Home Audio 2.1 Real-World Whole House Audio and Tweaking

I can't help it..... I'm a tweaker. I can't leave things alone. In the last Blog-Post on Home Audio, I talked about finally getting out my other Griffin TuneDock from the closet and putting it to use in the downstairs system that's hooked up to the 5 pairs of in-ceiling speakers. Don't get me wrong, it was great! I've used it a lot and other people have been suitably impressed by the set-up. Then, my over-active thought processes got started and I decided that in the main system upstairs, I didn't like having to turn on the monitor just to use the iPod. I wanted something simpler that just connected the iPod directly to the system AND that it would be even better if that dock worked directly with my Onkyo/Integra equipment. ...... which then started a drawn out search for just the right one. Apparently, Onkyo made a number of them and the majority weren't simple. They were elaborate affairs that were often designed to work through Onkyo's own multi-zone systems. 

However; my labors eventually bore fruit in the form of the DS-A2X iPod Dock. All it does is to connect to the iPod, take it's signal and send it as a simple line-level source to a receiver..... any receiver. You don't have to connect it to a monitor to see it's menu. It has no menu. You just interact directly with the iPod or use the supplied remote to do the same thing. Given that the main system upstairs rarely, if ever will be used to distribute audio, I didn't need it's functions to be routed through a 48" TV! 

Then, that simplicity hit me. I didn't need my home audio to be more powerful and feature-ladened.... I wanted it to be simple and to only do what it needed to, not everything possible!

Although, most people (men pretty much) dream of having this in their house, experience and fiscal reality have gotten me to the point where I have a better grasp of needs vs. wants. My reality is this: 

• I have 9 zones of audio that are equipped with speakers. 
• Two of those zones are actually set up for discreet home theaters with preexisting speakers. Therefore, those 2 can be eliminated as they are run by the home theater systems in that location.
• Of the 7 other zones, 5 are located in what could be considered "public space", meaning areas of the house where non-family would typically wander when a gathering occurs.
• All of these above 5 zones are downstairs and wired to the same location which is the downstairs living room. 
• The two upstairs zones are: the Master Bedroom and Master Bathroom and they are wired to the upstairs Game Room/Home Theater. 

So, what can I conclude from all this?

An earlier form of me would have come up with some version of this solution.....

 Requiring something akin to this equipment.....

However, the more grown up me came up with something different:

• I really had 2 zones..... not 9.
• An upstair, largely for family movie watching.
• And a downstairs, that can serve as a home theater, but often a space where guest will typically congregate when we have people over. 
• It would be nice if the 2 talked to each other (actually, only the bottom to the top), but it really wasn't necessary.
• The 2 peripheral zones upstairs only come into play really when the family is using it as a home theater (eg. run to the bathroom during a movie), so the functionality of them ever needing to interact with the system downstairs is virtually zero.

So, here is what has come into being as our whole house A/V system:

• Downstairs- A simple surround system based off of an inexpensive Onkyo TX-SR303 receiver that serves that purpose. The "living room" areas that it resides in have the B&W LM-1 speakers mounted on the walls and a B&W ASW-300 sub.  It also serves as a source selector for all the 5 other zones downstairs as well. Each of these zones are run through the Niles RSL-6 speakers selector and QSC GX-3 amp that I discussed in the last post.
• Upstairs- This is the home of our main home theater which is run by an Integra DTR-6.3 receiver powering KEF "Uni-Q" main & center channel speakers and another set of B&W LM-1s in the surround channels, plus a B&W ASW-675 sub. Through the tape-loop (just like downstairs), the receiver sends a line-level signal to an old Sony STR-AV770 which powers the 2 remaining zones. As you can imagine, it probably won't be powered on much and if that receiver hadn't cost $25, I probably wouldn't bother with it at all!

Does this mean that I'm done!?! No more audio in this Blog space? Oh, there'll be a few things I'm sure. Just of the top of my head, I can see myself examining adding another sub in the main system to even out the bass up there. I might even go with a set of separates in it as well since I have a partially working Rotel RSP-1098 Pre-amp processor and a Rotel RB-976 Amp out in the garage. Plus I've always kind of seen the Dual 510 turntable as a temporary solution for my vinyl needs. So, you see, there are potentially some so big changes, but I wouldn't say any of it is eminent. These days, I'm just happily enjoying our fully working whole-house audio system as it is!

Home Audio 2.0

 

Most people would be pretty happy with these two pieces of home audio/theater equipment. I should know: I used to sell them back in a previous life. OK, let's rewind. Twelve-thirteen years ago, before we moved to the Metro-plex (Dallas/Ft. Worth) and started (for my wife), restarted (for me) our teaching careers..... we lived in Lubbock. I worked in IT, and as almost a hobby, I also worked part time in a home audio/theater store there. I loved it! Every other weekend and a couple of nights a week, I got to talk audio with people and they even paid me! A couple of the brands (among others) we sold, were Denon and B&W (Bowers and Wilkins). The Denon AVR-3802 was near the top of their line and an excellent piece. The B&W ASW 600 was a mid-line piece, but a great deal for the money.

