Château de Wilson

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Maxx 3's are out. Too big, too expensive and I don't want to realize a huge loss when the next generation Maxx's come out, whenever that will be.. Also two Maxx 3's and a 4 foot wide Polaris is just a bit too much for my 15.5ft wide theater. I should have built a bigger theater room.

I heard ARC tubes with Soohia 2s and nothing else. It was very good and I suspect quite a bit better with Sophia 3. Sasha concerns me a bit with tubes but we'll see. There is always the ARC Ref 210...

Serge...got it You kow I am biased but if it were me, I would go Ref 5, Ref 210s or DSi450 in the analog room with the Sashas. I haven't heard the DSi450 but AeroSmith really likes it. I suspect you will lose a bit of tube bloom and dimensionality but you will gain bottom end grip and a more dynamic presentation. Hoepfully your ARC dealer will accomodate home auditions of various equipment combinations so you can nail it down. Any thoughts on digital front end for the analog room?

[chessman]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Dual Fathom F112's will be implemented at the rear of the theater for movies.

You will love Sophia 3 and Fathom 112's for HT. Take a hard look at an Oppo BDP-83SE for a Bluray/DVD player. It will output movies in 1080p/24 and will decode all high def audio codecs in the player, giving you ESS late model DACS (one per channel) for movies, together with the ability to manage bass when in movies, while leaving your speakers large for music.

[schaefer11]

Congratulation Serge. Just keep reminding yourself that your patience thru this process will be rewarded.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by cmalak

Serge...got it You kow I am biased but if it were me, I would go Ref 5, Ref 210s or DSi450 in the analog room with the Sashas. I haven't heard the DSi450 but AeroSmith really likes it. I suspect you will lose a bit of tube bloom and dimensionality but you will gain bottom end grip and a more dynamic presentation. Hoepfully your ARC dealer will accomodate home auditions of various equipment combinations so you can nail it down. Any thoughts on digital front end for the analog room?

Might as well keep it all analog and go with the Reference CD8. Ok, not really analog since it is a CDP but at least it has tubes...

I've owned plenty of ARC gear before and has not been really dissapointed yet. I've heard very good things about the newer Reference gear so once again I am confident that I will be happy. Of course I can audition ARC, just a quick drive to Wilmington, DE. They just don't have Wilson in store..

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by chessman

You will love Sophia 3 and Fathom 112's for HT. Take a hard look at an Oppo BDP-83SE for a Bluray/DVD player. It will output movies in 1080p/24 and will decode all high def audio codecs in the player, giving you ESS late model DACS (one per channel) for movies, together with the ability to manage bass when in movies, while leaving your speakers large for music.

I have an Oppo 83. Great BDP and I will start out with it. I was thinking about the Ayre DX-5 though. I know it has Oppo guts but it is really worked over by Ayre in many ways.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by schaefer11

Congratulation Serge. Just keep reminding yourself that your patience thru this process will be rewarded.

Yes, patience is a virtue they say but mine is starting to wear real thin... Unless my builder has some more unexpected surprises for me, I should hopefully be in the house in 6-7 weeks.

[cmalak]

Where? Overture Audio? Serge...if you are going to pull the trigger on a full ARC set-up, these guys should allow you to home audition the gear. I have never been there but from what I have read about them, they are pretty customer service oriented. My 2c worth.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Maxx 3's are out. Too big, too expensive and I don't want to realize a huge loss when the next generation Maxx's come out, whenever that will be.. Also two Maxx 3's and a 4 foot wide Polaris is just a bit too much for my 15.5ft wide theater. I should have built a bigger theater room.

I heard ARC tubes with Soohia 2s and nothing else. It was very good and I suspect quite a bit better with Sophia 3. Sasha concerns me a bit with tubes but we'll see. There is always the ARC Ref 210...

Congrats Serge !!!
Macadamia is a tasty Color !
You made a wise decision limiting yourself from buying those wonders, if your room is not large enough to accomodate them.
My best friend has active Linn Komri. They deliver a huge energy in the bass and his room is not large enough. He does not realize. He got used to the sound but the bass is not what it should be. It is unclear and boomy.
It makes the mids and treble being restrained. It is a shame that his dealer let him buy them.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by C220MC275

Congrats Serge !!!
Macadamia is a tasty Color !
You make a wise decision limiting yourself from buying those wonders, if your room is not large enough to accomodate your room.
My best friend has active Linn Komri. They deliver a huge energy in the bass and his room is not large enough. He does not realize. He got used to the sound but the bass is not what it should be. It is unclear and boomy.
It makes the mids and treble being restrained. It is a shame that his dealer let him buy them.

Jerome, Wilson speakers are probably the best in the industry when it comes to being flexible in terms of room size and placement. This is both from my own experience, listening to other systems and talking to knowledgeable people. Both rooms will be extensively treated, more so than Wilson recommends but we all have our opinions on that.

The theater was built from ground up using ASC iso-wall and iso-ceiling floating rails, iso-wall dampening material between two layers of drywall, riser platform is also floated and isolated by ASC specific products for that purpose. The room will have a plethora of cinema panels, cool traps, full and half round bass traps, acoustic soffits and other acoustical panels. Bass problems was not my concern...

My concern was mostly aesthetic and having a bit more room for speaker placement. There is only so much you can do when you have to finagle large speakers like Maxx 3, a 4 foot wide Polaris center and having a screen in the middle of it all.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by cmalak

Where? Overture Audio? Serge...if you are going to pull the trigger on a full ARC set-up, these guys should allow you to home audition the gear. I have never been there but from what I have read about them, they are pretty customer service oriented. My 2c worth.

Yep, I've bought gear from them before and then some...