[hawkeyejw]

Awesome stuff Vince! We love our static+Voce combo too. Not only are they clear and dynamic when you crank them but they’re excellent at low volume too. My wife was always turning on closed captioning with our old speakers which drove me nuts. Not a problem anymore. Enjoy!

[hawkeyejw]

I too am a HT and movie lover.  I have the Super 7's downstairs and a JVC NX7 and I tell you what, sometimes I'm watching a 4k remaster of an older movie and the sound quality and picture quality are so amazing that I realize "wait, this look better and sounds better than it did during this movie's first run in the theaters".  And then you realize that you're experiencing it at a higher quality than anyone else in history has.  And that is freaking magical.

Are you running a phantom center with those beauties? Surround channels? Dynamics have to be off the charts with all those PMDs playing movie soundtracks.

[Tyson]

Are you running a phantom center with those beauties? Surround channels? Dynamics have to be off the charts with all those PMDs playing movie soundtracks.

Yeah it started life a a dedicated 2 channel system and the projector was added on later.  What I find is that its not the loud parts and the dynamics that are the most compelling.  Rather it's the nuance and low level detail that renders beauty. 

And as Vince is about to find out, this level of quality is something that pretty much all GR Research OB speakers are capable of.  I really envy the journey of discovery he's about to embark on with his theater.

[hawkeyejw]

Yeah it started life a a dedicated 2 channel system and the projector was added on later.  What I find is that its not the loud parts and the dynamics that are the most compelling.  Rather it's the nuance and low level detail that renders beauty. 

And as Vince is about to find out, this level of quality is something that pretty much all GR Research OB speakers are capable of.  I really envy the journey of discovery he's about to embark on with his theater.

It’s true, my favorite part with the statics is how alive and three dimensional they sound when you don’t expect it.

[Fltguy]

Will there be a soft opening?

[Vince in TX]

I too am a HT and movie lover.  I have the Super 7's downstairs and a JVC NX7 and I tell you what, sometimes I'm watching a 4k remaster of an older movie and the sound quality and picture quality are so amazing that I realize "wait, this look better and sounds better than it did during this movie's first run in the theaters".  And then you realize that you're experiencing it at a higher quality than anyone else in history has.  And that is freaking magical.

Very cool.   And this Sony VPL-VW715ES has exceeded my expectations.   I almost picked up the JVC, but I found this particular projector as an "open box" on Audio Advice and saved a couple thousand on it.   Worth every penny.

But I have discovered a downside.   I can now discern the lower-quality audio in some streaming services.   I was setting up my Apple TV 4K (2nd gen) yesterday, and popped into Peacock.   They had Jurassic Park, one of my all-time favorites and the first movie I had on DVD back in the day that supported DTS.   My memory had the sound quality way up there.   Unfortunately, the Peacock stream had me thinking there was a problem, so I popped in the 4K HDR version of it into my spanking new Panasonic DP-UB9000, and it definitely wasn't the speakers.   THAT sounded incredible (and, again, the room isn't even treated yet and I'm still running my Klipsch on the surrounds and SB-2000 subs instead of the Servo Subs).

I have never been able to detect that much difference between streaming and disc until now.   And my wife said the other day that discs were obsolete.   I don't think so.   

[hawkeyejw]

Yeah… audio is clearly better on the physical discs than anything you can get streaming. I can’t see too much difference these days in the picture quality for most things on my 65” OLED but I can for sure hear the difference when I play a 4K Blu-ray with lossless audio. You may be able to see a clear picture quality difference on that big screen through the Sony though. That’s going to be one nice setup when you get it finished up.

[Vince in TX]

Will there be a soft opening?

We did a dry run Saturday and invited a couple of friends over.   We ended up watching Titanic (1080p version on Blu-ray).   The plan was to watch Infinite with Mark Wahlberg, but my Internet went down right before dinner (turns out it was my fault - I knocked the amp for the cable/Internet service out of its socket while I was moving equipment from the game room to the theater room).   But we watched Infinite on Sunday with our nephews (fell asleep in the comfy chairs briefly), and then I picked up Sweet Home Alabama (one of the wife's all-time favorites) in all of it's 2.40:1 glory on sale for $4.99 from Amazon Prime and let her have the room to herself while the nephews and I worked on cleaning stuff up in the game room (moving garage sale crap to the garage, moving the beverage center upstairs, etc.).   She doesn't think it needs anything else (no acoustic treatments, no servo subs) and that it's perfect just the way it is.   That was good to hear.

There's still a lot of work to do, including cleaning out the popcorn machine, hooking up the ice machine, installing the countertop in the concessions area, installing sconces and acoustic treatments, assembling the electronics in the servo subs, laminating wood and installing the outer cabinets for servo subs, building, painting and installing the A/V-1RS surrounds, installing the media rack that is due to arrive sometime in the next couple of weeks (receiver and media players are sitting on their respective boxes at the moment), adding shelves....

[Tyson]

Some streams are great, but others are pretty meh.  For the movies that mean the most to me, I get the disc because it's always going to be the best quality. 

