LATEST Piece of Gear in Your Stack - What is it?

[DuncanS]

Last week Sennheiser HD800S brilliant headphones ............. but not cheap

 

[ar surround]

My new gear:

The preamp is a Parasound P7 with two sets of 7.1 inputs: One for the Oppo 205 multichannel and one for the Surround Master. It is a simple, elegant, analog unit that does everything I need from it.

Driving the front channels is a Parasound A21. It puts out 400 wpc into my 4 ohm front speakers.

Driving the center, surrounds and rears is a Parasound A52+. It puts out 255 wpc into my 4 ohm speakers. When I play quad only, it puts out 350 wpc given that it only handles the surrounds.

I am very pleased with the results. I now have about 50% more power than with my previous setup along with a much purer/cleaner signal path. I achieved the purer signal path by leveraging the Oppo 205's digital processing capabilities to better utilize its Sabre DACs. Speaker distances, trims, decoding, etc, are now done 100% in the 205.

Also, by purchasing open box and used equipment, I was able to replace my old Lexicon gear at about 70 cents on the dollar. Not bad when one can spend less and yet get an upgrade.

 

[fredblue]

Yamaha RX-A2A (holy instant fingerprint and dust magnet, Batman!)

Apple TV 4K (remote feels like an improvement..)

Wharfedale Diamond SW-150 (got rid of my subs as had nowhere to put them in the move, this cheapie wee chappy will have to do for now )

KEF Q-1s (used as Atmos Front Height speakers in a 5.1.2 config., will hopefully do the job while timbre matching existing KEF Q Series speakers)

(Atmos on the cheap, here we come...!)

 

[Tornado Red]

Yamaha RX-A2A (holy instant fingerprint and dust magnet, Batman!)

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Apple TV 4K (remote feels like an improvement..)

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Wharfedale Diamond SW-150 (got rid of my subs as had nowhere to put them in the move, this cheapie wee chappy will have to do for now )

View attachment 69775

KEF Q-1s (used as Atmos Front Height speakers in a 5.1.2 config., will hopefully do the job while timbre matching existing KEF Q Series speakers)

View attachment 69776

(Atmos on the cheap, here we come...!)

Hey Adam, just picked up an Apple 4k 2nd gen yesterday myself. I was wondering it you also have an Apple Watch? I'm having some issues with one and/or the other.

 

[fredblue]

Hey Adam, just picked up an Apple 4k 2nd gen yesterday myself. I was wondering it you also have an Apple Watch? I'm having some issues with one and/or the other.

hiya! nice to see you to see you nice! how are you getting on with your Apple TV 4K? i like it so far!

yes i have an Apple Watch which my Brother very kindly got me last Christmas, it seems to do some weird things like the screen disappearing, the battery life seems kinda erratic oh and it keeps on telling me what to do! sit! stand! walk! roll over! play dead! eat yer din dins! ah.. still it may be a bossy bit of kit but it ain't half pretty!

 

[fredblue]

oops! i meant to say! which kinda issues are you having with them?

 

[Tornado Red]

oops! i meant to say! which kinda issues are you having with them?

Ha, great to see you as well! Supposedly, I've read online (and watched a video) where you can pair your watch with the ATV. Had no issue pairing iPhone and iPad, but it won't recognize the watch at all. Spent an hour with tech support, covered the gamut on settings, WIFI, bluetooth, etc to no avail. Latest software with both. Or it may be me
Bill

 

[fredblue]

Ha, great to see you as well! Supposedly, I've read online (and watched a video) where you can pair your watch with the ATV. Had no issue pairing iPhone and iPad, but it won't recognize the watch at all. Spent an hour with tech support, covered the gamut on settings, WIFI, bluetooth, etc to no avail. Latest software with both. Or it may be me
Bill

ooh! that sounded fancy and i had no idea you could do it so i just gave it a go!

if you open the "Remote" app on your Watch (its the round blue thingy with the white triangular play symbol), choose the Apple TV you want to control from the list, go to settings > remotes & devices > remote app & devices and select Apple Watch, then enter the passcode that pops up on your Watch! ta-da! you're in! you can't do a hell of a lot but its cool for a coupla mins!

