Let’s do some blatant copy/paste from Ars Technica. A few days ago they ran a story called “What’s in your home theatre system?“. This poll wasn’t so much about listing specific speaker types or amplifier models as it was about a number of more recognisable devices you could vote for. Let’s copy their idea, but make it more open: what’s in your home theatre setup – and list everything, from CD player to DVR to the type of cabling used. Be as anal about is as you want. Read on for my setup.
It’s always kind of hard to decide how to organise a list of your home audio/video equipment, since different people will prioritise different components. Since my main interest is still music, I consider my audio equipment the backbone of my entire setup – coincidentally, I still get giddy like a schoolgirl every time I lay my eyes on it.
Ever since I discovered Harman/Kardon equipment almost a decade ago, I’ve been in love. The problem, obviously, is that Harman/Kardon stuff doesn’t come cheap. Considering I’m just a student, and thus always on a budget, I’m extremely proud I got this stuff together (long live Marktplaats.nl).
We’re talking a Harman/Kardon AVR 140 6.1 AV receiver, the silver version. It’s complemented by a Harman/Kardon DVD 23 DVD/CD player, and the Harman/Kardon iPod/iPhone dock, The Bridge. The cherry on top is the Harman/Kardon TC 30 universal remote, which is basically a redesigned (by Harman/Kardon, and thus better-looking) Logitech Harmony with colour display.
Connected to the AVR 140 is my Xbox360, as well as a media centre computer running Boxee on top of Windows 7 (I’m going to switch it over to Linux/Boxee over the weekend, just to see how that goes). It’s a 2.8Ghz Pentium 4 with 2GB of RAM and a GeForce 6200 video card. Then there’s my digital+HD TV decoder, a Samsung DCB-H360R. Furthermore, I have another media centre computer in the bedroom which also acts as the server for all my downloaded video content – also runs Boxee on Windows 7.
Since the AVR 140 doesn’t do HDMI (a reason to upgrade in the coming years), video switching is done by my TV (long live universal remotes), a 32″ Vizio VX32L Widescreen 1080i, which I reviewed for OSAlert way back in January 2008. I’ve casually browsed for a new one, but truth be told, I’ve yet to find any new TV with the same kind of quality upscaling as this Vizio has. It’s probably all in my head, but alas, my head’s the one that matters in this case. Especially the TV series I download off the web (that’s legal here, so don’t worry) look stunning.
Of course, we need something to get the sound into our ears as well. I’m quite satisfied with my two main speakers from British KEF, the Cresta 30 floor-standing speakers, in black wood. I went all-out on these, and happily bought them new for the full price. They’re extremely good value – you’re getting speakers from a top-notch quality brand at a relatively low price. If you ever come across a few of these and you’re in need for new speakers – don’t hesitate.
I obviously have 5.1 surround, but I didn’t spend too much money on this. My surround speakers are a bunch of JVC speakers that came with the JVC VS-DT6R I had when I still lived with my parents. My centre speaker is some random Sony one I snatched off Marktplaats, and my active subwoofer is a Sony SA-W10. No idea if it’s any good, but I think it does the job pretty well.
As for how everything’s hooked up, I prefer optical and COAX digital cables for the simple reason they reduce clutter. I’m no audiophile by any means, although the difference between digital and analogue cables between my CD player and receiver was quite clearly noticeable even to me. Video connections are HDMI for my decoder and Xbox360, plain old VGA cable for the media centre, and component for the DVD player.
That’s it. How’s your setup?
Harman/Kardon AVR 3000, stashed in dressing room.
Infinity “reference” tall speakers (not connected to anything) around TV.
Verkkokauppa “kombotallennin” (DVB receiver that has usb connector to record on external hard drive), attached to 37″ Matsui LCD.
No DVD or BD player.
Joys of family life with a small kid ;-).
Edited 2010-07-09 13:35 UTC
Epson 1500UB 1080P projector on 100″ screen
Vista Media center PC with My Movies Plugin
Boxee, netflix, hulu also on the media center
two polk 50s with phantom center
two cheap onkyo speakers for the back
Accustitek 12″ sub good to 20hz
Onkyo tx-sr606 receiver
I have a full MGR 16×15″ 16×10″, 32×8″ for PA works that i do, and yeas it sounds awsome from my amiga =D
My input is just 12x Philips lowDB mic’s so nothing fancy. But yours sounds nice. In the camera department i am seriously retarded, i have none.. but usually that is handled by the arranger.
:EDIT
Should i say that i use several 1400w AMP’s or is that just unneeded?
Edited 2010-07-09 20:54 UTC
2 infinity floor-standing speakers and a stereo receiver, 100 watt. 40″ TV for video, and a PC and PS3 to play games and blu-ray movies with.
not a audio equipment junkie, but you can still hear the machine guns rattling at the first scene of Saving Private Ryan of the beach landing just fine.
Just finished a new build and wired the whole lot up with Cat 6. Sent my HDMI round the house using HDMI-Ethernet converters.
