Titleist's Setup

[Titleist]

Here's my setup, currently i'm just waiting to receive my Klipsch RC-35 center channel, as you can see the pioneer in the front looks a bit tiny.

The cabinet was built over 3+ weeks, was as equally fun to build as it was hard. Either way got some great father-son bonding experience working with my father on this.

The rig is still a work in progress, like a said, just need to drop in the new center channel, and call it done for the foreseeable future. Do keep in mind the HT also serves as my bedroom, so it's not dedicated. But let me know what you think.







The specs are:

Monitor:
-Pioneer PDP4340 43" High Definition Plasma Display
-Denon 2900 Universal DVD Player
-Dish Network 811 HD Satellite Box
-Monster and Blue jean cables

Sound:
-Denon 3805 Receiver
-Klipsch RW-10 10" Subwoofer
-Klipsch RB-25 Fronts
-Klipsch Rs-35 Surrounds
-Klipsch RC-25 Center
-Monster Wiring
-MIT High Guage Cabling

Gamecube w/component video
Xbox w/component video
Tivo
Assorted sharp pointy things.

[Scherer]

Very clean, I like it!

[Frank Z]

Sweet! Damn nice work on the cabinet!

I do have 1 concern though, heat. Looks like you don't have a lot of room adove your receiver, most manufacturers recommend 6-8" of clearance on top. I'd strongly recommend keeping an eye on the temperature of the receiver.

[Titleist]

Good point about ventilation, however i'll have to take some photos, but about every 3 inches on back side of the shelf, there are 1 inch holes along the lower part of the shelf, this allows for the cable routing, as well as gives a good amount of ventilation. But from the back of the receiver to the back of the cabinet there's about 6 inches of space, and from the top there's about 3-4 inches. However, i really only run my receiver or for that matter my system maybe max 3-4 hours a day, and really only in 2 hour chunks, too busy lately, but i'll be sure to keep an eye on heat.

[tic-tac]

Titleist, how are you liking the Pioneer plasma? We're on the verge of taking the plasma plunge and I'm leaning towards a Panasonic, but I've spent several hours with the Pio and it's a fantastic-looking unit. Thanks!

[Iguana Man]

Dude...that is one sweet looking setup. I love the woodwork you and the boy (or is it you and Dad?) did. Either way....nice f-ing work on that entertainment center. My neighbor is a carpenter and even he said "Cool". We liked the black paint on the front of the shelves - nice man!

Oh yeah....nice equipment too!

[Titleist]

Thanks for all the compliments. lol, to clarify, i'd be the boy (err...i guess, for a 22 year old) and my dad would be the one who ultimately helped make this thing a reality. I did the bulk of the design and construction, and he applied his skill to add the details which make the piece so nice. Either way, i can't take full credit since without him this thing would still be in carcass form in the garage.

But thanks again, yeah the black bands were something my father came up with, something i didn't care for much on paper, but ultimately is a great design choice in the finished project. The only thing we might have done differently is making them out of stained walnut rather than painted wood.

But for the size room it's in, the whole setup serves double duty as a nice home theatre that 3-4 people can enjoy a movie in, and a bedroom, so watching movies at night is still fun to do. Plus for the size room i don't need overpoweringly big speakers, and the pioneer and klipschs have a great sound to them.

Tic, to answer your question, i stepped up from a Sony 27" WEGA display, which i had for 3 years, and i really loved that tv, especially using the 16:9 mode, which really made dvds look great even for not being an HDTV. But in the month i've had it, i can definately say it's a superb display, got it calibrated, and as soon as I watched a movie on it i knew i had a winner. With 1080i material the tv is sharp as a tac. I ended up buying this unit through my work, and after seeing it my family immediately decided their next tv would be this or the 50" model. I can tell you watching baseball on this sucker is awesome, not that movies aren't impressive :-)

But yeah, my neighbor has a panasonic plasma, as well as a Pioneer 4330, and i can definately say both pioneers have a great look to them. The panasonic is a great tv, but i've just been more partial to Pioneer's equipment.

[Titleist]

lol, well i mentioned that i was waiting for my Klipsch RC-35, and my neighbor who ordered it for me (who runs a home theatre business) brought it by. Unfortunately it was the size of a small house, seriously, like you could get a small family in this thing. Sounds great, but had to return it, dare i say it, a speaker that's too big.

Waiting for the RC-25, hopefully soon. But for the time being i'm mooching a Paradigm center off a friend (i.e my father).

[mtcarmel00]

Ok Titleist, that is an awesome bedroom theater. Your TV looks great, and your custom built cabinet is one of the best I've ever seen.

All those pictures have me wondering what you do for a living. You have got some very pricey equipment, as I can see two computer monitors in the background as well. Where are you getting all this money, and is your company hiring? I need a job!

[Titleist]

simple answer: drug dealer.

Actually it's far worse, freelance artist, i do mostly photo cleanup and page layout. It pays well enough that for 2-3 years i've been putting stuff aside to build a home theatre system. About 2 months ago i moved from ohio to california, and my systema was a Sony WEGA tv, and a pioneer home theatre in a box, but my room was barely 10x10 feet.

So i got the tv, upgraded my speakers, and with help built the rack. Thanks for the compliment, i'll be sure to take some better photos soon, just waiting for the new center speaker and denon receiver before i get photos of the whole room.

The room also doubles for my home office, so the computer is jammed in there as well. As for the second monitor, what can i say? Pallettes monitor!

