AV system pics 2005

Hi,
then I will try...





Setup is:
SIM2 Domino 45, B&W 805, 803, htm2, Rotel RDV 1060 DVDP, RTV 1060 Tuner, NAIM CDX2, NAC 202, NAPSC, HICAP, NAP 300, AV2, NAP 175.
greets Olaf

Here's a couple of pics of my plasma setup:






Consists of:

Panasonic TH42PW7B
Grundig Sky Digibox
XBOX (my son's obviously)
Toshiba SD9000 DVD player
KEF Q15's

The stand for the plasma is a temporary arrangement. It was the stand used for my CRT TV modified with a home made bracket to bolt the plasma on top. I'm planning on replacing it with some form of 'bench', slightly lower but wider (same width as plasma) in piano black with the plasma sat on top using a nice desk top stand of some sort.

Allan

Allan,

I wouldn't rush to do that mate, it looks great,

Does it sound as good ?

Paul

P.S. Nice room.

I'll apologies now for the dodgy panorama....
Not had time to take more pics and re-do the application...will post again when it's done - some time in the New Year!

Cheers,
Ali

http://img153.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img153&image=denpanorama7kw.jpg

Ali

Interesting room, is it in the top of the house?

What do you think of the B&W CM series speakers?
In particular how do you feel the 4's do on stereo and what are you driving them with?

regards
GEOFF

"Just trying to make a NAIM for myself"

Paul,

Many thanks for the compliments.

The sound is adequate. I'm simply using the audio switching and
amplification built into the plasma and then out to the KEFs. Oh,
forgot to mention but the box in the corner is a Yamaha sub-woofer
with the high level inputs connected to the KEF speaker terminals.

For its purpose as the 'TV system' and occasional DVD I think it
sounds fine and is easy for everyone in the family to use, as easy
as any TV in fact. However, I'm noticing lip-synch issues so I may
be forced to consider an AV amp with audio delay which would cure
the problem but add complexity.

Allan

Good evening Geoff,

The Den is the only upstairs room in our house - a former bungalow, which the previous owner extended a couple of times.
Which meant it was nice and handy for me!
Access to the roof space is via the wooden hatch you can see on the wall behind the right CM4. Which meant I could run speaker cables behind the scenes, you can just see the socket on the wall, behind the right CM4 again, soldered onto the back of the socket the cable is ran round to the opposite wall and the rack.
Also meant the fridge and lava lamps, supplied off the house ring, could be sat there with no ugly cables either. I've installed a junction box, with room for spare sockets, behind the wall and the fridge/lava lamps/and led's (which you can't see in the panorama pic and are in the recess, former wardrobe, ceiling and shining along the shelves) are all controlled from switches mounted in the wall on the right hand side of said recess.
The av kit is fed from a dedicated rcbo and 6mm spur to un-switched three gang socket.
Oh, I've also put a smoke detector behind there too! Just in case.....although I need to remember it's there so when the battery runs low and it starts beeping I don't think I'm hearing things!!

As for the CM's, and of course this is only my own humble biased opinion.....I think they're a good match for the rest of the system. CDM range (now 700 series) would have been the next step up, and at the time I didn't have the funds! The CM's are probably a bit OTT for the room size, but I can't do anything about that....
Oh, they're fed from Rotel gear - RDV-995 DVD player, and RSX-972 Receiver, there's also a Sherwood 5 disc spinner in there too - handy for parties.

I had the CM4's set up for minimalist 'stereo' duty in the lounge downstairs while decorating The Den, and to be honest it was a bit of a shocker! Booming farty bass - to my dismay! Compared to my old lounge and the sounds there, I was gutted....

