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Type A

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Ty
This photo gallery goes back about 10 years and starts with my very first front projection system.
Gear in this rig included a Mitsubishi HC3000 720p DLP projector throwing to a 106" Optoma GrayWolf screen. The speakers were Bose 901 Series 6 mains, a Bose VCS10 center and Bose 301 Series 4 rears. My AVR was a Harman Kardon AVR7000 (not pictured) that was eventually upgraded to an Onkyo TX-NR3007. My sources were an Xbox 360 add-on HDDVD drive and a Gateway 901X HTPC that was eventually upgraded to a Panasonic blu ray player. I had Dish Network as my HDTV provider. Eventually the room was painted brown, the front stage was hung from the ceiling, and I added a Sanyo PLV-Z2000 1080p LCD projector to zone 1. Also shown was my zone 2 screen in the bedroom, the same Mitsubishi projector was easily unplugged and relocated to zone 2 where it threw to a second 106" Optoma GrayWolf screen. This Zone had a cheap Sony AVR (dont recall the model number) and a Bose AM6 speaker system. Finally the last pictures are my mobile projection system. This system was a 360 and HDDVD drive, projector, and Bose Companion 2 powered multimedia speakers crammed into a carry-on.
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Then I upgraded all speakers to Infinity P362 towers, a PC350 center and P162s for the rears. Also added a pair of Hsu VTF2 Mk3 subs. I then replaced the towers with a pair of 162s and the towers went to a third zone as music only speakers. I also added an Emotiva XPA-5 five channel amplifier, an Emotiva UPA-2 two channel amplifier, replaced the Onkyo 3007 with a Marantz SR8002, added a pair of 162s highs, and added a Salamander component rack.
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Speakers upgraded to av123 Signature series RS1000 mains, a RSC200 center and a pair of RS250 MK2 rears. Heres a shot of these big RS1000 towers in a room thats only 10' wide! But eventually I moved to another house and my living room is now wider. Also pictured is my DIY acoustic panels treating the first reflection point, my DIY rear speaker stands, and a tv and speaker stand added below the screen.
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A JVC D-ILA projector (DLA-RS1X) replaced the Sanyo PLV-Z2000 LCD projector....
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Screen shots of the JVC projector
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Back yard rig, Mitsubishi HC3000 projector and Infinity P162 speakers
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Ill add more photos as my system changes....
 

Adam Gregorich

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I love the amount of DIY and how your system has evolved over time through upgrades. I can't see the mount on the JVC. How much PJ movement did you get with the DIY chain mount on the Sanyo?
 

Type A

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The JVC projector mount is the Chief mount that can be found here. I believe it was included with the purchase of the RS1X way back when it was still available new.
I would only get projector movement with the old Sanyo and chain mounts during two events. The first was when the projector was first powered on, the powered lens door on the PLV-Z2000 would open so hard that it would rock the projector back and forth for the first minute or two. Only other time I would get movement is when the Hsu subs would output serious SPL (like an explosion in a movie ect), that would produce a slight shaking of the displayed image. Not ideal but I got used to it pretty quickly and after a while I never really noticed it.
Besides the DIY acoustic panels and rear speaker stands I also lined the inside of 11 brand new Infinity Primus speakers with a MDF layer. Fun little project that really made a difference in the cabinet performance of this otherwise great performing speaker line. Heres all the pictures from that project:
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Type A

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saabtastic17 said:
What kind of tv do you have behind your projector screen?
Initially I had purchased a brand new Panasonic 50" plasma but it had the (come to find out) well-documented fluctuating brightness defect, it was returned to the store immediately. Passing the buck off to the customer to get their brand new TV repaired wasnt working for me, Panasonic lost my business for life. So currently Im running a Sony LCD, the 46" KDL46BX420.
 
