# Goodies found in "Bob in St. Louis'" HT Room



## Bob in St. Louis

HI!

Here's a list of my :spend: As of 05.23.07 *EDIT: 08.21.07* & * 10.08.07 *&* 12.06.07* & *12.10.07* *04.11.08 & 07.26.08* & *03.16.10* *02.13.12*

Harman Kardon AVR-645 Receiver
PS3 (Gaming and DVD, Bluray transport)
Dell XPS 400 with External USB 2TB for tunes - Slimserver wirelessly feeding a BOLDER modded SqueezeBox 3 (SB3)
Crown K2 2500 watt amp for IB
Hawthorne Audio Sterling Silver Iris 15" Coaxials Open Baffle (2) Front Mains with Radian tweeters
Hawthorne Audio Silver Iris 15" Coaxial Open Baffle (1) Center
Hawthorne Audio Silver Iris 15" Augies Open Baffle (2) Subwoofer
Hawthorne Audio Silver Iris 15" Augies (4) "IB" Subwoofer / Infinite Baffle (Under projection screen)
Hawthorne Audio Silver Iris 10" Coaxials Open Baffle (2) Rear Surrounds 
Infocus front projector - DIY 140" Screen
Jolida 202a 40wpc Two Channel Tube amp
Behringer DCX2496 - Remotely controlled from PC computer 
DIY "White Lightning" speaker cables


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## chas

Hey Bob,

How do you like your HK?


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## Bob in St. Louis

Hey Chas, I've had the unit less than 6 months maybe, seems to be pretty nice. Got some nice features.
A few annoying things that just seem like stuff that shouldn't be happening in todays technology. The units "idle temperature" is exactly the same temperature that the cooling fans thermostat starts "tickling" the fan. Just barely mind you, but it's enough to be audible. The fan doesn't even rotate, just wiggles the blades a bit. But it sounds like a gieger counter clicks, you know?
The other thing that's bizzare is when the unit is first turned on, the sound from the speakers is slightly muddy sounding. I've found that if you access the treble and bass adjustments from the remote and make a small adjument in either the bass or treble, the clarity comes back. Wierd....
The built in XO feature absolutely _BLOW_. The nomenclature they use is unlike anything I've read. I've had a few fellow audio/video dudes over and they agree it's not a user friendly unit in regard to some of the on screen menu's.
Overall, it's a transparent machine. It does it's job as a HT receiver and doesn't seem to complain. It has a couple little bugs, but they're not too big of a deal. 
I didn't pay _NEAR_ the retail price (long story). But if I had to do it all over agin, I'd buy a dedicated surround processor like an "Outlaw" type thing since I don't use the "receiver" functions like AM/FM/XM stuff. You could spend the same amount of cash and have multiple components that would ultimately have more functionality. I basically use it as a HT/Audio switching unit. It's the heart, or brains, of the equipment. Everything in the rack is somehow tied to it in one way or another.

Bob


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## chas

Those HK's do sound nice, but they have their share of issues and quirks. Thanks for the info Bob.


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## Bob in St. Louis

You're Welcome Chas! :T


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## reed.hannebaum

Hey neighbor (I am from Belleville, IL) 

Looks like you have a great system. Those open baffel speakers you have sound very interesting. It's always fascinating to read about people's experience with unique equipment.


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## Bob in St. Louis

Hello neighbor!!
Thanks for the complements Reed, I love to hear them (doesn't everybody though, ha ha)
I updated the list a bit today with the addition of a tube amp, and the removal of the "soon to come" comment on the center channel. I'm loving the system now days, I think it sounds pretty good and am very proud of it.
I've got some more (newer) pics in the HawthorneAudio.com gallery here;
http://www.hawthorneaudio.com/photos....php?cat=10016
And some old stuff in the Webshots.com account in my signature

Glad to see a fellow St. Louisian posting too. Have been you been introduced to the Gassers??
It's the local G.A.S. guys; "Gateway Audio Society" on the AudioCircle: http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?board=70.0
They are a VERY knowledgeable bunch of guys. Most are tube amp fellows, one is an "open baffler". Not much in the way of Home Theater, although a couple of them have decent systems on their TV's, but their main focus is 2 channel.

I looked for your lists, do you have one?

Good talkin' to you Reed, thanks for dropping by and don't be shy!

Bob


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## reed.hannebaum

Hey Bob,
Thanks for getting back. How do you like that tube amp and how did you make your choice? I have toyed with the idea of getting tube preamp but my knowledge in this area is limited. By the way, thanks for the link to the "Gateway Audio Society", I will look into it.

You can find my equipment list in my profile. Nothing great here, but I thoroughly enjoy it. I am still building my system (who isn't). Next upgrade is to replace the Yamaha M65 amp. I enjoy video, but love audio. The Sanyo however is a resent addition that's getting a lot of good use by the family.


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## Bob in St. Louis

Reed, You're being modest about your system. You've got some very nice toys man. VERY nice indeed. Especially that Z4! I've got the Z2 and am thrilled with it. Thought about getting a Z5, but hard to justify when "other" things in the room need attention first.