Put speakers in every room’s ceiling, all wired back to patch panel. Set up a CentOS server with a USB hub and 12 USB soundcards. 12 channel Amp takes feed from each soundcard and sends to speaker in each room.
Wrote a web app to control audio in every room. Can make up playlists, start, stop, advance, control volume etc all from web. Web app works on mobile phones that connect to Wifi.
Thankfully I just got a harmony remote so I have all this information handy.
I’m running mostly on older gear, but it works well and I can’t justify replacing any/most of it just yet.
Remote: Harmony 650 (5 devices)
TV: Samsung TV (LN-S2641D) (26″ 720p LCD)
DVD Player: Region-unlocked JVC DVD (XV-N312)
Blu-ray player / Netflix streaming / USB video player:
Insignia (NS-WBRDVD)
Receiver: Yamaha (HTR-5830) — No HDMI, but that’s ok for now, since it has two optical audio in, and I use the component I/O for the JVC and my Wii
STB (QAM tuner): Samsung Digital Set Top Box (DTB-H260F)
I just got the (relatively cheap) harmony remote a couple months ago — it’s made it far less frustrating than having 5 remotes just to watch a movie.
I have a pair of dirt-cheap Genius speakers and a pair of TDK headphones. Does that count?
I don’t need anti-virus software because I run GNU/Linux.
A small old fashioned tube tv (with intergrated dvd):
Like the one in this picture from Lidl:
http://www.discountfan.de/artikel/september-2009/lidl-fernseher-mit…
But cost only 60 euros and didn’t come from Lidl.
It’s packed a way in this:
http://www.dhd24.com/azl/index.php?anz_id=72664242
Until we need it.
Sorry, shouldn’t have posted here!
Since I’ve moved to this new home I haven’t even got a TV (yet), although I own a DVD player (duh). But, when I get one, it’s gonna be biiiig.
Edited 2010-07-09 14:46 UTC
Sharp 42″ Full-HD LCD TV (don’t remember the model)
Onkyo TX-SR604E receiver
Jamo 5.1 A102-HCS-5 speaker set (tiny but pretty good sounding)
PS3 as DVD and Bluray player
Home-built HTPC running Arch Linux and XBMC
Vinyl record player
Wii, GameCube, NES and other stuff
A small old fashioned tube tv (with intergrated dvd):
Like the one in this picture:
http://www.test.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/Aktionsware-TV-mit-int…
cost only 60 euros
It’s packed a way in this:
http://www.dhd24.com/azl/index.php?anz_id=72664242
Until we need it.
Edited 2010-07-09 14:47 UTC
B&K Reference 7250 200×5 amp
Denon AVR-988 as pre/pro
PS3 as Blu Ray/CD player
Tannoy Eyris 3 fronts
Tannoy Eyris 1 rears
Tannoy Eyris C center
SVS PB-12ISD 300watt sub, flat to 20Hz, good to 18Hz
Toshiba 55SV670U LED backlit 55″ TV
URC MX-810 remote
Edited 2010-07-09 14:46 UTC
Video:
122″ 720p projector, special wall paint, black no gloss for the rest of the wall. ( black out curtains )
HDMI -> Ps3 / blue ray / netflix player
RGB -> ubuntu myth tv setup with HDhomeRun on the network, with a share accessing my NAS for shared file access.
6.1 sony surround sound optical audio for both sources.
wireless remotes for everything.
– Second hand Dell 15″ LCD monitor.
– Second hand older Mac Mini (with a 32bits Core Duo) running Win7.
– 2.1 Altec Lansing speakers set from Staples.
All of that on the kitchen counter which as everyone knows is the best place for a “home theater”
One MythTV server with 3 NTSC input card and 3 frontend using the native MythTV GUI (XBMC is better looking, but have less features I like from the native frontend, it does not even “just work”).
One is plugged to a 15″ LCD monitor close to my computer and mirrored on my old SD NTSC TV on the other side of the computer and the other one is plugged on my 42″ 720P tv (1366×768).
I use an iPod touch with MyMote to rule them all.
I also have an Amarok server (MySQL+Share) and a good 2.1 speaker set. I also have an old 7.1 DVD player, but I have not used it since I got MythTV. Oh, and 2 HD cable box, they are not yet plugged to Myth, so I just switch my TV to them sometime.
1 Samsung 40″ of a newer model.
2 Infinity Alpha40 loudspeakers.
3 Yamaha stereo from like the early 90s. Hey! Age has nothing to do with quality.
4 PS3 for BD and DVD
But the best thing is how I packed it all together. All cables run inside the walls so no visible cables anywhere. And also some nice spotlights in the ceiling to illuminate the TV.
All I have is a ~20″ CRT TV, an old DVD player, and a Wii.
I don’t have TV. I sometimes watch DVDs. I play games on the Wii occasionally.
I really don’t feel like I’m missing anything. (Though I do feel kind of old-shcool…)
Samsung 32″ (wide) CRT TV
Yamaha HTR 5170 (ac3/dts 5.1)
Whatfedale Modus center
Wharfedale Modus 16 fronts
Wharfedale Modus 8 rears
Yamaha CDC 685 5cd player
Technics 1300 SL turntable
Mvix 760HD
Pioneer DV-470 (DVD, divx, xvid, yada yada)
Cables…
Center: 11 AWG radio shack cable.
