L.J.
03-17-2006, 07:52 AM
After a good month and a half, I'm finally finished with my second system. I gotta chance to let it open up last night, after finally getting everything tweeked, and I'm very pleased with the results. I did pretty good $$$ wise. I wasn't trying to over do it and knew exactly what I wanted. Here's a list of gear and prices:
AVR: Onkyo 603 - Circuit City $329
Fronts: C-3 - Audioadvisor $249
Surrounds: C-1 - Audiogon $150
Sub: 10" Titanic kit - $358
Center: C-C1 - As far as the center goes, I moved my C-C1 from my main system to the second, and hunted down a C-C3 for my main system. Had to drive 90 miles to get it. (Woochifer or SirTT, perhaps you're familiar with Mai's TV in downtown Oakland.)
The C-C3 was an instant improvement to my main system. The front stage seemed to open more. There was more depth and there seemed to be a smoother pan across the front 3. The C-C1 seems to made for a smaller room, because it sounds alot better in my bedroom system, than on my main system.
I started auditioning front speakers first. I gotta chance to peep out a few speaks and really liked everything I lisented to. I peeped out Paradigm mm and Wharfdale 9.2's as well as the C-3's. They all sounded great. That's my problem, it all sounds good to me. In the end, the C-3's had the sound I was looking for at an excellent price. Once I settled on the C-3's my center options(if I wanted a voice matched system) were the C-C1 or C-C3. Well you know how that went already. If this would have been my only system, I could have picked up a C-C1 on Audiogon or Ebay for a little over a $100, Keeping the overall system cost under $1500. Which always seems to be a starting point for many seeking to put a system together.
Moving on to AVR's. I knew exactly what I wanted out of an AVR and found it in the Onkyo 603. On screen display, video switching, at least 4 digital ins, learning remote with macros, auto setup, simple for wifee to use. The Onkyo 603 has all this and more. Very simple to setup and use. More than enough power and features for my needs at an excellent price. I liked how Onkyo gives you little stickers to place on your wire that identify each speaker your connecting. The terminals are even color coordinated with the stickers. I'm not sure if any one else does this but it made hook up alot simpler.
Now I was up to a 3.0 system, and decided to use some old Yammies I had laying around for temp surrounds. It sounded OK, but never right. They just threw everything off to me. Timbre matched all around for me please. By the time I was ready for surrounds, I started having some WAF issues. I was asked not to turn our bedroom into an "HT" and I was doing the opposite. Yes, I was jerk and said I'm getting C-1's regardless. I can't help it. Payback is gonna come anyday now fellas.
After a nice delay from UPS I finally got my C-1's and Sub kit. First, I'll start with the C-1's. 1000 times better than the yammies. Blended well with the rest of the system. I know, that's what they're supposed to do. What's cool is when you're able to hear how big of an impact swapping speakers can have on your system.
All wire and what not came from Home Depot. I used 14 guage wire. Man, this stuff is stiff as a board. Very difficult to work with. I already had component cables and stuff laying around so I just needed a few things. I'm also using the JVC DVD palyer and RCA CD/MP3 player, I already had laying around collecting dust.
On to the sub!! The Titanic kit, suggested by the good people here, is off the hook. Very simple to put together. I like getting my hands dirty so it was actually fun to work with. Besides having to do a little surgery to the sub cabinent, everything went smooth. It took me a little more than an hour from start to finish. My first thoughts on the sub were good. I just slapped on U-571 for a second to make sure the sucker worked. I've spent the last few days tweeking and what not. I let the auto setup run on the Onkyo and double checked. i adjusted the levels myself, and will probaly do some more fine tuning. So last night I finally got a chance to let this baby rip and I must say for $358 this sub is AWESOME!!!!!!!! Bass is clean and precise. Fills my room nicely. All I can say is good things about this sub and I'd recommend it to anyone with a small room. Very powerful and can hit hard. I demoed Hero, Matrix, Jurrasic Park and Master & Commander with a big smile on my face. I'm wondering what that 12 & 15" versions sound like now.
I think I put together a nice system for under $1500 and saved some bucks. The system sounds great and I'm hoping to move it out of my room one day because my main system will be in a dedicated room with two 15" subs because my neighbors are 200 ft away.