Fast forward a decade + and you might remember; last summer, this happened! We moved to another house. Well, along with it came 2 sets, not pieces of equipment...... 2 Denon AVR-3802s, 2 ASW 600s, 2 sets (5 per) B&W LM1 Satellite speakers mounted in 2 living spaces........ and 7 sets of in-ceiling speakers! The subs and receivers were just piled in a closet. My suspicion was that they and/or the ceiling speakers had not been used for some time. The models were current when I was selling it more than 10 years before, so it was probably bought when the house was built in 2003 by the original owner. We'll just say that the 2nd owner from whom we bought the house didn't didn't strike me as the type of people who would have cared about whole home audio.

I, like most people should have been pretty darned pleased, right? Yes and No. Yes, these were excellent pieces of equipment, but I didn't need them! I already had 2 home theater receivers that I was already happy with and not planning on replacing. They have pretty much the same capabilities and built to the same standard. ..... But what about driving those 7 pairs of ceiling speakers? Well, that's not really a job for a receiver, .... any receiver. I'm not going to get into impedance and load here, but lets just go with the simple explanation that driving more than 2 pairs of speakers is not a really good idea. Driving four or more pairs from the same amp will kill an amp in short order. It may not be today, or even next month, but it's coming! To do this, what's needed is a beefy "stand-alone" amp and an impedance matching speaker selector with protection circuitry. So, over the course of the last month, I sold both receivers and both subs. Why would I sell 2 perfectly good B&W subs!?!

To buy something smaller of course! Back when I was selling them, I loved B&W subs and sold lots of them.... but I tended to not sell as many of the ASW600s. ??? Something the matter with that model? B&W as a brand is a fraud? Ah..... No. Let me diverge and go on a little sub theory according to the Frugal Propellerhead. Unlike many (probably most) people, I don't like more bass, I like bass just fine, but I want it to be fast!!! 

Most of you are aware that sound is made up of waves. The lower the tone, the bigger the wave. So bass waves are the largest, some are huge, as in many feet between the peaks. Therefore, it takes a lot to move the air to create (or recreate) them. So, the bigger the cone, the better chance it has to make that wave. Doesn't that mean, we should all buy 15"/18" coned subs? Good luck with your wife on that one! Remember; it's not just the speaker itself, you'll also need a heck of an enclosure to acoustically match that driver! So, we're all screwed, right? Again, Yes and No. There is another way (actually there are others as well) to move the air, and that's with a smaller cone, but it needs to piston (this is called excursion) in and out more. That's not easy though: in order to do this well, the driver has to be extremely stiff and the amp has to be VERY powerful to control all the movement. Here's the issue. The ASW600 is the smallest and least powerful of all B&W 10" subs from it's generation (150w). My ASW675 which is used in my main HT system, is from the same line, but has a Kevlar/aluminum composite cone AND a 500w amp..... along with a sealed-box "acoustical suspension design. The next model down was the ASW300 with a smaller 8" driver, but an amp almost as powerful at 100w. You might be thinking here that 150 is 50% more powerful than 100. The calculation of audio power isn't linear. To create a descernable difference to human ear, you have to up volume by 3db..... which require double the power from the amp! An 8" driver is significantly smaller and easier to drive for an amp than a 10". The other half is in the listening. To my ear, the ASW300 was much more musical than the ASW600, it's notes reproduced faster and just hit much cleaner. My preference is less, but faster and more musical. So, I sold the 2 ASW600s at $150 apiece and bought an ASW300 at $100 (after shipping). Plus, I sold the 2 Denon receivers at $75 each so, I cleared $350 profit from equipment I didn't need, plus ended up with a sub, I liked better.

But what about the "whole house" audio part with 7 pairs of in-ceiling speakers? I screwed up...

I bought a pair of these things.... Niles HDL-6 speakers selectors. As the model number might indicate, they will handle 6 pairs of speakers each. Problem solved, right? I even got a great deal for them ($50 for the pair)..... ??? See those white things on top of the selector? Yeah, those are the speaker wire connectors and mine didn't come with them. No problem, right..... $6-8 each  on eBay...... I need 14!!! That's more than the price of the box itself! On top of that, when I did finally figure out the original manufacturer of them (Weco), ordered 14 at $1.50 ea, the "pin" size was wrong. It appears that Niles used a special size which is half a millimeter smaller than standard!

Then, lightning struck.... twice..... in a good way! I found a Niles RSL-6, remote controllable 6-pair speaker selector on Craigs List for $30 which I talked the seller down to $25 and has spring bindings for the speaker wire. That's almost $20 less than the cost of buying the connectors alone! 

