Thread: My new home entertainment system is under construction!

When it is completed, I will post a You Tube video showcasing the whole works.

Initial testing and impressions.

The new Marantz networking audio receiver coupled with the new Klipsch 10" sub is DYN-O-MITE! You should hear the pipe organ pedal point on Bach's Toccata and Fuge in F Major roar like a diesel locomotive now! I flipped the phase switch a few times and could not hear any difference in loudness. One position seems to make organ bass sound more harmonious than the opposite, so I left the switch there.

This unit features a remote too. Bluetooth. This receiver has Wi-Fi connectivity. There is sound mode with stereo, direct and pure direct which I don't know much about.

I put on the 1968 DVD movie, Bullitt with Steve McQueen to test the sound system with the ultimate car chase ever. McQueen in his Ford Mustang fastback is chasing the two bad guys in the black Dodge Charger. You can hear the Stang's motor drone like rolling thunder through that big, heavy Klipsch on the vibration-isolation stand. It's like having your ear right next to a diesel locomotive. You can feel the damned thing rattle your brain like a mild concussion. Harley-Davidson big-twins through this. Excellent! Strauss's theme to 1022: A Space Odyssey? Awesome.

Classical music, pipe organs and 1960's hard rock seem to sound best with the equalizer on the phone app set to Bass and Treble mode. This is reminiscent of the classical home stereo knobs from the 1960's and 1970's. 1970's/1980's pop, rock and also jazz music of any era sounds crisper through the Rock setting on the eek. Do any people here have an equalizer shelf component? I don't think any new audio-/stereo receivers have built-in equalizers. My 1986 Panasonic double-cassette boombox with detachable stereo speakers had one with sliding levers. If I recall, the Technics receiver I bought new back in 1999 for a paltry 100 bucks might have had a graphic eq if memory serves me correctly.


I am now setting up the big heavy A/V cart I bought for my living room. I have to make a "sidecar" out of plywood to attach to the side of it for the sub to ride on with floor rollers. I have to make custom wooden bumper stops to be screwed onto the back of the component shelves and butting against the back panels of components, so components are easily positioned perfectly centered side to side and set back a precise distance from the front edges of the shelves. The front edges of all the shelf components are to be parallel with the front edges of the cabinet's shelves. The TV cabinet is on casters for easily moving for floor cleaning and back-panel cable management around the system. I don't like components to be shelved in a sloppy fashion.

Furthermore, I plan to make back custom-fit panels out of cardboard box material for the new entertainment rack and spray paint them flat black. This is to hide cables as viewing the cabinet unit from the front and to shut out light coming in from the rear. They will have small centered square openings to allow cables to pass through.

The optical digital audio cable works wonders. Movie sound is super clear. My DVD player also plays Blue Ray discs and even music CD's.

For movies, should sound mode be on pure direct? I believe stereo is best for music listening. I can shut the pair of Dayton Audio 6-ohm main floor-standing speakers off using the A/B switch so only the sub can be heard and felt.

Glad to see the moves worked out well for you. Are you able to hear any difference in your Dayton's with the Marantz versus the Sony?

Pure Direct typically bypasses the processing inside the receiver. I would not use it for movies. It may sound better for music, depends on your taste.

I know you want a clean set up but your sub would work better on the floor. Maybe in a corner.

Did you use the auto set up?

If the receiver didn't do this automatically during set up, have it check for firmware updates. The option will be inside the set up menu, I don't know where exactly to direct you for that.