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I'm at crossroads.. All in one or separate ?

Karu

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And, as I said, it's a tough compromise between aesthetics and performances. If you could advise me some active speakers, it would be nice.

For actives with room for an 1-2K AVR, 8C Studios or GGNTKT M1s.
 
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ubiq

ubiq

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For actives with room for an 1-2K AVR, 8C Studios or GGNTKT M1s.
Thanx a lot. The M1s look quite nice even on paper, but a bit more expensive (6.900€!) than the Diptyques and you have to buy a nice stand for it that probably doesn't come cheap... Unfortunately, there's absolutely no place near me for having a demo. Too bad for now.
8C Studios look good too but are even more expensive €9.710,00 :eek:
My 11k euros +-500 is the maximum i can throw (for the whole setup).... thanx for the discovery
 
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TheBatsEar

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Plan-setup.jpg

Seems you plan to barricade the emergency exit to the fridge and toilet with a screen. I would pull the screen further into the room. A meter should be sufficient to slip behind it to get a cold one.
 
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ubiq

ubiq

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Seems you plan to barricade the emergency exit to the fridge and toilet with a screen. I would pull the screen further into the room. A meter should be sufficient to slip behind it to get a cold one.
Indeed :D:p
Don't worry, the screen isn't rigid. At worse you can crawl on the floor to the fridge!

More seriously, i didn't like the idea of a floating screen casing above your head when entering the room.

Update of the CG images with DP 107 modeled + night view


 
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Actungz

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Hey @ubiq, I believe if you want the full 7 channels (5.2.2) the MRX540 wouldn’t allow you to power the two height/rear speakers with the L/R channel amps. You’d have to buy another 2 channel amp to power them.

I know you said you’re just thinking of a 4.2 system for now, but just in case you change your mind in the future.
 

MoStyles

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I used to design high end AV system as a professional for over a decade. I’m an IT director now, but still have an studio audio engineer on my team and stay current. I love your ideas for this room. I agree in regards to where to spend money first if this project is music centric (E.g., Speakers, amp, preamp/DAC…) In my career, 2 channel audio and video surround sound systems always fight each other over design and budget. I’m lucky enough to have two dedicated great rooms for each. For your budget, I would worry more about prewire design than what components/equipment for now. If you prewire effectively and have everything home run to the back AV stack, you can setup any 2.1, 2.2, 4,2, 7,2,2...etc. I would usually make sure you have 14awg 2 conductor to all locations you might want speakers. (4 conductor to fronts for Bi-amp) I would also run XLR balanced cables to the front speakers if you want to localize monoblock amps. (Future proof) Also run dual cat6 for all video displays/projectors and locations you might want touchscreens for control. Cat6 is cheap and you can transmit anything across it. Run it everywhere and homerun back to AV center location. Obviously you want a dual (redundancy) network ISP feed to same location. If this is new contruction, prewire is cheap to do now and you won’t regret later. On higher quality systems, I keep the audio and video completely separate. Video switcher/scaler with separate audio preamp/integrated. I have designed a lot with Anthem and they are great manufacture. I would also check out Rotel. (A favorite at my house) Personally, if I wasn’t matching 3 front speakers (front,center,right), I would strictly run a stereo setup. Preamp/amp with separate video switcher. Maybe run separate B channels on the back to mirror with ambiance to fill the room. I would add two decent subs. Lower frequencies inherently have higher distortion rates and don’t need to spend a lot these days for something decent. You just need an extra little bump around 30-60hz for those speakers…. Anyway, sounds like a fun project. What projector and screen are you running? Any control system in this project?
 
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jhaider

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First question: why no AppleTV? IMO there’s no reason to hard wire a computer. An AppleTV is more convenient and equal in sound quality, and very reliable as long as you can hard-wire it or have really good Wi-Fi.

i plan to have them in the concrete slab through a tube, and have them out by a plate "strategically" placed in the wood floor.

