EHW Home Theatre / Speaker / Amplifier Club

[ENTERPRISE]

All you guys with your impressive setups and here's me going the simple route for my office with the Amazon Studio lol. At least you can expand on it I guess haha.

[Simmons]

My apologies for the delay in update folks, the spreadsheet is now up to date.  Fantastic setups everyone!

[T.Sharp]

Delete

Edited December 28, 2022 by T.Sharp

[BWG]

2 Logitech set's are under my pool table.

 

'Creative' Sound Blaster X7 White SB1580 Limited Edition DAC Audio Amplifier

 

Klipsch R20B Soundbar with powered 10 downfiring to the floor.

 

Klipsch R41-M Bookshelf

 

Hooked into this setup is OG Xbox, Xbox One, Wii, 3 PC's, 3 Laptops, Phones.

 

[EHW Ai]

Ordering a pair of Acoustic Energy AE-1 speakers tomorrow for my desktop. They'll be driven by my RME ADI-2 Pro FS, which I've been using with my headset setup (Bottlehead Mainline, FOCAL CLEAR PRO & Dan Clark (Mr. Speaker) ETHER C Flow headsets).

 

As for my mike, I'm using an EV RE20 that I run through a Sound Devices USBPre 2. 

 

While it's not completely hooked up at the moment because I'm finishing wiring the lighting system on my "project," here's a pic of the layout:

 

 

The desk lamp will be repurposed once the shelf lighting is functional.

 

I've had my eye on the AE-1s for over a year now and tomorrow I'm finally going to order them. 

[Simmons]

Good afternoon everyone!  Everyone should be up to date now, please let me know if there is any edits that need made!

[ozlay]

I got a schiit stack

WYRD

EITR

Modi multibit: Takes forever to boot.

Magni 2U: Something wrong with the balance.

 

Fosi TB10A: cheap but it works.

 

Triangle br03

 

I eventually want to replace the Magni. And i would like to replace the Fosi with a powergate. But i cant find it anywhere.

Edited May 2, 2021 by ozlay

[OTHG_Chef]

Recently received a gift from my son in law. He and my daughter bought a new home with built in surround speakers, sooo, he has left his old speakers here for me to use. Man, are they room filling and my living room is large at 25'x25'

 

Samsung 55" 4K TV

Yamaha RX-385 receiver 

Paradigm Tower monitors 9v5

Matching Paradigm center channel

Matching rear surrounds

Velodyne 15" Ct Series CT150 Subwoofer ( Weighs around 100 )

 

I've modded the stand with carbon fiber vinyl wrap where is was a nasty brown laminate wood

[pio]

How have I not ran into this thread yet? -_-

Here's my home setup, best setup in the house right now.  Home theater will be coming later after I get out of this apartment.  I do have a soundbar on my TV, but who cares? Lol.

Specs:

• SMSL AD18 Mini Amp
• Micca MB42 with crossover mod
• Philips SHP9500 Headphones with USB Mod Mic (and modded cushions)
   

I intend on adding a small subwoofer to the setup eventually after I move to an actual house.  But overall, I've been very very pleased with this setup so far.

Also, please excuse the mess.  Work in progress, as usual.

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by pioneerisloud

[UltraMega]

I didn't know we had a thread for this. I have speakers!

 

I've got 2 Klipsch RB5MA speakers, a Klipsch center speaker of similar quality, a Klipsch R-10SW subwoofer (300 watts) and two lesser quality infinity rear speakers all hooked up to a Pioneer receiver for 5.1 surround. On the PC side I'm using a Sound Blaster Z and optical audio cables. I tried HDMI surround sound for a little bit but the options for speaker settings are much more limited with HDMI so I switched back to analog. 

 

I'd definitely call myself an audiophile. 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by UltraMega

[doyll]

Just noticed this forum!  All I can say is Wow!

 

Not sure if I should post this here or not.  If not please tell we where to put it. 

