Post Your Home Cine & HiFi Kit...

apple_man77 · 31 Mar 2011 at 14:43

Couple of pictures of mine.

Still need to get a subwoofer....Deciding between a M&K MX250 or dual BK xls400's either side of the rack.

Sounds absoloutly awesome for movies although not as good as some of my previous 2 channel systems with music!

Cheers
Mark

lamboman · 31 Mar 2011 at 18:54

Ezah said:
thanks man. I am looking at a pioneer VSK-1020 which is 37.9.. but I do have the glass door which gives another 1 cm clearance. its going to be very tight but if the 37.9 includes the speaker posts on the amp it might just fit. I can always leave the cables hanging outside of the cabinet.

I'd say move the cabinet another half inch from the wall and you'll be absolutely fine, with the doors. They're incredible for the money, aren't they

Xez · 2 Apr 2011 at 19:16

Apple Man77, very nice

BennyC · 2 Apr 2011 at 22:13

Dual XLS400's will be monstrous. Is it not cheaper to get one Monolith?

My XLS200 is plenty!

Phil2008 · 2 Apr 2011 at 23:33

Lowe said:
Aye that's a sub. BK Monolith DF. Can't help thinking I need another onethe other side to even it up

I have the 2nd baby of the BK subs, the 275watt XLS200 sub

I would like new speakers now... I would like these or the stand shelf versions...............

lay-z-boy · 2 Apr 2011 at 23:58

apple_man77 said:
Couple of pictures of mine.

Still need to get a subwoofer....Deciding between a M&K MX250 or dual BK xls400's either side of the rack.

Sounds absoloutly awesome for movies although not as good as some of my previous 2 channel systems with music!

Cheers
Mark

If your primary use is watching films then get a mono, the xxls won't go as low or with the intensity needed. They are mainly for music due to the sealed design. Also, best to start with one then get another if you absolutely need it. LF sounds are a pain to eq and the money might be better spent on an antimode and a mono or mono+ but while the plus version is a bit louder it apparently can't go as low as the standard mono.

Will also vouch for the fact at 3/4 volume on a mono my head is about to implode and anything loose will fall of my shelves/desk.
Not that I have it set that loud for actual use.

Phil, if you plan on using your sub for both music and films then you can get away with the rx1s or rx2s if you want more 'meat'. If not, then the rx6s will a great choice. Might be best to demo both in a shop or at home if your local allows it as you may prefer the fullness of the 6s anyway.

Phil2008 · 3 Apr 2011 at 02:04

lay-z-boy said:
If your primary use is watching films then get a mono, the xxls won't go as low or with the intensity needed. They are mainly for music due to the sealed design. Also, best to start with one then get another if you absolutely need it. LF sounds are a pain to eq and the money might be better spent on an antimode and a mono or mono+ but while the plus version is a bit louder it apparently can't go as low as the standard mono.

Will also vouch for the fact at 3/4 volume on a mono my head is about to implode and anything loose will fall of my shelves/desk.
Not that I have it set that loud for actual use.

Phil, if you plan on using your sub for both music and films then you can get away with the rx1s or rx2s if you want more 'meat'. If not, then the rx6s will a great choice. Might be best to demo both in a shop or at home if your local allows it as you may prefer the fullness of the 6s anyway.

Yeah subs are a pain to get them just right, as it took me about a month to get mine sounding right, so its slightly louder then my speakers but not so loud that it overpowers the main speakers. The crossover needs sorting too, so the sub only takes over with freq that you main speakers cant produce. But I find its better if you set the sub 10 -20hz higher then the min freq of your speakers, because then the sub will take over on the freq the main speakers cant produce very well. Equals in a clearer sound. So basically my speakers can produce 75-20000hz, so Ive got my sub set to take over at 90hz and below....... If that all makes sense

I dont really need the RX6's as my sub would do a better job then the bass driver on the RX6's, so I only really need the RX2's, but I just love the look of the RX6's and they look much nicer then the RX2's

Phil2008 · 3 Apr 2011 at 02:42

Also remember a human ear cant hear below about 20hz but just feel it,, apparently the XLS200 can go to 17hz but manufactures always tell porkies with sub freq specs

lay-z-boy · 3 Apr 2011 at 16:56

I find with my rx8s that the bass drivers are very capable units. For music they are very clean and tight sounding. So for music then, they are far better that the mono doing bass duties no matter the crossover or volume level. For films they are still brilliant but the mono delivers that extra size and depth you simply can't get with a 6" cone and while not small, still limited cabinet space.

