December 3, 2007
4" Subwoofer Legs
A short while ago I mentioned how watching THGttG popped my subwoofer grilles and a desire to do something about it. So over the weekend I increased the leg length of the subwoofer base to 4" (I would have gone with 5" except Home Depot doesn't sell screws longer than 6") and created new end plates and legs for the top of the subwoofer as well. There are no longer any grilles in use.
Increasing the leg length to 4" is based on allowing enough cylindrical surface area for the air displaced by the driver to freely move back and forth. It might have been ideal to go with 5" legs but that would have required 7" screws. As it is, the 6" screws only came with hex heads and required me to cut a little depression into the plates for the head to run flush with the plate surface. The top plate provides protection for the driver in a sturdier and more reliable manner than the grilles and allows the driver to reach its xmax without any interference. The grilles were impeding the surrounds. I do think it looked better with grilles though.
Posted by josuah at 3:06 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 25, 2007
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
High-energy excitement. That's how I would explain the contemporary film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Unlike the earlier BBC attempt, which may go down in history as one of the most disappointing adaptations of all time, this version comes with good actors, a good screenplay, and the budget and production quality this book deserves. Complete with rodent overlords.
The movie captures very well the characters created by Douglas Adams. I thought the actor choices were apt, especially for Marvin who truly comes across as a depressed robot. Alan Rickman is just the perfect voice for that role. The only thing I found a little disappointing was the way Zephod's twin heads was done. It's certainly a lot better than a fake rubber head perched on the actor's shoulder, but it didn't play that much of a role in the film; you could have simply ignored that aspect of his character for the most part.
I did feel a little weird that the story and plot elements of the film didn't match up with how I remembered the book, and Wikipedia points out that I wasn't just imagining things. I think the movie is very good, but I wonder if I would have liked it better if it held closer to the original story. It's hard to say, because on its own this version of the movie is very strong.
The visuals and costumes were very good. I particularly liked the construction of Earth. That visual sequence was vast and contained some of the best exhibitions of natural beauty found on Earth. And the way it was put together looked believable, even if at the time I was thinking to myself how it wouldn't hold up to scientific analysis. :p
THGttG is considered an excellent subwoofer test, and I have to agree. The sound production is great. Very immersive and unique with great sound effects that are fun but fit right in. And completely full spectrum without holding anything back. The grilles on the top of my subwoofers got pushed off by the driver excursion which tells me this is the first movie that has actually driving my subs close to their limit. I plan to address that problem soon.
I'm sure real fans of Douglas Adams works are going to find a number of nits to pick about the movie, but I really enjoyed it and would watch it again.
Posted by josuah at 8:49 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 11, 2007
StudioTech SP-36 Speaker Stands
I won a 20% off coupon several weeks ago and used it recently to purchase a pair of StudioTech SP-36 speaker stands. I replaced the 30" tall Plateau speaker stands I was using for the two surround speakers with these stands, which are 36" in height. With the Plateau stands, I had a cinder block underneath to raise the speaker over the top of the couch. Overall build quality of the StudioTech stands is superior, and the base plate and top plate both seem denser. The pillar itself also seems to be stronger. Although hollow to allow sand or shot filling, the ends are capped off which acts a little like an additional brace. The foam pads that are included with the SP series stands are also a little thicker.
I do have two complaints about the SP stands though. The first is the wire clips. They actually have a very nice clipping mechanism that lets you push the wire into it, causing the clip to close and grip the cable. However, the only method of attaching those clips onto the stand is by its sticky backing. This backing really isn't very strong, so my 14/4 speaker cable keeps pulling it off. My second complaint is the single screw used to attach the plates to the pillar. With only a single screw in the center, you cannot easily align the top plate and the bottom plate with each other. This makes it a lot harder to align the speaker with the bottom plate and floor. On the other hand, this does allow you to toe-in the speaker without toe-in of the stand, which might look better.
The stands do need to be filled to increase their weight, mostly for safety's sake. Otherwise it is easier to tip over the speaker and stand. I looked for some lead or steel shot, but about the only place to purchase it in large quantities is off eBay. Instead, I ended up getting eight bottles of Crosman Copperhead BBs. Each bottle is about 4.5 pounds, and exactly the diameter of the speaker stand pillar. I think you could fill the pillars up with eight bottles each, but in my case I put four bottles in each pillar. The BBs were are more cost-effective than actual shot, but I haven't calculated if they're actually lead or not.
Posted by josuah at 12:58 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 25, 2007
Rocket UFW-12
I was lucky enough to win one of the gracious prizes given out this past holiday season by Secrets, a Rocket UFW-12 subwoofer. This is a 12" sealed design in an enclosure with internal volume somewhere around 4.5ft3. It's powered by a 1000W RMS plate amplifier that includes one band of parametric EQ, and is veneered in South American Rosewood with piano black top and bottom caps. It also weighs 137 pounds. I replaced the Velodyne SPL-1200 Series II subwoofer I was using upstairs with the UFW-12. This is sort of a horizontal upgrade, rather than a vertical one.
The reason I consider this more of a horizontal upgrade is because while I think the UFW-12 provides better performance than the SPL-1200 Series II, it also includes a 23Hz, 10th order subsonic filter. I believe the SPL-1200 Series II incorporates a slightly lower filter, possibly set around 20Hz. The difference in frequency response can be seen in the Secrets UFW-12 measurements and a brief statement in the Audioholics SPL-1200 Series II conclusion. So you get better performance above 25Hz and one band of PEQ with the UFW-12, but the SPL-1200 Series II goes a little lower.
Irrespective of the above, the UFW-12 performs excellently from 25Hz and up. It seems to reproduce sounds with more authority than the SPL-1200 Series II, although perhaps they are fairly equal in terms of distortion and maximum SPL. Certain low frequency sounds simply sounded better and clearer with the UFW-12. But the difference in low frequency extension can be audible. I found my in-room response matched very closely the measurements at Secrets, although with some peaks and dips due to the room.
The included PEQ may help tame a peak if you have a large one, but you need closer to five or seven bands to produce a really flat response in most rooms. Having to select the center frequency, Q, and amplitude via analog dials means you do have to go through some trial and error to get your desired filter set up. I used the PEQ to fix one of the 5dB boost, but overall the response was very good even without EQ and it would have been good even without that filter.
Overall, I find the UFW-12 to be a good subwoofer for its current duty, which is as part of our secondary system used for video games. I would not, however, be satisfied with it or even a pair of them in our home theater setup. This is mostly for cutting out so quickly around 25Hz, because above there I think the performance is excellent as long as you have enough of them to meet your SPL requirements without distortion or compression. I think for most music the UFW-12 would be an excellent choice, but you need something that goes lower if you enjoy large drums, pipe organs, or electronic music with deep bass lines.
