snsguy's Wonderful World Of HT next gen.......

snsguy

Ninja with a Hook
Premium Supporter
Mar 22, 2011
1,304
Hendersonville, TN
I've been talking about and posted a few pics since we've bought our new home and I've been working on our dedicated HT. It's been going on for over 2 months now. It's getting there but there are a few things that still need to be done. I decided to create a separate thread of my next gen. HT so there is no confusion and you guys can see more of what's happening. Excuse some of the photos because some were taken with a cell phone and I can't keep my hands still. So here....we..... go..

This is what the room originally looked like when we first bought the house.

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It's really hard to tell from the pictures but the room is 15x15 with a cubby whole area that is 3x3 and angles to be about 5 feet tall. That is where the components are being held and a bench area that is another 3x3 area that goes all the way to the ceiling which is where the window is. It's an angled wall to ceiling room which makes it a bit difficult to work with but I'm making it work.

Construction of the room:

My kid brother, not really but I call him that, helping me out painting the room.

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I removed the closet doors to place my Besta's in to hold my memorabilia in which you will see later on.

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We ended up using a very dark rich purple, which I call the Joker purple and a medium to dark grey that has a tint of blue in it and maybe even a green. I was not at all expecting to pick a purple but the more and more I thought about it that's the color I wanted it to be.

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Putting the Besta's together and fitting them into the closets.

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As you can see it has progressed a lot. I painted the molding around the window and the seat area the same purple as the wall. I then covered the window with a black out curtain by stapling just around the edge of the molding holding it snug all the way around the parimeter. Then I took a piece of insulation panel that somehow made over here from our old apartment, lucky me :scat:, which I then covered in another black out curtain then placed it over the window which slid partially into the window. Doing that has made the room pitch black and has helped deaden the higher frequencies so it's not heard outside. Which means I can play it a lot louder. :LOL: It's also great that our neighbors homes are next but one is somewhat further up towards the road and the other down. So far no complaints and when I tested it all that was heard was a slight rumble. Once I was at the end of the drive barely anything was heard! :scat:

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Only some things are where they will be permanently at right now. I have a lot lying around and out of the way until everything major is where it will remain and then I finish up the decorating. The front sound stage has a whole lot more room to breathe compared to the old apartment. Since I moved all the components to the cubby it looks much cleaner. I used an IR receiver to control all the components by aiming my remote just as before. I got rid of the spine on the tv stand and installed the tv's original stand so I can have it closer to the wall. The spine hindered that with the angled wall.

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These chairs are freakin' comfortable! They are very big recliner rockers. :scat: Did you see what I did there. :D We have a Lazboy recliner couch, that we had at the apartment which resides in our living room right now, and the three of them together is a couple feet longer and about 3 to 4 ft. wider. I am still working with some ambient lighting for the posters. I can't install ceiling lights because of how the ceiling is and what's above a ceiling. Unless you a 4 year old or a tiny midget you can't get over the ceiling. So I'm trying some stuff that still looks cool and is out of site. The granny blanket isn't staying. :hilarious:

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As you can see yet again it's very hard to take pictures in the room. I wish I could take larger photos but it is what it is. I still have a lot of stuff to do on this side of the room. There was no way to run cable through walls or through the ceiling so I was forced to hide it with raceway. I hated having to do it but I think with some paint it won't be so noticable. I think that the steelbook towers are probably going to stay where they are but you never no. You can finally see the cubby area that I've been talking about in the far right. They have very thick and durable wire shelves in there now which I'll keep for now, but eventually I want to do something else. I will be covering up a lot of that area also. I'm still trying some ideas with that to. If you look at the ceiling where the angled part of the wall meets it you can see that I put up some molding. That entire area where it meets was waving all over the place and not straight at all. I put the molding up so it covered that up and made it straight. It helps finish off the room nicely as well I think. :D

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Our New Home Theater Room: :oohyeah::LOL::oohyeah:

The hallway entrance hasn't been completed yet. We still need to paint it, light fixture replaced with a newer one and I'll be changing things around a bit with posters, pictures, wall hangings ect.

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Our Components

The Marantz SR5003 in all it's glory. It's a totally different world when you finally hear clear HD audio.

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Oppo BDP-83 Blu-pray player. It's a thing of beauty. We never knew how good our Pioneer Kuro could look until we got this thing. It replace our Panasonic BDP-55 which eventually stopped reading most our blu-ray's after a year and a half. We had problems with the machine a couple of months after we got it. Sent it in for repairs and exactly a year later started doing the same thing. Sent it in to square Trade got a refund for it and bought the Oppo 83. It's really fast and easy to use. With our Pioneer Kuro, it makes one beautiful picture.

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X-BOX 360 S. This machine is much cooler then the last version of the XBOX 360. Mine finally died for the second time after getting the dreaded "rings of death". :angry: I'm interested in the new one coming out but not in a hurry to jump in on it.

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APC H15 Power conditioner. Made a huge difference with the picture on our tv. I know that sounds crazy but even my wife noticed the difference. This has kept our equipment safe.

