So it occurs to me that I have been so excited writing all about cool ways to build your own system that I have over looked an opportunity to write about my own. As I have said before, my system is always changing and seldom stays the same for long, but here is the revision I have been enjoying as of late.
Front and center is a Samsung 42” plasma TV. Although it is nearly an antique being 5 years old now, it is still producing a very vibrant and crisp picture. I’ve done my best to extend its life by lowering the brightness and adjusting the colors to appropriate levels for normal viewing rather than the bright-as-the-sun setting that is setup for the showroom floor. It is hung flat on the wall with all wires tucked professionally behind the sheetrock (it’s like I have done this before or something).
The next thing you might notice speckled around the living room is all the speakers. There are ten of them to be exact. Yes ten speakers in all strategically placed for optimum performance, and skillfully hung on the wall appearing to be suspended by nothing but shear hope, all except the floor standing front speakers and a 650 watt 10” powered subwoofer of course. The main speakers in the system (fronts, center & surrounds) are all timbre-matched Paradigm Monitor series speakers with dipoles for the surrounds. The supporting back surrounds and front height speakers are some extra Paradigm book shelves that I had sitting in the garage. When all put together and tuned properly it is a setup that could put even some of the nicer home theaters in the greater Nashville area to shame.
The most recent addition to the system would be my Mararntz surround receiver resting in the equipment console located directly under the TV. With a black brushed metal face and sleek curves it looks as attractive as it performs. Having 9 discreet amps driving each speaker at 110 watts it has plenty of punch and fills the entire listening area with sound and a little bit of the front yard as well. The real magic of the Marantz comes in when the Audacity Room Correction EQ is turned on. It took about an hour of tweaking and hushing children to set it up, but when it was all finished I was like “Wow!”, then “Dude”, then I laughed a little in disbelief; and that’s when my wife asked me to turn it down.
There are a grand total of three sources running through the Marantz receiver, well kind of. The most obvious sources are the Samsung Blu-Ray player which is where the majority of our entertainment comes from. With the ability to stream video, music and play DVDs, Blu-Rays, and home movie files it does pretty much everything we need and then some. Another obvious source is the Wii which is a great source of family entertainment, especially when I’m feeling up to the challenge of refereeing a six and four year old. To round it off is the Personal Computer which basically allows for whatever other form of productivity or entertainment available. The TV is connected as an audio source only, providing digital audio from over the air broadcast television signal which works very well in my area and is FREE!! All the sources are connected fairly simply through HDMI switching built into the Marantz receiver the only other wires needed are analogue audio so music can be sent to the second zone on the system.
Other not so obvious sources like Bluetooth devices and direct connected iPods can be output to the second zone as well which is running to a separate Denon stereo amp driving speakers in the garage, kitchen and (coming soon) back patio. It’s a really nice addition to the system which allows any of the sources connected to the main system to be shared with the other rooms in the house without affecting what is playing in the main area.
The most important part of the entire system sits approximately 12 feet off the front screen wall and a little to the left… and to the right… also some times in the rocking chair in the front corner of the room. Yeah, it’s my family and friends. After all to what use is a great experience if you do not have anyone to share it with. My family is constantly enjoying our rocking entertainment system, weather is Friday night movie night, or jamming to the 90’s while doing the dishes or just sitting down to a relaxing evening of guilty pleasure TV. There is nothing that I enjoy more than spending time with the people I love, and my entertainment system just makes those times all that much more enjoyable.
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