Good to see this high level of thought up front. I would echo other posters and recommend running at least 4-core speaker wire, shielded twisted pair (for XLR/RCA), cat6 (for Dante, etc), and power to each potential speaker or sub location.

B : I ruled out an all-in-one solution, e.g an Anthem MRX 740 or Denon AVR-X6700H (both 140W), cause I thought it would be short of power regarding my room size and my requirements. Correct?[/quote]

Maybe. It doesn’t hurt to try. You can always add external power later.

D : ARC seems a little better than Audyssey : correct?

One can get good results with both (assuming use of the Audyssey iOS app - otherwise Audyssey isn’t comparable). ARC is superior to Audyssey in that it integrates bass management into the correction. They are so bound in the real world that treating them separately never made any sense.

F : One or two subs, for a total budget of 1.200€?

Two.

F' : Based on my requirements and profile, do I even need a sub (the speakers are very good down to 40Hz)? Do you think it's really a gamer changer ?

Yes.
 
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ubiq

ubiq

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Hi guys

Thx for your replies. I've rethought the project a little bit. The fact is, I don't want this living room to be a HT room ; as I said, i'm lucky enough to be able to go to theaters. Nothing compares to the real stuff imo.
It will be first and foremost a "music" room with some AV features; I'm more and more inclined to have a pure stereo system so I definitely don't need a multi channel AV amp.
Regarding the tv box, here in France when you subscribe to an internet provider, they "give" you the tv box too. AppleTV is a real alternative, but a future one. I'm still a bluray / DVD guy.
So, as I stick to the Dp 107 speakers, that I've listened, and i know they're good enough (for me) down to 33-35Hz, the two subs could be a future option, if really needed. I will start without. In all cases, I agree with you, the space will be pre-wired, at least for speaker cables and electric plugs in the floor.
Regarding the amp, the thing is, these speakers need at least 150W of power to give the most of them, so the Anthem MRX 740 or Denon AVR-X6700H, as good as they are, are a bit short. I wish a little more headroom.
To summarize, there I am :
Diptyque DP 107 ---- Audiophonics HPA-S400ET or Boxem Arthur-4215 ---- Minidsp SHD (for room correction, and potentially 2 subs in XLR) ---- hdmi switcher with audio extraction (type Canton Smart Connect 5.1 or HD fury).
I'm months ahead regarding the completion of the house, so it may evolve a little; only the budget won't :D

To be continued.
 
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kongwee

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A bigger pair of speaker is more important for you. These is where you need to go to another forum to look at. ASR is very limited on speaker given the room size you have nearly 6 by 6. All the studio monitors mention in ASR are out of question.
 

Urvile

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What a beautiful home. I'm in a semi similar situation I've been going through an upgrading my components, over the last year, one at a time, maybe as a compromise do something like that?
First the LR speakers, I upgraded to R700s
then the Center L400,
and now my plan is to upgrade my amplification (and potentially downgrade my AV processor )
A Tonewinner AT-300 http://www.tonewinner.com/english/index.php/Product/detail/art_id/160.html
and Buckeye hypex nc252mp amplifier 4 channel https://www.buckeyeamp.com/shop/p/hypex-nc252mp-amplifier-4-channel
 

dlaloum

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A bigger pair of speaker is more important for you. These is where you need to go to another forum to look at. ASR is very limited on speaker given the room size you have nearly 6 by 6. All the studio monitors mention in ASR are out of question.

Panels can be deceptive in the way they energise a room - they don't behave much like "Dynamic"'s

Also there are very very few "dynamic's" that end up sounding like panels....

I would suggest that the OP's choice of the panel main speakers is very specific.... and one of the "given's" in this configuration.

