Editorial Number Twenty: These
Go to Eleven
Figured it was high time a little space was devoted to allowing
the Station Management to blather on a bit about his Home
Theater. Gratuitous, you say? Unnecessary? Yes and yes. Man
enough to admit it my, uh, braggardness (or something).
Current System:
Speaker-wise we are running a pair of NHT (Now
Hear This) VT-2's in the front, NHT VS-2a's in the center
and the surrounds, and the NHT SW-2pi 10" separate powered
sub in the corner.
The VT-2's are indeed a magnificent works of art. Tall and
narrow, they are quite deep and encased in a glass-smooth glossy
black laminate. Couldn't be happier with the sound that pours
forth from my precious. Snagged an extra SA-2 amp so as to
bi-amplify these twin towers (feeding the hungry 10" subs
in the base of each tower - giving the room a total of three
10" powered subs).
Went with the VS-2a center and satellites, mainly because they
are matched to the VT-2 upper range drivers and offer up that
seamless surround experience that only perfectly balanced
speakers can affect. Jet black and bulky = low SAF (Spouse
Approval Factor).
Wasn't actually intending to go with the SW-2pi as our main sub,
but she was very well reviewed, made for an impressive demo, and
we got a good deal on 'er... Setup in the right-hand corner of
the room (where all good subs are placed, more or less).
The speakers tie into a Denon 3200 receiver, which spits out
some fine 5.1 DD sound along with a 5-channel stereo feature (a
glorious thing when listening to standard TV).
Other components include the Panasonic A110 DVD player, an older
Pioneer LD player, an N64, and a three year old 36" Toshiba
TV.
The whole deal is connected up with AudioQuest Type 2 cables and
a variety of AudioQuest interconnects. There is debate o' plenty
as to just how much of an impact cables and wiring have on sound
quality and after briefly considering both sides of the
argument, we opted to go with middle-of-the-road cable in hopes
that the sound won't be colored one way or the other.
The System resides in a finished basement where the nuevo-deaf
can crank it to eleven and not bother the neighbors. Fun stuff.
Having such a setup has ruined
the theater-going experience. Hard t'shell out $20 bucks takin'
Weezy out to the Giga-Plex (where the sound is too low and
bone-heads around us talk through half the movie) when the
Mighty Home Theater is crouched in the basement, ready to
rumble for the price of a rental...
The Dream is Alive:
Since I don't think we're gonna do much better sound-wise
(without dropping a monstrous load of cash) I am currently
focused on improving the viewing experience. Got m'eyeballs on
that Toshiba 65" theater-wide DW65X91
bo-hemoth. Only concern (besides printing up convincing
green-backs) is fitting the beast down the basement stairs.
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