[Vince in TX]

Yeah… audio is clearly better on the physical discs than anything you can get streaming. I can’t see too much difference these days in the picture quality for most things on my 65” OLED but I can for sure hear the difference when I play a 4K Blu-ray with lossless audio. You may be able to see a clear picture quality difference on that big screen through the Sony though. That’s going to be one nice setup when you get it finished up.

Believe it or not, the very first movie I watched on it from beginning to end was 40 Pounds of Trouble (1959).   A buddy of mine has deep connections with Disneyland (his parents worked for Disney when the park first opened), and we were reminiscing about the scenes that were filmed in the park, so I picked it up on eBay last week.  Even zoomed to 2.35:1, that standard DVD image looked pretty good.   Titanic on Blu-ray (SDR) was definitely better., of course   And 4K HDR Jurassic Park even though it's only 1.85:1 looked incredible.   Last night, I dropped into Paramount+ and watched most of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's (Philosopher's for those on the other side of the pond) Stone.   And even that looked and sounded great (not as good as disc, but definitely better than Peacock, which I think I'll avoid watching in this room).

The journey has officially begun.   I just hope I can tear myself away from the screen long enough to finish it.

[Vince in TX]

Phew.   Six weeks seems like forever, but, progress!    Added some acoustic treatments and I'm almost done with the Servo Subs (https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=176852.0).

I am amazed at how much more clarity I'm getting from the front channels after adding the bass traps and simple acoustic panels (behind the speakers, aiming slightly upwards to both absorb and deflect).

Side note, it appears I misjudged the color of the X-series speakers.   I was trying to match the subs.   Close, but no cigar.

[hawkeyejw]

Looks pretty great!

[Danny Richie]

I put together a theater system for my dad and used those same speakers and subs. 

[Vince in TX]

I put together a theater system for my dad and used those same speakers and subs. 

Awesome!   I've had my first taste of the servo subs (after debugging and eliminating ground loop hum), and WOW!   I've spent over 20 years trying to recreate the experience I had in Mesquite, TX, at the Galaxy theater in 1999.   It was the only THX certified theater within hundreds of miles.   There was a distinct sound (and feeling in the seats) when the Pod Racers fired up their engines in The Phantom Menace.   I am happy to say I have finally recreated that sensation thanks to your engineering.   I can't wait to get these A/V-1RS speakers built!   

[Tyson]

Awesome!   I've had my first taste of the servo subs (after debugging and eliminating ground loop hum), and WOW!   I've spent over 20 years trying to recreate the experience I had in Mesquite, TX, at the Galaxy theater in 1999.   It was the only THX certified theater within hundreds of miles.   There was a distinct sound (and feeling in the seats) when the Pod Racers fired up their engines in The Phantom Menace.   I am happy to say I have finally recreated that sensation thanks to your engineering.   I can't wait to get these A/V-1RS speakers built!   

When I tell people here on the forum that the servo OB bass system Danny has created is a game changer and absolutely world class bass, I don't think people 'quite' understand how incredible these subs are.  Kudos on taking the leap!

[Vince in TX]

When I tell people here on the forum that the servo OB bass system Danny has created is a game changer and absolutely world class bass, I don't think people 'quite' understand how incredible these subs are.  Kudos on taking the leap!

I'm glad I did.   And best yet, they don't pressurize the room like those SVS SB-2000s did.   Those are getting moved to my game room now, which is open to the downstairs.

I haven't even broken them in or calibrated them yet and already they are amazing.

[corndog71]

I'm with Tyson on this.  It's one thing to read about these servo subs.  It's another thing to experience them.  Even just a single sealed servo sub can shake the walls and provide that low frequency info in shows and movies that let you know danger is near.  Or when you play music so many subs can sound impressive until you really listen only to find them lacking in resolution.  Danny's subs bring the decay and detail many subs just can't.  As impressive as they are when you first get them going they become something truly special when you get them properly dialed in.

[mlundy57]

I use a combination of open baffle servo subs in the front of the room connected as full range Left & Right main speakers and a sealed servo sub in the rear connected to the LFE (sub out) channel of the AV processor.

What can I say, I want the best of both worlds.

[Vince in TX]

I use a combination of open baffle servo subs in the front of the room connected as full range Left & Right main speakers and a sealed servo sub in the rear connected to the LFE (sub out) channel of the AV processor.

What can I say, I want the best of both worlds.

I am still considering this option.    Although I'm moving the pair of SB-2000s to the game room, I currently have a single PB-2000 in there.   I'm debating on moving that PB-2000 to the back of the theater and hooking things up the same way you're describing.   I'm still waiting on my amp from Klaus (Odyssey) before I finalize the speaker setup and calibration, though.

[Tyson]

I use a combination of open baffle servo subs in the front of the room connected as full range Left & Right main speakers and a sealed servo sub in the rear connected to the LFE (sub out) channel of the AV processor.

What can I say, I want the best of both worlds.

That's what I would do too, if I ever went back to multi-channel.