Cosmetically, the UFW-12 is beautiful. It's also large and could be used as a low end table if you wished. The only drawback is it makes the Castle Avon speakers look too small.
Posted by josuah at 11:20 PM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 23, 2007
Onix Reference 3
A couple of years ago, Kris Deering wrote a glowing review of Onix Reference 3 speakers. Since then, I've seriously considered them as my ideal upgrade step, in part because at Internet-direct pricing they provide a lot more value than anything else. I've just completed that upgrade with excellent results. Our theater now runs Onix Reference 3 for mains, Onix Reference 100 for the center, and Onix Reference 1 for the surrounds.
In comparision to the Onix Reference 1 (read my impressions), the Onix Reference 3 has better very high frequency reproduction, better off-axis response, and feels less dry to me without losing any of its accuracy. The Ref 3's happened to arrive in the middle of a smoke alarm sequence and the alarm sounded more realistic on the Ref 3 than the Ref 1. I feel the Ref 3 audio reproduction is slightly better, probably due to the smaller operating range of the two woofers. That may be why the sound was less dry.
I have also set the Ref 3 crossover at 50Hz, although 40Hz was a close contender and in other rooms I'm sure you could look at a 30Hz crossover. In comparison, the Ref 100 crossover point is 70Hz which is also close to where you can set the Ref 1 crossover. I try to avoid using ports because of the issues with group delay and in my room ports don't contribute much at these high frequencies. I've only experienced rear-ported speakers in this room.
I did some non-blind subjective comparisons of tweeter response with and without the grilles using one of the early scenes in Moulin Rouge where they're first rehearshing Spectacular, Spectacular. There are some strange high frequency sounds there and at this scene I found the very high frequency reproduction to be slightly attenuated with the grilles on. My non-blind grilles on/off tests on anything below may have revealed a slight difference but I can't be sure. I am fairly sure on the very high frequencies as without the grilles my ears felt a little harsh. I have since removed all grilles from all of the speakers.
The Ref 3 and Ref 100 reproduce the vocal range extremely well. It is much easier to distinguish and also identify in the first place when there are multiple voices singing together. This can be heard on any music tracks that involve a backup singer who was put in to add body or character to the primary singer, and also in Moulin Rouge where many of the pieces are sung in chorus. Cabinet resonance is very good although not completely inert at normal volumes.
I was a little worried that the Ref 100 would not match as well with the Ref 3, but the timbre is pretty much perfect so far as I can tell so far. The Ref 100 may be a tiny bit off from the Ref 3 and closer to the Ref 1, but I have only heard that phenomenon a few times and it may have been due to Dolby Pro Logic decoding. Using Dolby Pro Logic IIx decoding removed that symptom. I was also a little concerned about the MTM design of the Ref 100 over a WMTW design, but it doesn't seem to be an issue after all. It was definitely an issue with the Monitor Audio Silver SLCR center chanel; the SLCR sounded closer to the Monitor Audio Silver S8 when positioned vertically instead of horizontally.
Overall, the Ref 3 provides very accurate audio reproduction across its entire operating range including over the very high and low frequency bands, great off-axis response, and a seamless soundstage. My recommendation is to remove the grilles but you'd be hard pressed to consider it a real issue when the grilles are on.
Posted by josuah at 9:28 PM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 16, 2007
Logitech Harmony 550
I got a Logitech Harmony 550 remote for my birthday, to control my second setup which consists of a GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Dish Network. It was the addition of Dish Network that brought the number of remote controls from two up to four. And made things annoying. The remote is very good and very convenient though, and a great birthday gift. Thanks Alla, Dantam, and Ellen. :)
I had some trouble with software installation on Mac OS X when using a user account that has its home directories NFS mounted. This user is also not in the group that allows administration, so the software was actually installed as a different user. Basically, the software would just quit or sit there doing nothing without crashing or any messages at all, after it started up. So I ended up having to install and run the software as the non-NFS mounted user that also has administrator privileges.
But once that was done, it was very easy. They've got a huge database of devices, including the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Sony STR-DE597 receiver, Panasonic PT50LC13 television, Impact Acoustics 3-Play, and Dish 381 set-top box. So I didn't have to make the remote learn anything manually. I even gained remote on/off access to the PlayStation 2, which doesn't come with a remote by default.
Now things are very nice with four macros: PlayStation 2, GameCube, Watch TV, Listen to CD. It works extremely well and I just hit one of the macros to start up the components and set their inputs/settings automatically, and everything's running.
Even though I didn't do any heavy customization, the software does allow for it. You can assign different functions to different buttons in any of the modes. And if you choose not to use macros, you can still access devices directly by pressing the Devices button on the remote.
Posted by josuah at 3:46 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 24, 2007
Sealed Sonotube Subwoofer Graphs
I've been using a program called Room EQ Wizard to perform subwoofer equalization, level matching, and crossover/phase measurements. It's a very useful multi-platform program that's also available for free although donations are welcomed. Since building my sealed sonotube subwoofers required measurements below 10Hz, I managed to get a beta copy of REW 4.0 that would measure that low. I haven't posted the following graphs until now because the program was still in beta, but now that it's officially released I can post my measurements.
These measurements were done with a Behringer ECM8000 microphone, and REW was loaded with a microphone calibration file made available at the Home Theater Shack. The ECM8000 isn't super high grade so the calibration file of someone else's mic is probably good enough. I extrapolated below 10Hz since the calibration file was only down to 10Hz, based on a converstaion with the person who performed the microphone calibration, and also my subjective listening.
I used a M-Audio MobilePre USB preamp to supply phantom power to the mic and serve as an outboard input and output audio interface to a laptop. The MobilePre doesn't perform super well in the very low frequencies, with a measured drop off by REW, but at least it can be perfectly measured and compensated for by REW.
Here is the measured room response for the subwoofers in conjunction with the mains, crossed over at 70Hz after equalization and boost was applied. There are about 16 filters being applied to boost below 20Hz and flatten the response with the lowest center frequency at 20Hz.
Posted by josuah at 6:14 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Onix Reference 1
I was very lucky to find a pair of Onix Reference 1 monitor speakers in piano black from someone who was upgrading at an incredibly good price. These are two-way rear ported speakers with a 5.25" woofer and Vifa XT concentric ring radiator tweeter and a fourth-order crossover at 4kHz. Luna and I listened to these side-by-side with the Monitor Audio Silver S8 speakers. Personally I prefer the Reference 1 over the S8, although some people would not.
