Electronics gloat.

[drzaius]

A few days ago one of the amps in my home theater puked out it's guts. It powers the L, C, R and two of the surrounds, so without it, there is no joy in movieland. That modules I need to assemble a new one are out of stock for who knows how long (surprise, surprise). What's a fella to do? No music, no videos, no movies. Weekend evenings are always dedicated to music and/or movies. Seriously, this is a depressing situation. @pkinneb will back me up on this.

The bay next door to my work is an electronics recycling depot, so on a whim, I check out their website. They go through the donations and offer up for sale anything that might be good for parts or even still working. There's a suggested price and you counter with an offer. So I end up with a fully operational Yamaha 7.1 AVR with separate audio channel inputs. They were asking $149, I offered $65 and they accepted  It's a little underpowered, but will do just fine for temporary

When I get my new amp built, I'll give this one back to them with my thanks (they are a non-profit). 

Now tonight it will be Party On 

About the new amps; they will be a beauty. 14 channels at 2000W RMS per channel. I don't need that much power for all channels, but the 7 subs do and the economics are that it's cheapest for me to purchase all of the same modules.

[Ronn W]

This is way over my head.  Think I'll go back to my shop with my transistor radio.

[drzaius]

On 6/24/2022 at 9:15 AM, Ronn W said:

This is way over my head.  Think I'll go back to my shop with my transistor radio.

Probably best that way. Once you head down that hole...

If you want to see over my head, check out this home theater build by @pkinneb I've looked at tons of builds on that site and his is right up there with the best of them. Just gorgeous. Mine pales by comparison, but it's more of a multipurpose room with full home theater quality AV.

And folks say woodworking is an expensive hobby

 

[Chet]

On 6/24/2022 at 9:32 AM, drzaius said:

And folks say woodworking is an expensive hobby

Talking with people that have different hobbies then I do has made me realize that any hobby done right is expensive.

[legenddc]

I'm so glad I don't have a friend with a nice home theater. It allows me to enjoy our projector on a painted wall and piecemeal audio. I did pick up a matching center/surround speakers as my L/R which made a big difference. Going from the 720 projector to a 1080 was nice. I think up next will be a cheap screen.

My office setup uses the receiver my uncle gave me in the late 90s when it blew a fuse.

[drzaius]

5 minutes ago, legenddc said:

I'm so glad I don't have a friend with a nice home theater. It allows me to enjoy our projector on a painted wall and piecemeal audio. I did pick up a matching center/surround speakers as my L/R which made a big difference. Going from the 720 projector to a 1080 was nice. I think up next will be a cheap screen.

My office setup uses the receiver my uncle gave me in the late 90s when it blew a fuse.

Once you hear a good Atmos system for music or movies, it's hard to go back. I actually rarely listen to music anymore outside my media room. I'd just rather save it for the best listening experience.

[drzaius]

37 minutes ago, Chet said:

Talking with people that have different hobbies then I do has made me realize that any hobby done right is expensive.

And money may not buy happiness, but it sure buys good hobbies

[Valleyslim]

I fell deep into the rabbit hole for diy audio. Have you looked into outlaw amps? Made by the same company that makes Macintosh amps. They also under spec their power unlike other companies. On their 5 channel its advertised at 125 per channel but audioholics did a dino test on it and it consistently at 135 watts per channel. I'm currently building lcr for my living room im just too lazy to make the crossovers. I built some theater speakers like the ones in the cinemas. 

[drzaius]

2 minutes ago, Valleyslim said:

I fell deep into the rabbit hole for diy audio. Have you looked into outlaw amps? Made by the same company that makes Macintosh amps. They also under spec their power unlike other companies. On their 5 channel its advertised at 125 per channel but audioholics did a dino test on it and it consistently at 135 watts per channel. I'm currently building lcr for my living room im just too lazy to make the crossovers. I built some theater speakers like the ones in the cinemas. 

Yea, looks like you've got it bad too. Are those flatpacks 1099s? For what they cost flatpacks great value, unless you're outside the US. So I have to cut all my own. I've heard all kinds of good things about those speakers, but I've had a very nice bed layer set of Polk LSi series speakers for years and love them. I'd have to hear something pretty special to make me want to switch.

I built my 4 Atmos speakers from a parts kit from Madisound. They are MTMs. I also built a sub of my own design. It has an 18" driver in a 20 cu ft ported box. and is a beast in every sense, including weight, at about 350 lbs.

In the que now are a couple of 12" subs, a couple of 10" that will also be end tables, and a couple of Harbottle Audio 21" drivers in ported boxes. Cody from Harbottle assures me that my world will be well and truly rocked.

I have looked at the outlaw amps and they are very nice and a good value. But I just have an itch to assemble my own using ICEpower amp modules, the 2000AS2. Because of the price break for bulk purchases, it's cheaper for me to get all 2000s than a mix. I think Outlaw uses ICEpower, or maybe Hypex modules.

Those xovers are a breeze and won't take you long at all to put together. Fun to do as well.

For me, AV is kind of a perfect fit because it blends woodworking, electronics (at the most basic level) and home theater. All things I love

[legenddc]

I'll refrain from posting any pictures so no-one gets sick on their keyboard.