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My prior Bravia was a LCD 40 inch EX series and it was really nice but I wanted a bigger tv so I got what I have now. BX is the tippy top from Sony correct? Personally I'm not a fan of Panasonic to begin with, we owned one for like 3 months and it had like 3 different problems and Panasonic wouldn't cover it so thankfully we had a warrenty from Sears, they even replaced the tv with a brand new one and it still gave us problems so we gave up and opted for a free Sony and haven't had anything since. This was back when they were still bubble tvs so that was quite a while ago lol. I think Sony and Sharp have the best picture too, I mean there is a lot of people that prolly argue that(everyone I work with that owns a Samsung)and I'm not saying its the true, just opinion.
 

Type A

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Theater upgrades have begun and in the next few weeks Ill be adding photos to my gallery. Upgrades include; a new projector thats replacing a JVC RS1X, a new 106" Da-Lite High Power screen replacing a 106" Grey Wolf and a custom wall shelf replacing a Chief ceiling mount. Here's the before-paint wall shelf, designed by myself and constructed by my local wood shop for $100. Actual shelf dimensions are 25" deep by 25.5" wide, final color will be black lacquer.
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Type A

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Heres a mock up of the shelf and the box on it is based on the largest projector currently available, the new JVC models.

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Shelf complete, the current JVC RS1X has sold but I was able to get some quick photos before boxing it up...


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Type A

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Ty
Added to the theater today is JVC's 2011 flagship model, the DLA-RS60U.

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Factory refurb from an ebay factory authorized dealer, $3429 shipped. Came with a three year factory warranty. Also included were two brand new 3D glasses and a brand new 3D transmitter as originally included with the RS60. The original "Version 1" lamps for this model year reportedly suffered from premature dimming or outright premature failure, however this has been reportedly fixed with "Version 3" lamps. Luckily my refurb came with a "Version 3" lamp that has 9 hours on it (according to the counter). With my new 106" Da-Lite High Power screen, a 15' throw, and almost perfect retroreflective install I am able to operate the projector in low lamp mode and the iris all the way closed. This means extra quiet (high lamp is still quieter than my former RS1X was in low mode) and the maximum contrast I can get in my room as the iris is clamped all the way down! STILL very very bright even in this lowest output setting and lots of room to open the iris as the lamp ages and dims (while still maintaining the whisper quiet low lamp mode). Going with a high power screen (and staying smallish at 106") gives me alot of brightness, Im impressed. First two 3D blu rays, Step Up 3 and Titanic, will arrive tomorrow. I put on the glasses, opened the iris, increased the lamp to high and it seems plenty bright to me but we'll see... Initial settings Ill be using are the recommended settings from the AVS forums review of the X9 (consumer version of the RS60). I doubt Ill even try the THX preset in this unit. Also added to the theater today is a Digital Illuminance Meter from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004K0QTLA/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Despite a Version 3 lamp in my projector I will be closely monitoring the brightness of this projector, I will also be adding 3 year lamp replacement insurance from the same company that I purchased the projector from. This insurance allows two lamp replacements in a three year period, no questions asked. $149 and seems like a great deal for lamp peace of mind. Cool thing about this projector is not only full color management but auto calibration with Spectracal calibration software. Within the next couple of months I will be investing in Spectracal's Autocal software, with the I1 meter, and doing a auto calibration every couple hundred hours. That kit is $499. Despite AVS forums review stating calibration only marginally improves performance, over their recommended settings, I still think I will want to take advantage of the auto calibration feature of my new projector and keep it well calibrated over the years and as the lamp ages. IMO this represents a serious benefit over paying a pro calibrator (with his $25k meter) $500 to come calibrate your projector, and then $250 to come re-calibrate your projector once a year thereafter. I will also be using the SpectraCal system to calibrate my Panasonic TH-58PZ800U 58" plasma that I use in my theater during day, that will be a learning experience as it does not support autocal. My former JVC RS1X sold on videogon for $700 :) Next upgrade will likely be a Marantz 8801 preamp, should be within the next month or so.
 

