I got hooked into audio after my first break-up. That was about a decade ago when I was still in my early college years. I'm no different. Just like any normal person, I felt depressed and needed an outlet.
One day, while surfing the web looking for ideas on how to set-up my car, I stumbled upon a local automotive website called Autoindustriya. I joined the online discussions and eventually decided to attend one of their car meets. It was there where I found my new love. No, not a woman this time (but also not a man of course), it was car audio.
It all happened when I heard one of the set-ups with Dynaudio speakers... Silky highs, luscious mids and punchy midbass. BOOM! Love at first listen!
This was also the point where the heartache stopped, and the spending began. My wallet hated me for it, but my ears loved it. People say that music soothes the soul and lifts the spirit.. But it only gets better when music is played in high-fidelity. Or should I say Authentic Fidelity?
Speaking of Dynaudio... Since I was just a student back then and only relied on my allowance, it was not easy to acquire my dream set-up. So I had to cut my spending somewhere. Believe it or not, for the next couple of months, I only spent P13 for each lunch. I always ate in that same old carinderia across the school. P8 for the beansprout lumpia and P5 for the rice. Free soup included! Honestly, it felt terrible eating that same lumpia over and over again. But since I wanted the Dyns badly, I had no choice.
Fast forward 2 years.. I was finally able to complete my dream car audio system.
Mitsubishi Lancer EL
Cockpit with Alpine Headunit
Dynaudio tweeter flush-mounted on a custom-made fiberglass kickpanel and Dynaudio midbass behind the speaker grill.
Dynaudio Crossovers
Trunk set-up. The middle compartment is motorized and slides inward to access the spare tire.
Illuminated Trunk Set-up
Eventually, this car was sold. But since I loved my equipments so much, I kept them all.
After long months of slumber in the storage bin, I finally decided to use them in my room. Yes, car audio as home audio set-up. But not without problems! Car audio equipments are 12v DC! I just can't plug them in regular 220v AC outlets. So I had to buy a huge regulated power supply with 12v output to power them. Second problem was controlling the volume without a headunit. The solution was a pre-amp. So I bought one. It was a pre-owned Tono Tube Preamp. This was my first foray into tubes so I was really mesmerized by their warm glow. Then yet there was still another issue on where to house my 2-way Dynaudio separates. Fortunately I was able to find a pair of busted NHT bookshelf speakers from our old home theater. I dismantled its drivers and replaced them with the Dyns. Luckily they fit!!
I settled with this set-up: DVD Player -> Tono Preamp -> PPI DEQ 230 -> Audison Power Amp -> Dynaudio 240mkII in NHT enclosure. If you're wondering how it sounded, well… pretty decent but not as good as when they were in my car. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed this system for many months until my parents decided to move and build a new house.
Being an audio enthusiast, a grand and ambitious idea popped into mind of integrating a dedicated music room/home theater into the new house. It was the perfect time since the house was still under construction. So I talked to my dad about the plan and guess what? He declined. He said "Sa umpisa lang yan maganda tapos magsasawa rin. Tignan mo yung home theater natin ngayon, hindi na nagagamit." All of a sudden, my dream melted away. My dad had a point.
After days of sleepless nights, my hunger and thirst for setting up a home theater system was so great that I knew I had to make this dream into reality. Even though dad rejected my first proposal, I knew he still had a soft spot for music in his heart so I figured a way on how to rekindle it.
One weekend, I brought him to Listening in Style. First, they guided us inside their home theater demo room. It looked fabulous with those nice acoustic treatments, plush theater-style seats and high end electronics. To top it off, a set of premium Dynaudio speakers. As soon as they hit the play button, we were immediately transported to a new world.. a virtual reality.. where the gun fights sounded so real as if you will be hit.. explosions that felt life-like, it made my hands sweat! It was really a delight watching movies there. Hence I knew there and then that I wanted something like that!
With our pulses still beating so quickly, they brought us to their high-end music room. This place was more serious looking built for critical audio listening. A pair of giant speakers greeted us. It was the legendary Wilson Alexandria X2. It sounded extremely smooth with very tight and full bass. Vocals were palpable and life-like. We enjoyed it so much that I wanted to stay there and listen for eternity.
After that listening session, my dad and I were in sonic nirvana. It didn't take much effort now to convince him as you've probably guessed. It was a green light on the home theater project!!
The only space available for the home theater in the new house was the attic. Fortunately it was quite big so I was able to obtain an acoustically good room dimension.
The very first draft!
