I have simplified to a 5.1 Definitive Tech soundbar in the main space. Used to run a higher end Onkyo receiver with jbl speakers and sub... but it was just too much to deal with. Have Klipsch powered bookshelf speakers in my office hooked up to that tv to listen to music in stereo.
OT: Home Audio/Video Discussion
- Thread starter mildone
- Start date
Thanks! I was looking at the Reference 3s but found a dealer out here with a great deal on the 5s. If you’re looking to upgrade would definitely recommend a listen though Paradigm has some really nice sounding speakers as well. I upgraded the L/R from the KEF R series and moved them to surrounds. I added a Parasound A31 to power the front stage and have a Marantz SR 8012 for the rest. Have an 18” sealed Power Sound Audio sub. Hadn’t heard of them before but the company was founded by the guy who was the “V” in SVS subs. I will say when I upgraded the fronts I tended to re-listen to everything I liked as it opened up a lot of new detail. I do tend to stream a lot more than play CDs or listen to albums but occasionally like the analog sound from an LP. Getting up to change records gets old though and is a definite advantage to streaming!
Saw this this morning, figure it fits nicely here:
The Sonus Fabers look good and probably sound great. But for that $$ they would need to double as an actual house! lolSaw this this morning, figure it fits nicely here:
When I was auditioning tower speakers and wound up with the Paradigm ones I currently have (which were about $2700 back then, so at the very bottom of the so-called "audiophile" range), I spent some time in Lambertville at the Art of Sound.
The owner was supposed to demo some Sonus Faber speakers that were roughly $3K. But first he gave me a tour of the place, which is actually really cool (built into rock along the Delaware river). I'd recommend anybody into A/V stuff check the place out just 'cause it's such a cool building on the inside.
Anyway, during the tour, in the main room of the lower level, he had just set up and tuned a pair of large Sonus Faber tower speakers w/some really good stuff driving them. Can't recall the exact model, but they were somewhere around $50K for the pair, IIRC. I've mentioned this visit elsewhere on this forum.
He was really excited about them and clearly wanted me to listen to them. So I did.
Prior to hearing them, I wouldn't have thought spending that much money on speakers would make a difference to someone with my hearing damage. But they were mind-blowing. The detail was way, way beyond what I thought possible.
He then demoed the ones I was there to hear, but they sounded like total crap in comparison to what I'd just heard. So I had to go away and not listen to music for a couple weeks to unhear the ~50K pair before continuing my speaker shopping.
I figured then, and still do but to a much lesser extent, that there's probably a point of diminishing returns on how much one can spend and how much better a speaker can sound. So... is $750K going to sound that much better than the $50K speakers? Not sure, but I kinda doubt it.
I now believe it will sound lots better. But maybe not quite $700K better than the $50K ones. But I think once you're into the 6 figures with a pair of speakers, you're also paying for the visual impact as well as the amazing aural impact.
I will not be looking at speakers in the 6 figure range as replacements for my current ones. I haven't set a budget yet, it's early days. But I'll start listening to stuff between $10K and $20K and then if I need to, work my way up a little maybe. Auditioning speakers was a lot of fun the first time. I expect it to be even more fun this time around with a much larger budget in mind. So many options.
I gotta get to the hi fi section at CES. I knew they had some nice stuff but did not expect speakers in that bracket.
Putting ears on stuff like that would make it worth the journey ...audiophile section is usually up in some hotel, well away from main show floor.
Agree! I think when you’re getting to those numbers cost wise there is only so much you can improve the sound going from $50k to $750k though I wouldn’t mind doing the listening tests to see if that’s true! But some of the designs themselves are also like having a piece of artwork. That sounds like a great shop. I ended up at Woodbridge Stereo on my initial foray and they had a cool JBL Synthesis system that I was able to hear back then. Not quite as many dealers out here but there are some good ones. There’s an excellent new/used audio only shop in Seattle that is a lot of fun to visit. With you upgrade if you are in the $10 to $20k range you’re going to have a lot of really nice options and it will be a lot of fun doing the listening tests. And dealers are usually willing to haggle as well. I ended up getting a pretty decent deal on mine.
