Building a new system!!! (1 Viewer)

[Chris Shelly]

Hello,
First let me say that I am new to this forum. I am a projectionist/manager for a small independent theater located in Kirkland Washington. We just remodeled our small 6 plex theater and we just installed brand new JBL speakers and Dolby Digital CP650 processors. We are running QSC and BGW amps. The person who helped install the sound system also did the Majestic Bay theater and the Cinerama theater. The Kirkland Parkplace Cinema 6 was originally built as a neighborhood theater so the auditoriums are not very large but the screens fit the theaters well. Especially in the 2 Dolby Digital houses. Some minor acoustical problems the sound is very good. We are looking to fix those minor problems here soon and plan to respeaker the other auditoriums and if our budget permits will probably add a portable DTS player that we can move around. If you live in the area and you would like to see a movie I might be able to comp you in if it is not busy. Because the theater has been closed for some time it is taking a while to build up our customer base but the word of mouth has been very positive. Especially the new sound systems in 3 and 4.
Of course I like to build home theaters and watch movies as well. Several years ago I purchases a Kenwood Home THX system (KC-X1 controller with KM-X1 125w x6 amp) with Boston Acoustics Home THX speaker system. I have a 46" Sony Videoscope rear projection set. The Sony bigscreen is about 6 years old but puts out a really sharp picture. I have thought about buying a new 16x9 widescreen set but I don't think they are wide enough yet. For me to be satisfied it would need to be wide enough to view a 2.35/1 scope picture without any black bands. Probably never going to happen so I will breakdown and buy one eventually. I have since installed a Marantz DP870 Dolby Digital processer and a Audiocontrol EQ. For video I have a Panasonic A112 DVD player and a Pioneer CLD-D505 laserdisk player (currently dead and in the shop waiting for parts :frowning. I have been satisfied with this system for some time but it is rather clunky and does not even have DTS capability. I have been told I can ship my Marantz DP870 for a DTS upgrade but it is costly and I am nervous about shipping it off.
Instead of upgrading this system I decided to build a smaller lower cost system in another room trying to get the best sound for the price. Its actually been very complicated around the Holidays because many stores are out of stock on the best stuff but I did find some good deals. This system will be mated to a 10 years old Sony 53" videoscope TV. Still going strong but when you first turn it on the red gun likes to flicker a little. The TV is currently hooked up to a Pioneer CLD-2080 laserdisk player and a RCA 5200P DVD player. Over at Ubid I found a brand new Sherwood RD 7106 Dolby Digital/DTS reciever. It was Sunday night into Monday and I put a bid for $119. I did not think I would get it but low and behold I actually one the auction. When I got the reciever I hooked it up to some old Polk Audio speakers I had. I could not believe how good the sound was on this budget reciever. Sherwood used to make good stuff but they went into the tiolet there for a while but I think they are coming back. It was this that started a cycle. Next I was going to need a DVD player with DTS capability. Again being very budget oriented I went over to UBid and bought a Sampo DVE-611 DVD player. I paid $79 for this DVD player. I am not sure how it compares to other current DVD players but it has more features then my Panasonic and the picture is much better then my first generation RCA DVD player. My Batman DVD will no longer play on my RCA and Panisonic player (DVD rot???) but it plays just fine on my Sampo. Not sure how long it will last but it is better then my old school DVD players. Next I was going to need some new home theater speakers. I found a cheap 6pc TEAC speaker system over at Ubid for $119. I heard these in a local store and they did not sound half bad for the price. I placed a bid and one but then Ubid never sent me the package. For the longest time it was in process. I finely sent Ubid an e-mail and after much complications I was able to get out of the order. They did not actually have it in the wherehouse as advertised and they had to order them. No more Ubid for me. They told me originally that I was stuck with them but it would be a few months. I was like...YEAH....okay!!! I then went to my local Best Buy and was looking at a 6pc set Cerwin Vega speaker system on sale for $289. Problem was they did not have any in stock and the manager was being a jerk about giving me a raincheck. I went to Circuit City and they did not have anything and they were very disorginized. Same story at the Good Guys. My friend has a set of Acoustic Research home theater speakers and his sounded really nice and he did not pay much for them. So I went to etronics.com and ordered a 6pc set of Acoustic Research HC2 speaker system. I like the fact that they use the same speakers for the front 3 and the rears. This is the best way to reach a tonal balance between the speakers. If you ever played with a real time analizer even the best matched center speakers are not really even close. Only the same exact speaker will match. Of coarse its been a week and etronics has not shipped them yet :frowning:. I really hope they get here soon. I will have to report how it all comes together when I get it.
Chris

 

[Ches Campbell]

Welcome to the forum, Chris.
That was a nice little story. Let us know how it all sounds when you get it al hooked up.
Good thing you didn't get the Teacs. My brother got that set and the sub woofer would never stay on, even on bass heavy songs, so he took it back and got another and it did the same thing. He got his money back for the whole thing and ended up getting a pioneer HTIB.
Later

 

[AbelM]

Ches Campbell:

I am curious, I am going to be in College in a half a year. And I have a really nice set-up; close to yours. So I was wondering, aren't you worried about people stealing your shiznit when you aren't there...I am really curious about this, and have been looking into House/Appts.

 

[Trey Jones]

I had my hometheater in a dorm at UT Austin, and never really worried about anyone taking my stuff. I had several guys in the dorm that came over all the time. It was a great time.

 

[Chris Shelly]

My father has a TEAC stereo system from the 70's. That Stereo sounds so good and the speakers put out loads of bass. TEAC is another company that went budget several years ago.

I heard the TEAC speaker system and it was not all that bad. In this case the sub did work but it did not put out loads of bass. I thought for $119 it would do the trick. In a way I am glad I went with the Acoustic Research HC2 speaker system though. It was about $150 more then I really wanted to spend. But you get a 12" subwoofer and matched satelite speakers. Acoustic Research puts out some really nice sounding speakers for the price. I was also looking at a JBL speaker system for $499 but the satelite speakers were so small they lacked any lower midrange. One feature I would like to have is the ability to turn off the sub and still get good sound. I work alot of nights so I like to watch a movie when I get home. Of coarse others in the household really complain about the bass at 2am in the morning...LOL. So I really need a slightly larger satelite speaker. The AR HC2 has a 5 1/4 inch midrange and has a frequincy response of 70Hz - 20KHz. That is one better then the Cerwins and 80Hz - 20KHz and much better then the JBL's at 100Hz - 20KHz. I really can't wait I think they will sound good.

Chris

 

[Ches Campbell]

AbelM
Nah, I dont worry too much. Our doors automatically lock when you leave and hardly anyone knows I have it except for my friends. Also, you cant get in to the dorms without a keycard that proves you live there. It's pretty safe.
Its so worht it to have a HT at school. I use it everyday.
Later