RPA-1 man
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Post by RPA-1 man on Nov 26, 2009 22:43:16 GMT -5
Well, ordered the ERC-1 on Friday Nov. 20th and it arrived on Tuesday Nov. 24th. Normally this would take four business days to ship to Maine but it only took two days. The outside packaging looks like I went to Tennessee and personally picked it up. Great job Fedex Ground. They rock. This thing is built like a tank. Rock solid construction. Definitely gave me the WOW! factor. The remote is totally amazing in it's construction as well. I had to laugh in amazement when I picked it up. I've never seen a remote so rugged, except the RSP remote of course. I've read a lot of posts regarding the remote being a real bear to get into to install the batteries. This was not my experience at all. Screws were snug but not overly tight. I've only had a few hours to listen and I'm very pleased with what I'm hearing. I won't get into much detail yet as I feel I need more time with it to give a fair assessment. I will say that it does deliver the goods. Very smooth sound and excellent soundstage. I only wish that I had a better room for my system as I think that would really allow the sound to open up. I feel that I'm not getting the full soundstage this thing is capable of in my small space. I'm not hearing the brightness that I've read in other posts. That may be due to system synergy. Just silky smooth music, authoritative bass, clean mids and crystal highs. I posted a pick of my modest system with the ERC-1 in the rack. You can't see the turntable on top but that was not the point of this post. If you're not familiar with the tuner in the top of the pic, it is a Marantz Model 125 from the mid 70's. I've recapped the power supply and internal preamp and given the dial and meters a blue LED conversion. Fits well with the Emo blue i think. Of course going down from there you see the ERC-1, RSP-1 and RPA-1. Thanks to Emotiva I really enjoy my system as I've never had prior to purchasing their gear. My apologies for the lighting. It's hard to take good pictures at 10:30 at night without good lighting. I'm just excited and couldn't wait to share.  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2009 23:01:35 GMT -5
Wow! That looks beautiful. Reminds me of my Marantz 2270 way back in the 70's. I own the ERC-1 also and am very pleased. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2009 23:15:32 GMT -5
bloody gorgeous . .
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RPA-1 man
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Post by RPA-1 man on Nov 26, 2009 23:24:02 GMT -5
Thanks. The tuner was a $1.00 yard sale find. It did have issues. The FM switch was broken and the preamp was putting out distortion. Not to mention numerous burned out bulbs. I spent a little time and money on it to get it back to a usable state.
Since the preamp stage is integrated onto the same board as the power supply I decided to replace all the electrolytic caps and redo all solder joints on the board. I also had to remove slack in the dial cord to eliminate slippage when tuning stations. I purchased a set of replacement bulbs but decided to try the LED conversion. It was a drop in upgrade.
Anyway, I don't want to get off the subject, but the tuner was a fun project. Someday I would like to get it in for a complete alignment, especially due to it's age. But first I would probably recap the other boards.
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RPA-1 man
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Post by RPA-1 man on Nov 26, 2009 23:49:22 GMT -5
Rather,
When are you gonna to get your ERC-1? It's a steal at the sale price. You know you want to. Don't fight it man. LOL
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darkvisions
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Post by darkvisions on Nov 27, 2009 8:54:45 GMT -5
Glad you like the ERC-1. Awesome looking setup. Love the looks of that tuner.
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Post by leetamm on Nov 27, 2009 20:45:40 GMT -5
Just silky smooth music, authoritative bass, clean mids and crystal highs. That's exactly how it sounds to me too. Nice initial review and nice looking system. Thanks for sharing. |
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Post by omega watches on Nov 27, 2009 23:21:33 GMT -5
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Post by leetamm on Nov 28, 2009 9:24:44 GMT -5
F'n spam!! ^^ Can somebody take care of this?
Hey rpa1man, what speakers are you using?
