[World Leader Pretend]

Hey everyone, just wanted to poke my head in and say hi.  I am a member at some of the other AV forums, but this one actually looks clean and free of ads, plus there are tons of DIY people here.   

A bit about me, I am 16 and currently inhabit the great state of Kansas.  I am taking classes both at my high school and a latin class at Kansas State University.  My system has been in some ways more about my room than the system itself.  My family moved into a 100 year-old house and I took it upon myself to completely renovate the attic.  8 months later it was completed with no outside help (besides the electrical, due to codes) and it looks great! 
OLD:

NEW:





My system is pretty modest so far, consisting of:
Harman Kardon AVR 235 receiver
Crest V-650 power amp
Yammy 5-disk CD changer
Klipsch Kg2 speakers
Infinite Baffle subwoofer (2x18")

It is fairly rocking, especially the sub, but I feel like building a AV-3 kit sometime to improve the detail.  The stands and rack are homemade by myself. 



Anyway, I am happy to have stumbled across this place! 

-WLP

(PS- why do we have a pedophile smiley? ->  aa) 

[Double Ugly]

Welcome to AC, WLP. 

The room does indeed look great, and that you did most of the work yourself is extraordinary IMHO.  Congratulations are definitely in order for a job well done. 

-Jim

[Nick B]

Welcome, WLP. That is beautiful work.     Looks like you have skills in areas other than audio.

Nick

[World Leader Pretend]

Thanks guys!   

[WEEZ]

 

Hope you're avoiding all the storms out there in Kansas...(what a tragedy )

Better system than I had at 16 that's for sure   Welcome!

WEEZ

[JimJ]

You're following me, aren't you? 

Better system than I had at 16 that's for sure

Indeed. I think I had a late '70s vintage Kenwood integrated amp and flea-market Yamaha 3-way bookshelves when I was 16.

[ctviggen]

There's no way I could've done that when I was 16.  I'm not sure I could do it now!  That's a very killer setup.

[Steve]

That is very very nice. Congradulations WLP. Hope everyone is doing better your way. 

[nathanm]

Cool room, I love slanty ceilings!

[World Leader Pretend]

Thanks, I learned pretty quickly that you save tons of money if you build things yourself.  The problem is, it takes a long time to get anything done.  Dry-walling that attic was so annoying, there wasn't a single square piece of drywall in the entire project.  Everything had to be custom cut on multiple side to fit (and don't even mention the mudding and sanding).  It took my dad and I a few months to finally finish it out. 

I absolutely love the room, but there are a few complaints...  One is that it can get kinda hot up there, and I need to save up for an AC someday.  The second is that my neighbors, college students, like to stay up until 4am partying some weekdays.  I am fine with friday/satuday nights, because I am usually up late anyway, but school nights are not the days where you need 30 drunken college kids in your backyard. 

Anyway, I am glad you like my system/room! 

WLP

[JimJ]

but school nights are not the days where you need 30 drunken college kids in your backyard.

Give it a few years, your freshman year you'll realize too that Thursday nights are perfect for parties 

[World Leader Pretend]

but school nights are not the days where you need 30 drunken college kids in your backyard.

Give it a few years, your freshman year you'll realize too that Thursday nights are perfect for parties 

Hell, I already have "wandered over" to a few parties to say hi, but they aren't really my type.  It is mostly foreign students from South America and Eastern Europe, and they smoke more than they should.    I hate cigarette smoke.  I don't mind the alcohol though 

[nathanm]

I'll trade you my neighbors for yours!  Deal? 

[JLM]

Nice room, great work! 

I'd keep to standmounted speakers so that they and you can stay low, away from the slanted/low ceiling.  Mapleshade for instance would tell you to use very low stands with tilt back and to sit with your back against a wall.  This will also reinforce the bass you hear and minimize reflectios off the floor.  Don't know if you've noticed, but bass easily travels down in a building, and I'm sure you want to keep on Dad's good side. 

Smaller speakers also work great in dorms, apartments, and frequent moves which is exactly what your life will probably be for the next several years.  These are also the settings theves seem to like too, so keep it looking "ordinary".  (DIY speaker cabinets can be finished later to match a nice decor.)

With your skills DIY speakers would seem like an obvious choice, but if you do decide to stay small its hard to  avoid the logic of the small x-ls 2-way speakers for $220/pair (and possibly the matching powered sub).  Another options that comes to mind are Ascend Acoustics CBM-170SEs for $340/pair.  They sound marvelous, have a recessed soft dome tweeter and cheap black vinyl skin (both good for rough times with juveniles).

The traditional poor man's option for killer sound on a budget, especially in small digs or noisy neighbors, are headphones.  I did that for a while in college.  The Eastern Electric CD player has a variable volume headphone output and it 2/3rds the width of typical CDPs.  Look for a 6moons.com review with headphones.  Might be out of your price range new, but a few used ones do show up on Audiogon. 

Another headphone option is ripping music to a hard drive but I don't know what head phone amps are available to accept USB input (but you can buy a converter).  If you rip use Apple lossless or FLAC lossless compression to keep the fidelity.  Or you can have an iPod modded (see Red Wine Audio here at AC).

[World Leader Pretend]

Cool, thanks for your advice.  I am in the process of working out a business plan to build GR-Research speakers like the AV-3 and OB-5 and setting them up in locally-owned sound shops and bistros.  I then would put my website on them so any interested buyers could check them out and buy them outright.  It could generate some cash to help pay for classes... 

Obviously I wouldn't have the cab building skills of some of the people on this board, but I do have access to a large cabinent building shop (my grandpa's) complete with all the saws you need and a separate painting/finishing room.  I would just keep the finishes black and maybe some gray accents, but NO veneering or anything that could look unprofessional if done wrong. 

There is a pretty good-sized local market, and maybe I could sell a few pairs.  One shop I am looking into partnering with is the sole source of vinyl, so if there are any audiophiles out lurking they would probably see the speakers.  I think that it could work, especially coupled with a slick website.  I am a website design master btw, as I fully subscribe to the Apple school of design.

I'll share the link after I  get it up.

WLP