New HT Setup

Well, I'm new here, though I have been around some of the HDTV groups
for awhile on usenet....

I have dabbled in HT ever since I set up the HDTV (Mits WS55511) back
in '02, and I finally bit the bullet and forked over the bucks for a
decent sound system.

I previously had setup a piece meal system that included a Pioneer
VSX 701 receiver, fronts of some old (very) Cerwin Vega 3 way floor
units with 12" subs (they weigh a ton!), a Dahlquist 15" down firing
sub, and a pair of Bose 161 rears (yeah, I know, but they are the
surrounds and I got 'em on a closeout...).

This system served me well for some time, but I just had this
hankering for something better. So over the weekend I was lurking in
the local Cambridge Soundworks store in Milpitas, CA (The Great
Mall). I worked with one of
the Cambridge guys for a good couple of hours mixing and matching
speakers and trying everything with a mix of movies (action and non-
action) and music. I have to tell you, this guy
was pretty patient and accomodating with me. Even though I was only
looking (yeah, right), I ended up going home with a package of the
Newton T500 fronts, MC500 Center, and the S300 "multi-pole" rears,
and the Marantz SR7400 receiver.

Needless to say, the first thing I did when I got home was to
unpackage and install everything. I then reprogrammed the Harmony
remote and fired up some HD offerings on cable with DD 5.1 output.

Not too shabby, I thought, but not much available over cable for a
sunday afternoon, so I fired up a DVD, Master and Commander.

I had the subs in the front set at about 1/3 output and I had the
output of the receiver set to about -18db. Well, when the cannons
started to fire, my 3 dogs made a bee line for the door! (time to get
out the DVD audio setup disk!!!).

Well, anyway, I turned down the output on the subs (if you are not
familiar with these, each front has a 12" 300w powered sub) as so the
neighbors wouldn't think we were being invaded. Once I got it down
to a decent (by ear) listening level, I was able to sit back for
awhile and just watch and listen.

Well, this setup sounded very crisp, including the subs. Nice
separation on the 5.1 (I haven't decided to use multi room or go for
the rears just yet) and the sounds seem to be floating around room.
I have to say, I never knew what I was missing.

The wife was very understanding (she was with me in the store the
whole time and helped me with the setup). "What ever makes you
happy" she says. I wonder what is wrong with her???

Anyway, I just needed to get my euphoria out (the wife has been
understanding, but she doesn't really understand!). It's now payback
time for my teenage kids......

"L Alpert" wrote:

snip


The wife was very understanding (she was with me in the store the
whole time and helped me with the setup). "What ever makes you
happy" she says. I wonder what is wrong with her???

Probably having an extra-marital affair, and is trying to make herself feel
better about it by letting you purchase whatever you want. I've seen it
before...

Jeff
P.S. Just kidding!

UnionPac2001 wrote:
"L Alpert" wrote:

snip


The wife was very understanding (she was with me in the store the
whole time and helped me with the setup). "What ever makes you
happy" she says. I wonder what is wrong with her???

Probably having an extra-marital affair, and is trying to make
herself feel better about it by letting you purchase whatever you
want. I've seen it before...

Jeff
P.S. Just kidding!

Yeah, well, I still got mine anyway! ;-)