May Austin HTF Meet. (1 Viewer)

[Rajiv Arora]

Nils,

Those chairs are where my wife and I collapse after a hard day of parenting 4- and 7-year old girls! They are called "zero-gravity" chairs, and we got them from Relax the Back. There may be other sources for them now - this was several years ago. I didn't get a chance to demonstrate how they recline, but they are about the most comfy recliners I have ever sat in.

Their contemporary, European styling is just an added bonus - as you could see, our tastes tend to run toward contemporary furnishings.

The only problem with the chairs is they put my wife to sleep in at most 10 minutes which means I watch many movies/shows about 4 times before she gets through them!

-Rajiv

 

[Chad Anson]

Rajiv, you may just have to get a dedicated AC unit so that the theater is cold enough to keep your wife awake! That's what they did during many of my college classes many years ago.

Thanks to all of the hosts and participants. My wife and I had a great time! We'll definitely want to have everyone over for a movie night once we're "done." I say "done" because are we ever really finished tweaking/moving things around, etc?

 

[Chad Anson]

Nils,
Thanks for the offer, I will definitely be in touch. Can you shoot me your phone # in email ([email protected])? Would love to have your assistance/input.

 

[Colin Dunn]

Nils -

Sorry to tell you this, but you missed out big-time when you didn't get to Chris's place for the demo. He had a very impressive, well-engineered setup. His speakers are capable of impressive dynamic range and transient response, but still impart a realistic, musical tone.

There were only two problems with his setup that I could see:
1) Big, intrusive speakers and equipment racks with lousy WAF ratings (fortunately not an issue for us single guys)
2) Seeing the clarity, contrast, and color rendition on that CRT projector is tempting me to sell off my 10HT and switch. But before I do something rash like that, perhaps I should see how the newer 1280x720 DLPs do. I don't think CRT is feasible for my 116" 16:9 format screen...

Chris -

I think you should host a movie night some time so we can all enjoy your system again...

Rajiv -

You missed the late part of the meet, but Julian had a Pioneer 47A player as well. The same tweaks we did on yours also worked on his. Since I haven't been frequenting the hardware forum as of late, I wonder if anyone else has discovered these settings?

Also, I have to say I was quite impressed with your house. That spacious deck with hillside views makes me green with envy...

Everyone -

I took pictures of the various HTs. I plan to upload them to my computer and construct a new Web page chronicling the event. Hopefully it won't take as long as the last time...

 

[Rajiv Arora]

Chad,

It doesn't work! I've tried it. She still falls asleep!

The AC works fine with 2-4 people in the room, but can't handle 15 people in that small space.

I am drooling imagining how nice your HT is going to be. My main suggestions would be to invest as much attention to high-quality speakers and electronics as you obviously are to room design and furnishings. Also, given the number of people you may have in your room, make sure your HVAC is capable enough.

Colin, after you left I realized the progressive setting of "Off" actually disables 3:2 pulldown. But, the artifacts on the flashing Avia color bars only appear in Auto1 mode: the Auto2 mode works fine.

-Rajiv

 

[Rich_Ave]

I would like to add my thanks to everyone who attended the meet. I thought it was great, and I can honestly say that I think I learned some very useful things at each stop. I also really appreciated all the comments and calibation help I received from the wealth of talented folks in the group. We almost need a directory of all of the folks with a list of their equipment and each members area of interest and expertise. Colin, thank you for organizing this event. It was a tough job putting the schedule together, and it turned out great, thanks to your efforts. Once again, thanks.

Rich

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Thanks to all the hosts for a successful Parade of HT's! Thanks to the spouses for their patience too. Chad, I'm very interested in the progress of your HT and would like to help with the acoustics if you want some DIY acoustic panel absorber and/or helmholtz resonator assistance. I plan to buy a mic,preamp and sound card to do measurements, but your schedule seems to be ahead of mine. When you get ready, maybe you could borrow Rich's. If you're interested, you could document your HT photographically and in writing and submit to Home Theater Builder magazine - I'd think your DIY HT would be an excellent candidate for an article.

Colin: thank you for obtaining and publishing directions to the HT's. That helped make the meet effecient.

It was all good

 

[mike_frontier]

Hi all,

Sorry I was not able to make any of the events. As you can see I really had my hands tied up :frowning: (kids, kids).

As for Saturday I wish I could of made it,, but the wife did not get home until late that Friday (she's a sleepy head). :frowning:

Hope to hear what you guys thought of my system since the only person who said any comments on it was Julian and I just wanted to say thanks for your opinions on it.

As for the ones that came I just wanted to say thank you for coming.

Take care all,
Mike

 

[Jonathan DA]

Colin, I'd go the DLP or LCOS route instead of CRT for your screen size. The only way you'd be able to use a CRT on that big of a sceen would be to get a 9" CRT, paint your ceiling and walls flat black, and get a high gain screen.

Hope to see the pics soon, sounds like everyone had a lot of fun.

 

[Jeff Meininger]

On the HT tour, we got to talking about remote-control lighting at Rajiv's place. I'm having problems getting X10 to work, and I don't want to spend any more money trying to fix it unless I KNOW it will REALLY fix it. I'm looking to cut my losses and try a different type of technology. I've used X10 happily for years, but something has changed and I seem to be powerless to fix it.

X10 employs a transceiver module that translates radio wave commands (from the remote control) into commands sent directly over the home's power wiring. The modules for each lamp/light/device in the house obey only this transceiver... not the radio remote control. I have come to the conclusion that the power in our house is just too dirty for this to work as it is intended.

I'd like to find a system in which each individual lamp/light/device module is a radio receiver that listens to the remote control rather than relying on a transceiver to send signals over the home's power wiring.

A few of you made suggestions of such systems, but I've forgotten what they are. Can you please refresh my memory? Thanks!!

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Jeff, check out the Lutron equipment mentioned in this thread:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=137708

 

[Jeff Meininger]

Thanks... that stuff looks promising.