John
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I just got my Verus Forte HT system on Friday and finally got everything set up. I am absolutely blown away! I'm not an audiophile by any stretch, and this is the first set of of quality speakers I've owned. They were at the upper end of what I could imagine spending on speakers, but with the 30-day risk free trial, I went for it. Once I started listening, it took me about 30 seconds to decide that they were NOT going back. The set of Onkyo 6.1 HT speakers they're replacing sound like a cheap clock radio by comparison.
Here's the set up:
Other components:
Pioneer VSX-1021K Receiver
Panasonic TH-50PZ800U 50" Plasma
PS3, Wii, Apple TV, Time Warner Cable
I found the Pioneer for $280 on Woot the other day. Now I'm wondering if I should have held out for a Denon, Yamaha, or Marantz, but the price was too good to pass up. Maybe a quality receiver will be next year's Christmas present to myself.
I know the front speakers could stand to be further apart, but if I do
that, they will be off center relative to the back speakers due to the
fireplace that takes up part of the front wall. I tried using the Pioneer's MCACC auto-setup but I wasn't happy with the results, so I have reset the settings and just manually entered the speaker distances for now. Currently, all the speakers are set to 0db except the center which is set to +5db. When I get time, I'll use the SPL gauge to tweak the levels. I'm running the sub on the LFE output with the amp's crossover set to 80Hz, and the volume dial on the back of the sub is at half-way. I'm open to any tuning suggestions.
My musical tastes tend towards electronica, but these speakers make real instruments sound so good that I'm finding myself listening to a lot more blues, folk, and classical. I'm still rediscovering my music collection but here are a few tracks that stand out so far (in no particular order):
Bettye Lavette – Souvenirs
Natalie Merchant – Break Your Heart
MSound – Optimistic
Deborah Falconer – Show of Hands
Sublime – Rivers of Babylon
Bach – Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor
Alice in Chains – Nutshell
Safri Duo – Played-A-Live
Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites
Anybody else have some must-hear track suggestions?
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Russell
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Looks great! If I may suggest, pull the towers out from the wall a bit and maybe spread it out a little.
Cheers
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John
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The fireplace makes that a little difficult–that's as far right as the speakers can go. Also, the hearth juts out at a diagonal in front of the right speaker, so that is as far out from the wall as the right speaker can go without moving everything to the left. Currently both the TV and speakers are centered relative to the back wall and the sectional.
If I move everything to the left in order to give the right speaker more breathing room and move the left speaker even further left to give them more separation, the speakers will be off-center with regard to the rear satellites and all but the left-most seats on the sectional. Maybe the amp's delay settings can compensate for that, I'm not sure… I'll have to do a little experimentation.
What do you think?
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Jonathan
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Hey JB,
I just ordered a set of VFT's and a Center, should be here this Friday.
I am curious, how do you like your budget Pioneer VSX-1021 paired with the Forte lineup? I ask because I currently have a Marantz SR4003 and the sound has been quite good, however I have been told that because my AV only outputs at 80 watts per channel that I should upgrade to a more powerful AV, hence why Im looking at the Pioneer, which I believe is 110 or 120 Watts per channel output.
I am leaning towards holding off for a year or so and buying a higher-end model.
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I would try to center the fronts on the wall that would
allow a bit more space to bring the L/R out from the wall a bit, maybe about a
foot. You could get better separation between the fronts that may help with the
sound stage. Since the Forte Towers appear to be rear ported I believe you
would benefit in sound quality with them farther out from the wall.
As far as the rear surround’s that appear to be on swivel
mounts you could adjust one or both to achieve the sound you want.
You may just want to experiment a bit with speaker placement
before making a final decision.
Nice looking setup and thanks for posting pictures.
Jackson
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Pardon me if I jumped in where I am not wanted.
I would caution against just looking at the rated WPC. You
may also want to consider the reserve or headroom the amp has. You can usually
determine this by the size of the transformer and filter caps. You can derive
this from the weight of the AVR where most of the weight will be the
transformer. The heavier it is probably suggests it has a more substantial
power supply. Also you can look at the max watts or amps the unit draws.
I have a Sony AVR that is rated at 110 WPC but it only has a
450-watt power supply but it can sustain full power for a very short time. My
Onkyo 805 has an 1100-watt power supply and has enough headroom to drive 10
Aperion speakers easily at 105 db. The headroom comes into play when listening
at high levels or when sustained bursts of content or large transients are sent
to the speakers.
Jackson
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