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JohnnyCasaba
12-16-2003, 02:29 PM
Nice rack!

Sorry couldn't resist. Looks great.

Gregisme
12-16-2003, 02:30 PM
looks alot better.

alot better = 1/2 part new rack + 1/2 clutter clean-up.

Just clean up them wires, and Architectual Digest will come calling. [:D]

J.A.P
12-16-2003, 02:45 PM
That looks great! Perfect rack for a nice new 60" Sammy DLP. I was wondering what that beige box on the bottom left was? It would be cool if we all posted pics of our set up's think we should start a new thread?

Ben_Wood
12-16-2003, 07:12 PM
J.A.P I thought the beige box was Curtis' **** Wave stereo! [:D]

azanon
12-16-2003, 08:25 PM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Arial, Verdana, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">J.A.P I thought the beige box was Curtis' **** Wave stereo!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Ouch!

Quinn
12-16-2003, 10:23 PM
I'd guess the beige box is a power conditioner or battery back-up/surge protector.

curtis
12-16-2003, 11:39 PM
LOL....about 5 years ago, before I knew any better, I bought my Parents one of those **** clock radios!

Quinn got it. The beige box is an old Tripplite Power Isolator. It has not really done anything for the sound of the system, but it did make a noticeable difference to the TV picture. I think I paid $40 on eBay for it.

The before picture is pretty bad and looks messier than my place is......well sometimes it is cleaner. A lot of the stuff on the stand, mainly the pictures, were on the bookshelves that I used to have the speakers on.

I intentianally got the stand as wide as it is so that it will accomodate a big screen when I decide to get one.

I was going to use the old stand in my bedroom, but it sags so much in the middle now it looks pretty bad. The power amp and HK525 together were about 120lbs., and the TV has to be pushing about 200lbs. It was just a cheap piece from Ikea.

As for posting pictures, we do not have the storage space for pictures here, so you are going to have to find a place to host them and then link to them.

-curtis

ClutchBrake
12-17-2003, 12:41 AM
Very nice.

Just out of curiosity, how do you find people to do custom furniture. I know Brian Bunge at Rutledge did your speaker stands, who did your A/V rack?

curtis
12-17-2003, 02:22 AM
Brian could also do the rack.

I actually got lucky. I had been wanting a new A/V rack for a while. I called a couple of custom furniture makers in my area and got some quotes....but they could not make something exactly like I wanted out of maple, or it would have been very expensive. I also talked to Brian about it as well, his pricing was more reasonable, but something that large would have still cost a lot to ship.

So one day I went out to a local furniture place....they only use Pine and Alder wood. I actually ran into the owner when I was there. A nice older Vietnamese man. I told him what I was looking for, and he took me around the shop and had to say twice "Tell me what you want and I will make it"....when it finally sunk in, I said "really?". Apparently he has a factory close by. So we sketched out what I was looking for and he gave me a ballpark price...and it was cheap! So I said I would get back to him with the final measurements. I did that a couple of days later, along with the size of a bookshelf I wanted(you can see a bit of it in the picture), he gave me a price, I gave him 50% deposit. 2 1/2 weeks later...it was done.

It was not exactly as I had pictured, but it still came out better than what I thought he would come up with. He is going to make a box like shelf for the left and right sides as well. That way I can put my HK on it and still have some storage space beneath it.

I have also been talking to Brian about making a maple board to put on top of my VTF-3 to make it match the decor more and use it as an end table. This morning he pointed me to a place on the net, http://timbernation.com/ , that might be able to do it more cost effectively.

I have the sound I want....so now I am working on making the livingroom nicer. As you can see....nothing wrong with the black finish of the Ascends in that room.

Anyways...the stands, rack, and bookshelf has turned out to be a nice Christmas present to myself. [:D]

-curtis

curtis
12-28-2003, 05:38 AM
Just an update:

I purchased some shorter cables from www.bluejeanscable.com and cleaned up the cable mess. So here is what it looks like now:

CLEAN
http://www.thechangs.us/clean.JPG


-curtis

Ben_Wood
12-28-2003, 08:10 AM
Clean looking system Curtis! I see the Pioneer universal player has a place of honor. Did you get any interesting DVD-As or SACDs for presents? Sorry for that **** remark, it was all in fun![:D]

Gregisme
12-28-2003, 12:11 PM
Muuuch better. You don't have to be embarrassed to show your face anymore. ;-)

curtis
12-29-2003, 12:58 AM
Thanks guys!

Ben...the **** remark was funny. I was actually going to say it was my new subwoofer if someone asked and didn't get an answer.

-curtis

curtis
12-29-2003, 12:13 PM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Arial, Verdana, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Ben_Wood

Did you get any interesting DVD-As or SACDs for presents?[:D]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Nope...but I plan on doing some online shopping soon!

-curtis

Brian Bunge
12-29-2003, 01:14 PM
Curtis,

Is the Pioneer the 563 (or whatever it's called) that I've read so much about lately?

It looks like you've got a nice, clean-looking setup now. I'm glad I could help out on the speaker stands. I still think the top for your sub would be sooo much cooler if we built it with a cherry stringer running through the middle! [:)]

Brian Bunge
Rutledge Audio Design

curtis
12-29-2003, 01:46 PM
Yeah...it is the 563a. People have the realize the bass management on it is pretty bad....100hz crossver point for DVD-A and 120hz for SACD. I use the capability of my HK 525 to do bass management on the analog 5.1 inputs, most receivers do not have this feature. The downside is it has to digitize the signal to do the bass management. I lose some quality with that, but it still sounds very good. For now it is fine and just gives me somethingelse to upgrade....

The livingroom really is shaping up nicely. But ofcourse it is a little messy right now with kids' stuff from Christmas :)

I am still thinking of a top for the VTF-3....maple with a stringer from you, that butcher block place you told me about, and maybe just glass. Actually thinking about putting a glass piece on top of the rack/stand to protect it as well. We will see.

-curtis

Gregisme
01-20-2004, 03:52 AM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Arial, Verdana, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by curtis



I am still thinking of a top for the VTF-3....maple with a stringer from you, that butcher block place you told me about, and maybe just glass. Actually thinking about putting a glass piece on top of the rack/stand to protect it as well. We will see.

-curtis
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

So you can put materials on top of a subwoofer to "dress it up"? Is that what I'm understanding here? If so, any general guidelines for doing something like this? Can you put some coverage materials on the sides as well, without negatively impacting sound?

And what does this mean: " maple with a stringer "

sorry, I'm full of questions today, aren't I?? [:D]

curtis
01-28-2004, 01:57 AM
I missed this one post.

Greg, "dressing up" the VTF-3 is not a problem at all, as long as the ports of or the driver are not covered.

Maple with stringer - two pieces of maple, glued together side by side with a difference piece of wood down the middle for decoration. It used to be a big thing on surfboards......laying a "stringer" down the middle of the board for decoration and some rigidity.

-curtis

Gregisme
02-02-2004, 03:44 AM
good to know! Be sure to share some pictures if and when you do something interesting with them.