Post by AudioHTIT on Jan 2, 2014 23:26:14 GMT -5
Edit: I've added a post to this thread from last year with new info on this season's system.
This winter I'm doing something different and spending the ski season at Park City Utah, I have a Saturday gig as a Host at Park City Mountain Resort. As intended I'm doing a lot of skiing and meeting plenty of friendly guests and locals.
This however meant leaving my Home Theatre and Two Channel systems behind. I've rented a small town home and we got all our 'stuff' here as free baggage on a Southwest flight and finally what we could cram in the car for the drive out.
Besides ski equipment and clothes I brought a couple guitars and a little Greta practice amp - effects handled by AmpliTube on the iPad. Then of course some tech and entertainment (small things of course): Mac-mini, iPad, iPhone, Airport Express, Windows laptop, and (the real key) the Emotiva Airmotive 5's from my studio (the 5's fit easily in the footwell behind the passenger seat). A bag of assorted cables also made the trip
The townhome came with CableTV, Wifi and two flat screens - a 40" Samsung in the living room and a no-name 32" for the bedroom. I hooked the cable box and Mac mini HDMI to the Samsung, then the audio out from the TV into the XLRs on the AM5's (6' Monoprice RCA to XLR). The Airport Express outputs into the RCA inputs on the Airmotives (3.5mm to RCA). So with this system we get nice stereo TV sound, and AirPlay from iPads and iPhones (even both at the same time if we really wanted). A second cable box and the Windows laptop hookup via HDMI in the bedroom.
So we only get basic cable, but the Mac-mini and laptop can stream our Netflix account and HBO/Showtime from our home U-verse account - plenty of content here. I have to say the Airmotive 5's really make the living room system enjoyable - both for TV/Movies and for playing my iTunes library off the Mini (I also download new music and sync with the iThings here). The AM5's are small but fill the listening space with big natural sound - we sit about 6' from the TV and speakers.
The iPhone is the center of one last important system - music on the mountain. Last year I started wearing a helmet while skiing and bought the Smith Variant Brim that accepts ear speakers - they're designed for SkullCandy so that's what I bought. While this combo can't compare to good headphones having music while you ski and on the chairlift is a nice treat - and it does sound pretty good (I played with cassette systems for ski music in the 70's, they were fun but not reliable).
So what's not to like? Well one problem is that older (all?) Samsung TVs don't have a 'variable' audio out so no remote volume on the TV - we stand up and turn the AM5 controls - no big deal but I had this problem with another system I tried to build and it sours me on Samsung. Also I'm not crazy about the mic/volume/selector switch on the SkullCandy, the button is too sensitive and I can start or stop the music making an aggressive turn - I may look for a third party solution. But if these are problems in a winter of fun ... well, I can live with them (maybe when the XMC-1 comes out I'll have it shipped here and use it for a remote volume control
)
There you have it, one mans idea of taking it on the road. Tomorrow's another ski day, I use the Ski Tracks app to track my days, runs, vertical feet, miles, speed, etc. - cool app if you're a skier - it's going to be a big season. If any of you are skiers and will be out this way drop me a PM, we can take some turns or have a beer (maybe both!) - Bruce
New Year's view from the Summit House
This winter I'm doing something different and spending the ski season at Park City Utah, I have a Saturday gig as a Host at Park City Mountain Resort. As intended I'm doing a lot of skiing and meeting plenty of friendly guests and locals.
This however meant leaving my Home Theatre and Two Channel systems behind. I've rented a small town home and we got all our 'stuff' here as free baggage on a Southwest flight and finally what we could cram in the car for the drive out.
Besides ski equipment and clothes I brought a couple guitars and a little Greta practice amp - effects handled by AmpliTube on the iPad. Then of course some tech and entertainment (small things of course): Mac-mini, iPad, iPhone, Airport Express, Windows laptop, and (the real key) the Emotiva Airmotive 5's from my studio (the 5's fit easily in the footwell behind the passenger seat). A bag of assorted cables also made the trip
The townhome came with CableTV, Wifi and two flat screens - a 40" Samsung in the living room and a no-name 32" for the bedroom. I hooked the cable box and Mac mini HDMI to the Samsung, then the audio out from the TV into the XLRs on the AM5's (6' Monoprice RCA to XLR). The Airport Express outputs into the RCA inputs on the Airmotives (3.5mm to RCA). So with this system we get nice stereo TV sound, and AirPlay from iPads and iPhones (even both at the same time if we really wanted). A second cable box and the Windows laptop hookup via HDMI in the bedroom.
So we only get basic cable, but the Mac-mini and laptop can stream our Netflix account and HBO/Showtime from our home U-verse account - plenty of content here. I have to say the Airmotive 5's really make the living room system enjoyable - both for TV/Movies and for playing my iTunes library off the Mini (I also download new music and sync with the iThings here). The AM5's are small but fill the listening space with big natural sound - we sit about 6' from the TV and speakers.
The iPhone is the center of one last important system - music on the mountain. Last year I started wearing a helmet while skiing and bought the Smith Variant Brim that accepts ear speakers - they're designed for SkullCandy so that's what I bought. While this combo can't compare to good headphones having music while you ski and on the chairlift is a nice treat - and it does sound pretty good (I played with cassette systems for ski music in the 70's, they were fun but not reliable).
So what's not to like? Well one problem is that older (all?) Samsung TVs don't have a 'variable' audio out so no remote volume on the TV - we stand up and turn the AM5 controls - no big deal but I had this problem with another system I tried to build and it sours me on Samsung. Also I'm not crazy about the mic/volume/selector switch on the SkullCandy, the button is too sensitive and I can start or stop the music making an aggressive turn - I may look for a third party solution. But if these are problems in a winter of fun ... well, I can live with them (maybe when the XMC-1 comes out I'll have it shipped here and use it for a remote volume control
)There you have it, one mans idea of taking it on the road. Tomorrow's another ski day, I use the Ski Tracks app to track my days, runs, vertical feet, miles, speed, etc. - cool app if you're a skier - it's going to be a big season. If any of you are skiers and will be out this way drop me a PM, we can take some turns or have a beer (maybe both!) - Bruce
New Year's view from the Summit House
Maybe just arms folded holding a single 6550 ...