I saw this last year and was amazed at how deep this guy went down the rabbit hole. 

Here's the hour long video if you want more detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b2IOOhJmxw&ab_channel=kenfritz

 

 

[drzaius]

Hey, I've seen pics of that home, but not the video. Thanks for posting that. Maybe I don't want to watch? I love the RCA dogs.

[Valleyslim]

Have you heard of eminence or lavoce for 21 subs? The box is called the devastator. Supposed to be best of both worlds for mid and low frequency. Yeah I have htm 12 and currently building the 1099. The htm 12 is hard to beat price/performance. I'm curious how they compare to the 1099s

[drzaius]

10 minutes ago, Valleyslim said:

Have you heard of eminence or lavoce for 21 subs? The box is called the devastator. Supposed to be best of both worlds for mid and low frequency. Yeah I have htm 12 and currently building the 1099. The htm 12 is hard to beat price/performance. I'm curious how they compare to the 1099s

I have, and have a dev or 2 in mind, depending on how things work out. But somehow I don't think they'll be needed. They'd be a fun build though because the box is so complex. Personally, I've never heard the 1099s or the HTM12s but they both have good reputations.

Are you on AVS Forum by chance?

[Chet]

On 6/24/2022 at 1:28 PM, legenddc said:

I saw this last year and was amazed at how deep this guy went down the rabbit hole. 

I think that would be a special experience to hear music on that system... but it would probably ruin listening to music for the rest of your life.

[Valleyslim]

On 6/24/2022 at 3:38 PM, drzaius said:

I have, and have a dev or 2 in mind, depending on how things work out. But somehow I don't think they'll be needed. They'd be a fun build though because the box is so complex. Personally, I've never heard the 1099s or the HTM12s but they both have good reputations.

Are you on AVS Forum by chance?

I was. I haven't been on there in a long time. But the people there were helpful 

[JohnG]

Don’t mean to make you all jealous, but I’ve got a Vizio soundbar for my tv. WITH a subwoofer… 

[Chet]

On 6/24/2022 at 4:37 PM, JohnG said:

Don’t mean to make you all jealous, but I’ve got a Visio soundbar for my tv. WITH a subwoofer… 

Me too.

[Coop]

And I just ordered a new SMART tv. I can’t operate the 8 yo one I have that has voice commands. Money well spent? 

[BonPacific]

Pretty much impossible to avoid these days. Thankfully my new TV has an option to skip right past all the "smart" nonsense and just show what's plugged into it.

[drzaius]

My smart TV has about a hundred apps, but I never use them. To my it's just a dumb display. I wish you could get a really good non-smart TV.

[JohnG]

Remember when TVs started to brag that you could answer your phone calls through your tv, then everyone realized that nobody actually wants to answer phone calls through their tv?

[drzaius]

I gave that new/old AVR a workout the last two nights and, after tripping the protect 20 or 30 times, have figured out just how high I can turn up the volume. It will do quite nicely for temporary.

[Chestnut]

On 6/25/2022 at 12:51 PM, drzaius said:

My smart TV has about a hundred apps, but I never use them. To my it's just a dumb display. I wish you could get a really good non-smart TV.

They do, it's a brand you may have heard of called NEC, they make the displays for fast food restaurants that display their menus. They are expensive as all ____ (four letter word).

Megan and I have been running a PC on our TV for 4 years now. At first i had to convince her to let me run it that way. After about 9 months of use I wanted the PC for something else and asked if she could go back to the streaming stick. I was buying a new computer shortly there after.

Our TV gets used to create grocery lists, do online shopping, recently create wedding/baby registry together, view pictures, play music, you name it. Searching with a keyboard saves a lot of frustration. I know there are "apps" for all this stuff but they are so frustratingly slow. I usually give up and grab my laptop before any of the aps load.

[drzaius]

1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

They do, it's a brand you may have heard of called NEC, they make the displays for fast food restaurants that display their menus. They are expensive as all ____ (four letter word).

Megan and I have been running a PC on our TV for 4 years now. At first i had to convince her to let me run it that way. After about 9 months of use I wanted the PC for something else and asked if she could go back to the streaming stick. I was buying a new computer shortly there after.

Our TV gets used to create grocery lists, do online shopping, recently create wedding/baby registry together, view pictures, play music, you name it. Searching with a keyboard saves a lot of frustration. I know there are "apps" for all this stuff but they are so frustratingly slow. I usually give up and grab my laptop before any of the aps load.

I have a 42" PC monitor (not a TV) that is a dumb display, but way too small for HT use. Anything of any size and quality and in the consumer TV market segment, seems to be smart.

And I agree with you that a PC with a decent monitor gets work done about 10X faster than with a phone. I don't even like working on a laptop without a larger monitor and real keyboard. My 35 or so WPM drops to about half that on a laptop keyboard or phone.

[BonPacific]

On 6/27/2022 at 9:02 AM, Chestnut said:

 

We've had the same setup for over a decade now, and could never go back. But we're also not cable/broadcast watchers, so everything just runs through the browser.