So, here it is.

[admin_exported]

After 10 years with no discernable HiFi to speak of and at the end of a 4 month build up here it is finally all set up. Sorry bout' the photo's - taken late in the day with not very good light.
System:

• Denon AVR-4306
• Cambridge Audio Azur 740C
• 20Gb iPod
• Xbox 360
• Grundig Lenaro 96cm tv with integrated digital tuner & DVD player
• Grundig Vivance VCR

Speakers

• Monitor Audio RS6 (bi-amped) /RSLCR (biwired)
• Denon SCM7 speakers used for rear channel on stands
• Velodyne CHT-12R sub

Cables & Accessories

• Van Den Hul 'Tea Track' biwire version of CS-122 speaker cables
• Van Den Hul 'The Thunderline' connecting CD player to amp
• Crest Coaxial Digital connecting TV to amp
• Optical connection from Xbox 360 to amp
• Denon iPod Connector
• Very bad (to be replaced) Ikea unit
• Sennheiser RS110 wireless cans

 

[Thaiman]

Nice garden...but bare brick wall! Don't they have a plaster company in Australia?

Oh and lovely system, well done

 

[Anonymous]

Damien don't you keep the grilles on? You're wife hasn't beaten you up yet for having the really pretty drivers on show?? ;-)

 

[Anonymous]

So that's it eh? 😉 Congrats man, that's one hell of a set-up! Those MA's look so cool, wallnut is just the right colour when you want to take the grilles off! Have fun with it!

 

[D.J.KRIME]

How the heck did you mange to post your pictures? I have been trying for ages and I cant manage it! Its driving me nuts!!!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Thaiman"]
Nice garden...but bare brick wall! Don't they have a plaster company in Australia?

Oh and lovely system, well done
[/quote]
Thanks and I know, bare walls - nightmare accoustics and the bay window - not exactly good for prime speaker positioning! Unfortunately its not my house - we're with the inlaws while we wait for the council to slice up the land so we can build our own.
Next year, this lot will be going into a custom designed and built room with a nice big projection screen in place of the tv.

[quote user="Pim"]So that's it eh? 😉 Congrats man, that's one hell of a set-up! Those MA's look so cool, wallnut is just the right colour when you want to take the grilles off! Have fun with it![/quote]
[quote user="Will Harris"]Damien don't you keep the grilles on? You're wife hasn't beaten you up yet for having the really pretty drivers on show?? ;-)[/quote]
Yep, MA do indeed make a very attractive speaker - they look great with the grilles on or off and most of the time they're on - I just took em off for your enjoyment ; )
They do sound a tad better without however so I suspect they'll be seeing more action with no clothing!
My Wife's great - encourages me to get what I want and is happy to get involved in picking stuff too - and I'm a bit fussy over how things look too so she's usually happy.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="D.J.KRIME"]
How the heck did you mange to post your pictures? I have been trying for ages and I cant manage it! Its driving me nuts!!!!!!
[/quote]
You'll need to upload your pics elsewhere first as there's nowhere to host em' here - use flickr if you dont have a hosting account or server then you just embed a link to the picture. I think for those of you using PC's (never mind), there's a nice little editor you can use to embed the link. For Mac users who dont get the nice little editor, you can use the following code to embed the link: <img src=""full-link-to-URL-here"" /> We have our own server as this is what we do.

 

[Anonymous]

i like your system looks powerful and i bet the treble is super crisp.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="mpopp87"]i like your system looks powerful and i bet the treble is super crisp.[/quote]
Thanks, its crisp as a super honed blade! just the way I like it.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

posted my photo correctly at flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/12568205@N08/1293582732/) but cant get it to show image on here and dont know what im doing wrong. When the box pops up on haer and asks for a url do I simply put in the address I have here?

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Damien, I see you have your stereo speakers Bi-amped through your surround receiver. I figured I could do the same thing with my Yammy, so how does it work for you? Does it make a big difference then say, just bi-wiring or singele wiring 'em? I suppose you run your amp in something like "7 channel stereo" to make the bi-amping work? Doesn't this mean the centre plays along too? Just wondering...!

 

[D.J.KRIME]

If your Yamaha is anything like mine(RXV 2500) on the front you should have a A and B selector for your front speakers alowing in you to run 2 sets of front left and right speakers at equal volume in 2 seperate rooms(zones). To bi-wire your fronts simply place the 2 sets of speaker cables into A and B front left and right on the back of your Yamaha and select both A and B on the front of your amp and you are away!

 

[Anonymous]

Hey DJ Krime, thanks but I figured that out already! I'm more wondering about the bi-amping through a AV receiver. i've got a RX-V650 by the way.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="D.J.KRIME"]
posted my photo correctly at flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/12568205@N08/1293582732/) but cant get it to show image on here and dont know what im doing wrong. When the box pops up on haer and asks for a url do I simply put in the address I have here?
[/quote]
Yep - I'll get round to posting some instructions for this tomorrow.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Pim"]Hey Damien, I see you have your stereo speakers Bi-amped through your surround receiver. I figured I could do the same thing with my Yammy, so how does it work for you? Does it make a big difference then say, just bi-wiring or singele wiring 'em? I suppose you run your amp in something like "7 channel stereo" to make the bi-amping work? Doesn't this mean the centre plays along too? Just wondering...![/quote]
My Denon amp has equal power amps throughout and allows you to assign the surround back channel amps either for a) Surround Back (duh), b) Stereo for another zone/room, c) Front - you then use the surround back channel outputs as one set of outputs for the front (say High Frequency connections on speakers) and the normal front channel outputs for the other half (Low Frequency). Apart form this there's no set-up difference, you just use it as normal - either straight stereo or surround, whatever. What you do trade of course is the ability to have 7ch as opposed to 5ch or for powering another room, but as I use my system for probably 10x more music than movies and dont have another room, this suits me fine.
I've no idea what Yamaha amps offer - best to check the manual before trying bi-amping as I think you could short your speakers or amp if done wrong.
I can only assume it makes a difference as I changed everything at once - I went from some standard 80 strand copper cables - single wired to a new CD player, new interconnect and new bi-amped expensive (ish) speaker cables - all at the same time.
What I can say is that the overall result of the new cables and connection set up is amazing - a huge difference to what I had before - most noticeably in the midrange. Stereo separation is MUCH better - mid and low frequencies dont swamp the highs - everything stays nice and crisp and pace is great, thumping along nicely. Overall it seems to broaden the soundfield a lot.
I know when I had my last HiFi, changing to good cables made a difference and bi-wiring made a big difference. I can only assume that bi-amping extends this progression and feeding each driver its own power can only be a good thing though I'm sure there are those who disagree - I'm happy with mine.
Best thing is to try it for yourself and see if it offers an improvement - if not you can always change it back but I'd be very surprised if you didnt hear at least some improvement by either bi-wire or bi-amping.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your thorough reply Damien, i'll check my manual and see if it is possible with my amp too, since your amp is a good bit more up-market then mine.