Type A

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Ty
Added to the theater today is Yamaha's 2012 flagship AVR, the RX-A3010. Power will still be provided with the Emotiva XPA-5 so its only being used as a processor.


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This AVR added some badly missed features lacking in my former Sherwood R972 receiver. Check out this list of new features Ill be taking advantage of on a daily basis: dual sub calibration and control, HDMI GUI and overlay, dual simultaneous HDMI output, HDMI pass through while in standby mode, max volume and power-on volume settings, IPAD and Android apps for streaming Pandora and net radio. Heres a couple of shots of me calibrating with the Yamaha boomerang looking thing...

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Addition: I had my sights on a Marantz 8801 as my next preamp, $2800 new with warranty. However this Yamaha came along at $650 here locally and I couldn't refuse that kind of deal...
 

Type A

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Added to the theater is a pair of av123 RS450 towers (ebay $295 shipped) expanding system from 5.2 to 7.2. Subs moved from the back corners to the ends of the couch. Still have some wiring hiding to do but the next project for my carpenter will be hardwood covers for the plate amp on the back of the subs....

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Also added are custom wall shelves for the former surrounds, pulling "presence" duty on the front stage. Carpenter charged me $50 to build the pair, out of raw hardwood, then I finished them in gloss black just like I did with the projector shelf he built the month before. Also added is a new 106" screen that replaced my old 106" Grey Wolf screen. New screen is a Da Lite High Power with a black case and an additional 12" drop, thefinalclick.com $277 shipped.

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Type A

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Paradigm in the house baby! Added to the theater today are Paradigm Reference Studio Version 5 speakers: Five 20 (Rosenut) for the front stage, a pair of ADP 590 bipoles (black) for surround duty and a pair of J-29 stands for the front left and right channels. These speakers replaced my seven speaker AV123 Rocket speakers, they sold on Craigslist for what I bought them for 3 years ago btw. Is it sacrilege for an American to install Canadian speakers on a 4th of July weekend?

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Type A

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Crappy weather so these are kinda dark but here's the first Paradigm shots. Also pictured are my remaining acoustic panels that have yet to be covered, 4" in each corner. Finally the last pic is me sacrificing a $.98 pair of flip-flops to get the center channel up and decoupled and the heights down and decoupled. This system rocks, way tighter than my former Rocket system. Ill be writing up a full review at some time in the near future.


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hotrodguy

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Thank you for the comment on my symmetry but I really have to commend you on your chronology and growth of your system. It is the most detailed I have seen, kudos my fellow HTFer!
 

Type A

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Experimenting with acoustic treatments of high presence speakers. 4" of OC703 on the wall and 2" on the ceiling. These small panels were cobbled together with a bass trap that went awry so they are not the most cosmetically appealing work Ive ever done but, again, just experimenting with the effect. Unfortunately the room dimensions dont allow for better placement of these highs so these acoustic treatments are making lemonade from lemons. I might re-cover these absobers and traps with a fabric color that more closely matches the wall color but that will be down the road. Also added are 4" OC703 2'x4' bass traps straddling the front corners (my worst bass builders). Its impressive how effective DIY acoustic treatments can be....

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Type A

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Added to the theater today is an Integra DPT-1 mega DVD changer. This new addition will be used exclusively as a CD changer, fully loaded and I still have 180 slots remaining (yep Ill be filling it)! The plug-in keyboard made labeling all my CDs very easy!

