Dave, how about a contest???

[audibleconnoisseur]

Dave, James, how about a contest if you would allow...

What say you to a friendly competition for something 'Ascend' (maybe a t-shirt or polo and a hat? - unless you want to toss in a free 5.1 setup or something!?!?) for the best HT setup using your speakers? We can submit pics and you and James could be the final judge of your/our collective favorite looking setup? We would all put up our pics and can set up a poll for the forum goers to vote on which one they like best (one vote per person - I can set this up). You and James can take the top three chosen at say... Feb 28th (so there will be three weeks to vote) and you both vote on the one you like best of the top three chosen at that time!

If two people are the winner after your vote, either both win or the one with the most original votes wins. If still a tie, you can pick a third party from your partners to break the tie. Rules are simple;

1) Entrant can submit two pictures, +1 for the sub and it's location - 3 pics max
2) The system must be 5.1 or greater
3) System can not have been professionally installed - have to take word on this...
4) Use of how well cords are hidden must factor into the decision
5) Best possible use of proper and appropriate distances/measurements from mains and center to LP using your .73 rule should apply if possible

So, that is it and let us know if you are open to this or not. We will understand either way I am sure. I thought it might be interesting to see the different setups people have and put a mental picture to the screen name provided!

Since this was my idea, I will be happy to leave my setup out if you wish. What do you guys think?

[BradJudy]

Best looking setup isn't a fair contest - those with the money/space/time to build a dedicated theater room would likely win.

[audibleconnoisseur]

How would you offer to present it then? It is mainly to have a little fun, for others to show off their layout and for us to appreciate fine work and creativity. Rest is really for fun and to put a layout with a screen name since we all seem to know each other a bit, here. I am open to suggestions...

[drewface]

isn't there a thread for posting pictures of your setup already?

i need to get a hold of my girlfriends digital camera so i can get some shots of my setup at school. not exactly ideal (yay 20" crt monitor), and i'm pretty sure my speakers are overkill for the room, but oh well. sounds good

[Jonnyozero3]

Best looking setup isn't a fair contest - those with the money/space/time to build a dedicated theater room would likely win.

Nice idea - but this is why it just won't work.

I think people who are going to post photos probably already have. There's quite a few on the frappr map as well...

[audibleconnoisseur]

It was just a thought for fun so we could see others setups and such. Oh well, maybe another way and another time. I figured if there was a prize like the coveted t-shirt... it might be more fun. Either way it would be cool to see peoples cribs and setups

[Kingrsl]

It was a good idea. I'm not sure how many people here on this forum have taken the time to tweak their installations for something like this contest though. Some people don't have ideal locations for their theaters (I'm one of them) and can't stick to the .73 rule. We could still go ahead with the voting and just not have any prizes. That would probably encourage more people to submit pics. I'll take some pics of my setup tomorrow.

[audibleconnoisseur]

Yea, that was part of the point of it. I know that people like to win things too. The "prize" would have been small but still...

They can put them up or not, I don't want to offend anyone! Also thougth it might be neat for Dave to have something showing/presenting his speakers already set up in an environment so people can see the actual size as compared to the surroundings. Sometimes people can get ideas from others' setups. I guess it is the engineer and visual side of me coming out!

[HP666]

Why not just start the contest, have everyone who wants to send in pics of their setup do so by a certain deadline. Then Dave can pic a winner at random out of a hat or something. This way their is no subjectivity and it's fair across the board.

[Kingrsl]

These aren't the greatest quality photos. Here are some pics of my setup. I still have to do some in-wall surgery to hide the wires. I'm using Omni brackets with CBM-170 SE's for the rears but would like it more if the brackets could angle in to 90 degrees. Up front are CMT-340 SE Mains on 340M stands and a CMT-SE Center on a Vantage Point television wall mount. In the corner beside the couch, I have a HSU VTF-2 Mk3 sub. Below is a list of the equipment I have.

Samsung HL-S6187W DLP (calibrated by Gregg Loewen)
Sony STR-DA 5200ES receiver
Toshiba HD-A1
Cox Cable HD DVR
Xbox 360
JVC VCR (just in case)
Ascend Acoustics 340 SE Mains, 340 SE Center, 170 SE surrounds
HSU VTF-2 Mk3 subwoofer
Harmony 880 remote (finally an actual universal remote!)