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Thread: Ascend Owners Photo Gallery

  1. #501
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    Dec 2005
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    Default Re: Ascend Owners Photo Gallery

    Quote Originally Posted by Dekpm19 View Post
    I have been looking at the 70" & 80" but with an 80" costing almost double what a 70" cost I may end up with a 70"
    My room is 15 x 21 and I sit about 13'
    13 feet from eyes to screen? Ya gotta go as big as you possibly can. A 95" diagonal screen would be the SMPTE recommended 30° viewing angle size.

    Is your room totally light controlled, as in, you can make it totally pitch black whenever you're viewing? If so, a front projector would definitely be the best choice. If you don't have light control, though, then the biggest flat panel that you can afford is the way to go

  2. #502
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    Jan 2012
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    9

    Default Re: Ascend Owners Photo Gallery

    I have windows but am going to put black out curtains and 2 of the window I have thought about just sheet rocking over them one day. They are the one the sun can come through. I have looked at pj and I thought I might try one out on the cheap side just to see if I would like it.
    Allen

  3. #503
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    Dec 2005
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    Default Re: Ascend Owners Photo Gallery

    If you can make the room as close to pitch black as possible whenever you're viewing, you'll LOVE a front projection setup! I had one back in the 720p days -- haha. And I'll definitely have one again when I get my house! Only reason I don't have one now is because a 7 foot viewing distance truly makes it unnecessary -- undesirable even

    Given how superb a $2500-ish projector like the Epson 5030UB or Panasonic AE8000 can be, it's awfully hard to recommend a flat panel, provided you can make the room dark. With how bright those units can get, you can have a "watchable" image even with some ambient light. But the black levels really wash out quick with projectors. Even a little bit of light turns the black to grey. But for something like a football game, the light output is more important. And with a very bright projector, even with a bit of light, it can look great.

    The screen is the other big consideration. So-called "black" screens like the Screen Innovations Black Diamond, they make some pretty bold claims about shedding ambient light and retaining black levels. They certainly do affect the image, but any time I've seen one, and any time someone I've known has bought one, the dark grey material and shiny above-1.0-gain reflectivity just don't look quite right.

    On the opposite end of the spectrum, a truly neutral white screen washes out super quickly, even with a tiny bit of light.

    For that reason, if you do want to use a screen with some ambient light, my personal preference is for a retro-reflective white screen. They tend to be high gain, like the Da-lite High Power, which means they typically produce some sparkles at certain angles. But overall, I far prefer them to the grey or "black" screens. If you can create pitch blackness, though, nothing beats a straight up neutral white screen.

    The other consideration is acoustic transparency. I'm a huge proponent of using an acoustically transparent screen. Not just so you can put your Center speaker behind the screen, which allows for the optimal height, and even vertical orientation of the screen if you'd like, but it's also optimal in terms of room acoustics, allowing you to treat the front wall, and avoiding creating a gigantic flat baffle at the front of your room!

    Thing is, other than perforated screens, most woven acoustically transparent screens are just neutral white. Screen Research has some more options, but they're super expensive. To me, the Elite Screens or Elunevision offerings make the most sense.

    Anywho, I'd certainly recommend trying to make front projection work for you. With that seating distance, there's no way to get the same, immersive, truly BIG screen experience from a flat panel. And in terms of price, it's no contest. Prices on excellent projectors are very reasonable, and even an electric roll-down acoustically transparent screen can be had at a reasonable price, too

  4. #504
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    Jan 2012
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    9

    Default Re: Ascend Owners Photo Gallery

    Thanks for the feed back I keep reading the pj threads over on Avs and I have to admit I keep thinking $3500.00 for a 80" TV or spend it on a pj set up. I am back and forth but I agree a pj would be nice and I think I could do a 100 to 110" screen. Thanks again for all of the information.
    Allen

  5. #505
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
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    394

    Default Re: Ascend Owners Photo Gallery

    DSCN0596.JPG

    A picture of my stereo system in the shop.

    Jay

  6. #506
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    Nov 2011
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    Space Coast, FL
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    578

    Default Re: Ascend Owners Photo Gallery

    Sah-weet!!

    That's a nice setup you've got there, Jay. I've never seen a shop so well-outfitted before. Looks like an OPPO BDP-83SE, Anthem D1 pre/pro and Anthem A-series or P-series amplifier (no sure which model), PS Audio subwoofer (or possibly SVS), and some no-name crappy speakers with a LAAR nobbir tweeter. No idea what that is, though.

    Unsure of what's on the bottom shelf.
    -Jacob

  7. #507
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    Nov 2011
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    394

    Default Re: Ascend Owners Photo Gallery

    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Ranger View Post
    Sah-weet!!

    That's a nice setup you've got there, Jay. I've never seen a shop so well-outfitted before. Looks like an OPPO BDP-83SE, Anthem D1 pre/pro and Anthem A-series or P-series amplifier (no sure which model), PS Audio subwoofer (or possibly SVS), and some no-name crappy speakers with a LAAR nobbir tweeter. No idea what that is, though.