In my opinion, the Reference 1 features a more even overall frequency response, which allows for more of the original material to be heard. This means detail is not lost across the entire spectrum. I also think the tweeter behaves better in comparison to the S8, although that may also be because the frequency response appears flatter on the Reference 1. On the other hand, the Reference 1 sounds somewhat dry or empty compared to the S8. This actually translates to more accurate audio reproduction, but may not be what everyone is looking for.
The S8 has a mid-range boost, which I think ends up masking some of the higher frequencies, and also more cabinet vibration which may contribute to the more full and warm sound which is one of their attractive characteristics. It is a little similar to what I heard when I placed the Monitor Audio Silver SLCR center channel in direct contact with its stand; the stand vibrated in response to the speaker enclosure and the sound was less clear.
The S8 also goes a dozen or so hertz lower than the Reference 1, and I think handles the frequencies below 100Hz with a little more ease. That's not too surprising considering the difference in driver complement, but both the Reference 1 and S8 should be paired with a subwoofer.
I do think the S8 has better off-axis response than the Reference 1. Moving in either the vertical or horizontal direction off-axis had a very audible effect with the Reference 1, while it was not as much of an issue with the S8.
Posted by josuah at 5:57 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 1, 2007
War of the Worlds
I put War of the Worlds on my queue mainly because it's a movie that has caused many a subwoofer to bottom out. And I wanted to put my new subwoofers to the test. If I'd done everything right, I'd be able to listen to this movie at reference levels and my subwoofers should not bottom out and instead capture the earth-shaking intent of the sound mix. I was very pleased to discover that my subwoofers were up to the task.
There are many sequences in the film where the characters are experiencing what are essentially mini-earthquakes. I played the movie at perhaps -5dB from reference, not entirely sure, but those times the subwoofers really did recreate the earthquake experience in my primary listening position. It felt like an actual earthquake, although not as high on the richter scale as if I was actually in the movie (which would be bad, if my house collapsed), still something that would have been recorded and felt by seismologists.
Anyway, with regards to the movie, it was a decent action movie but there isn't much of a plot or anything really going on except for mass hysteria and a general fleeing from the aliens by the public. The acting is okay, but it's not like any of them have to do much except be really scared and run away a lot. Nothing else happens, since all of humanity's efforts are in vain, and the audience is not involved with any plans to fight back.
But it's an excellent movie for exercising your subwoofers, as long as they can handle it instead of breaking.
Posted by josuah at 2:19 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 30, 2006
Dark City Movie Night
I had a bunch of new people show up to tonight's movie night, since Wendy and Brian have too many friends and so always have more people to bring. Although all of their friends do happen to be Asian. Anyway, Alla also showed up, and so did Thomas. New people Anh, Kristina, Roger, and Naomi showed up as well. Alla didn't stay for the movie though. This was the first movie night I've held with the new subwoofers, and I played back the Irene scene from Black Hawk Down as a demo. I'm not sure they felt as much as they could, because everyone was sitting in the second row during the demo.
We ended up watching Dark City, in large part because Kristina thinks Keifer Sutherland is really attractive from his role in 24. He plays a completely different kind of character in Dark City though, so I don't know if that worked out for her. Naomi actually only showed up shortly before the movie started, and left right after.
Most people left after the movie, but Wendy, Brian, and Thomas stayed longer. We decided to watch another movie, and Wendy picked The Avengers. She found it amusing in the beginning, but both she and Brian fell asleep pretty early into the movie, since it was so late. I was pretty tired too, but I stayed up to watch the whole thing.
Posted by josuah at 8:30 PM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 19, 2006
Sealed Sonotube Subwoofers
In my quest for the ultimate subwoofer (restriction being no infinite baffle) flat to 5Hz, I purchased four 15" TC-2000 single voice coil drivers. After going through WinISD Pro and forums and gathering information and advice from many sources over a few months, these are the drivers I ended up with and the enclosure design would be to use sonotubes. I decided to use a sealed enclosure rather than a ported one because the port volume would be too great and a passive radiator would have too much group delay and somewhat extreme mass requirements for reaching 5Hz. I've put up photos of the construction process.
The sonotubes are approximately 4' in length, and 20" in diameter. Each endcap is three layers of 3/4" MDF, with two layers inside and one layer outside. Having three layers for the endcaps posted a problem because you cannot purchase binding posts long enough to go through that far. So what I did is run brass bolts in from the inside to meet with short binding posts run in from the outside. The end caps, dowels, and protective grille over the top driver brings the total height of each subwoofer to approximately 4.5'.
Most people cover their sonotubes with a black fabric "sock". I wanted something that would look a little nicer, so I covered mine with cherry veneer. Unfortunately, due to bumps in the outside of the tubes, there are some ridges in the veneer. And Alla and I had some issues with the glue, so there are some glue marks on the outside near one of the endcaps. We also had glue on our hands for a few days afterwards. So overall the finished look is not commercial quality when seen up close, but from a distance they look very nice.
The project as a whole took a few weekends to complete. A lot of time was spent waiting on the endcap paint to dry, and sand, and recoat. I purchased a high quality mask to protect myself while cutting the MDF, as MDF creates a very fine sawdust when it is cut, and contains carcinogens. It's really best to cut MDF outside in the open air, rather than in the garage. I wish I'd found and purchased a larger circle jig though, because my makeshift one was not perfectly accurate.
I am driving the finished subwoofers with a Behringer EP2500 subwoofer and giving it low-pass boost and equalization to mimic a Linkwitz-Transform using a Behringer DCX2496. You can accomplish the same thing with a cheaper unit, but the DCX2496 provides some additional flexibility. The cables were cut from a spool of Impact Acoustics 14/4 (four runs of 14awg in the sleeve) I won in a contest a while back. I'm doubling up the runs so the signal path is 14/2 each. Each channel of the EP2500 is driving two drivers in parallel, for a ~2Ω load.
Using a Behringer ECM8000 microphone with an M-Audio MobilePre, I calibrated and equalized the subwoofer response flat down to somewhere below 5Hz, possibly even 2Hz, because of room gain benefits. The subwoofer can be driven to reference levels without clipping.
With the flat response, you have to bump up Black Hawk Down pretty high to feel the 5-7Hz 0dB signal from the Irene scene. I've included a copy of the waterfall chart posted by MingL here:
At reference levels, it's a tiny bit noticeable. It's possible to increase the low-pass filter to boost those frequencies several more dB, in which case it really feels like there is a rotor passing over you. I'm not really sure what the dB level is supposed to be; 0dB implies 115dB to me, which I don't necessarily think I can reach at 5Hz, but at ~105dB it's already vibrating the entire house. The whole movie plays way loud at reference levels though, since it's all gunshots and explosions.