The acoustic treatment plan I made
Computer Aided Design of the home theater
One of the acoustic panels I designed
Basically, the acoustic treatments were a combination of sound diffusers, absorbers and bass traps. They are all my original design with inspiration coming from various branded acoustic panels. All the fabric that were used are acoustically transparent. When you blow into them, air easily passes through. I am very happy on how they turned out both sonically and visually. Here are some pictures of the semi-finished room.
Front center view
Front right view
Front left view
Rear right view
Rear left view
Our home theater was completed and became fully operational on the Independence Day of 2006. The system consisted of Dynaudio speakers (Front, Center and Surround), Definitive Technology Subwoofer, Yamaha RX-V2400 Receiver, Plinius 9200 Integrated Amp, Denon 1920 DVD Player, Krell CD Player, Hitachi PJ-TX200 projector and a 92" Da-Lite Fixed Frame Screen.
Completed home theater project (2006)
In this hobby, we always try to maximize our system from simple tweaks to sometimes expensive upgrades. So from our original system in 2006 to date, much has changed already.
First, I moved the center channel to the top of the rack. I was surprised on the big improvement in sound quality. The overall sound became more balanced and the dialogue became clearer. I also repositioned the front speakers and toed it in a bit. As a result, the imaging and focus improved. Not a single centavo was spent on these tweaks, but the improvement was very noticeable!
Next, I replaced the Yamaha RX-V2400 with an Onkyo 805. It's a more advanced receiver capable of decoding HD audio. It also has a better room correction sofware which is the Audyssey Multi EQ XT. The improvement over the Yamaha was very apparent. Soundstage became bigger and more three-dimensional. It also gave better dynamics, impact and punch. The resulting sound from the Onkyo is very crisp yet non-fatiguing.
I then added an SVS PB10NSD sub together with Definitive Tech subwoofer. What a big difference the dual subs made! The bass became cleaner, deeper and with more impact. I truly enjoyed this set-up for a couple of months until I got a chance to acquire a pair of SVS PB12NSDs for a very good price. So obviously I didn't let this rare opportunity pass. I bought them. The online reviews didn't prepare me well enough on what I was getting.. These monsters were better in all aspects! They were less boomy and much much smoother sounding. They also dug in deeper to the point of making you feel even the minutest of rumbles. Yes, they are expensive but worth it.
Afterwards I added an external amplifier, the Audio Refinement Multi 5 to power the center and surround channels. This completely relieved the Onkyo receiver from powering speakers. Honestly at first I was having second thoughts on this upgrade since the Dynaudio fronts were already being powered by the Plinius amp. I thought that maybe the Onkyo 805 was already very much capable in powering the center and surrounds. But to my surprise, adding the Audio Refinement amp still made a significant difference! Sound from the center channel became more 3-dimensional with an increase in micro-details and clarity. The sound of the whole system also got better. It became more fluid and even more dynamic.
Due to advancements in optical media format, a Panasonic BD30 was put in place of the aging Denon DVD player. A Dune Smart H1 media player was also added. Now I can play BDMV files with full menu and complete features. Very cool and convenient indeed.
And to make the most out of my high definition 1080p sources, the Hitachi PJ-TX200 was replaced with an Epson 8700UB projector. Movies are now presented in full HD. Out of the box, the picture quality was already good. But what separates the good from the great is the video calibration. Thanks a lot sir Streetsmart! Here are some screenshots after the calibration.
Incredible Hulk
Hitman Returns Main Menu
Jackie Evancho in Hitman Returns
Charice in Hitman Returns
For 2-channel audio listening, I purchased a Yaqin CD-3 tube buffer and upgraded the stock tubes to a pair of Sylvania 6SN7 WGTA. Here's the audio chain: Pioneer CD Player -> Yaqin Tube Buffer -> Plinius Integrated Amp -> Dynaudio Contour S5.4. The buffer gave life to the sound.. Bigger soundstage, crispier highs, lusher midrange and better bass extension.
And lastly for analog playback, I acquired a Thorens TD160 turntable and paired it with a Rega Exact cartridge. It's hard to describe in words how wonderful vinyl sounds. It's a totally different experience! You have to hear for yourself to appreciate.
Music not only soothes the soul and lifts the spirit, but also brings family and friends closer together. There's nothing like sharing the home theater experience to other people. Knowing that you made someone happy makes you happier. And that surely makes all the time, effort, blood, sweat and tears all worthwhile!
All stories must come to an end. However it does not mean we'll stop dreaming. But for now, allow me to present our home theater...
Front View (curtains closed for music listening)
Front View (curtains open for movie watching)
Sit back, relax and enjoy...