I love the tube amp Reed. Actually I am VERY new to the world of tubes. A local guy loaned me this amp, so regarding how I made my choice....It was made for me.:bigsmile: I can definitely see myself buying one of these when the time comes for it to go back to it's rightfull owner. It never ceases to amaze me that 5 tube watts *blows away* my Harman Kardon 90 watts. So much cleaner, so much more clarity, and just as loud. Possibly even louder. With the "openness" and clarity of open baffle, a tube amp seems to be a natural marriage.
"ScottF" is the "GAS" guy that has open baffle and tubes, all run through a Squeezbox. Amazing sound.

Bob


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## reed.hannebaum

Bob,
Thanks for the compliments about my system. It looks like I will be getting another amp to replace the Yamaha M65; which has been a really great amp and has served me well for several years. But I have the itch to move up.

I did some lurking at the Gateway Audio Society forum, and these guys REALLY have some impressive systems! They make my gear look like a 2nd rate Heath Kit.


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## Bob in St. Louis

I noticed your pics Reed, Nice job dude. Especially like the projector mount, very nice.

The GAS guys knowledge and equipment is a little intimidating to say the least. Yes, they have some very cool toys indeed. Don't just lurk, join in the chat. Better yet, join "the club". They are a great bunch of guys, very friendly, very helpful. One of them is a moderator here.

Bob


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## reed.hannebaum

Bob,

Your home theater pics are absolutely gorgeous. Did you do the design and/or construction yourself? I am sure it is nice having a dedicated HT room. My room is obviously multi-purpose but we still enjoy it a lot.

I finally got my amp; it is a Parasound A23 (see hardware pic). I am listening right now to some high quality XRCD24, HDCD & SACD recordings in Direct Stereo mode and it sounds fantastic!


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## Bob in St. Louis

Hi Reed, 
Nice amp dude!
Yea...All done myself, with the exception of the carpet. I don't do carpet. ha ha
It's taken about five years to get to this point.

Got another pic for ya':
{By the way, please ignore the beer in my hand, it was a joke -poke in the ribs- to a fellow on another forum. I kept the picture because it's the best quality photograph I have of the front wall.}


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## reed.hannebaum

Bob,

I am thinking about building the HW15. Any thoughts, recomendations, advise you can give? Does the unit perform as you expected? Would you recomend something else/better? I currently have an SVS 20-39CS+ which does a great job, but I want to step up in performance. My budget is in the $500-$700 range.


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## Bob in St. Louis

Hey Red. Sorry for the (very) delayed reply, I've been on family vacation from the 20th until a few hours ago. No PC/internet available.

About the HWK.....That's a hard one man. Seeing what you've got in the SVS, I'd be surprized if the HWK can out perform it in quality. Possibly outperform the SVS in volume, but in TOTAL overall performance I'd be sceptical.

For the money in your budget, I'd say you could quad load the drivers and make the neighbors mad shaking the walls, but again, I still wonder about the sound quality. (mine is dual loaded)

If I remember correctly, the first number in SVS's model number is the (aprox) lowest frequency the unit can go and still remain relatively flat. Is that correct? If so, getting lower than that 20Hz will seperate the men from the boys in sub design and driver(s) choice.

I beleive the drivers for the HWK15 were about $90 each from partsexpress.com so it's a cheap experiment. Two pieces of MDF are also cheap enough to experiment with, but in the end, if you're not happy, you've eaten into your total sub budget and now have a large bohemouth sitting in your room.

Honestly, for the money you're talking about (I think) you could build something better in all categories. The HWK is an easy, fun, cheap build, and it sure impresses your friends when they see the monster in the room. But better subs exist.

If you'd like,you could come over and we'll put it through it's paces.

I've got a couple ideas for ya'.

Bob


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## Bob in St. Louis

Sorry for calling you "red" ha ha ha, apparently I was in a hurry when I typed that and didn't proofread very well.
I've got an idea for you and your sub project;
Here's a link to the profile of Steve Callis, he's "got the sub thing covered", if you know what I mean. As far as overall bang for your buck, something like he's got would definitely create some bass for HT:
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/members/stevecallas.html
If you decide you want to go with a HWK, I'll be more than happy to help you with it. And also, as I said before, you live close enough to drive over and hear one in action. The Decware "DecFest" should be coming up soon, Steve Deckert has all his toys there for people to audition. I don't know if he'll have a HWK though, it's getting kind of "old news" as far as he's concerned.

Let me know Reed,
Bob


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## reed.hannebaum

Hey Bob,

No problem, I've been called a lot worse :rofl:. I am sorry I haven't gotten back sooner. I have seen pictures of Steve's Avalanche 18 Sonosub before. It's a monster! Thanks for the sugestion, but I don't know if I am ready for something that big. I have also looked at the test results on the SVS SB12-Plus, and what I have now has better LF extension. What I might do is get another SVS 20-39CS+ and co-locate it with the one I have. I would also need to up-size my amp as well. The jury is still out on this.

I certainly appreciate the offer to come by and see/hear your setup. I would really like to see your home theater as well. I will PM you on that.


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## Bob in St. Louis

Well, I've finally got my first tube amp. Jolida 202A. Very nice amp.
Added it to my equipment list, first post on the thread.


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## reed.hannebaum

Hey Bob,

Congratulations! I have heard great things about this amp. I am sure you will enjoy it a lot.


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## Bob in St. Louis

Yes I am Reed. Between it and the Hawthornes, it even makes DirecTv XM Radio sound great! HA HA
Good talking to you again. (You coming to Scotts for the GAS Christmas thing?)

Bob


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