Regardless, at this point I feel like I've accomplished building the ultimate traditional subwoofer, and can reproduce all the infrasonics I might need. Now I just need to get much better speakers that have flatter overall response and can reproduce high frequencies well. :)
Posted by josuah at 5:05 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 2, 2006
12V Trigger AC Outlet
So I purchased a Behringer EP2500 and also a Behringer DCX2496. The EP2500 is rated at 9.7A, and the DCX2496 pulls approximately 12W. I'm assuming the 12W off a 120V line equals 0.1A. Grand total is 9.8A. However, the problem is both of these units do not have a trigger. You turn them on and then leave them on. I don't really want to do that since most of the time the home theater is off. There are some Xantech products that can help deal with this, but they're expensive. The cheap DIY solution is a relay switch.
One of my coworkers, Po Chiu, has a strong EE background. So I asked him if he knows that sort of box I need to build this 12V trigger so that when my processor turns on the AC outlet turns on as well. He explained the different types of switches to me. From there I found an article called How To Power Your MAME Cabinet. There are very simple instructions on that site for building your own relay switch.
So I went to OSH and Radio Shack and picked up about $20 in parts. With a wire stripper and soldering iron I was able to throw everything together in about 20 minutes. End result is a 12V trigger from my processor that will turn on a pair of regular AC outlets to power on the EP2500 and DCX2496.
My parts list is:
Radio Shack DPDT Plug-In Relay (Part #275-218)
Leviton 2-Pole, 3-Wire Grounding Duplex Receptacle (BR15-W)
Some sort of blue outlet box
Prime 3' Garbage Disposal Cord (Item #PS210603)
Some 16awg copper wire
The 16awg wire is only rated at 13A, and the DPDT relay is only rated 10A, but that's good enough to meet the 9.8A required by the EP2500 and DCX2496. Assuming those are the maximum current draw numbers, and not just nominal numbers.
Posted by josuah at 6:54 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 24, 2006
Thanksgiving with Alla
Thanksgiving 2006 is over, and I spent the majority of the day working and continuing to spray paint my DIY subwoofer endcaps. I've found that the best results come from painting, letting it dry, then sanding, and then painting again to cover the exposed or roughened parts. Then repeat. You can use successively finer grit sandpaper and in this way end up with a very smooth (visually and physically) finished product. Then just cover with sealer. For dinner, I went to Alla's house in Fremont. I spent most of my time helping her with her business school applications, when we weren't eating. The food was really good. I had some mashed potatoes, two kinds of stuffing, turkey, potato salad, some purplish beats salad thing, and bread.
Posted by josuah at 7:31 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 11, 2006
Sonotube
I picked up some 20" diameter Sonotube round concrete forms, in 4' lengths, from Westside Concrete Materials today. They are one of the few concrete supply companies in the area that is open on Saturday, although they're only open for a few hours. I'd originally tried arranging for purchase and delivery with Muller Construction Supply, but after two days where they twice promised to return my call but did not, I decided to look for a different supplier. The two guys I talked to at Westside were very friendly and helpful, and I was able to fit both sections in the Beetle although it was a tight fit.
I'm going to use these round forms for the enclosures of the subwoofers I am going to be building over the next couple of months. Sonotube, or one of the comparable products made by other companies, provides a rigid enclosure without extensive bracing or many layers of MDF. MDF is very heavy, and requires you to build a box, so it's a lot of effort to build something that then becomes very hard to move around. The downsides to Sonotube are that you can only place drivers or anything else at the ends, and it has to be round or you don't get the rigid behavior.
Posted by josuah at 7:33 PM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 31, 2006
TC-2000 Drivers
TC Sounds is having a sale on some of their drivers for a limited time, and since I'm trying to replace my 16-46PC+ subwoofers with something that will go lower, faster, and cleaner, I picked up some 15" TC-2000 drivers.
As part of my cost analysis, I calculated the cost per liter of displacement for various TC Sounds and SoundSplinter drivers. Here's my breakdown (hopefully the math is correct):
Surface Area: ------------- 15" = 1140.09182796937 cm2 18" = 1641.73223227589 cm2
| Model | Displacement | Cost | L/$ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15" TC-2000 | 3.192L | $259 | .012325 |
| 15" TC-3000 | 3.420L | $395 | .008659 |
| 15" TC-5200 | 3.422L | $748 | .004573 |
| 18" TC-5200 | 4.925L | $895 | .005503 |
| 15" LMS-4000 | 3.420L | $598 | .005720 |
| 15" LMS-5400 | 4.332L | $845 | .005127 |
| 18" LMS-5400 | 6.239L | $1145 | .005449 |
| 15" RL-p15 | 2.805L | $250 | .011219 |
| 15" RL-s15 | 4.389L | $529 | .008297 |
Posted by josuah at 6:45 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 7, 2006
Replacement Plus 12.3 Driver
The replacement Plus 12.3 driver I requested from SVSound arrived today, although it didn't get sent to my office like I'd asked. I guess that change got lost in the RMA shuffle. Anyway, swapped it into my subwoofer and the rattling is gone. I played back Kodo's Ibuki and the two tracks Dub Gusset and Swords off Leftfield's Rhythm and Stealth. No rattling from those tracks or the startup thump either.
Posted by josuah at 6:23 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 21, 2006
Shaun of the Dead
I just watched Shaun of the Dead, a movie that Anthony from work said was really good and funny. It's an odd sort of movie, mixing zombies with a sort of casual attitude and British humor. For example, instead of running away from the zombies, Shaun and his friend decide to sit on the couch and figure things out. I enjoyed it, and it was fairly amusing at times although yucky at other times.
One unfortunate thing I discovered is that one of the Plus 12.3 drivers I received from SVSound is defective. It rattles sometimes, and I found it even rattled when out of the subwoofer just from the initial turn-on thump. I thought this was due to a loose screw or loose fastening before, but turns out it's a defect in the driver itself. So SVSound is shipping me a replacement. They do have some of the best customer service I've experienced.
Posted by josuah at 12:42 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 6, 2006
Speaker Comparison
So a poster at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity asked for speaker recommendations in the sub-$3000 range. I originally suggested he go and listen to a bunch of speakers, but he's interested in getting some more brand names under consideration, I guess. So I replied again with some of my speaker impressions. I've decided to copy that portion of my second reply into my blog.
