OT: Home audio setups

[tentoes4rings]

Since music threads have been very active on here, I wanted to see what everyone uses for their home stereo setups.

I’ve had many different systems the past 10 years or so, ranging from 7.2 surround sound down to a 2 channel system with turntable. My main system is a late 70s Onkyo receiver with Klipsch Cornwalls and a Thorens turntable. Amazing sound but not practical for my current space.

My current system is a Pioneer 5.1 receiver, Polk Monitor 10 floor speakers, a center channel and 3 Sonos speakers. I can’t express enough how pleasantly surprised I am by the Sonos speakers. While small, they’re powerful and have a very full sound, especially when paired up. I imagine soon enough I’ll go full Sonos with my larger audiophile stuff in a dedicated music room for occasional vinyl listening. I’d love to hear what you guys are using and enjoying.

Thanks

 

[AreBee1969]

I was very impressed with my buddy's Sonos driven home. Impressive sound and ridiculously easy to use anywhere in the house. I plan on going that way in the future.

Today, in the interest of practicality, time and space I have gone away from a dedicated audio set up and now have a living room home theater set-up.

Receiver: Yamaha RX-V3800
Front Speakers: Polk RTi 38s
Center Speaker : Pilk CSi10
Rear Speakers: Polk RTi 28s
Sub: Emotiva Ultra 12

Sources for the 57" Mitsubishi DLP Projection 1080p TV are Blu-Ray and DVD-Audio players, Apple TV and DirecTV Genie.

In the basement I have slapped together a HT system with a 17 year-old 55" CRT Projection MitsubiV that just started to show it's age. It has a Sony 5.1 receiver, a pair of Bose 701s, a couple in-ceiling Monoprice surround speakers and a monster SVS 25-31PCi subwoofer that my wife kicked out of the living room. Incredible house shaking bass!

In the other side of that cabinet is an old Harmon Kardon MKII with my Pioneer Turntable and Reel to Reel. I'll hook them up to the 701s on occasion and vinyl out. I really miss the days of listening to album sides and great vinyl sound. I bought about 300 LPs a few years back from a friend's uncle who was moving. Still working my way through them.

 

[August_West]

I have a 1972 Mcintosh 275 powering my system. ( Thanks Dad!) Won't even type the rest. If you know you know.

/Thread

 

[gtcam]

Speakers - I run Bowers and Wilkins and Elac throughout the house and have Definitive Technology W7 wireless in two hall locations. I power with an underrated Sherwood multi-channel receiver (only wish it were blue tooth) - better than the old 1974 Sansui and newer 2006 Pioneer I have relegated to storage.
I have Bower and Wilkins AM-1 outdoor speakers also running off the Sherwood
I'm happy

 

[CTMike]

Nothing crazy... yet...

Denon AVR-1913 with Boston Acoustics speakers/sub... zone 2 wired out to patio.

Some day when the TV craps the bed I’ll upgrade to 4K capable receiver and all that, but for now this meets my needs!

 

[tentoes4rings]

I have a 1972 Mcintosh 275 powering my system. ( Thanks Dad!) Won't even type the rest. If you know you know.

/Thread

I’m envious for sure. I’ve had my share of Mcintosh stuff but have usually flipped it because it’s always easy to sell. My eventual dream setup will either be a high end tube amp or Mcintosh with my Cornwalls.

 

[August_West]

Nothing crazy... yet...

Denon AVR-1913 with Boston Acoustics speakers/sub... zone 2 wired out to patio.

Some day when the TV craps the bed I’ll upgrade to 4K capable receiver and all that, but for now this meets my needs!

The thing is. An audio setup is diferent than A/V setup. Or should be if you are crazy into it. I mean I've got a sweet A/V setup in family room, 6.1 with nice JBL's in front and rear. But that ain't my music listening room.

I've twisted minds of people in that room. But I was passed on most of that stuff , I couldn't afford it. I have a set of early 70s Bose 901 series 2's that aren't even hooked up! My dad was/is a psycho.