 

On the same day, I was asking my friend Pat (who still works in the home audio business) what I amp I should target to drive those speakers. His answer was, "I've got something here. I'll send it to you".... that was it. I figured that he was probably busy with an install so I let it go with a "?" as reply. The next day, I found out that he had been given a QSC GX-3 amp for some work he'd done for someone, and that it was on it's way via FEDEX to my house! Apparently, it was sitting around his garage and he didn't want to hassle with selling it, so decided ship it to me. I texted him at the right time! What is it? It's an industrial amp that people use to set up professional sound equipment for performances. If you go into any decent sized pawn shop, you'll find several in the DJ equipment area. This one is rated at 300w X 2 channels.... perfect for driving the 5 pair of in-ceiling speakers downstairs through the selector. Upstairs?

Quite some time ago, I picked up an old Sony "AV" receiver. It's old enough so that the surround sound doesn't even have a center-channel. Yeah; pre Pro-Logic! But it's not considered vintage, so the new age posers who are into retro aren't interested. I was the only bidder on eBay at $25. What about shipping? He was local, so I picked it up from him at the cost of about 2 bucks in gas. It's going to run the 2 speaker zones upstairs through it's own terminals. 

There is one last thing to add to this already too long post. I was finally able to break out my other Griffin TuneCenter iPod dock as well. I've had one in my main system upstairs for several years.

They not only allow the user to run their iPod through your main AV system, but they set up to interact through a graphic interface on a monitor. I picked them up years ago for about $15 each, when Griffin was getting rid of the old iPod 30-pin interface devices when people moved to iPhones with the Lightning connector. Now, I have the ability to run all our music through these devices through the 2 main systems, and by this afternoon..... all over the house, plus porch! 

The iPods In Our Lives

On November 10th of 2001, Apple introduce the 1st generation iPod, commonly called the "scroll wheel" model. It was $399 for the 5Gb model, and $499 for the 10Gb version! Even at that, it was pretty obvious that this device was going to be a world beater. If you didn't covet one, you're probably either delusional or simply lying! Everyone wanted one, despite the ridiculous price...... However, by 2004, with the arrival of the 4th generation model price at $299 for a 20Gb, and $399 for the 40Gb model, the word "competition" in the marketplace was almost a joke. In those sizes, these devices put the concept of putting an entire collection of CDs onto one device was within reach. This became the killer concept for me, and I began to truly contemplate acquiring one of these. A year later, when the smaller (30Gb) of the 5th generation iPods were out at $299, I pulled the trigger and a nice black one became my wife's Christmas present. 

Is that it!?! How you came to acquire an iPod? No, that's just the beginning, so bear with me. At the time of the arrival of that one lone bastion of Apple-ness at our house, I was not only happily entrenched with Minidiscs, but had and had gone through any number of personal listening devices, many of which sounded better than that iPod......any iPod! Then why are we even discussing this device? Well....at the risk of sounding all philosophical about this; it isn't all about the absolute sound quality. What is this coming from a vinyl record listener!?! First of all, I'm a big believer in using the right tool for the job, meaning that when on the go, I LOVE being able to tote my entire collection of music. And don't let anyone fool you; a car is no place to judge absolution reproduction capabilities. Secondly; I love devices that can do more than one thing! In this case, the capacious storage of 30, 40 and especially 80Gb leaves plenty for random storage such as dumping digital photos while away from home on a trip. The was verified in spades when we took our Alaska cruise and Taiwan/Hong Kong trip where I used my music player (80Gb iPod) as the backup photo file storage. It's been so useful I now have 2 portable external hard drives that sit in a drawer, unused.

....But that's still NOT what this post is about. It's really about how pervasive these things have become in our life! Let me start by going ahead and admitting that we now have 7 of these things!!! Ok, 2 are ones that I've picked up for basically nothing in attempts to repair a broken 3rd inherited from a family member, but still: 7! And that's not the half of it. Most of you are aware that there is a huge industry devoted to making all manner of accessories for these things, right? 

Let me start by saying that; NO, we do not own the more ludicrous of them such as the above, which by the way is listed in an article of the 10 most useless iPod accessories.

But we do own both the Logitech MM32 and the very highly rated MM50 speaker docks above. Actually we have 2 of the MM50s. There's a black one in our office and a white one in my classroom. I bought the first one for just under $50 refurbished off of eBay and my father-in-law liked it so much, he got one too. Two months ago I picked the white one off of eBay for $15 and it matches our second 5th generation iPod perfectly that was found on Craigs List for about $80 years ago. It lives at school. The MM32 was an after Christmas Walmart clearance that I got for $12 which I use as computer speakers at school. I can't even tell you how many times it has save mine and other teacher's bacon over the years!

