What audio system do you have, or plan on getting?

[DavidW]

I guess the deletion of a simple and legitimate inquiry answers the question.

No there is nothing legitimate about that trolling.  Keep it to the debate thread.  I'm about to PM both you and AS.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I'm getting some bargain speakers tomorrow.  I've set up a spare room as a den, the only problem is that while I'm happy with the tv, I could do better than tv audio.

"Den" as in you're turning it into a "Man Cave"? 

PD

p.s.  So, what speakers did you buy? And how did you decide on them? 

[Todd]

No there is nothing legitimate about that trolling.  Keep it to the debate thread.  I'm about to PM both you and AS.

Very good.  I anticipate the PM. 

[DavidW]

"Den" as in you're turning it into a "Man Cave"? 

PD

p.s.  So, what speakers did you buy? And how did you decide on them? 

Yes... well I actually borrowed the idea from my parents who have a small tv room.  They use it in the winter because it is warmer than the living room. 

I have a 75 inch tv that I had replaced with a 65 inch oled in the living room.  I realized that instead of recycling or selling the tv I could repurpose it, in a small room I would have the kind of field of vision you would get in the movie theater.  Which is nice because the movie theater in my town closed down.

The speakers I bought are Dali Spektors. I mostly just used reviews to choose.  I won't know if I like how they sound until they arrive and set them up which should be this afternoon or evening.

[71 dB]

I'm getting some bargain speakers tomorrow.  I've set up a spare room as a den, the only problem is that while I'm happy with the tv, I could do better than tv audio.

TVs are for the picture. The sound is an after-thought suitable barely for listening to the news when nothing better audio quality wise is available. It is ironic how TV sets had 50 years ago better sound quality (even when it was just mono!), but much worse picture quality. That's what happens when most people care about picture quality only and that's why anyone who actually cares about sound quality need separate audio system to do the TV sound.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

TVs are for the picture. The sound is an after-thought suitable barely for listening to the news when nothing better audio quality wise is available. It is ironic how TV sets had 50 years ago better sound quality (even when it was just mono!), but much worse picture quality. That's what happens when most people care about picture quality only and that's why anyone who actually cares about sound quality need separate audio system to do the TV sound.

Yes... well I actually borrowed the idea from my parents who have a small tv room.  They use it in the winter because it is warmer than the living room. 

I have a 75 inch tv that I had replaced with a 65 inch oled in the living room.  I realized that instead of recycling or selling the tv I could repurpose it, in a small room I would have the kind of field of vision you would get in the movie theater.  Which is nice because the movie theater in my town closed down.

The speakers I bought are Dali Spektors. I mostly just used reviews to choose.  I won't know if I like how they sound until they arrive and set them up which should be this afternoon or evening.

That sounds like a smart idea.  Sorry thought to hear about your movie theater closing down though.  I do miss not being able to go to an intimate local theatre and being forced to go to those huge plexes.

Which Dali Spektor ones did you get (I see that there are various model numbers)?  Looking forward to hearing how you like them.  If you don't already have one, you might want to now get a loveseat or a couch so that you and your mate (and friends if there is room?) can enjoy movie night. 

PD

[DavidW]

That sounds like a smart idea.  Sorry thought to hear about your movie theater closing down though.  I do miss not being able to go to an intimate local theatre and being forced to go to those huge plexes.

Yeah tickets were cheap (less than $3) and I used to walk there.  I used to even see students and families I knew.  It was a good time.

Which Dali Spektor ones did you get (I see that there are various model numbers)?  Looking forward to hearing how you like them.  If you don't already have one, you might want to now get a loveseat or a couch so that you and your mate (and friends if there is room?) can enjoy movie night. 

PD

This one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N33PMBV

[DavidW]

TVs are for the picture. The sound is an after-thought suitable barely for listening to the news when nothing better audio quality wise is available. It is ironic how TV sets had 50 years ago better sound quality (even when it was just mono!), but much worse picture quality. That's what happens when most people care about picture quality only and that's why anyone who actually cares about sound quality need separate audio system to do the TV sound.

Yeah these thin flatscreens have really bad sound.  The one thing that is neat is that the tv can use the microphone in the remote to apply eq, and that does actually help.

[Harry]

Yeah tickets were cheap (less than $3) and I used to walk there.  I used to even see students and families I knew.  It was a good time.

This one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N33PMBV

These speakers will do just fine David, I know them and listen through the whole series.
Had them for a few months in my office/small TV room and used them to watch movies and series during the winter. Easy to handle and do not need a huge amplifier.

[DavidW]

These speakers will do just fine David, I know them and listen through the whole series.
Had them for a few months in my office/small TV room and used them to watch movies and series during the winter. Easy to handle and do not need a huge amplifier.

That is great to hear!  They are a blind buy.  I'm not sure how pleased Amazon would be with me just auditioning and returning them and go through a few speakers!

It is especially encouraging that it is the same use case.  Small room for tv, and the amplifier isn't too strong.

[Atriod]

I have a 75 inch tv that I had replaced with a 65 inch oled in the living room.  I realized that instead of recycling or selling the tv I could repurpose it, in a small room I would have the kind of field of vision you would get in the movie theater.  Which is nice because the movie theater in my town closed down.