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I hope you enjoyed it! Keep checking back for changes and updates! :D

If you want to see my all my memorabilia up close you can see it here
 

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Thanks Jason! It was a beast to make let me tell you, but in the end it was worth it. Now I just need to take the time and update it with like 100 or so more blu-rays. EEK! That's gonna take me a while. :hilarious:

Haha yeah that will take a while for sure. I recently created a spreadsheet to track my collection, lol, it will have to do for now. I was thinking of creating something a bit more fancy but a digital version that one could browse through on tablet.
 
Haha yeah that will take a while for sure. I recently created a spreadsheet to track my collection, lol, it will have to do for now. I was thinking of creating something a bit more fancy but a digital version that one could browse through on tablet.

That is a very cool idea and probably would take less time. I wish I had thought of that. :hilarious:

---------- Post added at 05:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:17 PM ----------

The room looks amazing! seriously amazing work :D

Thanks Dave! :D

The Romance section isn't for me, it's for my wife. Ha, beat you to it it Rick! :hilarious:
 
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Again, WOW!!! Great work and arrangement of the things!!!
Looks superb! I hope to have one room like this in the future too!
Well, i already have enough Steelbooks to fill some cabinets ;-)
 
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Thanks so much mk! It really is a great feeling when all of you leave such great comments on the room. :D You guys are awesome! :scat: Ya, I ran out of space for all my steelbooks. Though I did find a way to include more steels underneath my Dark Knight poster. I had some acrylic cases for my memorabilia that I wasn't using so I used them. I have about 7 or 8 more steelbooks on top of them. I put my Hot Toys Captain America in one and two more steelbooks in the other. It looks pretty cool and is very functional. I'm still thinking of getting a shelf or two to put more steels on. I just want to make sure that there in the right spot and do not make the room look cluttered in any way.
 
Added a upclose picture to the others of the subwoofer.

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It's a fantastic sub! It's an Outlaw LFM-1 Plus. It's made for a broad range of low frequencies so it's both great for music and movies. It has a very smooth sound to it. Eventually, I would like to get a second one for the room to cover all ground. One sub though has been plenty. You can feel the air pushing out of this baby along the floor when it really starts pumping. It is a down firing sub so it can be placed where ever you want it. It can be right up against the wall if needed which is very convenient. I wrote an in depth review when I first bought it which can be read below.

I built the riser underneath the sub. It's 4 tiers alternating from 24" x 18 piece to a 22" x 14 piece. It gives it a floating like effect. I stained the two larger pieces red mahogany and left the other smaller pieces unstained. It did have legs on them but they fell off. It wasn't a big deal because they were not really needed. I needed them on it back at our old apartment to help dampen the vibrations to the floor. Having carpet helps with that problem.

Outlaw LFM-1 Review
Pros
Great for both Movies and Music. It doesn't put a limit on where it needs to be placed due to the woofer and ports being located on the bottom. It looks more like a side table or stand due to the plexiglass top.

Cons
Not really a negative for us, but the ports are located on the bottom making it a little more difficult to add the port plug, electrical cord is kind of flimsy.

Review
When we first started researching for a subwoofer back in October we had run across the name Outlaw Audio a few times. Most of the time it was in regards to their preamps. We had heard about SVS of course, HSU, Elemental Designs among others but not Outlaw and when we ran across the LFM-1 Plus it was even harder to find a review or much information on it outside of Outlaws website.

The Goal:
There was one thing we were looking for specifically, because of the nature and limitations of the space, we needed a sub that was flexible and did not limit us to where it could be placed. After discussing it with others and performing the subwoofer crawl as some had suggested, we found that there were two places where it could be placed. The first, right behind our couch on the right hand side which would block the entrance into our townhouse apartment and the walk way to our dining area or second, in front of the couch on the left hand side near the wall. The second option was really the only option we had.

The Choice:
We narrowed it down to three subs but ultimately ended up with the LFM-1 Plus. This was due to the fact it had a down firing woofer and the ports being located on the bottom of the cabinet. Outlaw claims that the ports being placed on the bottom helps reduce the chuffing noise that you otherwise hear with the ports being placed on the side or back of the cabinet. It can be debated whether or not that is true and if it really matters but in our case it did. We didn’t want either ourselves or anyone else getting air blown at them when the sub was in use. It is also recommended that you should have a few inches of clearance for the air to be able to move out of the cabinet. This can also be debated but again in our case it did matter.

Packaging:
When we received the Outlaw LFM-1 Plus from UPS I was immediately impressed by their packaging. It was at a down pour when the truck had arrived and my first thought was “I hope water doesn’t get into it. “ When we opened the box I breathed a sigh of relief. Inside of the box was the LFM-1 Plus inside a second box. The second box was labeled this side up which did matter in the end. I made sure it was right side up and opened up the second box to find the sub cocooned in spongy styrofoam rather than brittle styrofoam. Someone in the logistics department had clearly thought the packaging though. I was very impressed. The electrical cord and manual came in a separate box on its own from the sub. It also included a port plug which was already inserted into one of the ports.