 

[Phaelon56]

Bought two SVS SB-1000 subs a couple weeks ago. $399 each from the SVS outlet store. I'm not installing my home theater until november, but the price was right, it's a relatively small room, and I think they will suit my needs. I'll be listening to music 50% to 75% of the time with movies making up the balance. I'm not into dramatic and really powerful earth shattering sound effects - I think this will work okay. Several weeks prior to that I bought a Denafrips Ares II DAC R to R ladder style DAC for my primary 2 way stereo system. I'm using it with a Bluesound Node 2i streamer. It has made an absolutely astounding difference in the sound. $772 US directly from the main distributor in Hong Kong, with a 3-year warranty. I looked for one used, but people were getting as much as $750 for used ones.

 

[Tornado Red]

ooh! that sounded fancy and i had no idea you could do it so i just gave it a go!

if you open the "Remote" app on your Watch (its the round blue thingy with the white triangular play symbol), choose the Apple TV you want to control from the list, go to settings > remotes & devices > remote app & devices and select Apple Watch, then enter the passcode that pops up on your Watch! ta-da! you're in! you can't do a hell of a lot but its cool for a coupla mins!

View attachment 69777

Thanks, unfortunately I went through all that several times to no avail. When Remote is open on the watch it doesn’t recognize ATV, even if I press Add Device. Same with the ATV, no watch shows as an option in remotes and devices. You can use your iPhone or watch (if connected) to control the basic functions of ATV, and dammit I need the watch to work or I may have to reach a bit further for the phone or remote

 

[Sal1950]

whazzat carbeureter on the left spikker???

OH Sorry @gene_stl , I just caught your question from back in Apr.
That's a S&S Cycle L Series, specifically a GBL 290 from the very early 70's
It holds a close place in my heart, I ran it for a couple years on my 1949 Panhead chopper and then for around 10 years on my 1966 Shovelhead. A good carb in it's day, great for drag racing and at wide open throttle but without a accelerator pump it's tended to stumble on acceleration, the later S&S designs were improvements for street riding.
Here's a pic of my panhead with me and my first wife on it, ca. July 4th 1973, oh how I wish I still had that ride.

 

[Sal1950]

Bought two SVS SB-1000 subs a couple weeks ago. $399 each from the SVS outlet store. I'm not installing my home theater until november, but the price was right, it's a relatively small room, and I think they will suit my needs.

You should be very pleased with 2 SB1000's in a small room. I have a pair of SB2000's in my place, they both use a 12 inch driver, only the 2000 has a 500 watt and and the 1000 a 300 watt amp. All things being equal that would amount to less than a 3db increase in max output. My 2000 really rock here, never got them even close to max output. Nothing to fret over.

 

[marpow]

 

[Miker1102]

I had 7 Definitive Technology speakers but had to do more downsizing to pay the damned medical bills, so now I have replaced them with 9 Mirage speakers which I managed to buy for 1/3 of what I had in the Def Techs. These should last me the last couple of years I have left, unless my unstable upstairs neighbor who "packs iron" comes down and blows my brains out because my bass is too much for him.

Pictures coming later.

What type of Mirage do you have? I am using an omd HT set. They are quite the speaker.

 

[timothyemerson]

Zidoo Z9X Media Player:

1. Straight off the bat, this doesn't handle all music formats. 5.1 DSD won't play (I believe the chip can't handle it so it's a hardware limitation) and 4.0 (even with silent centre) FLAC just plays the surrounds - nothing from up front. So, as far as a music media player goes, I'm sticking with my Sony X800.

