2007 May | Sound Waves HiFi

Panamax Max 5100 For Sale. $150 (SOLD)

I have a previously owned, and in a 9/10 condition, Panamax Max 5100 for sale. Asking $150. Have box, manual, and cables.

Features:

10 AC outlets four selectable (always-on, or switched with 10-second or 30-second turn-off delay); two switched with selectable turn-on delay (0, 10, or 30 seconds); four always-on

sequential startup and shutdown capability with adjustable delay settings

surge and over- and under-voltage protection

DC voltage trigger input

one set F-type in/out coax connections (for cable TV or antenna)

one set DBS in/out coax connections

one RJ-11 phone line in/out path

10-foot power cord

LED line voltage meter with rear-panel dimmer switch

LED indicators for “Ground OK”, “Line Fault”, and “Unsafe Voltage” warn you of wiring and power problems

LED status indicators for switched outlets and DC voltage trigger

maximum current rating 15 amps/1800 watts

can be rack-mounted using optional kits; two kits needed due to this model’s double rack-space height

Supplied Accessories:

five-foot RJ-11 telephone cord

two 3-foot RG-6 coax cables

17″W x 4-1/8″H x 13″D

For new Panamax Power Conditioners click here.

To purchase this item please contact James.
Sound Waves HiFi
425-637-1729
http://mailto:info@soundwaveshifi.com
www.soundwaveshifi.com

Yamaha RX v2700 Emotiva switch

I currently run an Emotiva pre amp, the DMC-1, and thought it time for a change up to the Yamaha RX-v2700 in my main system. I was a little worried that I might lose some detail in the processing power switching from a stand alone pre to a receiver.
but I have read that the pre-amp section of the Yamaha rivals that of many separates. So I guess I will soon find out.

I called my local Yamaha rep today and asked if I could borrow a Yamaha RX-V2700 for my GTG on the 28th of this month and they went for it! They must have been pretty confident in the unit beings it will be up against separates and a Sunfire Theater Grand Receiver-3. Just to give an idea of the difference in components via price, and not necessarily performance, the Yamaha MSRP is $1699.95, the Emotiva MPS-1 and DMC-1 combo are $5600 and the Sunfire Theater Grand Receiver-3 is $4995. Quite a difference in price indeed!

My other reason for the switch out, temporary or not, is that the new Yamaha receiver has the capability to pull music off your computers hard drive via ethernet, wirelessly, or you can hook up an external hard drive via USB on the front panel of the Yamaha unit. For me this is huge beings I also run a Seattle Disc Jockey business and have always wanted the capability to pull music up on the fly so a bride can hear a song she may want for her wedding. Dual purpose for my Seattle wedding business and Sound Waves HiFi, gets no better!

I also have a lot of friends who wanted me to check this unit out because they are into music as much as I am and thought the idea to be a neet one. Ash a fellow blogger and music lover has yet to decide on which receiver he will be using in his home audio system. He and his brother own and operate Brides Club, which puts on very large wedding shows throughout the year. At each bridal show they have a wedding fashion show were a DJ will play tunes as the models walk down the runway and show off the latest fashions for wedding gowns and tuxedos. No cooler way for them to quickly thumb through songs and pick than with the Yamaha RX-V2700.

Considering purchasing an mp3 player or a TV? Get great price comparisons here and make sure you find the best deal around!

Lovan Component Rack New $400 (SOLD)

I have one component rack system left by Lovan. This rack retails for $800 new. This unit was just put together for display for our recent Yamaha GTG and has not been used for home theater equipment.

Price $400

Specs:

Frosted glass
Frame 2×7″ 2×10″

For new Sanus racks click here.

To purchase these item please contact James.
Sound Waves HiFi
425-637-1729
info@soundwaveshifi.com
www.soundwaveshifi.com

Rocket RS 250 MKII and the Omni Mount WB 30

Wanted to post a few pictures of my Rocket RS 250 MKII bookshelf speakers. Alot of people have wanted to mount these speakers on the wall and not on speaker stands and have asked what mount to use, beings they weigh so much.

First off here are the specs on the RS 250 MKII:

System: Two way, two driver direct-radiating system, vented enclosure with rear-firing flared port
Drivers: Vifa Ring Radiator tweeter, custom 6.5″ long-throw aluminum cone woofer
Crossover: 3.8 kHz, 3rd-order alignment
Frequency Response: 48 Hz to 20 KHz (± 3 dB)
Impedance: 6 Ohms nominal
Efficiency: 88 dB (@ 1 watt / 1 meter)
Dimensions: 13.75″ H x 13.5″ D x 9.5″ W (349 x 343 x 241 mm)
Weight: 24 lbs (11 kg) each; ship weight = 65 lbs (shipped in pairs)

This is another of my favorite bookshelf speakers. I own more than one pair, but the 250s and the reference 1 are my most favored. With the vifa ring tweeter the highs are very laid back and smooth more of a relaxing speaker to listen to, not very revealing nor bright but extremely smooth on the top end.

The 6.5 inch midbass driver can really shell out the low end even without a sub. Offering healthy bass extension but not lacking in midrange at all, it transitions through all the frequencies smoothly and without sounding thin or weak. Crank the volume on these and you could listen for hours without getting ear fatigue. With a Yamaha reciever I could hit pretty high volume levels with these even though they are a book shelf speaker.

Mounting these on the wall I used the Omni mount WB30 wall mounting brackets. The brackets come with an allen wrench and stud screws the size of my leg! If you use the supplied screws you wont be able to slide the bracket arm through the mounting plate that connects to the wall, not enough clearance. Use a flat head medium deck screw 3″ long instead of the monster bolts they send. Be sure and get the launch pad for the Rocket 250’s so you can connect the bass plate of the Omni mount to the bottom of the speaker without scratching the fine piano gloss finish.

