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Thread: Pioneer 1014 with ascends?

  1. #21
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    Oct 2003
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    Fremont CA USA
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    Quote Originally Posted by gr1m
    abhi, it's me CFA...yes I have my Pio 1014 mated with a pair of 170s up front, the 340c, 200s as surrounds, very neutral sound, definitely more detailed than a pair of floorstanding infinity spkrs that i junked. my svs pb10 is more than plenty and deep to cover my low-end needs. the 1014's auto-mcacc is very very helpful and user-friendly. i doubt there's anything out there in its price range that can compete as far as features/room calibrator, PLIIx, et al. good luck!
    Hi gr1m, thanks for your reply! As per Lee's suggestions I'm gonna check the acoustic reflections with my denon/ascend setup. Even though I'm planning to get a pio 1014 for comparison and then decide which one to keep.

  2. #22
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    Oct 2003
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    Fremont CA USA
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Bailey
    How close to the side walls are your speakers? Have you ever tried finding and treating the reflection points on your walls? Not to say that the Pioneer would not be worth it, it's an expensive way to see if you can fix what may be an acoustics problem with your room. I own a Denon 3803, it has no auto equalizer either, but I do not experience the brightness problem you describe with my 340's. To find your reflection points along a wall, you just need an assistant and a mirror. Simply sit down in your listening sweet spot, and have the assistant move the mirror along the wall in your direction at the tweeter's height until you see the speaker closet to that wall. Mark that area with tape. Now keep moving the mirror until you see the opposite speaker. Mark that area. If you have a center channel, you can mark the wall where you see it in the mirror as well. Repeat the procedure for the opposite wall. If those areas you marked are bare, or there's glass or some other relflective surface there, temporarily hang something like a large towel or some other obsorbing soft material on the walls. See what that does to your treble.
    Lee, you guessed it right. My front left speaker is just 6 inches from the wall and there is nothing I can do about this. But your idea of checking acoustic reflections is certainly worth a try. I'll experiment with this. Thanks.

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Portland, Or
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Bailey
    To find your reflection points along a wall, you just need an assistant and a mirror. Simply sit down in your listening sweet spot, and have the assistant move the mirror along the wall in your direction at the tweeter's height until you see the speaker closet to that wall. Mark that area with tape. Now keep moving the mirror until you see the opposite speaker. Mark that area. If you have a center channel, you can mark the wall where you see it in the mirror as well. Repeat the procedure for the opposite wall. If those areas you marked are bare, or there's glass or some other relflective surface there, temporarily hang something like a large towel or some other obsorbing soft material on the walls. See what that does to your treble.
    That is the single most interesting and valuable piece of information about room treatment I've ever seen. That demystifies acoustic treatments for me. I know you can get more involved than that, but it's a great way to understand the abc's. Needless to say, I will be using this method as soon as I can.
    -Jim

  4. #24
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    Jan 2005
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    Edmonton, Alberta Canada
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Bailey
    To find your reflection points along a wall, you just need an assistant and a mirror. Simply sit down in your listening sweet spot, and have the assistant move the mirror along the wall in your direction at the tweeter's height until you see the speaker closet to that wall.
    I guess you're saying here that the assistant is moving about the room, keeping the mirror as stationary as possible while you look into the mirror? Also, my guess it it would work for the ceiling as well (though your assistant better be tall at that point ).

    I'll have to try that, I've been keeping some foam around and was planning on somehow trying to set up some sort of temporary sound dampeners when watching movies or settling in to some serious music listening. Unfortunately, I still have to come up with a more permanent solution for my pot lights, the casings vibrate quite badly when a deep bass note/effect is played, but this is a good start!

  5. #25
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    Feb 2005
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    Madera,CA,USA
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kpt_Krunch
    I guess you're saying here that the assistant is moving about the room, keeping the mirror as stationary as possible while you look into the mirror? Also, my guess it it would work for the ceiling as well (though your assistant better be tall at that point ).

    I'll have to try that, I've been keeping some foam around and was planning on somehow trying to set up some sort of temporary sound dampeners when watching movies or settling in to some serious music listening. Unfortunately, I still have to come up with a more permanent solution for my pot lights, the casings vibrate quite badly when a deep bass note/effect is played, but this is a good start!
    Correct, with the mirror flat up against the wall. Don't laugh at the assistant as they may have to contort their bodies to get out of your line of sight . Yes, it would work on the ceilings as well. As for your pot lights, maybe some clear silicone sealant in the areas of what you can tell are vibrating? Are these lights recessed into the ceiling or walls?

    As for acoustic treatments, you try simple stuff or you can spend more money than your system cost! It helps most if you have a dedicated room for your system, since WAF counts when it comes to what you do to their living room! Tapestries, heavy curtains, etc., are some of the things you can get from a store. Some people actually create their own frames, get some decorative cloth for a cover, and fill the inside with fiberglass or wool material.

