I've been in contact w/ Nicholas about putting together a 6 channel TVC for my Hometheater. I don't know if anybody is interested but I think I'm just starting this to get my thoughts straight.
The way my system is tweeked is based on stuff I've read on audiophile blogs, "the simpler the system the better the sound". With that philosophy in mind, I use my DVD player's analog outs so the player is doing all the processing. The DVD player analog output setting has all the channels set to large (no crossover in the signal path) and only the LFE signal to the .1 channel subs. My receiver is in bypass mode and is currently just a volume control unit. (again no processing in the receiver)
The set up above was done over time, a little tweak here and a little tweak there. I found that the simpler I made the signal path the better "I" liked the sound.
My Current and very Humble System:
Tosiba SD-6200 DVD Player
VPI Aries Turntable, JMW-10 Arm, Sumiko Celebration MC Cartridge
Rotel RQ-970BX Phono Stage
Pioneer VSX-D HT Receiver
5 Speakercraft AIM3 in ceiling speakers
2 ACI Force Subs
Plain vanila (whatever I could find) IC's
Plain gage wire (from Monster Cable) speaker wire
My upgrade list:
An old B&K 1430 3-channel amp
The Promitheus 6-channel custom TVC (to replace the recevier)
Blue Jean IC's
Anti-Cable Speaker wire
I've only reacently purchased the amp and I'm going to place an order for the TVC, then I'll purchase the wires.
The TVC will be able to except one 6-channel source and one 2-channel source. There will be 3 volume controls. Nicholas says the max number of channels for a volume control is 4. Any more than 4 channels per control increases the cost significantly. Channels 1 and 2 will be on one control (for the front left and right of both the DVD player and the turntable), channel 3 is by itself (this will be for the subwoofer, which will be explained below), the final volume control will be for channels 4, 5, and 6 (the center and surrounds).
It sounds like a pain having 3 volume controls, so I plan on calibrating everything using an AVIA test disc and just leaving the volume controls alone (possibly marking the positions or I might use a "Locktight" breakable seal, we'll see).
The reason for the seperate subwoofer knob is that Dolby Digital recommends that the subwoofer be calibrate 5 to 10 dbs higher than the other channels. Since my DVD player can only do fine tuning, I need a gross volume control for the subs. If life was perfect I would have 5 channels on one volume control and the subs would be on a second.
Anyway, I may come back to this thread and report how everything goes. I'm really geeking out over the Panasonic DMP-BD50 or the Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray Players. When they finally come to market one of thoughs will be my next upgrade. That way I can take REAL advantage of the TVC w/ lossless audio going through it.
Anyway thanks for reading.
