# Mike Cason's finished L/R - HT



## Mike Cason (Mar 17, 2007)

I've finally finished building and rebuilding all of my speakers countless times and have been upgrading equipment and amplifiers for the past 7 years to get what I have now. The sound reproduction is unbelievable and like "at the concert" sounding. Movies are as good or better. 

Now that I have bought Sonnie's slightly used Lazy Boy recliners, I have to get the wife to make or purchase some good drapes for the only sound treatment we will have. It is awesome as it is, but the three large set of drapes over my huge picture windows should improve it even more. The large center speaker adds a whole new dimension to the audio for movies and some music concerts. We are both very pleased with the results even though the bass from the 21" woofer/4-18" passives is a bit much for the WAF. I finished the system three weeks ago with the addition of the 3D ready 82" Mitsubishi. 

I have a bunch of build pics which used to be on my website I sold, so I have put some of them together at Photobucket if anyone cares to see them. I have the Bang & Olufsen upgrade pictures there. It was my own design because B & O did a poor job with such a wonderful speaker. I sold rebuild kits worldwide for a couple of years. I use them as my part of my surrounds: http://s18.photobucket.com/home/mfishmike

I have Mike P., Sonnie, and so many others to thank here at Home Theater Shack for help and advice throughout my membership here. There are a lot of unselfish and helpful folks that have spent a lot of time with me, including the vendors.

Thanks to all! 
Mike

Some of the gear includes:

Mitsubishi 82" 2010 TV
Denon 5308 CI(A) receiver,
Emotiva SPA-3 channel amp,
Face Audio 1200 bridged to 2700 watts @ 4 ohms for my Mal 21" sub, controlled with the Reckhorn B-1,
2 Panamax 5100 line conditioners, a courtesy sale from Sonnie,
and the DIY speakers which have a pair of the premium Lambda TD12s in each of the center and mains.
Of course the OPPO BDP 83~~~
I have a few more pieces in the equipment rack including a 4 port broadband switch hooked to 4 pieces of gear for firmware updates and virtually unlimited streaming. Direct TV doesn't live here anymore.


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## nholmes1 (Oct 7, 2010)

Holy ! It is so over the top how could you not love it? Great job and nice equipment. Actually you're tv should get a new firmware soon or already that will enable direct input of 3D content without the converter box. Great system!


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

Very cool Mike, looks good. Do you have surrounds?


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## Mike P. (Apr 6, 2007)

Nice setup, Mike, enjoy the fruits of your labor!


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## bigvag (Jan 9, 2010)

whats the admission price? Looks loud


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## Mike Cason (Mar 17, 2007)

TypeA said:


> Very cool Mike, looks good. Do you have surrounds?


Thanks for all the compliments. What do you mean over the top? I've got a few more feet till I hit the ceiling! I just wanted the best I could build and I think I have it now....3D, don't really care about it due to the lack of material out there yet, and there are concerns about eye damage. I might explore that later. The fact that it is 3D ready, the 2D is much better. I have a professional coming in next month to run a computer on the picture and re-calibrate it and make new factory presets for an even better picture.

Mike P. Thanks... Hey buddy, sorry for not writing! I finally picked up some work and sold speakerhobby, got my masters license, and opened up my own company. Still been helping my ex partner with his health issues too....I hope your wife got her other shoulder operation!

Surrounds, yes indeed! Look in the picture over Sonnie's chairs and you will see some black Bang and Olufsen Redline 60s I re-designed and modified mounted at an angle from the crown moulding parallelled with a Polk RC85I in ceiling; 8" woofer with tweeter 1' away for a 4 ohm load and it is awesome. My center backs are the B & W DM 303s on either side of the bookcase direcly behind the seating area at shoulder level. As far as being sonically matched, the front mains and center speaker are. One would have to be a pro with technical testing gear to say that that the combined surrounds and center backs were not't good enough. It is actually scarry sometimes due to the quality of the gear and placement of the speakers.

Thanks again for the support and compliments.
Mike


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## celica_pete21 (Aug 27, 2009)

Pretty cool looking setup!  I think it's quite clear what the center of focus is in your living room! hehe


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Nice work Mike... and I do remember those chairs... :T


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## Mike Cason (Mar 17, 2007)

Sonnie said:


> Nice work Mike... and I do remember those chairs... :T


What chairs? All of the photos disappeared with the server change I guess.....

UPDATE: I re-loaded the pics.....