I’m envious for sure. I’ve had my share of Mcintosh stuff but have usually flipped it because it’s always easy to sell. My eventual dream setup will either be a high end tube amp or Mcintosh with my Cornwalls.

Thank God my wife doesn't know what the eBay market is for old MC's.

I have a 2105 powering a guitar rig!

 

[tentoes4rings]

The thing is. An audio setup is diferent than A/V setup. Or should be if you are crazy into it. I mean I've got a sweet A/V setup in family room, 6.1 with nice JBL's in front and rear. But that ain't my music listening room.

I've twisted minds of people in that room. But I was passed on most of that stuff , I couldn't afford it. I have a set of early 70s Bose 901 series 2's that aren't even hooked up! My dad was/is a psycho.



Thank God my wife doesn't know what the eBay market is for old MC's.

I have a 2105 powering a guitar rig!

Wow, I didn’t realize that’s a tube amp! Klipsch seems to pair extremely well with tube amps, so I’ll probably start with a Jolida or other $1,000 range tube amp and eventually upgrade to Mcintosh. My Onkyo TX-8500 MK II is Sweet though for solid state, 160 watts per channel, nice warm sound.

 

[August_West]

Wow, I didn’t realize that’s a tube amp! Klipsch seems to pair extremely well with tube amps, so I’ll probably start with a Jolida or other $1,000 range tube amp and eventually upgrade to Mcintosh. My Onkyo TX-8500 MK II is Sweet though for solid state, 160 watts per channel, nice warm sound.

And my dad was so anal and it's so pristine it still has the original KT88's

 

[sledog]

I always thought KEF sounded best - in price range. Still using 104.2. with an Adcom 200 watt.

 

[WhiteDressWes]

circa 1960 Scott integrated amp, heavily modded. EAD DVD player for playing CDs, Halcro SSP100, used only as a DAC. 1980's VPI HW 19 turntable with stand-alone motor and VPI Synchronous Drive System. VPI JMW memorial tonearm. Cliffhanger CH1 (midrange/tweeter), CH2 subwoofer. I can't tell you about the cartridge and wire.

Scott's sound is gorgeous but they tend to break down often. I got the first Cliffhanger's ever sold in the US, from Sudbury, Ontario. The designer, whose brother works on Wall Street, drove down and delivered them to me. Company is now out of business.

I don't have the most amazing, yet affordable, piece of audio equipment ever made, but I'm confident that I'll someday buy one. I just started building a 1,000 album equivalent music library, that this thing plays. Only one left in stock and it takes 6 months to build one, so can't say anymore.

 

[Huskybass]

Harmon Kardon 1974 Reciever
Yamaha Turntable
Polk Audio Speakers
Vast collection of vinyl

 

[CTMike]

The thing is. An audio setup is diferent than A/V setup. Or should be if you are crazy into it.

I wasn’t going to start a separate a/v thread.

 

[August_West]

I wasn’t going to start a separate a/v thread.

Why not? We have 3 threads on saddest opening riff to a song.

 

[CTMike]

Why not? We have 3 threads on saddest opening riff to a song.

Exactly!

 

[Rich]

I run all media (amongst other things) through a Control 4 setup. Yamaha receiver c. 2013 powering Niles 9” HD architectural ceiling or wall speakers throughout the home; 5:1 in the family room and 2 apiece in the kitchen, dining, living and master bedrooms. There’s a single stereo speaker in the master bath as well and a couple outdoor HD units on the patio. Best decision I ever made was wiring my house for ‘smart home’ technology and whole home audio during the construction phase.

I have Sonos running through C4 and use it to store and run most of my music libraries, plus internet radio. Great piece of technology; worth every penny.