One of my favorites though is the Griffin TuneDock. About a year or so ago, these begin to appear on eBay as "new/unopened" stock at anywhere between $10 and $20 in bunches. So I bought two (one is still in the closet). One is connected to my main A/V system and essentially allows me to use the iPods as giant jukeboxes. They even output a GUI for navigating the menu system. I'm eventually going to attach the other one to the secondary system that powers the outside speakers, which will give me separate sound capabilities. 

Then there's this.....the iCruze by Monster. A couple of months ago, I was in California, for my Mom's 90th birthday. In all my brother's cars, were these things. So I asked what it was: the answer was the iCruze that allows an iPod to integrate with the factory radio. It makes the audio system think that there's a CD Changer connected and allows for the onboard controls to access it. Pretty slick! My brother said he thought he had another one stashed somewhere (of course) and he'd send it to me if he could find it. A few weeks later, a box showed up..... So before we go on our long car oriented vacation this summer, guess what's going to get installed in the Honda!

Last year a pink 5th generation 16Gb Nano came to live with us. My daughter was most pleased to have it and has an iHome alarm clock/dock speaker that it live on which functions as her computer speakers as well. 

Is there more? You bet! I've got those broken iPods that I'd like to fix up, a 3rd generation and a 4G. No so I can have more of them, but just so they work. Is there room for even more? Well.....maybe, if one of those interesting U2 versions happens to fall into my lap; I don't think I'd throw it out!!!

 

Saturday Morning Blog: Return of the 90's

I did something odd this beautiful, early November (gorgeous month here in North Texas) morning. I got out some CD's and are playing them; literally as we speak. Why is that unusual? Some of you may already know. Ironically, it's a compilation of popular 90's songs! .....you know, one of those CD's you can buy at Target or some place like that, or in my case, Half Price Books. It cost $7 and they are all good songs; if you don't mind Pop. For me, the 90's were pretty much a music wasteland anyway, and I mostly wanted the songs to situationally return me to a time when I was working in higher education administration, spending a lot of time with college students. So, these types of CDs are perfect...no waste on songs I don't recognize.

Now is it obvious where I'm going on this!?! The 90's was when the CD medium reached it's Zenith. By the last half of that decade, it had swept all competition into the dustbin of recorded sound history. Yet today, I was literally blowing dust off of my cherished 40 CD albums to get at my languishing collection. What happend!?! In today's world, I'm not so much deciding what CDs I want to play, but more what format(s) I want my collection ripped into so I can access them in a more efficient manner. Computer manufacturers are about to eliminate optical drives from the design of newer laptops all-together. This is a medium that sowed the seeds of it's own demise within the concept itself. As a digital format, the medium is actually pretty much irrelevant. 

 

In the world of 1s and 0s, it certainly doesn't need to be in the form of pits read by a laser. 

In October of 2001, the devastator arrived:

Was it the first digital music player? No Was it the best (however you define that)? Probably not. It was the most powerful, in terms a shift of how people saw the delivery of content. Yes, I understand that it was probably a product that rode on the back of what went before.

I'd argue that the concept of portable music can be credited to the Sony Walkman.

And that the 1992 Minidisc was the pinnacle of that concept, with a superior sound reproduction almost a decade before the iPod, but with the arrival of the 20Gb versions of the iPod, a person could pretty much put their entire music collection in one place. This is almost irresistible as a concept.

For us, the tipping point was the 5G (5th Generation) version in 30Gb capacity. I kind of use my wife as a "bell-cow" (forgive the term). She's not so much technologically oriented vs. technologically aware. When she starts asking about some product or another (Android Tablets are the latest), I know that it's mature enough to look into purchasing for our use. When I say mature; what I mean is that the cost-benefit ratio is such that I'll get enough use out of it not to have "buyer's remorse" after purchase. In this case, it was her Christmas present that year, and I spent the rest of the holiday ripping our CD collection into her iTunes. At first, we just enjoyed literally having our entire CD collection with us when we traveled (from Dallas, it's 6 or 7 HOURS to Amarillo, Lubbock or Midland......Texas is a BIG place). So the necessity of going through my CDs to decide which ones to take came to an end.

Then a couple of years ago, the Griffin TuneDock came to live at our house, which of course interfaced with the receiver in my main A/V system which is the main reason that there's dust on my CD albums. 

But the things that really put the nails in the coffin was my rediscovery of the joys of vinyl records for my serious listening.......and the adoption of the computer based home file server which not only streams music anywhere on my network, but "losslessly" meaning that it's essentially the same as what the CD originally offered. 

So yeah, something like this; which explains the HTPCs littered through previous posts for those who have been following along. "Thus endith the lesson", as originally delivered by Sean Connery to Kevin Costner in The Untouchables" of 1987.