I remember demonstrating Quad ESL-63's in spaces that were larger than this one - they managed to "fill" the space quite surprisingly, even being driven by mere 100W amps (Quad 405)... - the Quad ESL63's efficiency was the same as for the Diptych DP107 - 86db SPL/wm - so I doubt there will be a major issue.
 

hex168

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I'm a fan of the sound of planar dipole speakers, but I'd still caution you regarding your speaker choice. There are measurable problems with a relatively short planar speaker compared to one at least 80% of floor-to ceiling height (rough rule-of-thumb for a line array with no shading). My advice would be to spend more time listening to speakers that have been extensively measured and are known to be good. Just to be sure. "It's a very nice budget, but, still, a lot of money (for me), so i don't want to screw this."
 

kongwee

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Panels can be deceptive in the way they energise a room - they don't behave much like "Dynamic"'s

Also there are very very few "dynamic's" that end up sounding like panels....

I would suggest that the OP's choice of the panel main speakers is very specific.... and one of the "given's" in this configuration.

I remember demonstrating Quad ESL-63's in spaces that were larger than this one - they managed to "fill" the space quite surprisingly, even being driven by mere 100W amps (Quad 405)... - the Quad ESL63's efficiency was the same as for the Diptych DP107 - 86db SPL/wm - so I doubt there will be a major issue.
There is not much choice for panel speaker. Quad, ML, Maggie and Apogee. I haven't checked the prices. I think will reach $10k easily for his room for a bigger panel.
 
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ubiq

ubiq

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Hi
Yes I've noticed ASR is more near field speakers oriented, but it is no surprise considering the difficulty it is for Amir to receive and test some big-heavy-expensive speakers...

I will indeed listen to the DP107 in situ as soon as possible. I'm eager to.
At my first listening session, in a not so optimized room filled with seats at an Audio Show, i was surprised by their sound quality. I had no expectations, as I didn't know the company at all, even less this kind of speakers technology :facepalm:.
I just entered the demo room, and was immediately astonished by the sound these (medium sized) panels were able to produce, I could even feel some bass kick (moreover I've learned later it was not the strength of this kind of speakers) . I just couldn't leave this room and stayed for 45 min! :D

No measurements, for sure, so for now it's the presumption of innocence that prevails !
But you're right, nothing will be as revealing as to test them in my room, with my amp. Will see.
 
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josh358

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Yeah, this terminology is meaningless. Although we don't have measurements, the DP107s are dipole speakers and will behave much the same as other dipoles in the bass. For an example, take a look at the FR of a typical Magnepan:
Mag16fig2.jpg

There's a peak corresponding with (speed of sound)/(2 x width of baffle) and below that it drops off at 18dB/octave (12 from the speaker, 6 from the open baffle). Now a ported sub will also produce a peak in the midbass (the exact location will depend on the size of the cabinet and port as well as the driver), so now you're juggling two midbass peaks that need to be compensated with positioning and EQ. A sealed sub doesn't produce this peak and rolls off more slowly, and I think you'll find that makes it easier to integrate with your main dipole speakers. Sealed subs are supposed to have better 'transient response' (though I'm really not sure what that means) which is probably where the 'fast sub' notion comes from.
This isn't an accurate measurement. Or rather, it's an accurate measurement that was made too close. You can't measure a dipole woofer up close, because you don't see the backwave cancellation that you do at the listening seat further back. I couldn't find a proper measurement of the 1.6, but here's a curve for the 1.7:
zbWjvu8z7GqZ8kMjlyI05a4wH5JQ1Ejs6xYeYU7szeHuyYtDiZ0aRA44xDI061pd6Znti9-r6G_eRAcw__XGv5d6o6XXyQB772271jF0breVGBOgwaPyEoPX-IIhXBkHZfiARE_-MQ

There's still a resonant peak, but the woofer's response isn't exaggerated.

The Dyptiques may be a different story, since they don't appear to use acoustic equalization (resonant segments) and I've heard that they have one-note bass as a result. This will give you impressive low frequency extension, but it will prove fatiguing in the long run.

That said, I haven't been able to find any measurements of the Dyptiques, so there's a certain amount of speculation here.
 
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