Sold my vinyl and tape library along with turntable, Advent 201 cassette decks, Marantz amp & pre-amp but kept Advent 300 receiver / pre-amp/tuner, Sennheiser HD414 headphones (still going strong, but have to replace earpads every 4-5 years).  I was using Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 speakers for home theater / office system until a few months ago when 1/8" stereo jacks have given up.    Got Klipsch ProMedia 5.1'sin 2002 and had amp rebuilt 12-13 years ago.   Really miss that setup.  Have Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 only used a few months from new then stored in closet.  Got them out to use but they are dead for some reason.  Grabbed a set of Phanteks speakers to get by until I figure out what to do.  I'm surprised they sound as good as they do for £15.00 computer speakers. Obviously no base, but didn't expect them to be as good as they are.   

 

So now I'm looking for a replacement for / or repair of ProMedia 5.1 so we can have decent sound in our home theater (which is also office as it's all in one room).

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by doyll

[Avacado]

7 minutes ago, doyll said:

Just noticed this forum!  All I can say is Wow!

 

Not sure if I should post this here or not.  If not please tell we where to put it. 

Sold my vinyl and tape library along with turntable, Advent 201 cassette decks, Marantz amp & pre-amp but kept Advent 300 receiver / pre-amp/tuner, Sennheiser HD414 headphones (still going strong, but have to replace earpads every 4-5 years).  I was using Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 speakers for home theater / office system until a few months ago when 1/8" stereo jacks have given up.    Got Klipsch ProMedia 5.1'sin 2002 and had amp rebuilt 12-13 years ago.   Really miss that setup.  Have Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 only used a few months from new then stored in closet.  Got them out to use but they are dead for some reason.  Grabbed a set of Phanteks speakers to get by until I figure out what to do.  I'm surprised they sound as good as they do for £15.00 computer speakers. Obviously no base, but didn't expect them to be as good as they are.   

 

So now I'm looking for replacement or repair of ProMedia 5.1 for home theater / office (all in my room).

 

Well, well, well. I was wondering if would get the likes of you here. 

Edited December 2, 2021 by Avacado

[EHW Ai]

Seeing this thread makes me want to take my 5.1 JBL Studio L's out of storage. Pair of JLB Studio L880's, LC1 center channel and a pair of L820's with a 15" Infinity sub. System would literally shake the foundation when booming. Put them in storage when I got my Caselabs as it took up to much room, finally moving the PC into it's own room so should have room to set it up again. 

[EHW Ai]

I actually didn't get the AE-1s, and went with a Genelec 2.1 setup (2x8340A & 1x7360A):

 

     

 

Genelec's SAM functionality makes it a cinch to set them up 

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by iamjanco
cleaned post up

[Diffident]

19 hours ago, UltraMega said:

I didn't know we had a thread for this. I have speakers!

 

I've got 2 Klipsch RB5MA speakers, a Klipsch center speaker of similar quality, a Klipsch R-10SW subwoofer (300 watts) and two lesser quality infinity rear speakers all hooked up to a Pioneer receiver for 5.1 surround. On the PC side I'm using a Sound Blaster Z and optical audio cables. I tried HDMI surround sound for a little bit but the options for speaker settings are much more limited with HDMI so I switched back to analog. 

 

I'd definitely call myself an audiophile. 

 

 

 

My god man.....look at that dust. 

[pio]

10 minutes ago, Diffident said:

 

My god man.....look at that dust. 

Look at them cinder blocks! 

 

I thought I was the only broke guy that thought those make decent stands. 

[UltraMega]

Yea... Haha I'm not the cleanest person around... 

 

Mostly the cinder blocks were an impromptu thing but that center speaker is so big I couldn't figure out how else to fit it in between my two TVs... My living room is kinda long and narrow which makes setting up home theater a little awkward. 