Front: bi-wired with 13 AWG radio shack cables.
Rear: Bi-wired with 13 AWG (quad core) electric extension cord and ferrites.
TV with a PVR connected via component. Bluray player connected via RCA(classic red white yellow cable)
No receiver, just a simple TV setup:
46″ Sony Bravia 46z5100
Sony Blu-ray BDP-S350
Buffalo LinkTheater DVD/Network media player
Wii
TiVo Premier
All of it is networked, including the TV.
27″ Panasonic Flat Tube ( largest TV that would fit in a 1990 dodge shadow in 2003)
$10 RCA Rabbit ear antenna
Direct tv branded digital converter box
My Android phone. It’s cozy, sound is great with head phones, YouTube keeps the littler kids busy for a while and the bigger kids busy far too long when they’re watching NES game speed runs.
I can’t wait to dump my massive TV and reclaim the space in the living room.
Mythbuntu running on a dual core with digital audio. HDhomeRun tuner. Works perfect. music, videos, weather, theater, DVR and much more. Thanks to Mythtv, Linux, Mythbuntu and the makers of HDhomeRun and their support of Linux.
Primary
Sammy Blu-ray 2550
Orb 5.1 surround speaker system
Yamaha 465 5.1 Receiver
Epson 6500UB projector (in small room projecting at 90″)
Various cables
Secondary (primarily for audio)
32″ Toshiba CRT monitor (looking to update)
Pioneer Laserdisc player
Pioneer DVD player
Magnepan speakers
VTL and Moscode amps
Fosgate surround
Classe preamp
Edited 2010-07-09 15:51 UTC
40″ Sony Bravia TV
– http://cdn.cbsi.com.au/story_media/339289819/Bravia-KDL40W4000_1.jp…
1,86 Ghz HTPC without ventilation and XBMC
– http://www.digitalfernsehen.de/news/img/465735_fd79d5181b.gif
old XBox 1 in Black
– http://it.hule.harryda.se/itda07/wilort/test/bilder/konsoller/xbox….
Nintendo Wii with Wiifit
Atari 2600
– http://www.atariage.com/2600/systems/sys_Atari2600.jpg
For Bluray i use my notebook which i connect via HDMI to the tv. Streaming movies goes over WIFI with a server that is in another room.
Cheers, murphy
List of gear + geolocation + Google Maps = PROFIT!
Exactly!
No problem here, tons of heavy, cheap equipment in an apartment building, no elevator. *grin*
Took me 2 hours just getting the speaker system downstairs for a demonstration at the DIY event in Breda this year. (http://forum.zelfbouwaudio.nl/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=10589&start=350)
I am a poor student who does not even watch TV news, so nothing AV for me except my laptop, which just plays popular classics. I don’t even spend time on youtube!
Definitely not easy to get money off me. I like the Economist though.
I watch all my media through my PC. I have some Altec Lansing 2.1 speakers which play whatever Amarok (or WMP if I am on Win7) is playing at the time. I also play DVDs/content off the internet on an old 19″ CRT display which happens to have better color and contrast than my LCD monitor.
I also have a netbook which I will sometimes watch stuff on when I am drinking on the back porch. Unfortunately my netbook is kinda stuck with Windows, and my media server is having some Samba issues.
Barco 800 Data – (running at 1024×768@60Hz, instead of 720p due to owning lots of 4:3 content). Projecting a 7ft diagonal image.
Yamaha something or other – DTS surround system (it sounds good and I’m honestly not that bothered about the model number
). Sony 5.1 speakers.
HTPC – Primary source for the projector, VLC + Media Player Classic software. DVD drive, DVB-T TV card, with composite in for old games consoles.
Understanding flatmate – who can live with a 64KG lump on a table in the living room
Interesting timing of question, I’m getting a Barco 808 tomorrow \o/ Same massive size, 50% brighter and 1080p.
— 50″ Samsung LED-DLP TV (love this thing immensely)
— home-made HTPC with a PVR-250 tuner card and Blu-Ray drive running (for now) Win7 WMC, only until integrated Blu-Ray support comes out for Linux. HDMI direct to the A/V receiver from the ATI HD4750 in the PC. Also with gaming machine emulators (NES/SNES/Sega/Wii/PS1)
— Sony DH500 A/V receiver
— two Sony SS-B1000 front speakers
— Subwoofer and surround speakers I scavenged out of a home DVD surround system
— Xbox (not 360). Only have it cause it was given to me
— music controlled by my Palm Pre using VLC remote
I have a modded first generation Xbox from which a stream video’s from my server.
For sound I bought an old amp with two good speakers for 2 euro at a fleemarket, there great!
