Final pics of my recent system rebuild.

[Scott Dolan]

I don't have the best photography skills, so please forgive the blurry and general crappy aspects of these pics.

Edited March 20, 2014 by Scott Dolan

[jazzbo]

Cool.

[CJ Shearn]

Very nice.

[Chuck Nessa]

Mono switch?

[Head Man]

I wish I could keep my carpet that clean.

[Clunky]

Mono switch?

Agreed, I can't manage without my mono switch. At least a third of my LPs are mono and so are most of my 78s. Lack of mono switches and money have prevented me upgrading my amplifier.

Your set up looks cool. How does it sound?

[niels]

Nice one! Those Dyn's look a lot like my Dynaudio Focus 110's (although I have the black wood finish).

I don't know if you played with the speaker placement yet, but in my room I noticed that I get the best sound if I have the speakers just a little bit toed in.

[Scott Dolan]

Mono switch?

I think Emotiva stopped including those a year or two ago.

I wish I could keep my carpet that clean.

Trust me, it's not as clean as it looks...

Nice one! Those Dyn's look a lot like my Dynaudio Focus 110's (although I have the black wood finish).

I don't know if you played with the speaker placement yet, but in my room I noticed that I get the best sound if I have the speakers just a little bit toed in.

My wife asked about doing that, so we're going to experiment with it later today. I read a professional review that stated the X12's were actually one of the few speakers he had ever reviewed that sounded better facing straight on, so who knows? I'll let you know how it works out.

[niels]

Yes, I'm interested to know. Off course what sounds best if dependable on many variations and personal preferences, but it's always nice to experiment with those things. It costs nothing, and I notice a lot of difference in sound when playing with the speaker placement (even toeing in the speakers just a little bit, or placing the speakers just a few centimeters more from the back wall can make much difference).

[Scott Dolan]

Mono switch?

Agreed, I can't manage without my mono switch. At least a third of my LPs are mono and so are most of my 78s. Lack of mono switches and money have prevented me upgrading my amplifier.

Your set up looks cool. How does it sound? It sounds very clean and powerful. The X12's strength is in handling vocals. Unlike my old Polks which made a singer sound kinda muffled and jumbled in with the rest of the music, the X12's truly separate the vocalist and bring them out front and center. And they throw an outrageously wide and deep sound stage. Classical music sounded vertical and flat on my Polks, but with these it has a much more horizontal presentation with individual groupings of instruments far more pinpointed and accurately placed.

My wife loves her angry stuff and wanted to listen to a Linkin Park tune during our four hour marathon listening session last night. So I played By Myself, which is really just a jumbled mess of shit, sonically. The X12's presented that tune with such disarming clarity that I was actually floored. No distortion during the loudest moments, no jumbled mass of sonic shit, just a clear and powerful reproduction. Really amazing.

All I can say at this point is that this rig is serious business. Even listening at a moderate listening level last night which registered around 70dB on my handheld meter (my personal sweet spot), the power and clarity borders on intimidating.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Scott Dolan

[erwbol]

Happy listening.

[Scott Dolan]

Yes, I'm interested to know. Off course what sounds best if dependable on many variations and personal preferences, but it's always nice to experiment with those things. It costs nothing, and I notice a lot of difference in sound when playing with the speaker placement (even toeing in the speakers just a little bit, or placing the speakers just a few centimeters more from the back wall can make much difference).

Absolutely.

I actually have these 18 inches away from the wall, but even with that, I may experiment with the port plugs that were included.

*edit*

OH!

And thanks to CJ and jazzbo for their kind comments.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Scott Dolan

[Head Man]

OH!

And thanks to CJ and jazzbo for their kind comments.

What about my kind comment about the cleanliness of the carpet?

[Scott Dolan]

I reponded to it above.

[AllenLowe]

looks real.

[Scott Dolan]

It has aspirations...

[mjzee]

Could you list the components of your system?

[Scott Dolan]

Sure.

Emotiva UMC-200 http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/processors/products/umc200

Emotiva UPA-500 (class AB) http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/amplifiers/products/upa500

Emotiva XPA-2 http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/processors/products/xda2

Velodyne CHT15 http://www.soundandvision.com/content/bigger-better-bass-page-5 (no longer in production)

Dynaudio Excite X12 http://dedicatedaudio.com/inc/sdetail/18199

Apple TV http://www.apple.com/appletv/

Monster HTS1600 PowerCenter http://www.monsterproducts.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=3243 (found on sale for $100, which is the only reason I bought it. Love a shelf mount power supply, though)

That is everything I use for two-channel listening. All of my music is streamed from my iMac via the Apple TV unit, mostly in ALAC but also some in AAC.

As for the rest which I use either for surround sound or headphone listening:

Some discontinued Toshiba Blu-ray player, which is marginal at best.

Polk Audio CSi A4 http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107CSIA4B/Polk-Audio-CSi-A4-Black.html?tp=189&awkw=25135382545&awat=pla&awnw=g&awcr=6453696265&awdv=t

Polk Audio RT25i (surround speakers) http://www.polkaudio.com/products/rt25i (no longer in production)

HeadRoom Micro Amp (class A) http://www.headphone.com/headphone-amps/amplifiers/headroom-micro-amp.php

PSB Speakers M4U-1 http://www.psbspeakers.com/products/headphones/M4U-1-Headphones

As you can see, I don't take movies/tv/surround sound all that seriously. Two channel stereo for music remains the most important factor for me.

Edited February 23, 2014 by Scott Dolan

[mjzee]

Thanks! This gives me directions to pursue further. Also, which audiophile magazines or websites do you trust?

[Stefan Wood]

Don't look at magazines. Check out audiogon.

[mjzee]

Also also, where do you connect your subwoofer?

[Scott Dolan]

Thanks! This gives me directions to pursue further. Also, which audiophile magazines or websites do you trust?

Audioholics is the only magazine I truly trust. They're online only, but a great group of audiophiles that don't buy into myths and hype. They're what I've come to refer to as "Blue Jean Cables audiophiles". No nonsense types that understand you don't have to float a five digit loan just to make a decent system. I consider Emotiva to be the in that same boat. They build really solid equipment for the budget-minded audiophile. And you won't see them selling outrageously priced interconnects and speaker cables. They build and sell high quality stuff for sensible prices.

Oh, and both Audioholics and Emotiva have forums with a lot of knowledgable and helpful people. I highly recommend both if you're looking for advice.

The Steve Hoffman forums CAN be very helpful, but there is also a lot of snake oil peddlers there. So it can be a mixed bag.

Also also, where do you connect your subwoofer?

The UMC-200 has a dedicated subwoofer pre-amp output. Pretty much everything on the market does these days. Though, I'm not sure if that also holds true for most two-channel amps.

Don't look at magazines. Check out audiogon.

Yeah, but I do wish they'd upgrade their forums. They can be a pain in the ass to read.

[Tom in RI]

Is there a trick to opening the picture links? With both Firefox and IE the links don't open for me.

[Scott Dolan]

Sorry, Tom. I removed them from my Facebook page because I don't do FB anymore. I had forgotten I linked them here. I'll reload them to the site when I get home.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Dynaudio Excite X12 http://dedicatedaudio.com/inc/sdetail/18199e.

Those are nice. I'd use them if I didn't have these. Got 'em from Jim years ago.