We bought the house earlier in the year and before that I had a flat in an old house in Dundee(check out my avforum homepage if you want a look http://www.avforums.com/memberpages/31759/) it had loads of character - deep skirting boards, nice cornice, marble fire place, and lovely high ceilings! It was here that I bought and set the system up for the first time - and there was plenty of room for the 4's to breath.
Like most B&W's the CM's grew stronger the higher the volume, and the Rotel kit seemed up to the job to me. Single most memorable listen would be Rattle and Hum dvd played back in stereo and cranked up to 80.....eeeek! Wasn't there for long, but wow, like being in the audience - including the tinnitus..... Normal listening is about 30-40, 40-50 when I'm on me own, movies tend to be up around 60 in surround, and max is at 90 but only ever been there with a disc 'paused' and me quivering.....I was just curious....
As for surround duty, and again in my own humble biased opinion, I think the set up is quite well balanced. CM4's with CMC up front do dialogue nicely, and the 601 S2's are nice and quick as rears. Memorable moments include Swordfish - the explosion scene with ball bearings ripping round the room, but also Godzilla and Crouching Tiger on Superbit, LOTR (all of them - just watched the extended RotK that time home, what a movie and a tremendous ending to a tremendous trilogy) and of course Star Wars, the originals, although I probably didn't need to point that out!
My only criticism would be the sub, it was bought, for £100 or so, I think, back when I got my first system, and it could be improved as it's a bit of a slouch....but does the job ok.

Anyway, I kind of went off track there a wee bit....the horrible bass I mentioned earlier was reduced by fitting the rear flow port bungs and moving the 4's further out from the walls. The lounge was still quite bare which wouldn't have helped either, but they seem to be quite settled into their new home up in The Den.

On a side note.
When I eventually get my hands on the new stereo for the lounge downstairs, and I think you've been following that one Geoff, I'd be curious how the CM's sound driven by Naim gear....??
Oh, that's another reason I'm going for the 805's and not floorstanders....

Ah well, hopefully next year.

All the best,
Ali

Ps. Here's more pics for you.....

http://uk.geocities.com/arfarquhar/The_Den.html

http://img106.exs.cx/img106/6550/TheDensmalls005.jpg

http://img106.exs.cx/img106/513/TheDensmalls006.jpg

PPs. sorry you're having to scroll left/right to read the post....

Nice work, Ali. The Stella's are a particularly fine addition. I do fear, however, for the state of your mental health after extended exposure to that *nasty* pink/purple wall colour.

Obsessed1......nevermind the colour back home, you should be fearing for my mental health after extended exposure to this place http://img11.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img11&image=x0f29044607.jpg and being stuck out here on night shift for Chrimbo and New Year........wibbbble.......

Cheers for the compliment (I think) though, and in my defence, if I need any, the colour doesn't look that bad in the flesh.....but then I've always been mad like the rest of us have....

The navigation lights (red and green) must be useful during the long Aberdeenshire nights <g>

Derek

<< >>

Ali

Interesting and nifty wiring plan.

quote:

---

Like most B&W's the CM's grew stronger the higher the volume

---

Yep. I found the CM 4's sleepy when I had them. They do bass but need volume to bring it fully out. Looking back I feel now they were a bit "slow". Naim dynamics & PRaT are shown off best by "faster" speakers.

I did have a complete set of CM series as a HT surround setup at one time and still use the CM 2's and CCM as the back set for my currnet system. I just could not get what i wanted out the CM4's as the main stereo pair.

regards
GEOFF

"Just trying to make a NAIM for myself"

quote:

---

Originally posted by arf005:
PPs. sorry you're having to scroll left/right to read the post....

---

Friendly suggestion.

It would be nice if folks would resize their pictures to 800 by 600 so that they would fit on most screens, we would then be able to read the text without having to scroll over to the right.

Cheers,
John

Geoff - aye, I know what you mean....
On a side note, are you thinking of demo'ing the DVD5 to replace your Denon...??? Just curious....

John - I couldn't agree more!!

Ali

I will probably be shot for saying this here, but I have seen the picture from the DVD5 and agree it's good but not really a great deal better than others.

On the "LCD vs Plasma pros & cons" thread Don A. mentioned seeing reviews of the new Arcam DVD player which reckon it's picture is as good as (or better than) the DVD5 and it costs a lot less.

My 2900 does a good job aswell, and on plasma as I view it I am very happy with the quality.

I just am not prepared to fork out 2.3K for a player because it is Naim, since about 80% of the time I am listening to the Naim stereo kit I that I DID spend big money on.