[Titleist]

Guys, question for you all, after almost two months of waiting my klipsch RC25 finally showed up on my door step, and it's pretty big by my standards. I took two photos of the center speaker, what do you think? too big, or just right? when watching a movie, i forget all about it it's size. i wish it was a tad smaller, but eh, oh well.

[Sycho]

you should put that last photo in the best lens flare thread

[Derb]

Very cool Titleist

The center channel speaker looks just fine where you have it. + Its not blocking the view from you screen or taking up too much space on your cabinet. Very clean looking set-up. I have a question for ya though.. where are ya Klipsch Rs-35 Surrounds?

[Titleist]

Thanks Derb,

I was kinda worried it was too big, but after watching a few movies with it, i barely notice it at all, sounds great compared to what i was using before.

As for the RC35s, here ya go:

http://img64.exs.cx/img64/4605/Panorama.jpg
Not the most current photo, as you can see from the center channel, and the pioneer receiver is being replace by a Denon in a few days. But you can see it's not a big room, also mind the stuffed tiger, Hobbes (yeah i know, not original), but my parents have kept him around since i was a wee little lad.

[Derb]

Nice room to boot for a non-HT-room-only. Are your speaker wires installed through the walls of the room?

[Titleist]

Nope, i just run them along the edges of the wall, for the surrounds they run around past the computer desk, around the chair and bed, i have those cheapo little radio shack wire organizers that keep them right at the edge of the floor, so they're hardly noticeable.

[incubus0]

I like your style, Titleist. Nice set up!

[palebluedot]

That is one sweet setup! A nice touch of style. I love the panorama pic. Probably one of the nicest small room setups I've seen.

[Titleist]

Thanks for the compliments, I'm going to get around to taking photos of the setup with the denon and center channel in better lighting. But thanks again. Yeah it aint as big as some systems, but it's a very intimate and comfortable setup.

[Sycho]

as that last pic was nice you should use it as a avatars, just 4 more posts

[darcy]

Titleist..great set-up! Perfect for a bedroom home theater! (Maybe I should show my bf your pics, give him some ideas with xmas on the way and all! LOL)
His set-up in the living room is pretty nice, I'm not that great with descriptions but with no camera available..I'll try my best!
The TV is a Philips 60 inch HD TV with dolby theater surround sound He uses Panasonic Home Theater Surround System with 6 large speakers set up perfectly around the room. I swear they get so loud sometimes, it feels like someone is behind me!
Sorry I don't know the technical names for his speakers or system but you get the idea I hope!

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by Titleist

http://img64.exs.cx/img64/4605/Panorama.jpg

Man, that is the most screwy lens on your camera I have ever seen! All those angles and such.......

The room looks great! As far as the center, it's damn near bigger than the mains! However, in my opinion, that's cool. After calibration is the center a few db's lower than the mains? Just curious..... cause I know you calibrated again....right?

[Rogue]

That is one sweet room!

How do you like that Pioneer plasma. (Specifically, how are the black levels)? I also noted that you have some game consoles hooked up to the monitor. Given that plasmas are probably more prone to burn in than other display technologies, do you ever worry?

[Titleist]

Hmm, good questions. First off:

Iggy, yeah my camera has this wacky lense, I get that effect my letting it sit out in the sun all day, so it's all wavy now, lol.

As for the center being a skosh too big, it's weird because the fronts and mains are all part of their 25 series, meaning RC 25 and RB25s. Oh well, i've gotten used to it.

As for after calibration, yeah it's about .5-1.0db lower than the mains. I calibrated it by using the sound meter, then compared it to what the Denon's auto calibration generated, and both were within .5 +/- of eachother.

Rogue, I love the pioneer plasma. The only thing I have to be mindful is of leaving static images on screen, some people think it's bullshit that burn in is even a factor. But I'm used to the fact that if i'm watching a sporting even and there's a score widget or whatever in the corner, that before I go to bed, to switch it to a 16:9 show to kinda degauss the screen. So it's second nature. Same way with video games, I had GTA: Vice City up for about 2 hours last weekend, there was a little bit of an after image, after about 30 minutes of watching something on HDnet it was gone. And you could only see it in the first place if you knew exactly what to look for.

But it's a wonderful tv, absolutely vivid and dead on in it's color accuracy. As for it's black levels, it's pretty good, I wouldn't call these reference level blacks, and most often they're what I would consider extremely dark gray/black. So if black level is a deal breaker, that could be a problem, but for my size setup it's a gorgeous display.

[Rogue]

Another question: is that an Alienware gaming rig I see under the desk?

[Titleist]

Goddamn, nice eye. Yeah it's my main pc, that I use for *cough* work, or stuff, yeah work....

But it's an Alienware, damn good eye.

[Titleist]

Somtimes it's better to leave some things secret, like home theatre cable organization. I had to pop off the back panel to install the Denon 2900 dvd player, the HORRORS!

[Derb]

Ahh.. the birds nest.

[Pirate]

I thought I responded in here, but I guess not. Anyway, nice setup! HD-DVD is gonna look sweet on that TV.

P.S. Is that an FLCL poster?

[BoSoxMole]

Damn that is a cabinet I need!

Very nice though.

[Titleist]

Sorry to necropost, didnt notice the replies. Pirate, yeah it's one of the 6 FLCL posters you got when the original R2 DVDs came out. That was back when I spent a shit ton on R2 Anime DVDs.

Bo, glad you like the cabinet. I think I have some pics of it minus all the gear. Took about 3 weeks to make.

I think the only change I've made is the Xbox 360, I'm going to replace the Pioneer TV with a Samsung 1080P LCD 46" display come summer time.