For myself, I have Monitor Audio Silver S8/LCR/Sfx 7.1 for my home theater. They are overall a little warm, and have some cabinet resonances. The LCR isn't superb, but it's okay. The S8's aren't as precise in sound reproduction as I'd like (maybe cabinet resonances or just the drivers) but they sound pretty good overall. The Sfx speakers are okay. All of them roll off more than I like as they approach 20kHz. However, all of my friends are not audio enthusiasts so everything sounds exceptional to them.
I also have Castle Avon speakers, graciously given to me by JJ, which I also enjoy. Their cabinet build is a better than the S8s, so there is less resonance. But there are only two drivers, the tweeter is located a little low (which is okay because of how I listen to them with my head kind of low) so normally would need stands, and doesn't have as good off-axis response as the S8's, I think. But because of how I use them, that doesn't really matter.
When I auditioned the S8's a few years ago, I also listened to Klipsch speakers in the same room. They seemed too bright and harsh for me. Possibly the horn design being a bad choice in my price range. Possibly the tweeter construction. However others think those Klipsch speakers are perfect for them.
I listened to some B&W 805 (I think) speakers about a year or so ago at a boutique store. They were nice, and did the job very well. I don't have a lot of opinion on them though, as I didn't spend a lot of time listening and was mostly interested at that time in finding an amplifier.
I also helped a friend set up a Hsu VT-12 system. For the money, they are a great deal, but noticeably lower in quality than the other speakers I've mentioned. Especially at high volumes. The sound isn't as realistic or enveloping to me, maybe due to tweeter response. His room has more reflections than mine as well. I pretty much don't have any first-order reflections except off the front wall which is covered in velvet drapes, and my sofa back if I slouch. He's quite happy with them though, as far as I know.
If I were to buy new speakers today, I'd be looking at either the AV123 Onix Reference line or asking James Salk about a Veracity HT3 with higher efficiency (maybe by including a second woofer). And a ribbon tweeter is a requirement for me now. However, I haven't heard any of these speakers or a ribbon tweeter, so I still need to do some of my own listening research. Both of these are outside your price range though.
If I were to buy speakers that I feel are equivalent to my Monitor Audio Silver speakers, I'd be looking at the AV123 Onix Rocket line just to save money by going Internet Direct. But I don't feel the Rockets are a significant upgrade from my current system to justify a purchase. Also, this is not based on personal listening and I'm sure they would sound different than my current speakers but would be relatively equal in compromises. The Rockets are in your price range.
Posted by josuah at 8:44 PM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 5, 2006
The Incredibles
I watched The Incredibles again today. That's probably the fifth time I've watched it. I would have continued watching the anime series I started, except Netflix is taking too long to deliver them. Anyway, The Incredibles has some incredible bass sequences and gave the new Plus 12.3 drivers a workout. One of the drivers wasn't screwed in tight enough, which resulted in some problems during high excursion, so I had to pause the film and fix that.
Posted by josuah at 11:54 PM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
SVS Plus 12.3 Drivers
The two SVSound Plus 12.3 drivers I pre-ordered to upgrade my pair of 16-46PC+ subs arrived today. I've just finished replacing the db12.2 drivers with these new drivers and recalibrating using my Velodyne SMS-1. I found that I could lower the overall gain by maybe one decibel, but that for two of my low-end filters I had to decrease the magnitude of cut by about 2dB. I don't really hear any improvement otherwise.
I think the Plus 12.3 drivers are a little heavier than the db12.2 drivers, but otherwise very similar in overall appearance except that the Plus 12.3 driver is black without any logo and has a rubber shell on the outer rim. I also think the Plus 12.3 magnet is a little deeper.
I'm hoping I can use the db12.2 drivers for a DIY subwoofer, but I doubt I'll have funds for that anytime soon.
Posted by josuah at 4:15 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 27, 2006
Velodyne SMS-1
So I'd been using the Behringer FBQ2496 to equalize my subwoofers but just got a Velodyne SMS-1 mainly because I thought it would allow filters to be set as low as 5Hz. Turns out that's not the case. Filters can only be set down to 15Hz, which is still better than the 20Hz limit of the FBQ2496, but not as low as I'd have liked. But the measurement system and real-time feedback turned out to be an plus that really made the SMS-1 worth it.
The first thing that the SMS-1 allowed me to do was identify the ideal crossover point for my speakers. By adjusting the crossover point and then going back to the SPL graph, I was able to determine that my ideal crossover is at 60Hz. Lower or higher results in a bigger cut at the crossover. I did find the automatic EQ to be less than ideal, mostly because it doesn't bother to move off the standard 1/3 octave frequencies. Instead, I got the best results by manually setting parametric filters at the precise locations. Another benefit is I was able to match the subwoofer volume to the mains volume a lot better. The DMC-1's subwoofer calibration signal is a little messed up.
The 1/3 octave smoothing issue mentioned in the Audioholics review is an isssue. I would suggest verifying the response using Room EQ Wizard's signal generator to see if your filters have done anything undesired. But, if you try to make your filters have as high a Q value as possible, you can probably avoid that anyway.
Posted by josuah at 6:50 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 28, 2006
Surround Acoustical Panels
Several weeks ago I was patching an anime which had the voices sometimes move into one of the surround speakers as a person moved off screen. When this happened, I immediately noticed a problem. It sounded like those people suddenly moved into a completely different, live, room. And so I decided I needed to put some acoustical panels up to tame the surround speaker acoustics. I was able to go back to California Central Insulation and get some IS300 2.5" semi-rigid fiberglass and then some cotton cloth from the fabric store. And then I started to work on building the acoustical panels.
I built a total of eight panels. Four 2'x4' panels for the ceiling, and four 1'x4' panels for the walls near the top of the ceiling where there would be interaction with the speakers. It probably took me about ten or twelve hours to sew the sleeves for the fiberglass and then mount them on the ceiling and walls, but the results have been worth it.
Mounting the panels onto the walls was not too difficult. I threaded some steel wire through the sleeves and then hung them off eyebolts I screwed into the walls near the ceiling. However, mounting the panels onto the ceiling was very difficult. I could not run a screw through the fiberglass, as it would just go through the entire thing and then the panel would drop. I couldn't hang the panel from the ceiling because there was nothing to attach a hook or eyebolt into on the panel.
So I ended up having to get some transparent plastic wire and screwing four hooks per panel into the ceiling. Then ran the transparent wire between the hooks as a support for the panels. To ensure the panels stayed as close to the ceiling as possible (with some air to serve as a trap), I had to pull the wire extremely tight. Needless to say this was very tiring and hard on my hands. Since there was no one to help me, I often had to use my head or back and stand on the furniture to support the panel as I was pulling the wire.