That is exactly what we did when we bought a ZT60 to replace an aging G25. TVs are practically worthless secondhand.

The ISF calibrated ZT60 still looks really good, so far there has been no reason for us to go OLED yet other than power consumption, and we don't use it enough to warrant after building a HT.

[71 dB]

Yeah these thin flatscreens have really bad sound.  The one thing that is neat is that the tv can use the microphone in the remote to apply eq, and that does actually help.

Room correction on TV? Wow! I didn't know there are TVs that can do that.  That said, room correction works best at low frequencies and that's the frequency range were TVs really suck.

[Traverso]

The streamer is Rasberry Pi with Logitech Media Server installed.

There's an optical connection from streamer to DAC -- the DAC is old, a Theta.

The DAC goes into an external crossover, which is made by Gradient, who made the subs. And the crossover goes to the two amps -- the CJ and the Rotel.

The RCA interconnects are Chord C line, apart from the very long one, which is a cheap thing from amazon. The long one will be changed for something more reliable, I'm not sure what to yet.

The ESLs are great. The big problem with them is that the glue which holds the panels can become unstuck, and that makes them arc and spark, and necessitates an expensive service. I bought mine in 2009, they had been bought second hand by the previous owner at least 7 years before -- they are old. And they have never been serviced, but I have the boxes ready for the inevitable evil day. 

Apparently I've been fortunate partly because I never move them. It's moving them which puts stresses on the frame and causes the glue to loosen.

I found this...

After repairing dozens of Quad sets, where we reused the old stators, we started to understand why they keep coming loose;



The original stators are made of Pertinax, this is a sheet material of pressed paper, a copper layer has been applied to this sheet and then perforated.

Pertinax is a hygroscopic material, which means that it can absorb moisture and that is really undesirable because it causes the copper layer to oxidize and the already mediocre insulation no longer does its job properly.  As a result of the high voltage leakage that then arises, the air between the stator and the foil ionizes and ozone forms in the electrostat.

As a result, the glue used to fix the stators to the support grids hardens and eventually peels off, causing the elements to crackle and the foil to tear.

So we decided to make new stators, but then from better material (epoxy plate) and while we were at it, we also made an improvement in the perforation (a technique that we have been using at Solosound since 1974).

Such a process then starts with redrawing the stators, incorporating all improvements, and producing a set of stators.

We built these new stators into a set of ESL 63 and the first results were promising, they could play much louder anyway without the speakers going into protection due to breakdown and the sound remained the same.

We then looked at the construction of the elements and were able to make a few improvements there as well.  By adjusting the damping of the foil and changing the brake cloth, the basses in particular have become tighter.

[71 dB]

These speakers will do just fine David, I know them and listen through the whole series.
Had them for a few months in my office/small TV room and used them to watch movies and series during the winter. Easy to handle and do not need a huge amplifier.

Yes, those speakers are fine for the price. These kind of basic two-way reflex ported speakers are relatively easy to design electro-acoustically and Dali is a decent speaker manufacturer.

[DavidW]

That is exactly what we did when we bought a ZT60 to replace an aging G25. TVs are practically worthless secondhand.

Yes I learned that the hard way with an older tv.  I couldn't sell it anywhere.  Not newspaper ads, not craigslist, not ebay.  I ended up just giving it away.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Yes I learned that the hard way with an older tv.  I couldn't sell it anywhere.  Not newspaper ads, not craigslist, not ebay.  I ended up just giving it away.

Some years ago (at least 10+) I checked out a t.v. at my stereo shop and was impressed with a Sony Bravia one that they had.  I decided to save some of my pennies and went for a lower model (and also not as big) one I was able to get from a different electronics store which I've been pretty happy with.  I tried connecting it to my stereo system.  The sound was great, but to have the speakers on either side of the t.v.  didn't work for where I like to do most of my music listening (on couch with speakers either side of fireplace) and the speakers are too hard to move back and forth between the two spots.  House is old and rooms not well-designed for a music lover alas.

Would love to get a bigger t.v.--particularly as vision becomes a bigger problem the older one gets.

PD

[Holden]

Bought these for work as their predecessor, the SRH840 died. Actually the head band snapped where it meets the LH cup and I can't see a way to repair it.

My audio dealer still had some original 840s but I decided to try the upgraded model instead. The 840As are a studio monitor headphone with an essentially neutral sound signature but are still musically engaging.

[DavidW]

btw those Dali speakers are amazing!  They image well, and I'm really surprised how good the bass is on such tiny speakers.  So I'm happy.  I don't know how they are with music, but I have a stereo for that anyway.

[Harry]

btw those Dali speakers are amazing!  They image well, and I'm really surprised how good the bass is on such tiny speakers.  So I'm happy.  I don't know how they are with music, but I have a stereo for that anyway.

Told ya

[Pohjolas Daughter]

btw those Dali speakers are amazing!  They image well, and I'm really surprised how good the bass is on such tiny speakers.  So I'm happy.  I don't know how they are with music, but I have a stereo for that anyway.

Glad that you are happy with them! 

PD