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## fbottone (Jan 6, 2009)

And I thought my DIY sub of 2 12's and 2 15" pr's was big..... I like it, a lot!


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## Mike Cason (Mar 17, 2007)

fbottone said:


> And I thought my DIY sub of 2 12's and 2 15" pr's was big..... I like it, a lot!


fbottone....Thanks....It's all in what you want, coupled with the WAF factor. I had 2 SoundSplinter's RLP 15s with 4 passive radiators in a single cabinet, then I built a sister for that one and stacked it to give me 4-15s and 8 passive radiators. I had very good bass then. I found out about Exodus's Maelstrom's 21"er with Dan Wiggins XBL2 motor design and I knew I had hit the jackpot for the even lower and smoother bass that I could get, so I built the new sub and sold the other ones, shipping them to Illinois. At 13 cu ft, I'm tuned to 15 hz, but it gets much lower. Truely, this is the finest and deepest sounding subwoofer I've ever heard. It is so smooth, rich, and gets very low even with the lowest of volumes. That is what I've been looking for, and for a very long time. I couldn't find it retail and I have owned some good stuff. Good luck with your builds and enjoy your sub as well.


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## fusionrx (Aug 19, 2010)

Wow... just... wow... My wife would never go for that.. yours is much more accepting


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## ironglen (Mar 4, 2009)

Did I miss the build threads on these? They look awesome, and I guess you like the ribbon tweeters, eh? I'm guessing those ribbons and mids are pretty exclusive ones to keep up with the woofers.


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## Mike Cason (Mar 17, 2007)

ironglen said:


> Did I miss the build threads on these? They look awesome, and I guess you like the ribbon tweeters, eh? I'm guessing those ribbons and mids are pretty exclusive ones to keep up with the woofers.


The ribbons are the HI VI Research RT2II, not too expensive at around $100, and I think they are down to $80 or so now. They a decent tweet, not too bright but not shy either. They are pretty on axis but by having the large 130 lb center speaker with the same tweet they timbre match very well and I hear just about everything. I could build some fairing blocks for the mains' tweets and point them down about 15 degrees with the cabinets being so tall, but it hasn't been important enough for me to do so yet as busy as I am. The house I just sold had a huge L/R as noticed in some of my pics, so the 13 ft distance to the listening area made that less important. In my new/old house with a small L/R, they are still awesome and clear. 

The mids are the Scan Speak (8340 or 8640. I'd have to dig up the paperwork) 5.5" and have got very pricey. I think they are over $200 each. They are just a step under the Revalator series and perform so well. I have the mids and the mains paralleled so I get a 6 db gain boost with this alignment. 

All in all, I have ended up with a system I wouldn't trade or sell for anything I've auditioned. I did my crossover work too and upgraded my mid-woofer air core inductors to 15 gauge to handle the 500watt power the Lambdas can easily handle from the Emo, reducing my DC resistance per inductor by about 1 ohm. The less resistance in the signal path the better.

I can and do quite often listen to my system between 90 and 115 dbs for hours on end without fatigue when I have the time. It is mostly music concerts ie blues, rock, jazz, and some mixed bag genere of other stuff that I cherish. Great movies are simply bonus night.

Why not DIY? You get what you want, when you can afford it, and have something you have created. Thanks for looking and I appreciate your favorable comments. Regards....

btw....Mike P. is the Shack's angel sent from heaven that has been so helpful with his graph work over the years. I haven't had the time to master WinIsd. My xover pogram is the Xover Pro3, very user friendly and I simply adjust inductors, caps, and resistors when the program gets me in the ball park so I can achieve that -0- flat line response I require in my final graph work.
Enjoy your PR build my friend...


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## gorb (Sep 5, 2010)

Your system looks amazing. Nice work


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## Spock (Jan 1, 2012)

WOW!!! That stereo looks like it could thump your teeth out!

Beautiful clean setup.

Years ago I had a friend that worked at a place called Rogers Stereo in Greenville, SC. They install high end auto stereos. They used his car as a demo and loaded it with the best of the best. His car was a Fiero (2 seater). The stereo utilized headphones for each seat to pump the highs in. I got to drive the car to the beach my senior year as he followed me on his motorcycle, the stereo was so loud it could give you heart arrhythmia.


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## Mike Cason (Mar 17, 2007)

Spock said:


> WOW!!! That stereo looks like it could thump your teeth out!
> 
> Beautiful clean setup.
> 
> ...


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