Unfortunately I don't have the disc which originally made me want to do this to test how well that voice would sound now, but so far I've been very pleased with how much better the surround speakers sound. They are slightly less enveloping but I would say in a good way as the sound is more distinct and clear now. It is too bad that my surrounds happen to be bipole speakers (dipole operation possible) which is good for ambient sounds but bad for distinct sounds. The acoustical panels are making the tweeters on the surrounds much less useful. If I have the chance to upgrade my speakers, I will go for direct firing surrounds. Bipole or dipole operation is not as great in my open room anyway.
Posted by josuah at 3:23 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 27, 2006
Behringer FBQ2496
I purchased a Behringer FBQ2496 to act as a parametric equalizer for my subwoofers. I managed to get it for a great price, and after spending a few hours with my SPL meter, got measurements for input into Room EQ Wizard, a freeware (donations appreciated) audio measurement and correction tool. This software is amazingly good, runs on many platforms, and has just about every feature you'd want. With the FBQ2496 and Room EQ Wizard, I managed to flatten my subwoofer response quite well, although it would be better if the FBQ2496 could go below 20Hz.
This graph shows the measured frequency response of my subwoofers on the top purple line, and the corrected frequency response on the bottom purple line. The target response is the horizontal blue line, assuming a 150Hz cutoff. I performed my measurements with a 160Hz cutoff, to flatten the response as much as possible and allow the processor to handle the different cutoffs. Plus, the LFE channel is not cutoff at all.
The PEQ filters in the lower-right were automatically calculated by Room EQ Wizard, specifically for the FBQ2496. In other words, Room EQ Wizard knows the options available via the FBQ2496, and uses those constraints to determine the correcct filters. No boosts are assigned, as that can be a very dangerous thing to do.
Unfortunately, since my subwoofers are tuned to 12Hz, there's a huge 12Hz bump which the FBQ2496 cannot address. I tried tuning my subwoofers to 16Hz, but that resulted in a fairly gradual decline from 16Hz down, rather than a flat response due to room gain. This is because my subwoofers are ported, and so the frequency response will drop off dramatically once you hit the tuning frequency. You can see this at the 12Hz point in this graph as well.
So for now, I'm keeping that 12Hz bump, until I might be able to purchase a Velodyne SMS-1, which supports filters as low as 5Hz.
Posted by josuah at 6:15 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 2, 2006
Center Channel Stand
I built a new center channel stand today which has an adjustable tilt. So I can precisely angle the speaker up towards my head when the center channel is laid horizontally. I've been using the center channel vertically because it sounds much better when sitting directly in front of it, but this does mean people off-axis don't get as good of sound. But now I want to lie it horizontally again because I also lowered the projector screen. I lowered it by about eight inches after making sure people in the back row will not be blocked by the front row heads. This screen height is much more comfortable for the people in the front row.
The center channel stand is made of two 10"Wx24"L pieces of shelving, and an odd connection between them. One of the shelves serves as the base. To this I attached two 8" angle brackets in the center, lengthwise. The top shelf had two pieces of 2"x6"s screwed into the bottom so that they would fall right inside the angle brackets rising from the base. I could then shoot a 5/16" hex bolt through the angle brackets and through the 2"x6"s. Now the top shelf can freely rotate using the hex bolts as its axis while the base remains flat. To lock the shelf's angle, I can tighten the hex bolt and nut, and I placed locking washers on both sides of the 2"x6" to keep it tight.
It's works very well, although you have to be certain to tighten the nuts and bolts enough to prevent the stand from rotating while the speaker is on it. I used some mounting stickies to keep the speaker in place on the top shelf. To put the stand at the correct height, I bought some 6" tall cinder blocks and placed them on the floor below covered in some leftover black felt. I spraypainted the wood and the brackets black to prevent reflections, although I didn't spraypaint any of the nuts, bolts, or washers because I didn't want them to get thick with paint or stuck with paint either.
Posted by josuah at 10:29 PM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 23, 2006
Hosa GLT-255
As an experiment, I purchased a Hosa GLT-255 adapter and found that it reduced the noise coming out of my Emotiva MPS-1 when I placed it into one of the amp module inputs. The noise did not go away completely, but it removed the noise being contributed by that connection to the Emotiva DMC-1. I received seven more GLT-255 adapters today, and have managed to completely rid myself of the noise.
What is interesting is that I cannot use GLT-255's on every amplifier module input. Placing a GLT-255 on three specific modules, which correspond to three specific channels from the DMC-1, removes the noise. Placing it on any of the other modules or channels has no effect. However, placing it on the left front channel, which is also the module closest to the MPS-1 power connection, introduces crazy amounts of noise, as with the ART T8. I suspect the T8 I purchased earlier and returned was in fact no defective, and instead my specific DMC-1 and MPS-1 units need to have the left front channel and/or that module grounded to each other.
Posted by josuah at 6:33 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 19, 2006
Subwoofer Isolators
This morning I woke up early, not on purpose, and started working on building a pair of subwoofer isolators/bass-traps. I'd been following a discussion thread about the Auralex Subdude/Gramma's benefits under subwoofers. I didn't feel like spending $150 for three Subdudes, and I still had another 2'x4' sheet of rigid fiberglass. So I picked up some 2" insulating foam, a pair of 18"-diameter pine circles, and a couple yards of black felt to build myself a pair of insulation/bass-trap risers custom-fit to my 16-46PC+ subs. Total materials cost was about $30.
It took about 2.5 hours to put together the isolators, and I've put up some pictures of the construction process. The majority of time was spent sewing the felt wrap, as I had to do that by hand. Cutting the foam and rigid fiberglass was very easy using a hand saw and liquid nails worked perfectly as a bonding agent.
So far, I've tested the results and found that the subwoofers are indeed isolated from the floor, and thus the house. Instead of feeling the floor vibrate right next to the subwoofers during heavy bass sequences, all vibrations are due to air pressure interactions. I doubt this means the subwoofers can operate more efficiently, as the energy that was previously being sent into the floor should now be absorbed by the isolator. Maybe the isolator is rejecting energy transfer, but that seems unlikely.
Instead, I hope the primary benefit is reducing boominess that might occur due to vertical standing waves at the subwoofer locations. The rigid fiberglass and insulating foam should help trap some of that energy, and the riser will move the subwoofer drivers farther away from the floor. I haven't tested this yet, but I plan to do so.
