My current audio and video setups

     >> in Corte Madera, CA <<                                       >> in Sea Ranch, CA <<

 June 2017 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------- I am done and happy --------------------------------------------------------

                         October, 2012

My audio/video system has changed slowly over time as I upgraded components and added playback capabilities.

Since July 2012 I have had the LX521 Monitors in my living room, in exactly the same location and with the same toe-in as the ORION-3.3 before. They appear to be smaller than the ORION even though they stand 2" taller. My wife and I like the look and without question we both like the sound. So do the two recording engineers who heard them. Two musician friends were moved to tears listening to and seeing Anne-Sophie Mutter play Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1 with Lynn Harrel and Andre Previn (DGG B0012533-00).  
I have some misgivings about the microphone setup for the Piano Trio. The monitor speakers, which DGG used, do not give me confidence that the recording engineers could have heard the same spatial rendering of the mix that I hear over the LX521.
The LX521 is going to stay in my living room.

Interestingly, the WATSON Stereo Enhancement Loudspeakers sound spatially unrealistic once their output level is high enough to change the phantom scene. I have no desire to use them. This is different from WATSON's effectiveness for ORION.

Below is a description of what I was using at the end of June 2011. My main interest is audio, but I enjoy an occasional movie or music video, particularly if the soundtrack is appropriately scaled to the picture. 

Here are the ORION-3.3 speakers as seen from the sweet spot at the apex of an 8 foot (2.4 m) equilateral triangle. I sit here when I want to immerse myself in the music, my eyes closed to hear and see the auditory scene in front of me in my mind. My other seat is at 14 feet (4.3 m) from the loudspeakers. The room is 16 foot wide, has 10 foot ceilings and, including dining area, stair well, hall way and kitchen, is about 55 foot long. Thus it is a large acoustic space where the sound can dissipate behind me to some extend. Reverberation time is around 450 ms.

When I want to watch video, I roll the cart with the 34 inch flat screen TV to a center location between the loudspeakers. Since the ORION is a dipole this placement has little acoustic consequence. Still, for purely listening to music the cart goes back underneath the bookshelf.

With the TV screen in this location I can still read text information on it. I use the display to search the filing system of the 1 Tera Byte hard drive or the 8 GB USB drive that are connected to an Oppo BDP-105 for high-definition music playback. All of this is done from the listening position with the Oppo remote control.

The cart under the TV holds an old video cassette player and a Roko video streamer for Netflix movies. That function is now covered by the Oppo unit as well. 

The equipment rack, which is on rollers for access to its back side, holds on its top the following:

• A DB Systems DBP-2J/5 Passive Switch Box with 5 inputs and 1 output to drive 2 channels of the MSB 8-Channel Volume Control, MVC, underneath it.
• The Lexicon MC-8 underneath the MSB is not in use, but can be switched into the system when needed. The small b/w TV set is used to monitor the video output from the Lexicon or the Oppo.
• The Squeezebox on top provides Internet Radio, such as BBC Classic FM or Bayern 4 Klassik, etc.
• A Thorens turntable is hidden behind some CD's. I lack a phono stage and LP's. I sold my collection some time ago. 

The left side of the equipment rack holds:

• On the top shelf the Oppo BDP-95 Blu-ray Disc Player, (I turned off Auto Play Mode and Auto Resume in Playback Setup so that I can first select the desired CD or SACD track and then start Play. Otherwise play starts immediately upon loading a disc.)
• Below it the v3.3 ASP. It is unenclosed for easy access and work.
• On the next shelf is a Western Digital 1TB USB drive and some cables for accessory equipment hook-up.
• At the bottom is an AT1806 power amplifier, which I used for ORION-4 testing. It now drives my ORION-3.3 and has already bottomed the Peerless woofers a few times, but they still seem to be working fine.

The right side of the equipment rack holds from top to bottom:

• A dual conversion shortwave receiver that I designed and built in order to gather experience in the use of FET's when those devices first became available. It also gave me a chance to listen to news/propaganda from other countries during the cold war era and to gain perspective. Next to the receiver are various manuals.
• Next, a Sony Audio Cassette Player.
• The ORION/THOR woofer crossover, below, is not in use.
• The AT6012 power amplifier at the bottom is not in use at this time.

In addition to the above setup I use a pair of WATSON Stereo Enhancement Loudspeakers when I want to immerse myself in music totally. These loudspeakers are normally stored in the left front corner of the room next to the unused THOR subwoofers behind the ORION. The WATSON speakers are driven from two amplifiers of the otherwise unused AT6012. The output from the MSB MVC-1 preamp drives the ASP and an old Adcom GTP-500, which has remote volume control. I can set the relative volume of WATSON and it then tracks the main volume up and down. The GTP-500 drives the AT6012. 

My PLUTO-2.1 loudspeakers are placed out of the way against the side walls. They can be moved into position and activated quickly when desired.

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