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Home Theater Done Right: Millercarbon's System

Dual use, should probably be the title. Oh well. Finally posted my system. Someone’s always asking about how to do a dual use system. Well, here’s how its done.
Cinephile or audiophile, movies and music are the two things I have loved for as long as I can remember. I want my music to sound as good as possible, and I want my movies to look and sound as good as possible. Everything is a compromise and yet when it comes to these two the compromises are remarkably few. If any. At least that is what my system shows. Because it is a first-rate audiophile sound system, AND a top level home theater.
Whether music or movies an immersive experience is the goal. To lose yourself in the experience. To be carried away.
Studies show viewers consistently rate video quality higher when sound quality is high. Unfortunately the Home Theater industry has chosen to pursue quantity over quality. Which cannot ever work. No amount of surround speakers will ever make up for poor quality. Everyone knows this perfectly well. Being able to convince anyone otherwise is a testament to marketing.
But that’s not my main point here. Rather it is that everything matters. Seemingly minor little things like cryogenic treatment, HFT, ECT, Total Contact, fuses, cable elevators, etc when added together actually make so much difference it is almost impossible to build a truly good system without them.

Removing those tweaks from my system would lower it down to merely average.

Anyway, the system is posted. Enjoy the pics. I am not that good a photographer but Steve Clarke was busy. Tried to get the tubes go glow- how’d I do?

The system evolves. Here for reference are some pics from 16 years ago. https://www.theanalogdept.com/c_miller.htm
Comments welcome. Enjoy!


128x128millercarbon
barts's avatar
barts
677 posts
 
@millercarbon Would you please talk about the acoustic treatments in the room, particularly the wainscoting that appears to be soft fabric.

Also the room looks to be very absorptive and I don't see any diffusers.

Thanks,
Barts
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,175 posts
 
Millercarbon, I find any lights near or around my screen very annoying but they do not seem to bother you. Did you have something done to your eyes?
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon OP
12,531 posts
 
@millercarbon Would you please talk about the acoustic treatments in the room, particularly the wainscoting that appears to be soft fabric.
Also the room looks to be very absorptive and I don’t see any diffusers.


Room acoustics. Well first of all the room is 5/8" sheetrock over 1/2" sound board. Its a remodel so the back wall also has at least another 1/2" of siding under the sound board.

Learning is a process and what you see was mostly done 30 years ago. Yes the wainscoting is fabric, over a very thin polyester for appearance. Wouldn’t do it that way today but over the years I have learned there’s a lot more to acoustics than treatments. Everything you put in a room including yourself affects the acoustics to some extent. You can for example make a very lively room sound dead with enough furnishings. You can also diffuse sound as I have done with component placement. But yes I do have a diffusor or two in mind. To break up flutter echo between the front side walls.

But this is all just primitive old school acoustics. The REAL acoustic treatments are the tiny little Synergistic Research HFT things you see stuck on the speakers and walls. Forced to choose between full on professional cost no object GIK Acoustics remodel and full complement of HFT I will take the HFT in a heartbeat. My DIY acoustics is a lot better than nothing. But nothing is better than HFT. Read my review. Read David Pilchers comments.

Millercarbon, I find any lights near or around my screen very annoying but they do not seem to bother you. Did you have something done to your eyes?

Yeah in the rush to post I neglected to shoot some pics of a movie. Will be doing that this weekend. Hard enough getting the tube glow to show. But I have some ideas. The lights of course are off for movies.
glupson
7,842 posts
 
The system on the right, looks way older and less fancy that the rest of the room, brings back some nostalgia. However, turntable (is it Technics?) is in a very unusual spot.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon OP
12,531 posts
 
Right. Almost pure nostalgia- all working order but none connected.
That's a Pioneer TX-9100 tuner, bought new by me in about 1974. The Kenwood integrated has gone away but that tuner, between the looks and the memories its just too sweet to part with.The Technics SL-1700 is the reason I have the Miller Carbon. It sat in storage all through the 80's while I moved around after college. Then after building a really good CD based system Robert Harley said try records. So I pulled the Technics out of the box. Discovered the cantilever got bent. Straightened it out.  And sure enough, it killed CD. When a busted table beats your CD you know your CD is beat.Should probably sell both. They're worth more now than when new! But for now at least I will put up with the clutter... for the sake of the memories.
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