Posted by josuah at 7:13 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 16, 2006
ART T8 Noise
I've been trying to get rid of the last bit of buzz and hum in my system, which seems to be due to some sort of strange electrical circuit behavior between the DMC-1 and MPS-1. Only when the two are interconnected in a particular way does the MPS-1 output noise on specific channels. I found that inserting a Hosa GLT-255 into the amplifier input removed the noise contributed by that channel. So I decided to purchase an ART T8 under the assumption that would work even better with full isolation. Unfortunately, the results were horrible.
Inserting the T8 between the DMC-1 and MPS-1 resulted in immediate noise at least 30dB higher than the previous noise. I tried this with just one channel connected between the DMC-1 and MPS-1 as well, and the noise was still there. Without the T8, a single channel connection results in no noise. I can't figure out how the T8 can possibly introduce noise like this, as it is a passive device containing some transformers and is supposed to eliminate noise due to ground loops and completely isolate the source and destination devices.
Anyway, I've sent the T8 and the 8-channel XLR snake back for a refund, and instead ordered seven more GLT-255's, which actually seem to work and cost much less as well.
Posted by josuah at 6:05 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 5, 2006
Emotiva Hum Fixed
I mentioned earlier that I was having some difficulty with hum between the Emotiva DMC-1 and MPS-1. I tried all the usual ground loop hum tests and solutions I could think of, as well as trying individual channels over balanced XLR. None of this worked, until I tried something a bit more drastic.
I removed all of the unbalanced RCA interconnects between the DMC-1 and MPS-1. Then used a single XLR cable to connect only one channel between the two. And there was no hum. So I went and bought a Hosa XLR-803 snake. Using balanced XLR for all the channels has greatly reduced the hum, although it is not completely gone.
Swapping amp modules, interconnects, channels, and speakers didn't solve the hum problem. In fact, the hum seems to be a result of interference between amplifier modules, mostly in amp banks 5, 6, and 7, that goes away for a single channel if there is no RCA input to that module, and decreases for a single channel if the neighboring module has its RCA connection removed.
Moving to a fully balanced audio path has solved the problem, although the hum is still there. The DMC-1 and MPS-1 support a fully balanced path, according to the manuals, as the balanced and unbalanced stages are kept separate.
Posted by josuah at 11:11 PM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 4, 2006
Emotiva Big Dogs
I purchased the Emotiva DMC-1 and MPS-1 pair on Tuesday of this week, and all of the hardware arrived today, three days later. The DMC-1 is much better than the Yamaha RX-V1400 I was using before as my pre-amp, and the MPS-1 provides twice the power of the Outlaw Audio 7100 in a much nicer chassis.
I ran an extended test of Moulin Rouge, which is my reference audio evaluation disc. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to turn back on the subwoofers during this time. However, I was extremely pleased with the audible improvements I heard from my speakers.
For starters, sounds were much more distinct. The start and end of any audio was sharper and more clearly defined. Less blurring between sequential sounds. There appears to be better channel separation too (at least what I understand to be channel separation); it was a lot easier to localize audio than before. I also heard more detail from all speakers, which might mean the DMC-1 has a better frequency response from its pre-outs, or might just be a result of no longer having the RX-V1400's parametric equalizer, although that seems counter-intuitive. In short, performance was noticeably improved. I do need to do some more listening with my subwoofers turned on though.
The only problem I've got is a hum from the pair. Once the DMC-1 is on, the hum is audible and annoying. I need to figure out how to fix this problem.
Posted by josuah at 9:20 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 10, 2006
Shanghai is Cold
Over the new year, I visited Shanghai which was my first time in China (excluding Hong Kong). I stayed at my dad's place because he has an apartment/office there, and went because I wanted to visit Luna. Shanghai is a lot like New York City, only more so in the ways I don't like New York City. It is even more crowded, dirtier, and noisier. Buses were frequently packed way past capacity, and no one obeys simple traffic rules like driving in one lane or not running red lights. So it is also pretty dangerous because you can be easily hit by a motorist and people can steal easily on the buses.
Despite that, the city planners have done a good job in many ways. There are separate lanes for bicycles and motorcyles in many areas, and raised or subterranean walkways for crossing busy streets. You can also find completely underground strip malls. And the traffic cops are doing their best to enforce good and safe pedestrian and motorist behavior in many places.
The biggest problem for me was the extreme cold. Temperatures hovered very close to 0°C or only a few degrees higher for the majority of my stay. I ended up getting sick on Wednesday or Thursday because it was raining heavily at freezing temperatures with strong winds and I got very wet while walking around. Plus, my dad doesn't like to use the heater so even on the 23rd floor when it is so cold outside, he had the bathroom window open and the heater set to 18°C or 20°C in the main room. So I would be really cold when there, and also when sleeping. He only turned up the heat later after I got sick. It was warmer to leave and get on the bus or go to the shopping mall.
Food is cheaper there, and of course there is a great variety of authentic Chinese food available. But if you decide to visit one of the new Western chains such as Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonald's, or Burger King the prices are the same as what you'll find in the U.S. (The same goes for any other imported brands of clothing or electronics.) But the menus are very different, and more like restaurants rather than fast food joints. You will find yourself waiting for a table at Pizza Hut, and the menu is Chinese-flavored at all of these places. I did really like the food at Ajisen Ramen though.
Coca-Cola and Pepsi have a strange sort of competition going on though, with Coca-Cola clearly spending much more on advertising. Both of them have created "teams" of celebrities to promote their brand, and you can find their faces pasted all over the place individually or as a team with their respective company brand in the background.
While I was there, Luna and I visited the TV broadcast tower, which is the 3rd tallest tower in the world or something like that. We also went to the museum which was featuring the paintings of many renaissance artists, but Luna wasn't interested in seeing any paintings. Plus the line was really long. Instead we looked at the gemstones, which she really liked. Shanghai also has a really cool aquarium with lots of different types of fish and other ocean and river life. The introductory exhibits are not that exciting, but later on you go down deep into a really long underwater tunnel so you can see all sorts of animals up close.
One thing that I did get a chance to do was visit a HiVi store and listen to a pair of Swans 2.2. These are amazing speakers featuring ribbon arrays for the tweeter and midrange, and four woofers. What I heard was excellent. Unfortunately, no one in Shanghai knows how to sell speakers. The room was acoustically horrible, and the salesmen did not know what they were doing (the DVD player and integrated amp were not configured correctly). The salesmen didn't even turn off the nearby television or close the doors into the rest of the mall. The room was glass walls and a hard floor, although there was a suspended ceiling. The speakers are rear-ported, but were placed way too close to the wall.