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RPA-1 man
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Post by RPA-1 man on Nov 28, 2009 11:12:57 GMT -5
F'n spam!! ^^ Can somebody take care of this? Hey rpa1man, what speakers are you using? leetamn, I'm using 30 year old Pioneer HPM-100's with recently recapped crossovers. Please don't hate me guys but I also use an eq to flatten out the response of my room. It has lots of window and wood floors. emotivalounge.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=newgear&action=display&thread=1199#13824Below is a link to some pics of my listening space so you can get an idea of what I mean:      |
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Post by leetamm on Nov 28, 2009 13:18:00 GMT -5
Dude, I know all about room issues. Until today, my main rig has been setup in our great room. The worst part about it (among other things) has been that the left main speaker is about 5' or so from a side wall while the right side opens up into the kitchen. Therefore I have a reflection on the left side, but none on the right. The result has always been that the soundstage has always sounded well extended past the left speaker, but not so on the right, since there is no reflection on that side. I've tried to remedy it via the balance controls, but it doesn't help much. It's always bothered me.
Since I got the erc-1, I decided to focus again on making the most of 2-channel listening instead of messing with multi-channel. The vast majority of my time is spent listening to redbook cd. We don't watch that much tv or rent that many movies, and even when we do, I'm just not into listening to the surround effects. It's just never been a big deal to me, and the wife and kids couldn't really care less. So I decided to focus on investing in 2-channel playback rather than multi. All that to say that I removed the rear speakers from my system the other day.
Well, since I did that, it hit me today - why not move the main rig upstairs to our bonus room, since it's symmetrical? That would solve my sound-staging issues. So that's what I'm doing today. I'm moving my old Nakamichi receiver and smaller Phase Tech speakers to the great room for movies and such. This will be more pleasing to the wife anyway since it's much less obtrusive. So basically, I'm taking over the bonus room. I'm finally getting my own man cave! Woohoo!
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RPA-1 man
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Post by RPA-1 man on Nov 28, 2009 13:28:20 GMT -5
That's really awesome. Unfortunately for me there is no spare room. I have to live with what I have. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy what I have. I just know that someday I will get a "listening room" and I'm holding onto that thought. I have a son that will be going to college in a couple of years so my daughter will be moving into his room. That will hopefully free up her room, which is actually the other part of the living room.
Have fun doing your thing today and post some pics when your done.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2009 19:30:30 GMT -5
Please don't hate me guys but I also use an eq to flatten out the response of my room. Attaining a flat in room frequency response is what it is all about. No need to ever apologize for using any form of EQ, tone controls, room treatment materials, moving speakers, adding carpeting or any other method to flatten out the in room response. It is understood that any method used would not introduce unwanted distortion into the system. For many years we hear people stick their noses up in the air and say something like, "Oh, heaven forbid, I'm such a pure audiophile that I never ever use any form of equalization or tone controls." The implication is that there is something sacrilegious about using the forbidden equalization. What do they think is the purpose of the crossover in a speaker? There are very few speaker system in very few rooms that are reasonably flat. I have setup very few sound systems in my rooms that did not require some form of equalization or tone control adjustment at one or more frequencies. ;D |
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Post by leetamm on Nov 28, 2009 21:53:47 GMT -5
That's really awesome. Unfortunately for me there is no spare room. I have to live with what I have. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy what I have. I just know that someday I will get a "listening room" and I'm holding onto that thought. I have a son that will be going to college in a couple of years so my daughter will be moving into his room. That will hopefully free up her room, which is actually the other part of the living room. Have fun doing your thing today and post some pics when your done. Well, it literally took all the live long day, but it's mostly done. Just need to find a place for some of the stuff I moved out of the bonus room. I'll try to post some pics tomorrow sometime. Let me tell ya, it's one of the best things I've ever done. You know what's funny? My wife is listening to the emo rig as I type this. She's been there for like 45 minutes now. That's never happened before. I'm tired, but happy. Wondering if I'm going to have to wrestle my wife out of the listening chair now, lol! |