I think an open minded view is necessary with The HT thing. Most of the work that results in the final picture goes on in DSP chips which are not Naim specifc. Everybody gets to use a few alternatives from the major chip designers so picture quality is very competetive from make to make.

regards
GEOFF

"Just trying to make a NAIM for myself"

Hello again folks,

back on dry land again! and feeling rough today - coming off of night shift, and recovering from a hangover.....
Anyway, as promised, more pics of The Den...

http://img31.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img31&image=denkit01824gi.jpg

http://img31.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img31&image=denkit02129jt.jpg

http://img31.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img31&image=denkit00320uu.jpg

http://img31.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img31&image=denkit00521zs.jpg

http://img31.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img31&image=denkit00929zn.jpg

http://img31.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img31&image=denkit02026lk.jpg

http://img31.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img31&image=denkit02224db.jpg

Thought that last one might interest you Geoff - the other end of that nifty wiring plan....
It shows:-
Green S Video cable which goes to the telly on the opposite wall, American Rotel player so no scart....
The two inter-connects below come from the opposite wall too, and can be used for the PS2 or video.
In the foreground are all the speaker cables.
Behind all that are the two unswitched sockets for the Amp and DVD player, fed from dedicated rcbo and 6mm spur....probably overkill, but while replacing the main distribution board I was putting in a dedicated 10mm spur anyway for future Naim, plus there's that noisey Stella fridge, so what the heck!
Below that are three sockets, part of the house ring, feeding the CD changer, active Sub, and one of the lava lamps......an original from the 60's which used to belong to my 'other half very soon to be' Gran.

Well, gonna try and waken up....

All the best,
Ali

No pics but...

My AV System

Sources - Denon 2910
Sky (I don't receive good terrestial)

Amps/Decoder - Yamaha DSP-E800
Naim 62/140/SNAPS

Speakers - Front: Shahinian Arcs (phantom centre), Rears: Celestion AVS, Sub: none the roll-off on the Arcs starts at 28Hz so they go quite low!

Recording - Panasonic DMR-E85

Viewing - Panasonic 28" CRT
ScreenPlay 5700 Projector with 92" Screen with DVI-D input from Denon 2910


Mr Perceptive

Here's a couple shots of the AV system with the new front speakers and sub. Can you name the guitarists?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Stephane Beaulieu:
the second is the guitarist for Roger Water
on the DVD "in the flesh"????????????

---

You got it! His name is Doyle Bramhall II, he also appears on the Eric Clapton "Crossroads" concert DVD that features a whole bunch of excellent guitarists. Saw him first on the Roger Waters DVD, he did a great job playing a lot of the Gilmour parts.

Denon & Pioneer DVD players
Marantz/Roksan Amps
B&W speakers
Rel Stampede Sub
Infocus Projector
Atacam Stands

Arcam DV89
NAC112/NAP150 > Allaes
Marantz SR4200 > B&W LCR60, VM1
Epson TW10 Projector

G'Day,

another question for Crimp.
Could you possibly supply more info regarding the screen please...
We'd like to put one in The Den eventually and due to the ceiling I think it will have to be a fixed one. What are your room dimensions, screen size, manufacturer etc, if you don't mind me asking....??

Also, that Infocus beamer, is it the 4800, or the newer 4805....??
How do you rate its performance, as that is the model I have my eye on.

All the best,

Ali

Geoff,

Could you give additional info re your set up.

I have presently CDS2/XPS/52/Supercap/135's and I would like to use my audio system for the cinema.

The info I have from Naim is that I need to add an AVR-2 processor and a 175 amplifier.

Where to plug the DVD ?
Where to plug the VHS ?

I assume that the 135'5 take care of the front speaker and the AVR2 take care of the surround, central and sub; is that correct?

Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by Geoff P:
Well here is an evening shot of my A/V in operation.



The imageer is a Panasonic 42"plasma. If you look closely you might find the "center speaker".

regards
GEOFF

"Just trying to make a NAIM for myself"

Just a couple of pics of the latest addition to the family......

Hi Rez:

http://images8.fotki.com/v160/filei3oR/c27e9/2/277768/1906283/DSC00973.jpg



Hi Rez:
http://images7.fotki.com/v158/photos/2/277768/1906283/DSC00976-vi.jpg

The LCD is on a retractable arm. Keeping it out like that ruins my stereo imaging. Same goes for putting the center channel on the top of that shelf. Once I get some fraim between the 804s, I will move the center onto the rack under the lcd, just not on the top shelf.