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Type A

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Well Im up to 615 hours on the new JVC RS60 projector, and there has been some changes in performance, so I think Ill share my LUX measurements. But first some background to put these numbers into perspective... Projector was purchased as a factory refurb March 2013 and, as luck would have it, it had 9 hours on a JVC "Version 3" lamp. I say "luck" as the version 3 lamp was an updated version of the original lamps that came out for this model year and supposedly addressed the premature dimming and premature failure of the version 1 lamps. Pre purchase research revealed that not only were these model year JVCs dim (400 lumens in best mode), much dimmer than published numbers, but that the overall lamp life wasnt even close to the published numbers either (horror stories abound). Quite the scandal considering JVC's excellent reputation for producing some of the finest home theater projectors, a reputation that was established back in 2007 with the RS1. Armed with this knowledge, and the experience as a previous RS1 and RS15 owner, I made some first time choices with this new projector. First my screen choice was a Da-Lite High Power screen that would give me a maximum gain of 2.8, no wonder they call it "High Power." I also purchased the Dr. Meter LX1330B Digital Lux Meter to be able to monitor changes in my light output as the bulb aged. Finally I went from a ceiling mount to a shelf mount to get the full gain I could get from the new screen. This initial set up did not take full advantage of the screen gain, the screen was about 1' higher than the center of the projector lens. My lux measurements are hardly scientific and are only used to show relative changes, matter of fact I use the HDMI color space page of my Xbox 360 with the meter against the screen in the center of the white box located on the left half of the screen. My measurement was 77 lux, 21 hours on the lamp on March 7th. Iris closed all the way for the highest contrast and lamp on normal for quietest performance and best lamp life. Rough Foot Lamberts for a 106" screen was 20. Next measurement was 74 lux, 79 hours on the lamp on March 19th. Rather then measuring in the approximate center of the white box, on the left of the screen, I started using the upper right corner of the white box which is close to the center of the screen. Measurement in this new location, on the same date, was 78 lux. This location is where I measure for all future measurements. Next measurement was 59 lux, 161 hours on the lamp on April 10th. Next measurement was 65 lux, 199 hours on the lamp on April 18th. Screen was lowered to within 5" of lens center, quite the difference eh? Next measurement was 65 lux, 394 hours on the lamp on June 8th. Next measurement was 62 lux, 455 hours on the lamp on July 14th. Screen was lowered to within 1" of lens center. Next measurement is 55 lux, 615 hours on the lamp on September 3rd. Iris is now open two positions which brings the lux back up to 71. No longer maximum contrast but its not an obvious loss until you open it six positions or more.
 

Type A

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Added to the theater today is a Panasonic 65ST30 plasma, this replaced the Panasonic 58PZ800U previously pictured. New plasma was purchased used on Craigslist, had about 3000 hours on it and spent $600.

Additional front stage changes to include a mock up of the center speaker stand currently made out of 3/4" Styrofoam. This picked my center channel up from the floor as much as possible. Eventually Ill have my carpenter build a center stand using this mockup.

Also final install for front presence speaker sound absorbers.

And finally subs moved from behind the couch to the front wall at 1/4 and 3/4 overall of the room width. This new location is in preparation for a pair of Hsu MBM-12 MK2 mid bass monitors that will be going behind the couch in the near future.



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Heres the subs previous location:

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Type A

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Ty
Added to the theater today is a pair of Hsu MBM-12 MK2 mid bass monitors

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They remind me of sub woofers that were harvested from the subwoofer patch early. These bring Marcus Miller to a whole new level. Current sub configuration in the Yamaha processor is front/back with the pair of VTF 2 MK3s split on the front output and the MBMs split on the back. Initially calibration didnt go well. I tried engaging the VTF2 crossover to 50 Hz first, with the idea of getting the most accurate SPLs possible, but their distance ended up at 38 feet (and a level of +6)! So set the crossover to out and then the distances of both pairs came out perfect (man Yamaha makes great stuff). For now the MBMs are covering 90 Hz to 50 HZ and the VTFs take over at 50 HZ. Ive read that crossing over the VTF a little lower, like say 45 HZ gives an even better coherence between the MBMs and subs so Ill be experimenting a little. So far zero localization from the MBMs at 90 HZ and definitely much tighter performance. You can tell these MBM took alot of pressure off both the subs and Paradigms, these made the whole system way more effortless and full with a natural chest slam thats not too much. I have a 30 day return policy and I seriously doubt Ill be taking Hsu up on it.

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