    Ever notice that the Movie Theaters all carpet their side walls? (At least all the ones in my area do.)
    Feel Free to visit my website:
    The Bailey's Home Theatre in Our Living Room

    Equipment List:
    Hitachi 57F59 HD CRT RPTV
    Outlaw 990/7125 PrePro/Amp
    Panasonic BD10 Blu-Ray Player
    Mains: Ascend CMT-340M
    Center: Ascend CMT-340C
    Surrounds: Ascend CBM-170
    Sub: SVS 25-31PC

  6. #26
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    Jan 2005
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    Edmonton, Alberta Canada
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Bailey
    Correct, with the mirror flat up against the wall. Don't laugh at the assistant as they may have to contort their bodies to get out of your line of sight .
    I was thinking about that - maybe I can somehow get my two and half year old to do that, he's short enough that he wouldn't have to contort. Chances are though he'd just run off with the mirror

    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Bailey
    As for your pot lights, maybe some clear silicone sealant in the areas of what you can tell are vibrating? Are these lights recessed into the ceiling or walls?
    They're recessed into the ceiling. A couple of springs hold the casing to the ceiling around the bulb - I belive it is the springs that are vibrating against the sides of the housing surrounding the light bulb. I didn't realize when I installed them that I would have this problem (of course, my old sub woofer I used back then wouldn't move much air anyway, so I guess I didn't have that problem at all until I got a real subwoofer). The good news is that it doesn't vibrate when listening to music, only when watching movies and there is a very low and loud LFE - but it sure is annoying when it does happen.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Bailey

    As for acoustic treatments, you try simple stuff or you can spend more money than your system cost! It helps most if you have a dedicated room for your system, since WAF counts when it comes to what you do to their living room! Tapestries, heavy curtains, etc., are some of the things you can get from a store. Some people actually create their own frames, get some decorative cloth for a cover, and fill the inside with fiberglass or wool material.

    Ever notice that the Movie Theaters all carpet their side walls? (At least all the ones in my area do.)
    Herein lies my biggest problem - the h/t room doubles as an office as my wife's old office was upstairs in what is now our son's room. Her desk is the first thing you see when you come down the stairs, turn right and that is the h/t area. My sub vibrates just about everything on her desk (again with the same LFE type sound during movies only - but the pot lights are definitely more sensitive and it's relatively easy to isolate trouble area's on the desk and remove them) - my thinking here is to rig up some kind of heavy duty curtain rod along the overhang that hides my duct work, which would divide the room into two thirds h/t, one third office. I could then put up a heavy duty curtain of some kind that would absorb most of the bass waves to prevent my wifes desk from going crazy when watching a movie. If all else fails, I'm going to buy a new house with a dedicated room in it for H/T - who says this hobby is expensive

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
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    many people have raved about Auralex Gramma pads underneath their subs.
    http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...ma-4-2004.html

    or, you could turn the sub down hehe

  8. #28
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    Mar 2005
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    "Thanks C'est for the reply! Good to know that you like the pioneer. How would you categorize it? analytical/grainy OR smooth/warm?. I hope pio would be a great match for ascends. Please post your impressions when you mate ascends with the pioneer."

    No problem, Unfortunately right now, I'm getting a pair of used ascends shipped to me, and probably won't be able to try them for a while. The sound is definitely warm, and pretty true to the original sound. It cleaned up the sound A LOT, compared to the old panasonic receiver, which isn't really a fair comparison due to the disparate costs, but definitely worth every cent, at least to me. My roommate, loves Denon, but likes the elite sound slightly more, receiver-wise. Just some opinions in your search.

    I'm guessing I'm going to like the Ascends, I heard the Rocket and was fairly unimpressed it sounded like it left the middle frequencies out, and tried to throw in some bass. But again, JMHO,

    C'est

  9. #29
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    Aug 2003
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    Manhattan Beach, California
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    Quote Originally Posted by cestlavie
    I'm guessing I'm going to like the Ascends, I heard the Rocket and was fairly unimpressed it sounded like it left the middle frequencies out, and tried to throw in some bass. But again, JMHO,
    Which Rockets were those?
    -curtis

  10. #30
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    Mar 2005
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    RS750 Sigs, they weren't bad mind you, just not my musical taste, I can see myself liking them, if for nothing else, their aesthetic beauty. Thought I've never heard the ascends yet, I'm guessing they are like my car speakers (CDT) that don't have much on the bass side, but in terms of mids and highs, outperform every other speaker I have ever heard (excluding the $1000+ range).

    It should be noted however, that I heard the Onix's at a pretty low volume, but I would describe their sound as high on the lower frequencies, lower on the mid frequencies, and high on the high frequencies. I like an evener sound, with bass going to the subwoofer, though I really can't say the Onix's weren't good, probably just more geared toward Movies. On a sidenote that Center Onix makes is a monster.

    C'est

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