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RPA-1 man
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Post by RPA-1 man on Nov 28, 2009 22:43:33 GMT -5
That's really awesome. Unfortunately for me there is no spare room. I have to live with what I have. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy what I have. I just know that someday I will get a "listening room" and I'm holding onto that thought. I have a son that will be going to college in a couple of years so my daughter will be moving into his room. That will hopefully free up her room, which is actually the other part of the living room. Have fun doing your thing today and post some pics when your done. Well, it literally took all the live long day, but it's mostly done. Just need to find a place for some of the stuff I moved out of the bonus room. I'll try to post some pics tomorrow sometime. Let me tell ya, it's one of the best things I've ever done. You know what's funny? My wife is listening to the emo rig as I type this. She's been there for like 45 minutes now. That's never happened before. I'm tired, but happy. Wondering if I'm going to have to wrestle my wife out of the listening chair now, lol! That's funny about your wife. That would never happen with mine. She prefers to watch her regular tv programs. It has a lot to do with the fact that one of her ears was damaged in surgery when she was a child. So she's basically deaf in one ear. I tried the HT things a few years ago and was I the only one that really cared so I went back to strictly 2 channel. I have no regrets. Looking forward to some pics. |
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RPA-1 man
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Post by RPA-1 man on Nov 28, 2009 23:25:53 GMT -5
Please don't hate me guys but I also use an eq to flatten out the response of my room. Attaining a flat in room frequency response is what it is all about. No need to ever apologize for using any form of EQ, tone controls, room treatment materials, moving speakers, adding carpeting or any other method to flatten out the in room response. It is understood that any method used would not introduce unwanted distortion into the system. For many years we hear people stick their noses up in the air and say something like, "Oh, heaven forbid, I'm such a pure audiophile that I never ever use any form of equalization or tone controls." The implication is that there is something sacrilegious about using the forbidden equalization. What do they think is the purpose of the crossover in a speaker? There are very few speaker system in very few rooms that are reasonably flat. I have setup very few sound systems in my rooms that did not require some form of equalization or tone control adjustment at one or more frequencies. ;D Thanks chuckienut. I was one of those people that was against using tone controls and such, but being that my room is so live I had to try it. I use the eq judiciously and it has made listening even more enjoyable than it was before. I've read on other sites that if you've spent over a given amount of money on your system that you should not be using an eq. I don't believe that to be the case anymore unless you've spent a portion of the money on room treatment or the room was specifically for that purpose. Otherwise I think every room needs some kind of correction especially if you're looking for a specific sound from the room. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2009 9:42:22 GMT -5
Please don't hate me guys but I also use an eq to flatten out the response of my room. Attaining a flat in room frequency response is what it is all about. No need to ever apologize for using any form of EQ, tone controls, ;D Tone controls? blasphemy !! |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2009 9:43:11 GMT -5
Please don't hate me guys but I also use an eq to flatten out the response of my room. Attaining a flat in room frequency response is what it is all about. No need to ever apologize for using any form of EQ, tone controls... Tone controls? blasphemy !! ;D |
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Post by leetamm on Nov 29, 2009 10:28:57 GMT -5
Ok, here are some pics. Sorry for the poor quality. I don't like using a flash if I can get away with it, but this camera I have just sucks at anything under broad daylight.  This is from right behind the listening chair, that I plan to replace with a futon or couch one day.  Right side from the listening chair.  Left side from the listening chair.  One of the great benefits of this setup is that I can now get to the back of the equipment easily. Before I moved it it was in a big ass entertainment center, which made getting to the back a total pita!     This is what's in the great room now. You can see part of the entertainment center to the right that my gear used to sit in. We're taking it out today since it's now empty and we want to use that space for a piano that's now sitting in the kitchen. My wife can now get the bigger kitchen table she's always wanted. |
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Post by tchaik on Nov 29, 2009 21:21:49 GMT -5
the piano is in the kitchen?
aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
doc................
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