Receiver: Technics 100×5 Dolby Digital/DTS (2 optical, 1 SPDIF)
TV: 27″ RCA CRT (would replace, but that involves lifting it)
Remote: Harmony 650 (5 devices, Media PC configured as “Listen to Music”)
Media PC: 2.6ghz P4 w/ Team Media Portal and WinLIRC
DVD: Phillips DVP642 (Region 0 + plays most XViD/DivX)
Laserdisc: Pioneer CLD-704
Input: ViewCast Osprey 100
Not the latest and greatest, but it suits my needs and, most importantly, the other half knows how to drive it.
TV 42″ plasma only 1024×768 but i prefer plasma before lcd’s (the new lcd’s with led backligth are decent but to expensive)
zotac ion 2.5″ hd with xbmc running under ubuntu
works perfect for 1080p connectd to the plasma via hdmi
logitech z5500 god value for movie sound not that god for music the big wofer tries to play up to 120hz. connected to the ion via optical spdi
for remote i have the bd ps3 remote works great with the htpc over bluetooth so i dont need to be in the same room when listning to musik and such.
one asus ion as fileserver hidden away connected to the htpc via giga-e
New Panasonic 37″ IPS panel LED TV with HD Sat receiver
Yamaha DSP-A2 5.1 amplifier
2 rogers monitor front speakers (no need for subwoofer)
2 Marantz monoblocks for those.
2 small rearspeakers (kolibri)
1 Toshiba DVD player (old, doesn’t do DVDR)
1 homebuild HTPC (windows 7 with mediaportal) and remote
1 Cambridge Audio CD player.
Most of my stuff is over 10 years old except for the TV and the HTPC (early 2008)
Edited 2010-07-09 17:38 UTC
audio: logitech G35 7.1
video: belinea 10 20 35W
the end
As more of an audiophile I don’t really like the sound of x.1 Setups. Being a student I also couldn’t afford a good one. I don’t even have a TV, so basically my Setup is a reloop HA-210B 240W Amp, a reloop, RP-4000 Turntable, Dual CD100RS CD Player, Magnat Monitor 2000 Towers and a 24″ HP LP2475W which my PS3, my SUN and my Workstation are connected to. All PC/PS3 Audio goes to the Stereo. Also theres a 3-Channel Numark Scratch Mixer for the most used Audio Devices.
Soundcard: M-Audio Audiophile 192
Amp: Creek CAS 4040 S2 Integrated Amplifier
Speakers: Teledyne Acoustic Research 28ls
Line Cable: Common Entry-Grade Studio Cable.
Speaker Cables: Top Cable Powerflex 6mm copper cable with gold plated Monster Cable Connectors.
I got the amp first, and it sounded good. Then I got the speakers and omg how it improved! finally, my dad gave me the cables, that left my setup sounding really great! (especially for those 24 bit tracks =D)
regards!
A rather aging setup:
Amp: NAD 312
Speakers: Paradigm 5seMk3
CD-player: not used, but it’s a technics something (besides, it’s pretty much dead)
DVD-player: Huh? Try with .mkv-files :p – apart from that, the dvd-drive in the PC.
Soundcard: realtek something
Turntable (yes, I have lots of LP’s): Missing In Action (for now – the old one died on me) – considering buying an older Rega 2 or Rega 3.
TV: Hardly used (except for watching Heartbeat*), but it’s an old Salora colour-tv (14″)
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartbeat_(TV_series)
Edited 2010-07-09 18:27 UTC
My computer setup doubles as my home theatre setup, although that makes it sound fairly simple – while it’s actually it’s become a bit of mess (understatement), due to it having grown up gradually without any real plan or forethought.
I’ve a decent Aiwa speaker/sub combination (can’t remember the specifics offhand) that’s about a decade old – nothing fancy, but it still puts out better sound than the vast majority of “computer speakers” I’ve heard. It’s hooked up, via some adapters, to an old SoundBlaster PCI512 in my BeOS desktop. The BeOS machine contains my music collection, which I can stream to other computers/parts of the house using SoundPlay – and controlling the playback through a web interface.
Then, I have cable running from the line-out of my Windows desktop to the line-in of my BeOS desktop – this lets the two PCs share the same set of speakers (they’re already sharing other hardware via a KVM, so no point in them having separate speakers). It also means that I can control output to the speakers with the BeOS software mixer, which I much prefer to Windows’ audio level controls.
After that, it starts getting *really* ugly/kludgy. So that I could easily switch between headphones and my speakers, an extension runs cable from the line-out of the BeOS machine & is attached to my keyboard tray with some zip ties. And because the setup wasn’t convoluted enough, I attached a splitter to the extension cable – so I would get audio out of my main speakers & the speakers built into my monitor (the speakers are sitting there, might as well use them).
And most recently, I ran a cable from my laptop’s audio-out to the line-in of my Windows machine. So, when audio plays on my laptop, it goes to the Windows machine via its line-in, that PC then sends the audio through its audio-out to the line-in of the BeOS machine, which then sends it to the speakers.
Yes, yes, I know – I really should have dedicated hardware for most of that stuff. I do tend to get carried away with DIY sometimes.
Receiver:
Denon AVR-2XXX (can’t remember the number) pre HDMI but 7.1 capable. Sounds good. Looks ok in silver.
