Cross posting this on the DTX-Sakura combo and Dai-ichi threads since different sets of people read them and I want to get as much feedback as I can, I hope that's ok.
After 3 days of trying out my Sakura 387 + DTX towers/center + Euros 6 bokshelves + Xenon subwoofer combo, here are my observations:
Here's how I have it set up in a room approx 9 feet by 12 feet. The towers are placed on the floor around 5 feet apart, around 2 inches away from either side of the TV, around 2 feet from the back wall and 2 feet from the side walls. The center is on top of the TV, around 5 feet above the floor, in the middle of the towers, same distance from the back wall. The sub is on a low table around 1 foot high, at the middle left side of the room, between the towers and surrounds, half a foot away from the left wall. The surrounds are on shelves on either side of the room around 5 feet off the floor and 6 feet away from the towers. Used gauge 14 Audio Pro speaker wire from Deeco for the towers and gauge 14 studio grade speaker wire from ACE hardware for the other speakers. Used Quantum banana plugs from Electronics Depot to connect the speaker wires to the amp. Haven't done bi-wiring yet (parang ang komplikado eh). I'll try to post a pic of the entire setup kapag mas final na. I usually sit around 5 to 6 feet away from the towers, ka-level ng surrounds. Using Skyworth DVD player as source.
Have no complaints regarding the setup's performance for movies. Wow talaga. Medyo telephone-call-sounding nga lang yung dialogue from the center speaker at first pero eventually naging ok na.
Music is another matter though. Firstly, ang boomy ng towers! Medyo nalalakasan ako sa bass, it has the tendency to drown out the other details. Or maybe hindi lang talaga ako sanay since before I've been doing my music listening mostly just through Sennheiser earbuds or a 2.1 Creative multimedia speaker set with the sub turned way down, medyo lo-fi talaga. Based on my perception, I sort of prefer the bass that's coming out of the Xenon sub than what's coming out of the DTX towers. The towers seem to be lacking a bit in the midrange and highs. So I tend to rely on the Sakura's stereo to 3 channel or 5 channel function, this turns on the center and surround speakers which seems to have clearer midranges and highs and are able to compensate for the towers' shortcomings.
Do you guys think that the speakersm especially the towers will still improve after further breaking in or if I try biwiring them? Any volume or bass/treble settings I should try on the Sakura amp? The loudest volume setting I've gone so far on the Sakura is a main volume of -34 for 5.1 AC-3 sources and -28 for stereo. I usually set the surround volume 2 steps lower and center volume two steps higher. I set bass at -2, treble at +2. Sub volume is at 2/3 of maximum.
By the way, 5.1 mixed music sounds a lot better than plain stereo with the setup. So far to me, stereo music sounds a lot better using the euros 6 bookshelves (which I use for the surrounds) than the DTX towers, which makes me wonder what the euros 6 towers must sound like.
So any advice regarding what I can add or change to improve the setup? I'm contemplating using our massive old Sony Laserdisc player to play CDs instead of the DVD player in case it'll be a better source.
Mahirap pala malulong sa hobby na ito, nakaka-obsess! Nagpapaka-audiophile na rin tuloy mga kapatid ko!
Daming pinapa-canvass sa Raon.
