sub. I'd go that route every time.

-Robert
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post #11 of 15
7/1/09 at 4:33pm
Thread Starter 
Does it matter to timber match the sub to the rest of the equipment?

Or due to the extreme low frequencies a sub produces, it doesnt matter?
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post #12 of 15
7/1/09 at 7:52pm

Timbre matching only matters when two or more speakers are reproducing the same frequency range.  Since the front three produce the majority of the sound, they are the most important.  Subs are all about moving air.  The ones that move the most, usually sound the best.

 

-Robert

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post #13 of 15
11/22/09 at 1:15pm
Thread Starter 
Hello all, I finally got everything installed and set to my preference.

I'm using Neo-Tech 11AWG 4' length wire for the entire front stage, and Neo-Tech 11AWG wire for the rears.

I still haven't acquired a sub, as the BR6's are performing a lot better in the low end than I presumed.  I do however still need one, and am researching in to either buying one, or building one.

Some pictures to show my setup, lemme know what you think.

Thanks!



 

 
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post #14 of 15
11/23/09 at 8:31pm
Looks good!!  As for your sub, if you can, build your own.  I was in the market for an SVS cylindrical sub and was referred to a build your own, I purchased a 15" Tempest X-2 ($250 shipped) from DIYcable.com, a Reckhorn B-1 subsonic filter ($75 shipped, only needed if you go with a larger ported box) and will be using a Behringer EP1500 amp ($229 shipped).  So with materials, you'll have about $600 into it and from what I hear will have one hell of a sub, I'm looking foward to building it over Xmas break. 
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post #15 of 15
1/1/10 at 4:04pm
Thread Starter 
Well, I have an update.

Santa was somewhat good to me, so I picked up a couple things for my setup.

Keep in mind, this is my budget build, and EVERYTHING you see in the pics combined I don't even have $2500 into everything.

Picked up a sub, and a new TV Stand =)

The sub isn't anything special, but it was a Boxing Day sale item, and I picked it up to fill in the low end until I could afford what I want.

It's a Precision Acoustics 150W powered 10".  I'm quite suprised by how this unit performs for being quite inferior to the rest of the equipment.  It is mighty sloppy > 80HZ, but the towers make up for it nicely.  For $99, I couldn't go wrong.

More pics! Enjoy!

Feedback is always welcomed, good or bad :)

Mike





I got some more work to do with the wiring, gonna look into some tracks to hide what I can.


Edited by Rotasol - 1/1/10 at 4:54pm
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