Side note: We found the easiest way to get the sub out of the box was to open the bottom of the box first, then bend the individual panels up to its side. Then with two people flip the box over so that you can slide the sub out without a hassle. It also makes it easier to get the plastic bag that surrounds the sub off. Then you can screw the spikes in and flip the sub over. Voilà!

Also make sure you keep the packaging because it clearly states in the manual if the subwoofer needs servicing under warranty it must be sent in the packaging it came in. You can buy the packaging from them for a "modest charge" if you do happen to have thrown it away.

Design:
Personally we love the look of the LFM-1 Plus. It doesn’t look like a sub. It helps that the top of the sub has a black piece of plexiglass built in making it seem like a side table or cabinet. It has a painted matte finish, which is the only option and the edges are rounded giving it some curves. As I stated before it has a down firing woofer and the ports are located on the bottom. There is an auto, off, and on switch on the back. We found it useful when an external test tone was used instead of the receivers test tone. That way the sub can easily be switched off and back on when needed. There is also a 180° phase switch which is useful when you have two subs interfering with each other or the sub is not in sync with your speakers. It also gives you the option to use the subs crossover or allow the receiver to control the crossover by the flip of a switch. It does come with a 16 gauge thick electrical cord but I did find replacing the cord with a 14 gauge one opened the sub up even more giving it a smoother, tighter bass.

Side note: There is brown paper tape like material covering the plexiglass for protection. Some have mistaken it for being an unfinished side. You need to remove the tape from the plexiglass after you receive it.

Sound:
This baby can pump out some LFE. We were replacing an Onkyo HTIB sub so we knew there would be a difference already but we unprepared for what the LFM could do. It shakes walls and pretty much everything else in the house. I have a smaller room about 15X14 so I don’t have to have the dial on the back of the LFM Plus up any more than about 2.5! I can’t give specific measurements on how low the LFM plus can really go but Outlaw claims it can go down to 18 Hz with the included port plug. I also have discussed with another LFM Plus owner who was able to do some testing and he claims it got down to 16 Hz. We personally don’t even use the port plug. We feel it gets low enough without it but some who want to feel more bass may prefer it.
We tested the sub out with several different films but the one that is most memorable was one of personal favorites How to Train Your Dragon. The first scene was Chapter 9 where Hiccup tests out his newly created device on Toothless. The wind beneath Toothless wings came roaring from the LFM Plus. It sounded as if you were on the back of Toothless yourself. Something else that was apparent was the different levels, if you will, of LFE that came from the LFM Plus. You could not only hear the roaring wind but also the drums came to life in John Powell’s original score. The drums smooth and made the score more powerful. It blended very well into the front soundstage. The music was brought to life by this sub and as an avid listener of film scores, that impressed me. We then moved on to chapter 15 where the Vikings meet up with the mother of all dragons. The footsteps shook the ground and flames roared from its mouth. This is where the LFM Plus showed its true potential for some deep LFE.

The Result:
We’ve only had the LFM Plus for a few weeks now but everything we’ve thrown at it has given impressive results. When a movie calls for deep powerful explosions the LFM Plus is there and ready. When a song or score calls for a boasting set of bass drums or roaring timpani’s the LFM Plus pounds it out with ease and grace. If you are looking for sub that surrounds you with the sound of bass then look no further then Outlaw’s LFM-1 Plus.

Update: I've been able to really push this sub since we've moved into our home. I can say I'm even more impressed with it now. Finally being able to really break it in has shown how powerful this sub can be. It hits those low frequencies with such ease such ease. It's very well rounded keeping that smooth sound I spoke of earlier. I just can't say enough good things about this sub. It's truly impressive.

We've replaced the power cable with a much thicker one that given it even more of a smoother rounder sound. I know that there are arguments out there that state that it isn't possible, but from what both my wife and I hear there is a clear difference between the power cable that came with it and the larger gauge replacement cord. It's really up to the user to decide whether or not it's justified.

Disclaimer: We have no affiliation with Outlaw. We are just consumers who are writing an opinion in aide to ones search.
 
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Impressive work!!! I am honestly jealous! :drool: haha Seriously, I would to have a room like this one day! Everything about it is perfect, especially those film tables! And your movie book............. whoa whoa whoa!!

I am speechless.
 
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Looks great bud. Absolutely love your dedication ... it reminds me of .... me ;)

Thanks Wreck!

Impressive work!!! I am honestly jealous! :drool: haha Seriously, I would to have a room like this one day! Everything about it is perfect, especially those film tables! And your movie book............. whoa whoa whoa!!

I am speechless.

Thanks so much dude! We've always wanted a dedicated HT room but lived in apartments for years. This has been a plan in the making for a long time. You'll have a room one day. Just wait and see. :D I actually now how started using a program on my tablet that catalogs my movies and makes it easier from someone to find a movie to watch. The book was and is great but it's bulky and a lot of pages to go through. The tablet makes it so much easier.

You have done a great job , and will have many hours of fun watching all your movies.
10/10

Thanks bud! We enjoy it as much as we can. Especially myself. Even if I can't get in there to watch a movie I always seem to stray in there at some point just to look at our memorabilia. :D