My Mean Lean StereoMany would say that having a 2500+ watt stereo system insane. While I will agree that I have definitely not gone the route of efficiency, I am very pleased with the end product. This system delivers in all regards. It has the delicacy to detail someone breathing, or tapping their foot during a recording, and the power to shake the entire house, the clarity to make it sound as if the performer is in the room, and the power handling capability to run my electronic drum set at well above modest levels. It's my system, an ongoing project for the last 9years of my life, and finally nearing the level where I won't have much more work to do on it. It's never been a particularly scientific process, building this thing. A lot of the equipment was purchased on whims or by chance and I am just using it the best that I can. I think that your ears are the best devices for measuring. What told me I was beginning to succeed is that you can listen to the system for many hours, and never have an inkling of listening fatigue. On lesser speakers, your ears start to get annoyed, but here they just keep basking in the sound waves they are being bombarded with. And that of course introduces a new problem - the system is so smooth and has so little distortion, that you can be listening to music at dangerous volumes and not even know it. Many cheap speakers introduce distortion so that they seem louder, hence people begin to think volume=distortion, and if there is no distortion than it cannot be very loud. This is not the case. While I haven't measured with an SPL meter, I know that this system is easily capable of damaging hearing if you don't exercise caution. Which I do. I'm not all about making it loud. I want it to sound realistic. And so far I have been lead to believe that by getting overpowered amps and speakers, then by listening to them at normal levels isn't taxing them in the least. Since they aren't working hard, they aren't distorting and just sounding good. So, yeah I have 2500 watts at my disposal, but in actuality I am probably only harnessing 50-100 at any given time. But, should the need arise, the potential to deliver the additional needed power is there. The real challenge came about a year ago when I started getting into home theater as well. The question was, how do you integrate this huge, massive two channel setup with the necessary fixings of a home theater. All consumer level receivers have built in amplifiers and no line level outputs, so I needed a Dolby digital preamp. The search began, and I found some Adcom products that fit the bill to a T, and not only that, but were available for a very reasonable price from my best friend, ebay(which, by the way is the source for nearly all of the component equipment in the system.) Utilizing the preamp, I was able to leave the left and right channels alone, and continue using my crossed over setup, preserving everything that I had worked so hard to obtain, and simply drop in the center channel and some surrounds. Finding the correct center channel speaker was a challenge, I needed something that could compete with the LR channels and yet be reasonably priced. I found a Paradigm CC-370, and have not been disappointed. It's a great bargain of a speaker and sounds superior to any center channel speaker that I have heard that cost under $1000, with the exception of the Paradigm CC-450(the next model up). My goals while building this have been simple. 1) Create sound that has exceptional clarity and warmth. 2) Keep the costs of any individual components to a minimum(I haven't spent more than $300 on any single part, and that was on the center channel speaker) 3) Leave things such that I can continue to upgrade piecemeal as funds become available. 4) Have enough bass to be able to make explosions sound really loud. So if you think you're ready, then click below to find out what it has required to fulfill these goals. Keep in mind that the system is lacking in one major department. SAF (Spousal Acceptance Factor). This seems to be a major problem in many home theater fans, but luckily I have been blessed with a fiance who finds my sojourns into the Hi-fi sound/Home theater realm amusing, and doesn't mind having a wall in our living room totally full of equipment. ** Update - SAF Has been achieved! Find out how so you can do it to! ** |