# The Rookie's Cinema V5.2



## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

So, I have set up my Cinema in a total of 5 rooms since I have been born.

Version 1.0 was an old Realistic setup; It had 2.0 Realistic Toers running on an old realistic Amp. 
Version 1.1 upgraded to modern 5.1 KLH Satellites with KLH AVR 5100 and KLH sub. 
Version 1.2 than upgraded L/Rs to a pair of Sony Bookshelfs SS-4030. 
Version 1.3 I got a pair Sony Towers SS-MF400H for L/R and moved the Sony Bookshelf SS-U4030 speakers to the surrounds. 
Version 1.4 I got a Polk Audio center CSi25.
Version 1.5 Finally a Polk Audio Towers for L/R R50.

Version 2.0 Was in a my bedroom at my 1st Apt, and had same set up, but after a couple months moved to an older Yamaha Amp RX-V480. Upgraded at the same time to a Mitsubishi 50" Project TV from 1996. 
Version 2.1 About 4 months later moved to the Onkyo TX-SR876B.
Version 2.2 Bought a Panasonic Plasma TV TH-46PZ80U.

Version 3.0 Was in a Loft, and ran same set up.

Version 4.0 Was in a our current Apartment, but was in the 2nd Bedroom.

Version 5.0 Was same set-up but now in Living Room.
Version 5.1 Upgraded Towers from Polk Audio R50's to Polk Audio RTi12's, and moved the R50's to the Surround channels.
Version 5.2 now has Polk Audio CSi5 instead of Polk Audio CSi25 as the center channel.

So here's the list;
Panasonic TH-46PZ80U
Onkyo TX-SR876B
Monoprice Cables (Speaker, HDMI, Component, etc.)
Polk Audio CSi5 (Center)
Polk Audio RTi12 (L/R)
Polk Audio R50 (Surrounds)
KLH E-12DBN (Subwoofer)
Xbox 360, PS3 and a bunch of vintage systems.
HP DV-6 Laptop via HDMI for misc web browsing and music from time to time.

PS, I use those Christmas Lights year round, they are LED and provide mild background lighting to keep my eyes from going bad the Eye Doc says, some ambient light in the room helps relieve strain on the eyes. They are low power, and provide a mild light in the room from one corner to the other. :huh:


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

Lookin good! I'm thinkin', tho, you just don't have enough movies! ;-)


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## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

Thats what I said, but the wife is satisfied with 330 blu, and about 10 dvds...Women right?

Games are north of 200 games, across 13 systems. So can pretty much play or watch whatever I am in the mood for.

My next overall upgrade list is;

-Upgrade Sub.
-Upgrade Surrounds maybe add to 7.1.
-Add Separate Amps for 2 fronts, maybe the center.
-TV Size, or Projector.

I was wanting another RTi12 for my center, but it didn't really seem possible to do with my TV....it would almost be bigger.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Nice set-up mate! :T

I agree - that is quite a movie collection! And, I am pretty sure I spotted the Mel Brooks collection - love that one!


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

Ah, the SNES. I think that was the system that I got the most enjoyment out of as a kid. Even games could be pure fun. Nice setup, I think this would really qualify as a "man-cave" with all those gaming systems (not that girls don't like games too).


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

That's some library!! :yes: How do you decide which movie you're going to watch!!? :scratchhead:


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## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

enie meanie mynie mo....

Or go to random number generator online, and pick a number from 1-330, and go to my excel spreadsheet and get the movie it picks. All movies are cataloged and in alphabetical order :nerd:


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

I like the enie meanie mynie mo. method!


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## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

But...its tiring to do enie meanie mynie mo enough times to go through the entire list at least once :blink:


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Good point! The numbers in a hat method works well also!


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## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

Well my wife isn't originally from here, and plus I don't like renting. Im paying for a service, not a product. And most of my blu rays have been cheaper than most DVDs. I am happy with that.

Im just trying to americanize my wife, and so far its working. A lot of Netflix Streaming back than, and some free trials lately for it, and Amazon Streaming ftw.

Between all them venues, we got ourselves a cinema trained wife. :bigsmile:


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## sgoss66 (Sep 26, 2012)

Wow -- I envy both your speaker setup, AND your movie collection! Awesome!

Steve


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

^^^ I agree. The sound quality from those front 3 Polks must be sonic bliss.


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## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

Well, thanks. I am in sonic bliss.

Today, 5 below reference I played the following;

-Halo 3 Teaser Trailer in 720p with Dolby Digital
-Resident Evil 1 Scene 1 in Dolby TruHD
-Jurassic Park Scene Tyrannosaurs Rex
-Independance Day Scene 1, and Scene Execute Jolly Roger.

:yikes:, the Halo 3 Trailer is awesome. Kinda always been reference material for me. I downloaded it back before it came out, and have had it saved on my Xbox360. The depth is amazing, my woofers were going crazy. Crazy bass.

Resident Evil was crystal clear, and inviting.

Jurassic Park was :hsd:...I put it on +5db...>_>...<_<... it was seriously like the T-Rex was in my house. loud Loud LOUD!!

And Independance Day was lifelike too

Overall, it does fairly good at Reference, but Star Wars Episode 1 Pod Racing scene was a bit harsh. But I do have my Settings at;

0.0db
Fronts - Full Range
Center - Full Range
Surrounds - Full Range
LFE - Sent to the Speakers, Sub Off.
LFE - 80hz and below.

RE-EQ Off, THX Cinema, Audyssey MultEQ XT. 

But when I turned on RE-EQ, and made the LFE to the sub instead, but kept Full Range it sounded way better, but the RTi12's pump sooo much bass with those triple 7" Woofers. Insane sauce...


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## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

So I got another upgrade for Christmas. Completely on accident though.

Frys had a sale on the RTi6's. My wife had just bought a sweet computer tower, but since it was a tower she didn't have any speakers for it. Well, I had an extra AVR laying around and thought, "hey wouldn't it be great for her to have some awesome speakers to go with her new computer." Well for 190 something it was a sure fire present for her. After all she is kind of spoiled with the quality of sound she gets in the living room, why not give her the quality in her room.

I buy it, but problems with the tower made it so we had to return the PC. Stability issues. Kept crashing...so, we get her a laptop instead, and has Beats 5 Speaker set up in it. It actually has decent volume and clarity. So it was a little less impacting for her when she got it for Christmas. In the end she ended up wanting the Bigger ones in the living room, the R50's and she traded me those RTi6's for the R50's.

I noticed a huge difference in performance in the room. Timbre matched is the way to go. Seamless pans, unrivaled clarity. Things sound completely natural now with a matched set of speakers. After have heard the difference between mix and matching speakers to a matched line....never again.

Matched line all the way. I HAVE HEARD THE WORD!!!!:hsd:


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## dmark1 (Feb 25, 2010)

Hey Rookie, nice job improving your theater, it is a life-long process, believe me!

Looks like the next step for you would be a media server - then you can box up all those discs and keep them safe in storage, and have your whole library at your fingertips.


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## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

Its a possibility, but...I kinda like touching them, and having to decide which ones to choose from. Call me nostalgic, but its how I roll I guess.

A Sub and some external amps, and maybe rear surround would be my next tackles.


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