[pio]

I was so close to buying a mini subwoofer today.  $7.99 at the thrift store.  Was a Pioneer AJ soundbar subwoofer.  For once, the driver was actually in decent shape for a thrift store find.  Passed on it though as I didn't think I'd be able to get it to connect, apparently its wireless only for a soundbar and the rest of the soundbar wasn't there. -_-  I had debated on just running a wire to it off a different amp, but meh was a 6.5" that can only get down to 45Hz.  Didn't really think it was worthwhile to invest in an amp for that.

Oh well, onto the next find!  Bump for the audio club!  

[Snakecharmed]

Is 6.5" and 45 Hz what passes for a sub these days? Sheesh, lame. My HT tower speakers can do 46 Hz.

[ArchStanton]

I have posted this same picture in my "build log".  Apologies for reusing it here, but the temptation to "flex" my DCM Time Window 1a's has gotten the better of me.  There's a Polk Audio center and two surrounds also in the frame.  The sub (under the desk and occluded by the chair) is a generic Klipsch R-100SW 10".  The receiver is a YAMAHA RX-V4A.  Though my only source of pride in the whole setup are the Time Windows.

 

P.S.  Well, correction.  I am proud of my daughter as well, but that framed picture of her is actually there to hide some cabling .

[pio]

8 hours ago, Snakecharmed said:

Is 6.5" and 45 Hz what passes for a sub these days? Sheesh, lame. My HT tower speakers can do 46 Hz.

I've got Micca 4" bookshelfs, so yeah even a 45Hz 6.5" would help.  Still debating on going up there and looking at it again, its only $8 lol.  Kind of wondering if a Dayton 70w plate amp would fit on it.

 

EDIT:
Well, I bought it.  Hooked up my B2 Audio car amp to it for now.  My neighbors are gonna hate me now!

 

Hopefully Youtube lets me post this.  So annoyed that I can't record a video of music I paid for. -_-

 

Edited January 27, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[Snakecharmed]

On 08/10/2020 at 18:53, Snakecharmed said:

Desktop Workstation

• Wharfedale Diamond 10.0 bookshelf speakers
• TSC T100-110 10" ported downfiring subwoofer
• SMSL Q5 Pro 2.1 channel amplifier

I used to have a Virtue Audio TWO.2 before the Q5 Pro. I accidentally blew out the TWO.2 when I was moving my desk and the speaker wires still connected to the back of the amp fell off the desk, landed right on the coax terminals of my UPS, and tripped the circuit breaker for the room. The Q5 Pro has better bass and the digital display and remote control are nice, but the TWO.2 was better balanced and more detailed overall, and also just a finely crafted piece of hardware.

 

I'm replacing the Q5 Pro with the SMSL SA300. This is a precursor to getting a Schiit Modius DAC to go with my next PC build which will bypass all internal sound hardware, but this upgrade alone has made a significant improvement in sound quality for my current system.

 

 

The Q5 Pro was never particularly impressive to me. "Unremarkable" is how I would describe its sound. I didn't really enjoy listening to music with that setup. While it wasn't a muddy mess like the Logitech X-230 2.1 speakers connected to onboard audio on my parents' computer, the Q5 Pro was just there. Also, you can see the LED segments on the Q5 Pro suffer from severe brightness degradation over time. The lower segment of the "1" and the middle horizontal segment of the '9" are brighter than the others because I usually kept the volume at 20.

 

With my home theater setup, what stands out is the richness and the depth of the sound. On that, I can pick out instruments at will and follow them as separate layers on "Listen to Your Heart" by Roxette which I guess has become my de facto go-to test track over the years, followed by several others. On my desktop, the Q5 Pro never really enabled that kind of spaciousness, but the SA300 brought life to my Wharfedale Diamond 10.0 speakers that the Q5 Pro couldn't provide. It's obviously still not on the level of my home theater setup, but it's significantly better than it was and probably better than what I remember of my old Virtue TWO.2.