OK now I'm just going on and on. Any thoughs, laughter, joking or rambling are welcome :cornut:
AVR: Onkyo 603 - Circuit City $329
Fronts: C-3 - Audioadvisor $249
Surrounds: C-1 - Audiogon $150
Sub: 10" Titanic kit - $358
Center: C-C1 - As far as the center goes, I moved my C-C1 from my main system to the second, and hunted down a C-C3 for my main system. Had to drive 90 miles to get it. (Woochifer or SirTT, perhaps you're familiar with Mai's TV in downtown Oakland.)
The C-C3 was an instant improvement to my main system. The front stage seemed to open more. There was more depth and there seemed to be a smoother pan across the front 3. The C-C1 seems to made for a smaller room, because it sounds alot better in my bedroom system, than on my main system.
I started auditioning front speakers first. I gotta chance to peep out a few speaks and really liked everything I lisented to. I peeped out Paradigm mm and Wharfdale 9.2's as well as the C-3's. They all sounded great. That's my problem, it all sounds good to me. In the end, the C-3's had the sound I was looking for at an excellent price. Once I settled on the C-3's my center options(if I wanted a voice matched system) were the C-C1 or C-C3. Well you know how that went already. If this would have been my only system, I could have picked up a C-C1 on Audiogon or Ebay for a little over a $100, Keeping the overall system cost under $1500. Which always seems to be a starting point for many seeking to put a system together.
Moving on to AVR's. I knew exactly what I wanted out of an AVR and found it in the Onkyo 603. On screen display, video switching, at least 4 digital ins, learning remote with macros, auto setup, simple for wifee to use. The Onkyo 603 has all this and more. Very simple to setup and use. More than enough power and features for my needs at an excellent price. I liked how Onkyo gives you little stickers to place on your wire that identify each speaker your connecting. The terminals are even color coordinated with the stickers. I'm not sure if any one else does this but it made hook up alot simpler.
Now I was up to a 3.0 system, and decided to use some old Yammies I had laying around for temp surrounds. It sounded OK, but never right. They just threw everything off to me. Timbre matched all around for me please. By the time I was ready for surrounds, I started having some WAF issues. I was asked not to turn our bedroom into an "HT" and I was doing the opposite. Yes, I was jerk and said I'm getting C-1's regardless. I can't help it. Payback is gonna come anyday now fellas.
After a nice delay from UPS I finally got my C-1's and Sub kit. First, I'll start with the C-1's. 1000 times better than the yammies. Blended well with the rest of the system. I know, that's what they're supposed to do. What's cool is when you're able to hear how big of an impact swapping speakers can have on your system.
All wire and what not came from Home Depot. I used 14 guage wire. Man, this stuff is stiff as a board. Very difficult to work with. I already had component cables and stuff laying around so I just needed a few things. I'm also using the JVC DVD palyer and RCA CD/MP3 player, I already had laying around collecting dust.
On to the sub!! The Titanic kit, suggested by the good people here, is off the hook. Very simple to put together. I like getting my hands dirty so it was actually fun to work with. Besides having to do a little surgery to the sub cabinent, everything went smooth. It took me a little more than an hour from start to finish. My first thoughts on the sub were good. I just slapped on U-571 for a second to make sure the sucker worked. I've spent the last few days tweeking and what not. I let the auto setup run on the Onkyo and double checked. i adjusted the levels myself, and will probaly do some more fine tuning. So last night I finally got a chance to let this baby rip and I must say for $358 this sub is AWESOME!!!!!!!! Bass is clean and precise. Fills my room nicely. All I can say is good things about this sub and I'd recommend it to anyone with a small room. Very powerful and can hit hard. I demoed Hero, Matrix, Jurrasic Park and Master & Commander with a big smile on my face. I'm wondering what that 12 & 15" versions sound like now.
I think I put together a nice system for under $1500 and saved some bucks. The system sounds great and I'm hoping to move it out of my room one day because my main system will be in a dedicated room with two 15" subs because my neighbors are 200 ft away.
OK now I'm just going on and on. Any thoughs, laughter, joking or rambling are welcome :cornut: