Where were you 10 years ago?

Todd Anderson said:

Chuck - that’s quite a progression!!!

Gotta ask your impressions of using the Lumagen vs MadVR??

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Lumagen vs MadVR Envy [in my case, the Extreme]:
Image vs image, I see no value of one over the other [possible exception being the Envy Motion AI]
Product stability: Lumagen. I continue to have these random issues with the Envy where the image just dies and the only fix is to either reboot the Envy or do a re-synch. That needs to be found and fixed and if this can't be found and corrected, the Envy advantages all disappear for me personally. For all of the years I owned a Lumagen, it just worked. Always.

Most of everything else is in favor of the Envy; User Interface [huge advantage for those who diddle, but for those who are in the "set it and forget it" mode, not a bit critical], and for the Envy Extreme, getting rid of A-Lens barrel distortion [the only reason I moved to the Envy]; NLS flexibility; auto firmware update; cost of entry used to favor Lumagen but no longer. There is a few more. but can't recall at the moment. Support is great from both companies.

As for the progression, I'm about as far as I can get. Never heard another speaker at any price point or manufacturer that would get me to even consider swapping. Amps are amps and mine (ATI) just keep working. For my screen size, the RS4100 is all I need [I didn't mention I have a Panamorph A-Lens]. The Trinnov is the best audio processor currently available. And who is going to out do Kaleidescape? And my Ascendo subs are the best of the best. Note: It has taken me about 50 years of upgrades to get me to this point!!

Now I just wish "Hollywood" would make better films, with substantive plots, improved character development, much less CGI, and less [preferably none] "woke-ness" and political agendas crammed down my throat. The amount of content we are watching is slowly moving toward Apple TV+, Netflix and Amazon and away from the more traditions studio releases. And even many of the studio films I am watching are older [some MUCH older] or much less well known.

Mike Schramm said:

While trying to fall asleep the other night I began to think about home theater (it's my normal routine). I was thinking about where my theater will be in 10 years when my kids are out of college and my disposable income will greatly increase. Then, I went in the opposite direction and thought "where was I 10 years ago?" I had a low level Sony AVR (STR-DN1000) with a 46" Sony LCD TV (KDL-46V3000) and Sony blu-ray player (BDP-S550). My speakers were an Energy Take Classic 5.0 setup paired with an Energy S8.3 sub.

So here is my question: how has your system grown in the past 10 years?

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Ten years ago i had a 32" Sony flat screen CRT, low end Yamaha 5.1 avr, Bose Acoustimass surround sound speaker system, and my first SVS sub: pb12-nsd.

Ten years later, i now have four leather reclining theater seats with bass shakers, 120" silver ticket white screen with Epson 5050ub, Denon x4700h, monolith 11x, panasonic blu-ray, 4k Apple tv streamer, and all svs speakers: dual 17 ultra sealed subs, ultra towers, ultra center, ultra bookshelf side and back surrounds, prime elevations in a 7.2.4 config while strongly considering adding their outgoing sb16 sub for a 7.3.4 config.

Got an email requesting a post so here goes. In the last 10 years I've more expanded the number of systems rather than the tech within each particularly. Mostly 1080p and 5 or 7 ch (two systems of each) but still have a 2ch setup as well. I didn't go 4k/Atmos due difficult ceilings particularly, and still like my 1080p plasma sets at my usual distance....

Mike Schramm said:

While trying to fall asleep the other night I began to think about home theater (it's my normal routine). I was thinking about where my theater will be in 10 years when my kids are out of college and my disposable income will greatly increase. Then, I went in the opposite direction and thought "where was I 10 years ago?" I had a low level Sony AVR (STR-DN1000) with a 46" Sony LCD TV (KDL-46V3000) and Sony blu-ray player (BDP-S550). My speakers were an Energy Take Classic 5.0 setup paired with an Energy S8.3 sub.

So here is my question: how has your system grown in the past 10 years?

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I'm 42 years old and my journey into AV didn't start until two years ago. Didn't know anything about AV or really the science of sound beyond putting big systems in my car when I was younger.

I spent a lot of time on AVS Forum and YouTube when we decided to build our own home theater and man, I learned a LOT. Ended up buying our first true system with Klipsch RF-7 III's, Denon A1H and a Buckeye Purifi amp. Mainly use them for movies so was looking for something that could hit reference without breaking a sweat.

For music, next time I have some disposable income, I'm looking at the MartinLogan Motion F200's.

Alright I got an email and why not share. 10 years ago I got my first 1080p monitor and it was 3D. That was the craze back then. I had mixed speakers front and back as well as center channel. ADS L1230s fronts, Boston Acoustics A400s for the rears and a Cambridge Soundworks center channel. Everything driven by a low watt Onkyo networked 5.1 AVR. No sub. I did upgrade slowly and methodically. I found out I could aquire ADS speakers to try to get a complete HT all ADS. I bought several models and sizes to match the L1230s, then I bought a pair of L1290/2s. They were better than the L1090s, too small, the L810s that were almost a perfect match with the L1230s, same crossovers points, same driver size and different configuration and cabinet. The L1290/2s were a tiny bit clearer in the upper bass than the L1230s so I started to aquire all L1290/2s for an entire 5.1 system. I had to build the center channel cabinet since the factory was out of business but Rich So had plans on his website. He is an engineer from the original factory who bought all the spare parts and can repair all ADS products. I bought the crossover and drivers so the entire system was the same timbre. I then replaced the AVR with separates from Anthem. An Anthem P5Statement multichannel amp fully balanced from input to output, 500 watts into 4 ohms with a 120db signal to noise quietness. Tons of super clean headroom since the speakers max out at 300 watts.
I matched the amp with an Anthem AV60 pre-pro with Dolby Atmos. In an Atmos system ALL speakers should be the same in size and crossover and drivers. ALL speakers get full bandwidth full frequency signals. I have 2 more pairs in my cellar but haven't had the time to build small enough cabinets to put up on the walls for height speakers so for now I am using ADS CM5s. Same timbre but lacking in bass. I am using an HSU subwoofer VTF MK4 that can reproduce a 16hz signal. It came with a test disc containing an organ recorded by Telarc on ADS speakers back in the day in Boston. It litterally shakes my room and is clean with the 10 ADS 8' woofers chipping in. I am using 2 Nikko Alpha 440s for the height speakers and that is also super over kill with 115db S/N and 240 watts into 4 onms. I replaced the Samsung 3D 1080p with a 4K LG OLED and went to a larger screen size. Went from 56" to 65". Finest streaming is from Prime in 4K and Dolby Atmos sound. Not done but still busy and things change slowly.
These are the drivers for the center channel build.



This is my center channel cabinet to put the drivers and crossover into to match the floor standers.



So this is my old system and compromise after copromise with the center channel way to high up. Not ear level and same tweeter height.



So this is the new setup and all 5 speakers have the same tweeter midrange ear level when seated. So good for losing the location of where the sound in originating from. Total envelope of sound with correct timbre.

I use 10 guage OFC 145 strand per channel speaker wire for super low resistance and super signal transfer. The amp is oblivious to any back feed since the damping factor is in total control. No overhang on the woofers or ringing in the tweeters. All tweeters and mids have ferrofluid cooling and solid state thermal automatic reseting circuit brakers for protection. This series of the 1290s used Fast Fourrier Transform with computers to squeeze the last drop of accuracy out of the crossover from the drivers for an incredible flatness. Impulse response is almost perfect. I now enjoy a loud system without the boom in the room with the lowest octaves fluctuating through my body and I can feel the vibrations along with the sound in my ears in my feet. Long journey but we all have the hobby need to pursue the ultimate. But don't be fooled perfection does not exist in untreated rooms.

Hello, around 12-15 years ago it looked mostly like this, I had 5.1(2), with Yamaha RXV-995, Mirage M-3si and RCA 60" DLP.


After more upgrades than I can count, now I have this
125" screen, JVC NX7 4K projector, Anthem AVM 60 - 7.2.4 Atmos surround,. Also Tekton Moabs, 2a3 tube amp etc... (and paint)



And I recently added some subs for the Moabs. The 2.2 Moab system is completely separate from the HT.