 

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/smsl-q5-pro-dac-and-stereo-amplifier-review.10719/

 

As it turns out, according to the measurements, the Q5 Pro is objectively not a very clean nor accurate piece of hardware, but I was surprised that the SA300 subjectively sounds so much better. I imagine a good part of that has to be due to the Infineon MA12070 chip in the SA300 versus the older and less powerful Texas Instruments TAS5508 in the Q5 Pro.

 

Aside from the sound quality, the SA300 is more attractive, takes up less space horizontally, has a much nicer display, Bluetooth 5.0 and aptX support, more EQ settings including a direct mode, 80% more power output, better technical specs in every category, and I got it for only $11 more than what I paid for the Q5 Pro in 2017.

[pio]

15 minutes ago, Snakecharmed said:

 

I'm replacing the Q5 Pro with the SMSL SA300. This is a precursor to getting a Schiit Modius DAC to go with my next PC build which will bypass all internal sound hardware, but this upgrade alone has made a significant improvement in sound quality for my current system.

 

 

The Q5 Pro was never particularly impressive to me. "Unremarkable" is how I would describe its sound. I didn't really enjoy listening to music with that setup. While it wasn't a muddy mess like the Logitech X-230 2.1 speakers connected to onboard audio on my parents' computer, the Q5 Pro was just there. Also, you can see the LED segments on the Q5 Pro suffer from severe brightness degradation over time. The lower segment of the "1" and the middle horizontal segment of the '9" are brighter than the others because I usually kept the volume at 20.

 

With my home theater setup, what stands out is the richness and the depth of the sound. On that, I can pick out instruments at will and follow them as separate layers on "Listen to Your Heart" by Roxette which I guess has become my de facto go-to test track over the years, followed by several others. On my desktop, the Q5 Pro never really enabled that kind of spaciousness, but the SA300 brought life to my Wharfedale Diamond 10.0 speakers that the Q5 Pro couldn't provide. It's obviously still not on the level of my home theater setup, but it's significantly better than it was and probably better than what I remember of my old Virtue TWO.2.

 

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/smsl-q5-pro-dac-and-stereo-amplifier-review.10719/

 

As it turns out, according to the measurements, the Q5 Pro is objectively not a very clean nor accurate piece of hardware, but I was surprised that the SA300 subjectively sounds so much better. I imagine a good part of that has to be due to the Infineon MA12070 chip in the SA300 versus the older and less powerful Texas Instruments TAS5508 in the Q5 Pro.

 

Aside from the sound quality, the SA300 is more attractive, takes up less space horizontally, has a much nicer display, Bluetooth 5.0 and aptX support, more EQ settings including a direct mode, 80% more power output, better technical specs in every category, and I got it for only $11 more than what I paid for the Q5 Pro in 2017.

If you decide to sell that Q5 Pro.....  

 

The SA300 does look to be a lot better.  I've always believed that more power available on hand is always a good thing for clarity, and I think your experience just kind of shows that.  The Q5 Pro is fine for near field listening at low volume and power levels, but by all means more power definitely cleans up the sound.  Glad you found an amp you're happy with.  My SMSL AD18 paired with the Micca MB42X's have been nothing short of fantastic for the budget.  It's not the cleanest sounding thing at high volume, but for a PC setup it's great.  I believe mine was rated at something like 80w x2 at 8ohm, however I really doubt it goes anywhere near that since my Micca's still want more.  The Q5 Pro I think was 40w x2?  Your new SA300 is what, 80w x2 as well right?

Quick question, have you thought about attempting to use a bigger PSU for the Q5 Pro and compare it with the stock PSU?  I know that has been a complaint on a lot of the Dayton and Lepai T amps.  Haven't seen that mentioned as often on SMSL products, but I'd imagine it'd be similar.

Edited February 5, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[Snakecharmed]

6 minutes ago, pioneerisloud said:

If you decide to sell that Q5 Pro.....  