DVD/BluRay:
PlayStation 3. Replaced a Denon DVD which is now collecting dust.
TV:
Sony 31″ TUUUUUUBBBBE. I didn’t really want to buy it but I moved out and needed something. At the time flat panels were way too expensive so I went with the cheapest I could find theater wide Tube. It was still pretty pricy. This’ll be the next thing to replace. Hoping for 50″ or more LCD once it looks like the feature set of the flat panels seem to settle down and the prices come down. I can wait.
Speakers:
Totem Arro for the left and right, front and surrounds.
Totem DreamCatcher center.
Totem DreamCatcher sub.
So only 5.1 at the moment. The speakers I think cost more than the Receiver, TV and DVD player at the time. They sound really good all round IMO. I’ll probably never need to buy speakers ever again. Eventually I’ll fill it out to 7.1 with two Totem DreamCatcher bookshelf speakers but no real hurry. No room for them at the moment.
I used to have my computer as the all in one thing but it really didn’t work well at all. This was some time ago though. I haven’t played with the recent options. I’m hoping the PlayStation will eventually get there.
I’d love a PVR/DVR but I find it real annoying that each television provider has their own ‘proprietary’ device for this capability. So you can’t use one device with another’s service. So I’m still waiting for them to see the light and allow me to have the choice of off the shelf options. Although I was thinking I might just drop TV service altogether. I haven’t really used my money’s worth of tv viewing for quite some time.
Lounge:
harman/kardon AVR-340, hooked up to a pair of mission m73 speakers
hitachi 1080p 42″ tv
old projector, forget the name.. something a4, does 800×600 so not brilliant
xbox 360 and dm800 hooked to the tv with hdmi and to the avr with optical…
wii and ps2 using component video
also a spare optical audio and dvi cable for my laptop
Bedroom:
lg 20″ lcd tv
arcam alpha 1 amplifier
another pair of mission m73 speakers
first gen xbox running xbmc
dreambox dm500 satellite receiver
since the avr-340 supports 7.1 surround, i’m really looking to get a new set of speakers… anyone have any recommendations either to replace or work alongside the mission m73s?
Have so far:
Anthem Statement D2 Pre-amp
Anthem Statement A5 Amplifier
VAC Phi 110/110 Tube Amplifier with Genalex Gold Lion tubes
Legacy Focus HD Front Towers bi-amped (A5 to the bass taps and VAC to the treble)
Things to Get:
JVC RS-35 Projector
Legacy Silver Screen Center Speaker
Legacy Phantom Rear Speakers
Decent room to put all of this equipment
PC for Movies, Music, TV hooked up via Toslink
XBox 360 hooked up via Toslink
Laptop via 1/4″ -> RCA
WDTV Live streaming box with cat6 to network and HDMI to a hundred year old 52″ rear projection HD tv. Haven’t missed cable since going with this setup a few months back.
The WDTV Live box gets about an 8 out of 10 for delivering on its promise to be a hassle free way to watch content. It is small and quiet and plays almost everything i’ve thrown at it without complaint. But it does lock up once in a while and require a reset.
Would love to have gone with Netflix online or similar but can’t seem to find a such a service offered here in Canada.
29inch Sony Trinitron TV 100Hz (KV-29LS30E)
2 Satellite Speakers and a subwoofer (Home Made)
Audix DVD-8218
Thorens TD150 MKII
Sonab Receiver SR-3650
not much but it works for me (^_^)
Edited 2010-07-09 22:08 UTC
My setup seems like a weird mixture but it’s used everyday and properly maintained. For the parts of it, though, one might wonder what use do I put it to
Video:
– Television: Sony KV-21FQ10
– Three VHS video recorders: Sony SLV-835/825/815
– DVD recorder: Pioneer DVR-7000
– Funny little picture effects generator: Sony XV-D300
Analog audio input:
– Tuner: Onkyo T-9900
– Cassette deck: Technics RS-B965
Digital audio input:
– CD player: Technics SL-PA10
– MacBook Pro
– An average unbranded PC (64-bit, two cores) with sound card E-MU 0404, running GNU/Linux Fedora
– Two portable sound players/recorders: Sony MZ-RH1 and Nokia N900
Common point and audio output:
– Preamplifier and A/V remote control: Sony TA-E2000 + RM-P2000
– Amplifier: Technics SU-MA10
– Hand made pair of speakers: Visaton Atlas compact mk3
– Wireless headphones: Sony MDR-RF820
– High-end earphones: Sony MDR-NC300 (keeps reminding me of Akihabara, Tokyo…)
However, my apartment is small enough to force me not to turn amplifier’s volume above one quarter of the maximum. So, despite having only 2.0 speakers, my room blows like it’s 7.1
Still have to decide will I add (and how):
– Mac Mini G4
– iPod Shuffle 2G
– Microphone: Shure SM63LB
System 1
The first is an audio system for the living room. The speakers are a pair of ADS L880s. For good measure, a Radio Shack 12″ powered sub-woofer provides a little extra on the very lowest notes. The ADS speakers are powered by an Onkyo 100 Watt per channel receiver, located in the bedroom upstairs. I can play LPs through it on a Music Hall MMF7 turntable, and CDs through an el-cheapo DVD player. I even have a cassette deck.