I tested a pair of rx6s and 8s when I chose mine. Loved both but the extra driver and cabinet space made the 8s more likeable around the mid-low end. Its rather hard to explain as you can't really imagine an improvement until you experience it. The rx6s were a huge step up from my wharfy 9.1s which were great. The rx8, again an impressive improvement over the 6s and the 8s with the mono again even more.

:rolleyes:

god help me should I get the gx's or pl's. I think my brain might become a singularity from the awesomeness.

What I'm saying is, if anything. You can't go wrong wither either speaker but the 6s will have more impact and depth (and look better

) then the 2s.
As for crossovers, that is a good way to set them up in general from what I've gathered so far. However my amps auto config feels that each of my channels apart from the centre is a full range speaker so I just have it set to 80hz all around and run the sub slightly hot.

easyrider · 3 Apr 2011 at 16:59

apple_man77

I don't know how you can watch movies on such a small screen. That wall is begging for a Screen an PJ

apple_man77 · 3 Apr 2011 at 17:17

I would like a monolith but it's just way to BIG even if i got a nice gloss black one it's just to much to look atevery day. I'm getting either a single xls400 with plans on adding two in the future or I may have sour ed a second hand m&k sub!!

I really wish I'd hand a projector installed in the ceiling when we had it ripped down and re-plastered but I didn't really think of it at the time :-(

I may look at getting some sort of pull down one but it would need to have a decent drop on it so it's not to high up.

Phil2008 · 3 Apr 2011 at 17:18

lay-z-boy, ppl say my amp might not be powerful enough for the RX6's due to the extra drivers? I have a Yamaha DSP-AX759SE. Also I guess if I got the RX6'S my sub wouldn't really be needed for music just movies, as the crossover would be set much lower then 90hz.

Edit: Also thinking about downgrading to 2.1, when I upgrade the speakers as Im hardly using the other 4 speakers atm. But what annoys me with 5.1 is the speech is very quiet, and you need it loud, but then the other sounds blow your head off.

Phil2008 · 3 Apr 2011 at 18:03

apple_man77 said:
I would like a monolith but it's just way to BIG even if i got a nice gloss black one it's just to much to look atevery day. I'm getting either a single xls400 with plans on adding two in the future or I may have sour ed a second hand m&k sub!!

I really wish I'd hand a projector installed in the ceiling when we had it ripped down and re-plastered but I didn't really think of it at the time

I may look at getting some sort of pull down one but it would need to have a decent drop on it so it's not to high up.

I dont think you will be dissapointed with the xxls400 as its a 12" driver and pumps out 400watts.(100 less then the monolith but its the same driver size tho) I would like to upgrade my xls200 to the xxls400 as the xls200 runs out of juice before my speakers do,, But Im guessing if upgrade to the RX6's The xxls400 wont have enough juice in it, to have the RX6's at full volume either.

But saying that for music the sub shouldn't kick in with the RX6's, but I guess there will be odd times the sub will kick in due to low freq that the RX6s cant produce.

Nick1881 · 3 Apr 2011 at 19:17

I'm running RX6's with an XLS200, I mostly play music without the sub, sometimes if I play something really bass heavy I put the sub on too but I soon tire of it, prefer the sub for films.

lay-z-boy · 3 Apr 2011 at 20:05

apple_man77 said:
I would like a monolith but it's just way to BIG even if i got a nice gloss black one it's just to much to look atevery day. I'm getting either a single xls400 with plans on adding two in the future or I may have sour ed a second hand m&k sub!!