2. I was looking for a cheap media player to play MKVs from 4TB HDDs which this does.

3. I've only watched 3 MKVs so far but it's played them all with no dramas:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Director's Cut, of course) 4K - no Dolby Vision
Jaws 4K - with Dolby Vision
Sorcerer BD

4. Unlike the Sony X800, the Zidoo outputs Dolby Vision so I've been able to see what this looks like for the first time. I switched between Dolby Vision and forcing the Zidoo to output HDR10 only and couldn't tell the difference but hey, Dolby Vision works.

5. There are loads of colour settings and like my el cheapo Laser BD player, this appears to produce a higher resolution image (with either more grain or more digital noise) than the Sony X800. I've side-by-side compared MKVs with the original BD and there's definitely a perceptible difference. Not sure what's going on there but the bottom line is the Zidoo looks good.

6. Chapters in MKVs are navigable and subtitles all seem to be behaving.

7. It wasn't all plain sailing from the get-go: I managed to lock up the Zidoo once I started monkeying with the settings. I'm not sure exactly what I did but I think I told it to output a colour setting and then restricted it with another setting. Resetting the Zidoo didn't seem to do anything initially but it eventually considered it's options and came back to the party. Hasn't spat the dummy since.

8. I bought mine direct from Hong Kong: https://www.zidoo.tv/Product/index/model/Z9X/target/VEMg6VRC2+9KKmVViAFMcQ==.html and only cost $320 NZD including shipping.

9. Here are some helpful threads that might help you decide if it'll suit you (or ask me and I'll see if I can answer):
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/zidoo-z9x-rtd1619-thread.3140924/http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?forums/hdd-media-player-rtd-1619dr.54/http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?thr...619-players-naming-file-updated-jan-22.82695/
10: Here's a pic near my Sony X800 and a WD 4TB HDD for size comparison (the Zidoo is the grey thing). Pretty small. No reason why someone couldn't cram all this functionality into a 4K disc player to produce a truly universal media player.

 

[sjcorne]

Panasonic SH-3433

Of course, I just had to attach a video of it performing the swirling intro to Billy Paul's "War Of The Gods"

 

[M-D-Z]

Old but new-to-me JBL Bass-Q to wrangle my subs.

Did this unit deliver results to your expectations?
I run 4 passive subs that I wrangle old school.

 

[fredblue]

Panasonic SH-3433

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Of course, I just had to attach a video of it performing the swirling intro to Billy Paul's "War Of The Gods"

View attachment 81563

MASTERPIECE!!!

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Panasonic SH-3433

View attachment 81561

Of course, I just had to attach a video of it performing the swirling intro to Billy Paul's "War Of The Gods"

View attachment 81563

Congratulations! It looks as good as new. How are the CRT traces? I have that same unit & it works great except for a center front signal where there's a little squiggle in what should be a straight up 12:00 trace. I also have a Wurlyscope that I use most of the time to keep mileage off the Panny's CRT.

One thing I did maybe ten years ago... I moved the Quadscope into a closet , set up & focused an old VHS-C camcorder on the screen. This went to my projector on a 4' x 7' screen. I then had essentially a 4' square Quadscope! Give it a try if you can.

 

[sjcorne]

Congratulations! It looks as good as new. How are the CRT traces? I have that same unit & it works great except for a center front signal where there's a little squiggle in what should be a straight up 12:00 trace. I also have a Wurlyscope that I use most of the time to keep mileage off the Panny's CRT.

Thanks! I think the controls all need to be sprayed, the right rear beam seemed shorter than the others until I flipped the "rear phase" switch back-and-forth a few times. I did get a clean vertical beam when playing the first track from Beck's Sea Change SACD, as there's an acoustic guitar mixed dead center upfront.

It seems to work perfectly with discrete optical sources like SACD, Blu-Ray, etc (Santana's "Black Magic Woman" is another one that shows a fun swirling pattern), but I'm seeing some weird anomalies with vinyl formats like SQ, CD-4, etc. For example - while using the SQT-1100 test record with my Fosgate Tate 101A, I noticed the test tone from left rear 'bleeds' quite a bit to left front whereas right rear is more-or-less discrete. I'll have to post some pictures, maybe even start a new thread.