 

The SA300 does look to be a lot better.  I've always believed that more power available on hand is always a good thing for clarity, and I think your experience just kind of shows that.  The Q5 Pro is fine for near field listening at low volume and power levels, but by all means more power definitely cleans up the sound.  Glad you found an amp you're happy with.  My SMSL AD18 paired with the Micca MB42X's have been nothing short of fantastic for the budget.  It's not the cleanest sounding thing at high volume, but for a PC setup it's great.

Quick question, have you thought about attempting to use a bigger PSU for the Q5 Pro and compare it with the stock PSU?  I know that has been a complaint on a lot of the Dayton and Lepai T amps.  Haven't seen that mentioned as often on SMSL products, but I'd imagine it'd be similar.

 

I mean, if you're actually interested, I am planning to sell it! I usually don't keep old PC hardware around.

 

I didn't know what to expect with this upgrade. I just figured if I could get it for a better price than normal, I would have half of my future PC audio upgrade taken care of with the SA300. The only reason I'm not getting the Schiit Modius now is the same reason I'm not using the DAC on the SA300. None of these newer USB DACs support Windows 7 and I'm in no mood to upgrade this machine to Windows 10 with a new build close enough on the horizon.

 

All this started because after my 5 GHz bench earlier this week, I was getting audio stuttering every few minutes even after going back to 4.6 GHz. During that process, I switched out the All CPU Meter Windows 7 gadget for Rainmeter. Since the Rainmeter gagdets I'm using require HWiNFO64 for improved reporting, it turned out that HWiNFO64's sensor polling was causing the audio stuttering. I resolved that through changing some HWiNFO64 settings and upgrading Intel RST, but I also looked into a new amp after researching new audio equipment and noticing how badly the Q5 Pro tested by the numbers in that ASR review. Not that it's a bad piece of equipment overall since it was decent at lower volumes, but it didn't have enough clean power to make these Wharfedales shine.

 

I haven't tried a larger power supply with the Q5 Pro, but here's a post from someone who did and reported better results:

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/smsl-q5-pro-mods.293722/post-5148268

[pio]

1 hour ago, Snakecharmed said:

 

I mean, if you're actually interested, I am planning to sell it! I usually don't keep old PC hardware around.

 

I didn't know what to expect with this upgrade. I just figured if I could get it for a better price than normal, I would have half of my future PC audio upgrade taken care of with the SA300. The only reason I'm not getting the Schiit Modius now is the same reason I'm not using the DAC on the SA300. None of these newer USB DACs support Windows 7 and I'm in no mood to upgrade this machine to Windows 10 with a new build close enough on the horizon.

 

All this started because after my 5 GHz bench earlier this week, I was getting audio stuttering every few minutes even after going back to 4.6 GHz. During that process, I switched out the All CPU Meter Windows 7 gadget for Rainmeter. Since the Rainmeter gagdets I'm using require HWiNFO64 for improved reporting, it turned out that HWiNFO64's sensor polling was causing the audio stuttering. I resolved that through changing some HWiNFO64 settings and upgrading Intel RST, but I also looked into a new amp after researching new audio equipment and noticing how badly the Q5 Pro tested by the numbers in that ASR review. Not that it's a bad piece of equipment overall since it was decent at lower volumes, but it didn't have enough clean power to make these Wharfedales shine.

 

I haven't tried a larger power supply with the Q5 Pro, but here's a post from someone who did and reported better results:

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/smsl-q5-pro-mods.293722/post-5148268

Okay cool, yeah that makes sense from what I knew about the Lepai and Daytons.  24v PSU's tend to bring these lower end audio chips to life a little better.

I will be in the market actually for a Q5 Pro or Dayton DTA2.1 here probably next month.  I was only partially kidding above lol.  My parents are moving into their new house, and I have some Dayton outdoor 6.5" speakers to mount up above in their back patio for outdoor music.  I was actually looking at those two specifically due to their subwoofer capabilities to add onto the system later.  Bluetooth of course is a must for this type of location and build.  I doubt they'll ever use a subwoofer on their back patio, but you never know and figured it'd be better to have the option and not need it.

Edited February 5, 2022 by pioneerisloud