I'll list all the gear if anyone really cares.

Still the same...

Brad1138 said:

After more upgrades than I can count, now I have this
125" screen, JVC NX7 4K projector, Anthem AVM 60 - 7.2.4 Atmos surround,. Also Tekton Moabs, 2a3 tube amp etc... (and paint )

View attachment 75133

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Are those sound absorption panels with the Enterprise printed on the cloth?
Ooooohhhh... I'm so jealous of the size of the room, and those panels!
Looks amazing!

In my case, my situation got reversed.
I had a big living room set up for movies (5.2 + projector) and music. Huge comfy couch, it was really nice.
Electronics were from NuPrime, their AVR and their 8-channel amp. I had a BluRay player, but most of my music was on my Mac mini as a player. PSB surround, Usher center, one Yamaha sub and one DIY sub horn, and DIY open baffle for mains. They are stunning.


Things happened where I had to be more mobile, so sold the big house, rented a small two room old house for stashing most of my stuff, bought a land facing the Pacific and installed containers there as home.

I don't really have listening space anymore, and I really miss it.
I traded listening space for nature, surfing, snorkeling and eating amazing seafood. The view from home is not bad either.



I still stay close to the audio community, and hope to get a good space later for building and listening to more speakers.

Mike Schramm said:

I see you went from a Lumagen 4242 to a MadVR Envy Extreme. Do you notice much of a difference between the two?

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Answered above. Go HERE. Either will get you great image improvement, but at the moment, I find the Lumagen to be more stable while the Envy has a better UI and a few more features. Both with good customer support.

Chuck Gerlach said:

Answered above. Go HERE. Either will get you great image improvement, but at the moment, I find the Lumagen to be more stable while the Envy has a better UI and a few more features. Both with good customer support.

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Pretty sure you’ve had this compliment before... Love the design look of your theater photos in your link and the C.S. Lewis quote!

JStewart said:

Pretty sure you’ve had this compliment before... Love the design look of your theater photos in your link and the C.S. Lewis quote!

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Thank you. The room is a great place to watch movies, listen to music [which I do so more than watch movies] - and a quiet place to pray.

As for the C.S. Lewis quote, given the state of our world [and our country] as it fits into the Book of Revelation, folks should give strong consideration to the "spiritual" side of their life. We are oh so close!!

Brad1138 said:

View attachment 75133

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Sir, I'm in awe of your Enterprise wall covering! I absolutely have to do something like that when and if my income gets better. Stunning, just stunning! Thanks for sharing your room. May your blessings be many.

Hmm... going back 10 years...

The main listening room remains the same ...

I've rebuilt the Mission 751 speakers that are my main speakers with new drivers and x-over designed for them using REW, XSim, DATS and a good mike, as the original drivers had fallen apart. The only thing Mission 751 now about them are the boxes.

The Yamaha receiver (RX-V673) was replaced with a Sony STR-DH790 when it failed due to a known issue with a DSP chip it used. The Sony however failed recently and was replaced with a Denon AVR-S760H that I purchased for US$288 from Amazon. It's a LOT of receiver for such a low price, easily better than the Sony it replaced. At the same time I downsized from 7.1 to 5.1 as SWMBO didn't want the extra speakers in the living room.

Finally the old Samsung 50" TV was replaced with a 65" model. Bigger is always better, right?

Next on the list is to build a decent center channel speaker ...

perceval said:

Are those sound absorption panels with the Enterprise printed on the cloth?
Ooooohhhh... I'm so jealous of the size of the room, and those panels!
Looks amazing!

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Thank you

Yes, I built all the panels myself, a total of 15 in the room. I used Roxul Rockboard 60, 2' x 4' x 2"

Sonnie Parker said:

That's a lovely system—thanks for sharing! I've not heard the Moabs, but I would love to someday.

Where did you get the coffee table?

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Thank you, my Grandfather made it a long time ago, I inherited it when he passed.