I really wish I'd hand a projector installed in the ceiling when we had it ripped down and re-plastered but I didn't really think of it at the time

I may look at getting some sort of pull down one but it would need to have a decent drop on it so it's not to high up.

xxls is still a large sub, it also needs the extra 100w (at least) over the stock mono due to the sealed nature. However it's by no means a bad sub. Just slightly less in your face.

Phil2008 said:
lay-z-boy, ppl say my amp might not be powerful enough for the RX6's due to the extra drivers? I have a Yamaha DSP-AX759SE. Also I guess if I got the RX6'S my sub wouldn't really be needed for music just movies, as the crossover would be set much lower then 90hz.

Edit: Also thinking about downgrading to 2.1, when I upgrade the speakers as Im hardly using the other 4 speakers atm. But what annoys me with 5.1 is the speech is very quiet, and you need it loud, but then the other sounds blow your head off.

Amp could possibly do with a bit more meat, though it's not really needed. I had no problem driving my rx8's with a nad 302 amp (2x25) You have pre-outs on your current amp, so it can be solved without replacement. If you have the option to bi-amp on your model then I'd do so.

If you need to keep overall system volume then turn on dynamic compression to as high as it will go on the amp (may also be called night mode) This will stop loud things from being loud and it will try to keep things at the same volume. Also, if you have an auto calibration mic then use it.

apple_man77 · 3 Apr 2011 at 20:27

the xxls400 is a big sub but not when compared to a monolith, i've been lucky enough for my fiance to allow me to have what I've got already!

I see the monitor audio RX series is popular on here. I had a demo of them against some dynaudio xcite 12's, b&w cm5 and M.A RX2's and they sounded terrible compared to the other two. Not sure what there like for films but really didn't like them.

lay-z-boy · 3 Apr 2011 at 22:58

It helps to compare products in the same price-band. RX2's are £525, CM5's are £800, excite 12's are not much less than the cm5's either.

The 2's are also the black sheep in the range with bigger cones than any of the other models, even the 6's and 8's don't use the same cone which doesn't spell well for the 2's. Also, RX's are quite bright/lean and you will need warm matching partners if its a problem for your ears. Finally, they aren't forgiving to poor sources and can be more obvious than other brands.

The only RX speaker I don't like is the sub. Overpriced, performs hardly any better than my sw150 at low volumes (music), at high it sounds ghastly. Probably due to the amp.

What's with the controlling other half? Man up and get the sub.

Phil2008 · 3 Apr 2011 at 23:24

Nick1881 said:
I'm running RX6's with an XLS200, I mostly play music without the sub, sometimes if I play something really bass heavy I put the sub on too but I soon tire of it, prefer the sub for films.

I think I'll be leaving my sub on at all times as its a pain to switch off, plus I have one of these inteli plugs, so when the amp is switched on, the sub also gets turned on aswel.

lay-z-boy said:
If you need to keep overall system volume then turn on dynamic compression to as high as it will go on the amp (may also be called night mode) This will stop loud things from being loud and it will try to keep things at the same volume. Also, if you have an auto calibration mic then use it.

Ace, that does the job perfectly. Ive been having the centre speaker like 8db higher then the other speakers trying to fix this annoying problem. This is one reason I havent been watching meny dvds, as the sound spoils it with quiet speech and ear deafening effects. Thankyou so much for fixing my prob.. I might keep the 5.1 setup now, as that was the main reason for wanting to downgrade 2.1.

Phil2008 · 3 Apr 2011 at 23:48

Ive just looked in the dvd player's audio options and its got a "dynamic compression" setting. Will this do the same job as "night mode" on the amp?

lay-z-boy · 4 Apr 2011 at 01:32

Possibly, just err on the side of caution as some brands label max with totally opposite meanings. Max on my yamaha results in huge explosions and standard volume dialogue, on others it can mean max amount of compression.