    Unsure of what's on the bottom shelf.
    Most of it is equipment that has been retired from the theater system. Oppo BDP 83SE, Anthem D-1, Anthem MCA-20 (new), SVS PB-12 Ultra, Ascend Towers w/RAAL tweeters (new) in satin espresso, 8 outlet ZeroSurge surge protection (new). Found a link to the surge protector right here in the Ascend Forum!

    Building is fairly large (about 31 x 39 x 13) it's got steel shelving on most of the interior walls, and Styrofoam insulation covering the inside of the 12' high door. Plenty of junk in there to provide excellent absorption and diffusion (not that it needs much of that just with it's size).

    Having two very similar systems in such vastly different rooms really underscores how important the listening space really is. I do like the sound in this area quite a bit more compared with the tiny room my theater currently resides in. Also haven't heard a need to apply room correction, although I might do a sweep just to see what the bass response looks like at the current listening position.

    Sounds SO sweet it almost puts me in a diabetic coma every time I listen!

    Jay

    Edit: Oh, did you notice the boxed up Dahlquist DQ-10s behind the left Tower? Haven't looked inside those boxes for probably twenty years LOL!
    Last edited by petmotel; 11-13-2013 at 07:20 PM.

  8. #508
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Space Coast, FL
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    578

    Default Re: Ascend Owners Photo Gallery

    Yeah, I've found larger rooms typically sound better than smaller rooms. It would be interesting to see a sweep from both rooms. You might be surprised.

    I noticed the box behind the left Tower, but I couldn't read any of it due to the image size. "PHASE" is the only word I can make out. Funny story, though. I've never heard the DQ-10s in person. That 8 outlet ZeroSurge looks pretty cool. I've never heard of ZeroSurge before tonight, and I guess that explains why I couldn't ID that component. Your SVS looks an awful lot like a sub from Power Sound Audio. Silly me!

    Thanks for sharing your setup. Once you hear the good stuff, there's just no going back. And with typical Ascend quality, there's absolutely no regrets. You've got a system that is the antidote to upgrade-itis.


    I just realized it's been well over a year since I last posted my setup in this thread. Lots of new stuff added since then. However, I think I'll wait for my pair of Sierra-2 before posting an update.
    -Jacob

  9. #509
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    277

    Default Re: Ascend Owners Photo Gallery

    Wow, great system Jay! With equipment like that Anthem processor it certainly deserves a good surge protector as you have done.

    I could say that a seriously good processor/preamp like that also deserves a great aftermarket power cable as well, but I don't want to tease. ;-)

    Mark

  10. #510
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
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    373

    Default Re: Ascend Owners Photo Gallery

    Alrighty!

    Things are all set up now, and I am THRILLED with the results!

    The room is tiny: about 12' x 13' x 7.5'

    I've mentioned it before, but this is NOT my "master plan" for these speakers! That said, the sound in here is far better than I had expected or even hoped for! The flawless sound quality of these custom Ascend speakers means that, even with them almost right beside my ears, it doesn't sound like headphones, and it doesn't even sound "small" or "cramped".

    A HUGE component contributing to the phenomenal sound, though, are my pair of SVSound PC13-Ultra subwoofers, which are positioned at the mid-points of the two side walls. The ideal placement combined with some wonderful tuning and magic care of MultEQ XT32 in my Onkyo TX-NR5010 AV Receiver has resulted in something almost magical. You would never, ever believe it just by looking at my setup. You would instantly think that the bass must be utterly overwhelming. And if you're sitting to one side of my seating (currently just a futon ), there's a subwoofer literally not even 3 feet from your side. It would seem impossible to not be distracted by the subwoofer closest (very close!) to you. And I would totally understand all of those thoughts!

    But, no. The bass is really, truly seamless. It's unbelievable, honestly. All of the theory works, for real! haha. I can play a bass sweep through any individual speaker, and it genuinely sounds as though the speaker itself is just playing all the way down to below 20Hz all on its own! But they are not. I carefully listened to bass sweeps played by just the speakers. And true to expectations, room acoustics result in some far less than linear output depending on the speaker position. As such:

    My Front Left & Right speakers are crossed over at 60Hz. The Center is crossed at 80Hz because there is a very obvious suck out between 65 - 80Hz at that particular position in the room. The Front Heights, Surrounds, and Surround Backs are all crossed at 70Hz. And the Front Wides are crossed at 120Hz.

    Audyssey MultEQ XT32 chose different crossover frequencies, basically setting every speaker to 40Hz except for the Front Wides, which were set to 100Hz. But my manual bass sweeps revealed the minor flaws in those settings. With the frequencies I've selected manually, every sweep sounds amazingly linear, even, and uniform.

    I'm extremely happy. And now, let's have a look!

    FirstReflect Home Theatre 02a.jpg

    FirstReflect Home Theatre 23a.jpg

    FirstReflect Home Theatre 24a.jpg

    FirstReflect Home Theatre 03a.jpg

    FirstReflect Home Theatre 04a.jpg

    FirstReflect Home Theatre 05a.jpg

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    FirstReflect Home Theatre 08a.jpg

    FirstReflect Home Theatre 09a.jpg

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