Finally purchased my new audio/home theater system

After months of looking and listening, I finally purchased the hardware for our audio/home theater room:

Energy Veritas speakers for the fronts, center, surrounds and subwoofer. Aragon StageOne pre/pro (7.1 channel), Acurus 125x5 amp., Panasonic RV82 DVD-A/DVD-V player, Sony 222ES CD/SACD player, Marantz VP12S1 projector (on loan). I need to get this thing up and running by Christmas day. I need something to keep my crazy nephews occupied (the equipment will be locked behind closed doors).

When I was listening to speakers I listened to Martin Logans, Maggies and numerous dynamic speakers. I really loved the way the Veritas sounded. Smooth, extended highs; sweet, somewhat laid back midrange and nice tight bass. What really impressed me about the speakers was how musical they made music sound. I hope that you know what I mean. I listened to Steve's Buddy Holly CD on the Veritas and the Statocaster sounded like a real guitar, not a recorded facsimile. Cymbals had the great ping, ring sound. I was totally freaked out! On a goosebump scale of 1 to 10, "You're Lost Little Girl" on Steve's "Strange Days" CD was a 10!!! Jim's voice floated in space between the right and left speaker. Every hair on my body stood up, I must have looked like a Porcupine!!!

This stuff is due to be delivered later this week.

 

Johnnyk,
Congrats on the new system. I have read some very positive things about both the Veritas speakers as well as the Aragon Stage One. Please be sure to provide a follow up once you get it up and running.

Out of curiousity, what other processors did you audition? I have an older Chiro unit that I really like but it doesn't have an analog pass through or some of the newer formats. I am wishful for a new preamp/processor and the Aragon is on my list with about 5 others in the $3,000 range.

Happy Holidays...

 

To hell with the sound what do you think of that projector? What kind of screen do you have?

John

 

JohnnyK,

Congrats on your new system sounds like it will be fun at your house this holiday season.

Let us know on the up-sampled redbook sound on the Panasonic vs. the SACD.........enquiring minds want to know.

 

It is difficult to audition pre/pro units. I don’t have the budget for the high-end units, like the Meridian or Krell, so I limited my search to the the more reasonably priced units. I also looked at the B&K Reference 50, but the Aragon won. The Aragon Stage One pre/pro is THX Ultra2 certified, meaning that it has all of the latest surround-sound formats and decoding options. It also uses identical 24-bit Crystal D/A converters for each of the eight output channels. I liked the fact that the stereo inputs and the eight channel analog inputs are designed to bypass the DSP module, allowing the pre/pro to function as an eight channel analog preamp. However, the stereo inputs can be switched so that the input signal is run through the DSP processor to take advantage of the surround effects.

After I get the thing running, I’ll let you know how it performs.

 

John,

The projector is not setup yet, I'll let you know how it performs after the holidays.

I currently do not have a screen. I was considering a Stewert screen, but the cost of these screens is way up there. A 100" diagonal 16:9 screen is almost $2,000 For now, I will be projecting onto a wall that is painted the same color as Stewert's Greyhawk screen.

John

 

I have developed my own home theater in my bedroom with my existing equipment consisting of the TV, HiFi VCR, DVD player in the future, digital cable (provided by Charter Communications), a minisystem stereo with an AUX input, Gemini mixer and Gemini turntable. The mixer is hooked right to the back of the stereo, the turntable is hooked directly into the mixer, the VCR is hooked up to the digital cable box like normal, plus so that I can get the sound into the mixer, I have an RCA to RCA stereo piggyback cable hooked from the VCR to the digital cable box and another RCA to RCA cable (regular) hooked up into one channel the mixer. When I get my DVD player, I will buy another piggyback cable so that it can be used in the same channel as the VCR and the digital cable. Truly an audiophile and home theater fan's dream. I still have room in my system for more components due to the mixer. In other words, my DJ mixer is the true center of my home theater system and the digital cable box provides Dolby Digital Hi-Fi sound (and surround sound for surround sound sources) for my VCR, future DVD player and cable TV so I'm still in the process of making up the shortcomings of my stereo by a long ways. What I'm doing is only making my stereo better than it already is. The built-in components on a minisystem do not sound as good as a truly good stereo system as we know. When I spin vinyl for now, the vinyl sounds better than just about any mass produced CD due to the additional hardware I've added but when I get my DVD player, I will play a CD in the DVD player and I know I will get even better sound than when I use the CD changer built in to the minisystem that I do use now due to the additional hardware I have added. In other words, I will mostly use the main minisystem as a receiver now.

 

I do manage to sleep at night surrounded by all that great stuff. BTW, last night, I watched on VHS, Cahill starring John Wayne and the Dolby Digital hi-fi sound sounds great on movies with the proper setup. If you wish to get a mixer, stop by NorthernLightFX.com and order one. You already have the rest of what's needed for my version of a home theater. My minisystem is an RCA with surround speakers and it does have bass boost.

 

I have turned a pale shade of green with envy

 

John,
I know you mentioned that the projector was a loaner. If your going to keep it, or any other projector for that matter, don't skimp on the screen. Matching the gain is very important. With the 12s1 and a 100" diagonal 16x9 screen I would suggest a gain of at least 1.3 or else the picture will look dull. A Grayhawk will not look that good on this PJ, you really nead more gain. That is why Stewart came out with the Firehawk which is a grey material (for the ambient light rejection) with a 1.35 gain. Its the perfect screen for this PJ at those screen sizes. The Greyhawk might work well for projectors with more light output or a smaller screen with this PJ.

If your just going to set up on a wall then I would suggest pure white with the Marantz until you can get a Firehawk.

BTW I bought the Firehawk screen material because I arleady had a Stewart frame for the very same projector. At a size of 48"x90" it cost me less than $600. I find it hard to believe that just the basic frame brings the total to $2000. They make a number of different frame options which ramp up the cost. The basic frame/screen should set you back about $1100 and its well worth it. What the Firehawk does for the PQ with this projector is stunning. Its one of the things you want to consider after you've go everything se up.

John

 

John,

Thank you for the information on the screen. I really appreciate the advice. I will probably paint the wall a pure white as a temporary fix.

John

 

Congrats Johnny on your new equipment.

I have the Panasonic RV-80 DVD player.

When did the RV-82 come out?

 

Gary,

I think that the RV-92 has been out for a while, in fact it is no longer being manufactured.

 

Panasonic is almost as bada Nike.

Models see to come a go very quicky.

Mine isn't progressive scan, but the picture is still great hooked up to my Pioneer Elite RPTV

 

Stick to it. I heard somewhere else that it is the top DVD non-prog player.