The main use comes from music stored on a server in another part of the house. A computer in the upstairs bedroom accesses the server over a network, and sends the signal to the receiver, via an M-Audio card. The bedroom computer is controlled from a computer in the living room via a VNC connection.
System 2
The other system is for watching stuff. It’s located in the 10’x10′ room where the server sits. It started out as a jumbled collection of Radio Shack specials from the days when they pretended to care about audio, then got a couple of upgrades. The speakers include a powered, 10″ sub-woofer, and 5 smallish speakers of various types, including an original Minimus 7 as the center channel. A Harmon Kardon AV receiver holds this all together. I am surprised at how good it all sounds.
The video portion is anchored by an Asus 25.5″ monitor. A DVD player sends it video via HDMI. A Roku box sends it stuff via component video. Both the DVD player and the Roku box send digital audio to the receiver. A VCR sends it output via an old Viewsonic converter box that handles composite from the VCR, and VGA from the computer, before sending either to the monitor via a VGA link.
The OS Angle
Linux plays a role in all this. The M-Audio card was panned in Newegg reviews at the time of purchase, because of its poor Windows Vista support (18 months after Vista’s release). Linux support was fine, however, and the card is first rate. All other computers in the house, along with the Roku box, run Linux.
Samsung DVD player plugged into 26″ CRT TV
(I spend my money on camera gear and beer)
I only got a aging low-end MythTV box – Pentium4 1.5 Ghz/1 GB memory/120 GB IDE HDD/Geforce2 MX200 32MB (wow) – hooked audio and video into a second hand 17″ LCD monitor which I got for free
This is mainly used for my baby son watching kids DVD sometimes. Thankfully he yet never really deserve to watch something, and I rarely watch TV anyway. So I feel it is quite sufficient for the moment. Actually I use my MacBookPro 13″ and iPod Touch 2G for everything 
Audio Rack – GEM Sound DS9005 Mixer, PB-48 48point Patch Bay, KMD EQ31 31 band Graphic Equalizer, AMD Athlon XP 2200+/2GB RAM/ATI Video/SB Audigy/200GB HDD/XP MCE/Boxee
Gamestop System selector (Network/Component/Composite/S-Video), Linksys WGA54AG Wireless Gaming Adapter, RCA RTD315 200W 5.2 Home theater (DVD/CD/Tuner/Receiver), PlayStation 2, Sega Dreamcast, Jakks Sports, Pioneer CLD-M301 Laserdisc and 5 CD Changer. Go Video 4060 Dual Deck 4-head VCR, JVC TD-W106 Dual Tape Deck, Sylvania 32″ 1080p LCD TV, Sony RM-VL600 (8 device) programmable remote. All video HDMI for Computer and Home Theater, Composite for game systems. Audio, RCA.
This excludes the other equipment hooked up in various places. (2.1 + 155W Amp for PC, etc.)
Harman/Kardon AVR354
Harman/Kardon DVD-48
Infinity Beta 50 mains
Infinity Beta C360 centre
Infinity Beta 10 surrounds
Infinity CSW-10 650W powered sub
And a Toshiba 27″ standard def television
Screen: 42″ Philips plasma, no cable, no satellite, just for playing movies from my media server.
AV source: FreeBSD on a VIA mini-ITX with a Terratec Aureon Sky 5.1 card. Still using plain XMMS for audio as it’s still the best player around, Xine for video.
This is connected to a Behringer DEQ2496, which feeds 2 DCX2496 crossovers. Each DCX divides the frequency band in 5 parts into 1 Europower 4000 and 2 2000’s.
All that power (well, mostly for the subwoofer towers) is used to drive my open baffle design; a 4 tower 3.5 + 2 loudspeaker system.
More info on these at http://nystrom.nl/en/tech/gate.html.
I have a 1x 3TB ZFS raidz NAS that serves:
3x Xubuntu + XBMC media centres (thinking of wiping them and running a bare bones install of Arch – not normally a fan of *buntu but at the time I wanted something quick to install and low maintenance)
1x Xbox classic, soft modded to run XBMC
The TV in the living room is 40″ LCD with one of the Xbuntu media centres running as well as Sky+ HD.
All of the other TVs (bar one) are essentially old 17″ CRT monitors I had laying around.
Speakers:
* Surround sound (some cheap brand) in the living room
* 1x stereo studio monitors and 1x stereo acoustics in the music studio hooked up to a whole array of music equipment from mixing desks to turn tables.
* 1x cheap stereo speakers in the garage
Everything is interconnected via cat5e and 3 switches.
Edited 2010-07-10 09:10 UTC
…you have failed with an article like this. You could have tried to show technical prowess in home audio, but you simply have not. I am sorely disappointed.
For the record, home audio was my other underground hobby.