At 24lbs per speaker they are heavy, the WB30 is rated up to 30 lbs, so though it seems a little much for the bracket they have worked fine in my home theater.

Below are pictures of the 250 located in two different locations. First as my surrounds and second as my front wall mounted mains.

YAMAHA RX-v2700 Home Theater Receiver

Well I went down to my local Yamaha rep. to check out the Yamaha RX-v2700. I couldn’t stand it any longer and wanted to go see the darn thing before I bought it.

Reading the Yamaha website about the RX-v2700 before going in gave some idea of what this unit would do, but seeing it in action, and in person, kinda got me all excited!

This unit has a lot of great features and some exclusive to Yamaha only. At 140 watts per channel it has the juice to run just about most any speaker one would typically throw at a receiver. They had it hooked up thier to a pair of small bookshelf Jamos in a concrete room (gobs of bright reflective surfaces) so I really wasn’t paying attention to nor thier for an audio audition, that will be at my place on the 5th of May:)

My personal favorite features of the unit were as follows:

1. Probably the one thing next to the wireless feature that I am most looking forward to trying out is its 7 band parametric eq for all 7 speakers and a two band parametric eq for the sub! Or what Yamaha calls YPAO (Yamaha Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer). This two band eq for the sub probably wont replace the Velodyne SMS-1 anytime soon but good lord that is awesome that they even have it for the sub let alone the speakers. You may not be able to change the room but you can eq the speakers to help with correcting in room response.

2. The ability to hook up an external hard drive to a usb plug on the front of the Yamaha and pull up all your music on screen. Again this will be a huge plus for my Tacoma wedding DJ business as I will be able to pull songs up instantly for a bride to demo for her wedding.

Or you can run ethernet or go wireless to your main computer. Actually you can do this with up to 4 computers in your home. Paying for satellite radio? You can pull up thousands of channels on the web radio for free. We listened to a police channel in one speaker and a fire department in the other from Arizona, music from some small island in the south. The list goes on but you get the general idea. Yamaha is making an all in one and very useful entertainment hub with the 2700.

Network Receiver

Using a local area network (LAN) connection and Windows Media Connect technology ver.2 or better, Yamaha Network enabled receivers allow you to play MP3, WMA and WAV music from up to four (4) PC’s. The receiver can even be used as a client for Yamaha’s MusicCAST home music server, seamlessly integrating with the MCX-2000 digital audio server within your LAN. The Network Receiver also provides the ability to listen to any of the thousands of stations available on Internet radio when connected to a broadband Internet connection. By using the included MP3 vTuner data service that is enabled, looking for content on the Internet couldn’t be easier, from your favorite Rock, Pop, or R&B to Podcasts that cater to your music interests. With a USB terminal on the front panel you now have a convenient way to play music from USB flash drives and portable USB music players. Yamaha Network Receivers get you connected to the vast music content available anywhere on your LAN and on the web.

3. I am not a big fan of playing mp3s or any compressed music for that matter, but Yamaha has added a very cool and noticeable feature called compressed music enhancer.

“Compressed Music Enhancer
Yamaha employs sophisticated digital signal processing with exclusive algorithms to enable playback that improves the performance of compressed music formats, including MP3 and WMA. With the Compressed Music Enhancer, highs and especially lows are richer and smoother, bringing music back to life to be as close to the original as possible.”

Another neat feature if you use the zone capability’s is, if you are running the main system in one room and say zone two on the patio outside, but decide to kick a movie on in 6 or 7.1 the receiver automatically shuts off the the zone out and reconfigures the amps for the main zone. With my current preamp I have to manually go into the menu to do this and it can get frustrating.

I found the GUI to be very easy to navigate through and had no problems understanding the menu at all. I have read reviews that said it could be a little daunting.

Cant wait to get this one in my system permanent!

ONIX REFERRENCE .5 BOOK SHELF SPEAKER

I ended up with 5 pair of the Reference .5 bookshelf speaker via a deal AV123 was running. I had seen them listed on thier website but never really paid much attention to them. They are reasonably priced at $299 a pair but I landed a great deal so I got 5 pair!

I thought I was waisting my RS250 using them for surround duty and so mounted them towards the front of the room where I could get more out of them for demos. They were replaced with the reference .5.

Out of the box these are actually not that small of a speaker.These would fit nicely in a small surround sound system or be perfect atop a computer desk. They have the usual rosewood veneer that I love so much and a simple grill on the front protecting the main drivers.

I first hooked these up as the main left and right and ran some music through them for a couple of days to give them some break in time. They are a rather impressive sounding little speaker with that signature ref top end, again very snappy and detailed. Base extension isn’t thier, but what do you expect from a single 5.25 driver in a cab. that size. Add a good little sub and the system comes alive.

Like I said earlier I ended up swapping the 250s out with these doing surround duty. I really like the RS250s a lot, but I like them more as a main speaker and not a surround. A bit to laid back for my taste doing surround duty. The .5 really awoke the surround presentation in my room. I had seen King King numerous times and never noticed the insects in such detail coming from the surrounds with he 250s, not so with the .5s it was like they were landing on our shoulders, they were thier!

The reference .5 is really a super neat little speaker. I could see it working well in a small theater setup with a good sub or office two channel setup. For the asking price or if you can find a used pair they are well worth a look.

Panamax Max 5100 For Sale. $150 (SOLD)

Yamaha RX v2700 Emotiva switch

Lovan Component Rack New $400 (SOLD)

Rocket RS 250 MKII and the Omni Mount WB 30

YAMAHA RX-v2700 Home Theater Receiver

ONIX REFERRENCE .5 BOOK SHELF SPEAKER

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