 

[storrsroars]

I mostly stopped caring. It's rare that I listen to home audio for the sake of just listening to it anymore. When I bought my current house it was fully wired for sound, including outside and it was sweet. But it was complicated as hell to figure out what speakers were controlled by what connection. Then speakers started going and there were problems inside the walls with wiring and neither the original audio system nor the surround sound system I'd added were working off all the wall jacks. I'd just had enough of it all so I gave up. I mostly only listen to rock/alternative music in the car these days or play classical/jazz/blues as background at home.

That said, the two coffeehouses I opened at my last job both had Sonos systems installed. Really well engineered and I loved the dashboard. Used to drive the night shift in Montclair NJ crazy when I'd look in and see them playing depressing grunge stuff so I'd switch it to upbeat jazz from my home office in suburban Pittsburgh.

 

[jleves]

Well as long as someone started the thread, anyone interested in buying my Denon DP 60L turntable? Purchased in 1982. I used it until the early 90s, always very carefully and gently - it's in great condition. It's been in the original box and packaging since then. Has a straight arm with a MC cartridge and an S arm with no cartridge (never bothered to buy one).

This is an image off google as mine is in the box, but it looks like this:

 

[tentoes4rings]

Well as long as someone started the thread, anyone interested in buying my Denon DP 60L turntable? Purchased in 1982. I used it until the early 90s, always very carefully and gently - it's in great condition. It's been in the original box and packaging since then. Has a straight arm with a MC cartridge and an S arm with no cartridge (never bothered to buy one).

This is an image off google as mine is in the box, but it looks like this:

View attachment 33722

Gorgeous turntable. Are you in California or local to CT? Do you have a figure in mind for asking price? Thanks.

 

[uconnfan68]

Sears 8-track playing through 1971 Chevy Vega standard speakers. Awesome sound.

 

[Mano]

I’ve got a couple Klipsch Heresy’s circa 1980 (thanks pops!) stored away along with my old Denon AVR (its like 10 yrs old at this point, only does 5.1 I think). Our current house just doesn’t have the layout for surround. But I’d probably buy something that does 7.1 or whatever we’re up to whenever we find our next house. Then I can use the older stuff for a dedicated mancave/listening/gaming room!

 

[minidarren]

Definitive Technology in-wall speakers for the theater. Yamaha receiver and sub.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Downstairs, 70s Marantz receiver, Philips turntable, JBL monitors, AIWA auto reverse dubbing cassette deck, Panasonic 5 CD/DVD changer. The same 9x13x9 room has 1000s of CD, hundrrds of cassettes in an old library card catalog, and a remaining 3-400 LPs from a far larger number.

Upstairs, 70s Realistic 4-channel reviever, Sherwood turntable, AR-2 speakers (the latter from the house I grew up in).

I stream to random portable bluetooth speakers & TV soundbar, Polk Play-Fi, AR 900mhz, Bose 101s through a Logitech Bluetooth receiver, Chromecast audio into Cambridge Soundworks computer speakers w/subwoofer, and AR-7s via a Kinter low power amp w/Blu-ray & Chromecast TV hooked up. Google Home in the kitchen and two minis elsewhere.

Lots of playing around with old speakers on hand and putting music into nearly everywhere inside and out. Much more about the content and mood than the sound quality, but the records sound good in their two settings

 

[RichCTBB]

MacBook Pro>Allen & Heath ZED10fx>QSC K8 powered speakers or m-Audio BX5A powered studio monitors...that’s for the listening room/guitar room...the rest of the house is just streaming from whatever device to the many Amazon Firesticks/TV’s with soundbars throughout the house. Simple and clean.

 

[Huskybass]

Well as long as someone started the thread, anyone interested in buying my Denon DP 60L turntable? Purchased in 1982. I used it until the early 90s, always very carefully and gently - it's in great condition. It's been in the original box and packaging since then. Has a straight arm with a MC cartridge and an S arm with no cartridge (never bothered to buy one).

This is an image off google as mine is in the box, but it looks like this:

View attachment 33722

Thats downright droolworthy.