My setup, on my meager means over the years:
Television:
RCA, can’t find model number at the moment- standard definition with digital receiver. Cannot afford cable service or any such other goodies, so I have an indoor mounted amplified antenna from Radio Shack. (If I was not in an apartment, I’d have an external UHF/VHF/FM antenna mounted on the roof. Yes, the old antennas work just fine for HDTV signals in most cases.) It’s connected to the receiver by composite RCA connections.
Media players:
A Sharp VCR, with four main heads and 19 micron heads. 360X rewind- I’m amazed I haven’t broken more tapes. Resolution is not state-of-the-art per se the time it was made, but I’m keeping it since the VCR sides of DVD/VCR combinations sold presently tend to be awful, and this is much better for the few video tapes we still have. It is not yet connected properly to the receiver since it only supports component RCA connections (no composite or S-Video).
Most of the rest of my setup is Sony-made. I know some love all-in-one remotes, but I found they were horribly greedy with battery power myself and I don’t favor them. The remote for the receiver overlaps functions with the remote for the DVD player.
A/V receiver: Sony STR-DG510. It is a multichannel receiver with discreet (dedicated) amplification, so it can be adjusted for various speaker setups. It was a gift from my in-laws.
Speakers: Sony SS-MSPFT1 5.1 system. I believe its powered sub is two 8″ woofers in parallel; so the bass can hit hard but not as deep as something larger in size with dual coils. The rear speakers are not set up right now because wires on the floor will be tangled with by small children and stapling them to the ceiling is not ideal in our apartment.
They are designed to be slim and small, which is ideal for our small living space. I do not have money for Bose and their Lifestyle speaker systems, although they are much smaller by comparison.
I am an advocate of matched (packaged system) speakers.
DVD: Sony DVP-NS575P CD/DVD player, which supports CD, VCD, standard DVD, DVD +/- RW and DVD +/- R. With a coaxial digital out connection to the receiver, it doubles nicely as the CD player. I am a bit of an audiophile and I prefer good ol’ .cda formats on a physical disc to digital files on portable audio players.
No media PC servers… yet. All in all, it’s better than when I was slumming a bit on Radio Shack’s Optimus products. I used to have a very nice dual cassette tape deck (B/C Dolby noise reduction, continuous play deck-to-deck, etc., but that went to my father when the receiver/cassette deck on his Sony home stereo system died, along with the Optimus receiver, etc.
…?
Specs. No listing of nuts-and-bolts specs. No demonstration of an appreciation of the actual acoustics and carefully chosen components as such (mix-and-match setups leaves me suspicious if this is actually understood). Audiophile snob stuff: distortion rates, frequency ranges, crossover points, speaker placement, how it sounds for music as well as movies, and with which music. Speaker designs: is it ported, enclosed, size of actual speaker dishes, etc.
I don’t think you were anal enough. I’m not sure how many others were anal enough either. Plenty have been able to go into fantastic detail about their programs and PC hardware and yet can’t do the same for their home audio/video systems…? Perhaps PC speakers have been far too shitty for far too long.
Well, I do have an RCA cable that is under a stand I am too lazy to get. Oh, and a Sony mini system that I am too lazy to bring to the recycling.
Seriously, that does somewhat sum up my audio, as I no longer listen to music. In fact for audio, I have a travel clock-AM/FM radio on my desk that I listen to NPR during specific shows.
As for video…bye bye VCRs, all gone to dumpster. Oh, did I mention the DVD player went as well?
What I have now is a 50″ Sony LCD connected to a computer, that has of course a DVD drive. I put to use a laptop whose LCD screen died by sliding that into a shelf in the bedroom connected to a 27″ monitor (running XBMC). I would maybe invest in a true HTPC, but those gosh darn escorts cost so much money (ok, not escorts but a even lazier wife). Seriously, this is what I do have, and is actually more than I need. My actual Yamaha Home Theater system I gave away, along with a nice Sony system as well. If I do listen to any music, well I long since ripped my audio CDs to use with Ampache, which actually is my music player today. The collection of CDs that spanned several decades now sits in a box located in the back and bottom of storage.
In fact, yesterday I took my last remaining “TVs” down to the recycling, as I never turn them on. I think this is merely a convergence for me of age + technological capabilities which allows more freedom, and opens up a lot more space. Shelves that once contained big hulking stereo components now contain books and artwork. So lets say age + tech capabilities + a desire to have a better looking home.
– Ageing but good Marantz Amp
– B&W 602-2 speakers with appropriately chunky cable
– Sony 40″ TV
– Mac Mini for BBC iPlayer (but too slow for HD action stuff)
– PS3 which I use mostly for playing music because the sound quality is vastly better than the Mac mini.
– Phillips BluRay player for playing BluRays, would have been a newer PS3 but I’m not giving them any money after they removed the OtherOS option.
– Old High end Sony DVD player, only used for Zone 1 DVDs.
– Rather hefty collection of CDs and DVDs, and a few BluRays as well.
I also have a second Hi-fi that got moved into the bedroom that includes such oddities as early 80’s vintage Akai tape decks!
Sony 50″ sxrd 1080p rear projection LCD
Sony STN-DN1000 7.1 HDMI reciever
Sony ps3, for bluray and media server purposes.