Posted by josuah at 4:25 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 11, 2005
Subwoofer Phase Adjustment
A few nights ago, I noticed that the bass on the 4 Strings Turn It Around album was not synchronized with the higher frequencies. And today, while playing DDR, it was sometimes hard to keep the beat. So I decided to investigate.
As it turns out, Kodo's Ibuki album is an excellent source of material for determining subwoofer phase. With my previous subwoofer phase setting of 0°, a fair portion of this album seemed muddied. It sounded like there were a lot more drums than there actually are. During busy sections, it became hard to distinguish individual drumbeats. Switching my subwoofer phase to 180° immediately cleared up the entire album.
It was a lot harder to use AVIA to determine the correct phase, even though it can be done with very careful attention to the subwoofer phase calibration tone and corresponding description. The beats on Turn It Around are much better aligned now as well.
Posted by josuah at 11:35 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 10, 2005
Repaired Garage Door
When I came home this past Sunday, I found out that my garage door would no longer open all the way. Turns out one of the high-tension springs had snapped while I was away. Possibly the last time I closed the garage door. It may have been weakened due to the water I was using in that area while using the hole saw on the hushbox acrylic, although that seems unlikely since that was three or four days earlier. Anyway, I bought a replacement spring tonight and the garage door is working perfectly again.
Posted by josuah at 4:13 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 4, 2005
Projector Mount Improvements
I finally got around to fixing up the annoyances of my projector mount and hushbox. The mount was causing a problem by being too short to drop the projector below the support beam that cuts across the theater. To fix this, I stuck a 2"x6" between the mount top and the ceiling. It doesn't look great, but I can cover with some black felt to fix that. The other problem was the small rectangular hole in the hushbox acrylic glass. It was too small and blocking some of the light. So I purchased a 5" hole-saw and enlarged the hole, using water again to keep the temperature down. Although I did overdrive the drill motor. I also took the time to level the projector using the mount. The end result is a much nicer picture.
Posted by josuah at 5:04 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 17, 2005
Katrina Donation Raffles
A few AV companies are holding Katrina donation raffles. So instead of donating directly to a charity and taking a tax deduction, you can enter a raffle to win something (raffles involving non-charity organizations are considered gambling and as such are not tax deductible) but still have 100% of your donation sent to the organizations like the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, or Save the Children. Here are some links: Rotel RMB-1075, Epiphany Audio 12-12, pro gear + cash, Talisman SE. These are all legitimate. Be wary of scam sites claiming to accept donations or holding raffles.
Posted by josuah at 8:34 PM UTC+00:00 | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 31, 2005
Sewing Machine
I bought a used sewing machine today. I should have done that in the first place, instead of buying the cheaply-constructed Handy Stitch. I opened the Handy Stitch after the motor burned out, and saw it is a simple arrangement of plastic gears and a cheap motor. That machine is fine for extremely small jobs that just need to be fixed up temporarily. But this sewing machine is simply so much better. It produces quality stitches very quickly.
Using it, I was able to finish the black polyester ceiling for my home theater. Now the light reflected off the screen does not bounce off of the white ceiling. The polyester does reflect some of the light, unlike my velvet side curtains, but it is better than the white ceiling. I hope it stays up though; the cloth is pulled pretty tight and there is a fair amount of stress being placed on the closet poles. I assume it should be okay, since the strain is probably very similar to what would be there due to lots of clothes. Only my poles are 100" long without a center support.
Posted by josuah at 2:34 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 29, 2005
New DVD Rack
I received the media tower I ordered today. Hard work assembling it, but it looks pretty good. It will hold 587 DVDs, so I am set for a good while on space. I had completely run out of space on the racks I was using for my CDs and DVDs. I'm still using that primary rack for my CDs, and I've moved the other display-type rack upstairs, to join the display-type rack I moved up previously.
Posted by josuah at 4:35 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 26, 2005
Improving the Ceiling
One of the things that has been bothering me about my current setup is the white ceiling and ceiling fan, right above the projection screen. The reflections can be distracting, especially as the bottom of the fan is several inches drop from the ceiling. So I removed the ceiling fan on Saturday, and bought some fabric and closet poles. I'm going to try and drape black fabric across the ceiling.
Unfortunately, the motor in my Handy Stitch burned out while sewing the fabric. I opened it up and it's just a basic gear system using a small motor. So I took one of the motors from Shannon & Yvonne that they were using for their motor boats and am going to try and fix the Handy Stitch. Just need to solder and it should be good as new.
Posted by josuah at 6:28 PM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 3, 2005
Cable Staples & Tie-Downs
I have been having lots of problems keeping my cables attached to the walls and ceiling without falling down. I did use some double-sided adhesive before, which works great until you want to remove the cable. Then it rips off some of the drywall, and needs to get painted over again. I've been using white duct tape instead, but it tends to lose adhesive fairly easily and then the cable will fall off. So today I went and bought some cable staples and cable tie-downs. The staples nail into the wall and the tie-downs are attached using screws or nails. Works perfectly. I don't have to worry about the cables falling anymore. And if I cover it up with white duct tape, it looks as inconspicuous as before.
Posted by josuah at 1:43 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 16, 2005
Hushbox Fan
On a hot day, the hushbox I just made can be a problem for the Hitachi PJTX100's fans. The heat will be generated faster than it leaves the box, and the fan will start working harder, thus more noisily, and the bulb lifetime will be decreased. So I rigged together a computer case fan, 9V battery, and switch that will turn on a fan to pump air into or out of the hushbox, depending on its orientation and position. This does help, but I need to figure out the best arrangement. Ideally, I will want to add more fans and replace the switch with a thermal trigger.
Posted by josuah at 2:46 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 14, 2005
Ceiling Mounted Rears
I stopped by Good Guys today and picked up another pair of OmniMount 20.0 Ceiling speaker mounts, for my rear surround speakers. I pulled them out 18" from the back wall and they are now suspended about 6" inches lower. The sound is much clearer coming out of them now. A significant improvement. I've also got all the surrounds pointed directly at my primary listening position now, instead of mostly parallel to the ground plane.
Posted by josuah at 5:40 AM UTC+00:00 | Comments (4) | TrackBack
June 5, 2005
Hushbox Acrylic Cut-out
I discovered yesterday that the acrylic front to my hushbox was creating a ghost image, due to the index of refraction and slightly imperfect positioning. Unless the incoming light is exactly perpendicular to the surface of the acrylic, a ghost image would be created. Since I cannot perfect the position, I decided to cut out a hole. I used a circular saw to cut out a rectangular hold in the acrylic. It's not very pretty, but it works.
Posted by josuah at 10:35 PM UTC+00:00 | Comments (0) | TrackBack