Just moved back to my loft after a remodel and the system is sounding good. The room is 70 feet long and 22 feet wide with a 22 ft high ceiling. It used to be a beer brewery and they converted the place to lofts. Concrete floors and ceiling.
I use the AR LS-10 solid state pre, the Ref 2 mk2 tube pre for a change of pace and then the Pass pre. All three are excellent, just different in their own ways. I can't decide, so I keep all three in a monthly rotation.
Later this year, I'm going to get an Audio Research Reference 3 preamp.
The home theater portion really cooks....I plan to get the top of the line InFocus projector later this year.
Paste this link into your browser to see more photos of the whole room when the Kappa 9's were my main speakers.
The speakers are 15 years old. The Ref3 preamp is outstanding.....you have to give it a try. No, I have never tried the XONO, I have decided to stay with AR in that area.
Gunbei: The Betas and the X.02 were delivered yesterday. I have them connected and playing. It is going to take some time getting the correct settings for the servo/crossover to get the bass dialed in correctly for the Betas. I certainly don't look forward to that. I'm more of a plug 'n play kind of guy. I don't look forward to the break-in period for the X.02 either.
One thing is for sure, I'm going to have to sell the DD-18. The bass output of the Beta bass towers is otherworldly.
I've ordered some 10 gauge cables for the surrounds, then I'll be ready to get the home theater hooked up.
My invitation is still open for you to visit. I'd like for you come by and critique the setup and offer any suggestions for tweaking.
Gunbei.....You are certainly welcome to stop by whenever you are in the area. Next time bring some cd's with you. We can try your ideas about speaker toe-in.
You can put whatever you want on the walls for the ArtWalk. My fee to use the space for the ArtWalk is an original signed piece of your artwork. What you show is totally up to you. The next ArtWalk is in October...let me know by August if you want to show your artwork for the next one.
The Betas and the Pass pre will be here this week. I've ordered custom RCA/XLR cables because the Pass amps only have XLR connections and the servo/crossover for the Betas only accept RCA's. These cables should arrive any day now.
The building used to be a Pabst Beer Brewery and they converted it to lofts. Huge building...., about 20 units on my floor. The floor underneath is concrete and I have very thick carpet in the living area and tile in the kitchen and bathrooms. The exterior walls and ceilings are one foot thick reinforced concrete, the interior walls are drywall.
Paul, since that other post, I have added the Ref2 Mk2 preamp and the ARC CD2 to the system.....huge improvements.
The Pass amps are light years ahead of the Carvers in detail, air, soundstage and musicality. But as far as raw brute power, the Carvers have more brute power in the bass arena. The Carvers have more raw slamming bass. For parties, I will use the Carvers. Of course I'll have the Pass monos connected for my critical listening. For the money, the Carver monoblocks are an excellent buy.
I have four pairs of Kappa 9's and four pairs of Carver monoblocks. I'm going to use the Carver monoblocks and two pair of Kappa 9's for my home theater. I'm going to use a pair of Kappa 7's for my center channel. I also have a pair of Sunfire Signature amps also and a pair of Infinity Rennaisance 90 speakers. I will use these items for second and third systems throughout the loft. The total space in the loft is 4500 square feet.