I learned, from my first experience speaker shopping, that a lot of dealers are happy to negotiate. I would imagine, the more costly the equipment, the more wiggle room there is.
I did a big home renovation last year and put all my audio visual equipment in my basement in one spot. Huge pain in the ass but well worth it. No wires anyplace upstairs. Super clean and a single simple remote for the whole tv. Ceiling speakers controlled from my phone as well. It’s like a magic show.
I have a Samsung frame tv bc I like the look of the artwork when it’s not in use and it sits super flat on the wall bc of the unique mount.
I have a Samsung frame tv bc I like the look of the artwork when it’s not in use and it sits super flat on the wall bc of the unique mount.
Given how almost everything can be controlled over ethernet these days, that's a good idea for cleaning up my family room. Except I'd have to get a humidifier for my basement if I did that.
Right now, I have cable all over the place. And holes in my walls where I ran speaker wire, planning to install outlets and wall boxes and so forth. Only it was like 6 years ago when I put the holes in the walls and I still haven't gotten around to putting in the outlets and wiring them up.
I'm a hell of a procrastinator. I'd tell everyone about it, but not today, maybe tomorrow.
I think I'm going to contact the guy that sold me some of my AV equipment, get him to come out and install recessed ceiling atmos speakers, and, while doing that, finish off the cable runs and the wall mounts and so forth that I got started but never finished. He has been great to work with, even let me take some tower speakers home to listen to in my house years back, despite not really knowing me.
I think that's perfectly on-topic. And yeah, could be good news if it happens.
Still, would be best implemented by cooperation between our AVRs and TVs since they're typically the hub into which all inputs (sources) are routed, with the single ARC/eARC cable over HDMI to the TV.
Be great, for instance, to be able to divide up the TV display into a couple different games (one on cable or fiber TV, one from peacock), a twitter feed, and our favorite porn site. I might never leave my sofa.
Oops, did I just say that out loud? Bad Mildone! Bad!
as long as you have a robot waiter to deliver your food and refreshments from the kitchen...
...some tissues...
...and a bedpan for your other business.
That's great. ESPN App has had that for years but only games on their networks....which is huge since they cover most NCAA sports as well. I use it to watch all the ECAC & Hockey East hockey games on Friday and Saturday nights. College football season is great as well.
Netflix introduced commercials in their standard package awhile back iirc.
Prime just recently started that too now.
Oops, I meant Prime, not Netflix. I dont really care about the money, but I’m irritated at the extortionist aspect of it. Just raise the effing price if you want.
Well it’s giving you an option of ads or increased price so at least you can decide.
I don’t have ads on Netflix currently but could eventually downgrade if they keep pushing price on the 4K package, which they will. We dont watch any of the streaming services enough as a whole, let alone just Netflix, to make it worthwhile. I’ve let the Prime ads come through. Watched Hulu with ads and who hasn’t dealt with commercials growing up so it’s not a big deal really for me.
I guess choice is good. But I hate commercials.
Life is way too short to waste time being forcibly subjected to attempts to brainwash us into buying stuff. I have Hulu through a phone package, but never watch it due to the commercials.
On social media, most ads are blocked and I’ve trained my brain/eyes to automatically skip past advertising posts interwoven into the various feeds. So I don’t really see them. I probably miss some legit posts by mistake, but who cares.
I never watch anything but sports on TV, due to the commercials, and mostly silence commercial breaks and use my iPad instead.
I get ads tossed onto my property and those get thrown in the garbage without looking at them. Junk mail is torn up or shredded and thrown away without opening/looking.
When I become Chief High Lord Muckitty Muck of the US, I’m banning all commercials except for dedicated commercial channels where people can voluntarily visit if they wish. You know, to see Budweiser commercials which have to be great because of the Clydesdale Piss nature of the actual product.
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