Finished! My setup

[Paul.]

Hi all, Im sat here listening to my setup at last happy with the way everything sounds after nearly two months of fetling. The setup is built around an Onkyo 805, PS3, old Philips CDR 870 as CD transport, an Apple tv2, a PS3 for bluray and a wii. Speakers duty comes from MA BR5's, BR1's as surrounds on 100cm Atacama Nexus stands, a BX center (couldn't find a BR in walnut) and a REL T3 sub. For reasons unknown to me, the sub wears my housemates boyfriends hat. It anthropomorphises him quite nicely I think. Passive radiator you say? NO, its obviously his face...

The BX center integrates really nicely with the rest of the setup really nicely, but not a fan of the clean lines of the BX range. Im sure the chassis design is better, but I really like the industrial look of the BR series. The T3 is lovely, the high level input is a great upgrade over the BR-W10, and as a result is very musical.

Cables are Chord Rumour 4 for the fronts (bi-amped using side channels) Chord Rumour 2 for the centre, and Leyline for the long runs to the rears. I have QED Classic hdmi, and a Chord something or other optical for the Philips.

Got this Alphason TV stand off of ebay, really happy with it. Cost a smidge over a ton, includes a bracket (rented property, cant drill the walls and beside the fact the amp sticks out three inches out of the front its great!

 

[Paul.]

I cant win, safari wont let me post pictures and firefox screws up the smileys

 

[Messiah]

Very nice!

 

[simonlewis]

Very smart, who does all the cleaning & dusting.

 

[Anonymous]

ohh yeah, nicee set up there paul, slickkk.

 

[Paul.]

Thanks guys, its not as clean as it looks!

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Nice set up..........but.......

Can't you set the receiver so those 3 inches are behind the stand, rather than the receiver sticking out at the front??

Just a thought....

 

[Paul.]

Unfortunately the metal bracket that holds the telly goes all the way to the ground, so the amp cant poke out the back

 

[Tonestar1]

Is that a movie poster above the fireplace?

 

[Paul.]

Yep, house mate is a huge Claire Denis fan, so had a signed poster framed. Here's a shot of the old setup you can see it in.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow! Everything looks so clean. Really nice.

 

[scene]

All looking good

At least the onk won"t overheat

 

[Red Dragon]

Very nice Paul, lovely setup and bet it sounds brilliant too. Loving the gloss finish to the rack/stand, just a pity the Onkyo is such a beast and dominates it all !! Can't be helped tho...congrats

 

[markiedee]

wow that is really nice very clean looking.

 

[richardw42]

Thay Onkyo amp is a Monster.

Until recently I had all BR speakers (I still use the BR1s for rears), and I have to say I was never completely convinced by the the BR Centre, occasionally dialogue was less than clear.

So whether by luck or judgment I think you've done the right thing getting the BX.

When BX range first came out I posted on MAs Facebook page saying they didn't look as good as the BRs but the cleaner lines are really growing on me.

 

[Paul.]

When I get time I plan to cut a hole in the rear tv column and make a recessed steel brace to strengthen it. This should buy me back about two inches to fit the amp further back in to the cabinet. It sounds nice right now, and tbh I'm fed up with fettling for a while! I plan on watching lots of movies and playing a lot of gt5

Richard, I didn't have an opportunity to demo a BR centre, so it was more luck than judgement! From what I read the only weak link in the BR5 AV setup was the sub and I dodged that bullet.

 

[Fisherking 145]

Fettling, great word, with or without 2 t's!

Imacculate set up Paul, your house mate is very, very lucky. Quality pics by the way, enjoy!

 

[Paul.]

Fisherking 145:
your house mate is very, very lucky

You say that, but she doesn't care! Not wanting to start a sexist debate here, but the majority of girls I know don't care about sound quality. She asked the other day 'Does it all have to be so big?'

Doesn't help that she works for arguably the best indy cinema in England

 

[ayjaycee]

Paul,

Nice set up. How does the Onkyo AVR get on with such a small amount of head room for ventilation? One of the reasons that I went for a Marantz NR1501 (and a Cambridge Azur 540R before that) was the relatively small form factor - it is still at least 2" shorter than almost all other AVRs on the market thus allowing it to fit my rack and breathe (that and 'the boss' hates the size of the others).

Ayjaycee

 

[Paul.]

It seems ok, I cant push the amp too hard in a terraced house so It doesnt get too hot. I have cut away the back of the tv cabinate around the amp so air can flow through. Luckily the transformers and radiators are quite near the front as well,

So I should get away with it. Im keeping an eye on the heat, if I notice it getting too hot I will replace the glass shelf with wood, and cut it in half so there will be nothing directly above the amp for six inches.

 

[Anonymous]

looks great!.... just one question - where did you get that hat?!

 

[Paul.]

I think my housemates bloke 'found' it at a house party, really suits the sub doesn't it! It's got a h&m tag in it, should I add it to my sig?

 

[Paul.]

Just a little update...

Everything is settling in quite nicely, had a chance to listen to some quite 'unsociable' music this afternoon, some old Chemical Brothers, Adam Freeland, Evil9 etc louder than I would usually (no one was in for a change and kept an eye on the big onk's temperature. Also been watching alot of films recently too, at about -20db volume. All my plans for heat dissipation were moot as it turns out, it doesn't seem to get that hot. Which is nice cos Im bored of moving and building, AV should be a spectator sport!

Anyway, the system sounds really great, the treble has really tamed itself, so has the slight sibilance I thought I was hearing. If you bellieve in cable joojoo, its possible all the Chord stuff I bought on eBay has re-bedded in, but if you dont, its just as likely that over time all the Marantz has worked its way out of my system (i.e my head).

What do you think the half life of an old system is, about two weeks?

 

[shooter]

Evil 9 and Adam Freeland, yea there's some good tunes there. Loved the first Evil release and bought it twice, once on CD and then on vinyl, You can be special too i think it was called. Hated the second album bar one track, which one i cant remember but a big let down after such a good first album, based on horror movie sound tracks or something, *****. And Adam Freeland, Now and Them is a great album and the Fabric mix is superb, one of my favourite mixes still. Seen him do a set at Fabric a few years back, a really good night. I might have to get those discs out, haven't heard them in a while, cheers!!

Tidy system.

 

[Paul.]

Your on the money there, it was 'You can be special too' and 'Now and them' that I was listening too! The Chem's album was 'Dig your own hole'.

Crooked is an absolute classic, all time fav, and grateful to it for introducing me to Aesop Rock.