Paradigm mkII floor standing speakers, Paradigm Atom x2 surrounds, and paradigm center channel.
Home PC running Ps3media server for streaming.
AV? For me the hot point is Audio.
Amplifier: Yamaha Natural Sound. No remote and with mandatory “main direct” switch.
CD Player: Yamaha Natural Sound CD player
Turntable: Technics direct-drive
Cassette deck: Vintage “Normende” Philarmonic series
Radio: vintage radio
Speakers: vintage 2-way Scan/speak made in Denemark. They have a creamy sound.
Headphones: Sennheiser open headphones
No MP3, no iPod and no other crap. For my “mobile” needs I have a Creative Zen Stone Plus with Sony WDR-710 headphones.
I don’t have big “Video” necessities. I can use my laptop or in case go to my parents Sony LCD + Sony DVD player.
* Vizio 37″ LCD
* B&W 802.F Special speakers (yes, really!)
* Sony DB-935 (the weak link, needs replacement)
* Sony Playstation 3 connected via HDMI & Optical
* Nintendo Wii via component
* Comcast DVR via HDMI & Optical
Why HDMI + optical? Because my receiver doesn’t do either HDMI or component (sad but true).
A:
Naim Nait 5i amplifier
Gale Symphony 400 cable (cheapest 16 gauge cable I could get, I’m not a believer)
Mordaunt Short 906i floorstanders
Roksan Radius V turntable
– Denon DL-304 moving coil cartridge
– Cambridge Audio Azur 640p phono stage
Technics SL-PS7 CD player which I never use
Marantz ST-48 tuner which is a glorified alarm clock
M-Audio Audiophile 2496 (in Debian machine below)
Edit: Forgot my headphone rig.
Little Dot Mk III tube amp
Sennheiser HD-650 headphones
V:
LG 42LH3000 (42″ LCD TV which I also use as a monitor)
Debian Lenny on HP ML-110 G4 with MythTV
– Hauppauge WinTV-NOVA-T PCI card
– Matrox G550i PCIe, am going to rearrange things so I can use my nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS at some point
OpenSolaris ZFS machine with six SATA drives for storage
Sumvision MKV 1080p hard drive enclosure/media thingy
Recently retired Sony BDP-S360 blu-ray player (getting BD-ROM)
Edit: Oh and a Logitech Harmony One, which along with heyu and X10, also controls my lights. E.g. when I hit pause on MythTV/Sumvision/Blu-ray, my lights come on. Sweeet.
Edited 2010-07-12 14:46 UTC
We have two sound system setups .. the TV in the living room, and the stereo system in the sitting room.
Stereo: Philips 765 CD Burner, Sony 5-disc CD changer, Sony dual tape deck, and JVC stereo receiver. I hope to get my old Onkyo TX27 repaired, though, since I think it’s better for headphone use. I have a pair of 10 year old JBLs for speakers. Yup, just stereo.
TV setup: Vizio VX37 LCD 37″ TV, ReplayTV 5040, Comcast DVR (Motorola DCH 3416, I think), XBox 360 for games and NetFLix, pair of el cheapo DVD players (both Magnavox, and both under US$40 at Walmart). We just use the TV speakers here for now, but once the above Onkyo receiver is fixed, I plan on moving the JVC to the TV area and getting some real speakers.
Most of the time I use my Rockboxed Gigabeat F40 to listen to music, though, or I’ll stream music from the LAN via TVersity and the XBox360, but the sound isn’t that good through the TV speakers.
Our livingroom is retro decorated with lots of orange and beige/brown accents.
So our TV is a retro styled philips 16:9 tube about 5 years old.
A playstation 3 as my main “Multi media HUB” used for playing MP3, CD’s, DVD’s, Blu Ray’s, games, internet, etc. Also a playstation 2 for games (some are still great).
My AV receiver is a NAD AV 716 Dolby Pro Logic (yes 4.0 surround, still compatible to 7.1 surround ;-). That sounds great with my Philips FB-561 frontspeakers, a tannoy dual concentric center speaker and 2 very old philips speakers as surround.
HD shadow puppet theatre:
– One flashlight (3 C-cell batteries)
– One large blank wall (painted white)
– One kazoo
– Gold plated monster cables!!
Receiver: Its a Denon that converts any signal into HDMI so my TV never changes channels. Only has 2 HDMI inputs so I have a splitter from Monoprice.
DVD Player: Oppo
BluRay Player / Netflix: Sony PS3
Display: 60″ Sony SXRD
Multimedia (music, downloaded videos, etc.) XBMC running on original XBox with a mod chip.
Speakers:
Sub : Martin Logan Dynamo (awesome)
The rest : Polk Audio
DVR:
Custom made MythTV box (broken recently and probably won’t replace). It was nice because it sat in a closet and I could play it seamlessly through PS3 or through XBMC.
What I need:
The Xbox is getting old quick. It doesn’t handle HD content well at all and I don’t want to make a new MythTV rig. I’ll probably wind up building a HTPC capable of running XBMC. Would be nice to be able to do Hulu or clicker.tv on it to.