RickyDeg's sleek system with Monitor Audio Apex

Hiya, yes I really enjoy the Mezzo`s , but wish I had a little bit more room, behind the settee for example, and of course another meter between the fronts wouldn`t do any harm... But I still enjoy what I am getting even now... You have probably thought that way too ( with that 7.2 system with regards to the room size) .
I haven`t had the chance to listen to the Apex, but it certainly looks the deal. Especially the Sub, and you have a couple of them. Your neighbors must be really nice people
" Keeping an eye out for floorstanders, just for the fun of it " sounds very dangerous to me ha ha ha.
I think you have the perfect solution for the flat at the MO . I`d love to hear a high-end Compact Surround system such as your one. Probably the integration between all the channels is perfect, right ???

Seamless integration is one of Apex finer attributes, both between the satellites themselves (A10 + A40) and with the subwoofer, something not all compact solutions are truly good at. I would not say its 100% perfect in my set-up though, as the bigger center speaker A40 sound ever so slightly fuller, but during movies I never really find it distracting as panning sounds are extremely convincing and smooth, much more so than any floorstanding system with horizontal center I've heard. To achieve 100% abolute perfection I'd have to use one and the same satellite all-round. After owning a number of different speakers and set-ups over the years I do think movies sound best on capable sub/sat systems as those are the kind of systems used while mixing soundtracks. With Apex you also get tons of musicality, which shines through on most everything. But being such high-quality speakers they also demand alot from the amplification. 

Yes, the 2nd AW-12 sub is great, but mostly for bass dispersion (even if it sounds like "more" bass its just more 'evenly placed' within the room) and I suppose my neighbors do put up with alot, hahaha. But I do the same with them. That's life living in flats for you, hehe.

Keep on loving the Mezzo, they are gorgeous!

Seems like the Apex sounds even better than it looks. It is always good when one enjoys his system as you do...But I am sure it is a complex of other units involved too. The 3808 looks like a very potent AVR and the Oppo is such a good player. BTW , I am following your conversation with john1000000boy ... and your tips re: the center speaker. Does that make such a difference really ? I see his one is right at the back of the cabinet , and your one is in the very front ( of course with the TV on the cabinet you haven`t got a choice , and it look good to me actually ) . My one is in the middle, though... Is that OK  ? What benefits would give me if I place it on the edge ? txs

Good thing you picked up on that! 

I'd say the benifits that can be achieved by carefully isolating (spikes/feet) and positioning your centerspeaker are as valuble as doing the same with your front L/R (rears too for that matter). If you place it on a shelf or cabinet and too far in (as oppose to at the edge or over the edge) the sound will definitely not be optimal. I'd say its the equivalent of pushing a speaker into a tight corner - its never gonna be able to perform well. In essence you'd want the centerspeaker to radiate its sound "freely" into the room, without the extra baffle of the shelf which can muddy or distort the sound. You'll likely experience added clarity and precision with a better placement and isolation. It's not without reason speakermanufacturers often bring up the importance of this in their manuals. 

So, you'd better get crackin' experimenting!  An additional word of advice: if you use an automated calibration system and/or EQ dont forget to re-run this after each change you make!

Thanks for clearing that matter for me..

My fronts are on the spikes provided, dressed in a rubber covers , also provided by M.Short. I don`t know which one is better- spikes on metal rings or spikes in rubber covers ? If you have an opinion on that, pls feel free to share it.Txs. The rears sits on nice & thick rubber pads ( at least 1/2 inch ) provided by Atacama, and the center is on slightly tinner rubber pads ( 0.6 cm ) provided by M.Short. I don`t know if that`s enough but when I look underneath, it is well off the rack`s top.

I`ll definitely try your tip about the position of it . To be honest I haven`t experienced some extra baffle , but sometimes I find the volume of it, set by the Audissey, quite low, so I need to re-adjust it myself . As I am not British-born , but I like films with subtitles off, so I need the speech to be as clear as possible to get the 100 %.

You mentioned , that you have owned quite a few speakers ... About the rears - What kind of speaker cables are you using with them ? Does it need to be nice ( expensive ) one ? Does it matter as it does with the fronts ?

Having a clear and defined sound from the center (the most important channel?) is naturally very important. I have tried lots of different kinds of isolation, from soft to hard materials so I'd say its worth experimenting. These are "tweaks" only, so its seldom a matter of night-and-day differences, but subtle changes and improvements can be worth the effort sometimes. Worth a try is also to angle the center, if possible, in your case perhaps a bit upward. But this greatly depends on where you sit etc. Let me know how you get on.

In terms of cables just let me say this: I've previously been a fan of "exotic" luxury cables with my other systems, but with this installation I wanted something discreet and simple. Supra Cables deliver both quality and reliability with a no-nonsense approach to pricing, so I decided to cable my entire system with their products. Excellent value. I'd definitely recommend using identical cable-type for all the speakers, atleast, and not to mix brands/types there.

Once I`ve given the center speaker few tries and tweaks will let you know what I think.

My cables are a mix up really, so I`ll have a look at the Supra options ... I was asking, because a friend of mine, who is sound engineer and is designing large set-ups ( clubs , bars ect. ), had told me that speaker cables are quite important for the fronts , but not so for the satellites, thus using a cheap cables is not a problem for the rears. But that is his opinion, only ...

BTW, Thanks for all your tips so far

That's an argument I hear time and time again. I dont agree with it. I'd say it depends on what kind of speakers you have, how transparent they are and if you wanna make sure they are atleast in theory fed the same quality signal by equal cabling. Again, we might just be talking subtlties here, but certain times that can make a difference. Lets say for example you have 5 completely identical speakers all-round and listen alot to movie soundtracks and multichannel music - why should the rear pair of speakers be fed the signal by a "simpler" cable just because they are surrounds while the front get the "good" stuff? Makes no sense to me. I'd like to think balance in the entire chain is more desirable. Even if the nuances are small its still there.

In terms of Supra I find them to be pretty neutral cables, so they wont "color" the signal much. The model I'm using for all speakers is Supra Ply 3,4.

Cable discussions are a hot can of worms, and opening it up can be very risky... haha. All I know from years of switching cables is that there ARE audible differences.

Like everything else in the world of audio its a matter of carefully matching things together. Some speakers may not sound good with certain electronics. Same goes for cables.

Yes, your arguments sounds ever so logical . But I would never convince him. Probably with the Pro-Stuff the differences are not as noticeable. You know , in clubs etc. the power is more important than the details sometimes. Probably that is why he`s been so skeptical.

As for myself - I`d rather change the cables for the sattelites with a better stuff. Will definitely get a good cable for the center ( now using the QED X-TC ) ...

Just received my Leema Linx 1 I-connect . It`s such a new model that Leema Acoustic don`t even have a picture on their web-site yet... I might upload one later, actually.... What I noticed was a difference in the bass field - that is for sure. There is more authority to it now, it just sounds better. But the highs and mids are the same as with the cheep-one I was using till now. But, I am sure it will take some time to break-in and then the mids and highs will sound sweeter too..Hopefuly

This is one very sweet looking pad and system. Hell, I'd hold ya hand to sit and watch a movie with ya, even give ya my last rolo :-D 

Serioulsy though, nice set up. 

HaHa! Thank you! Better make it a scary movie then! (me likes rolo's)

Just added some heavier curtains yesterday and then re-ran the Audyssey 8-point calibration. Watched 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' and 'Tin Tin' last night and as always the walls seem to disappear. The soundstage is big and very layered. I find I keep getting more out of Audyssey with each calibration procedure carried out. And of course, the Apex are capable little gems!

I wasn't thinking about possibly watching a chick flick AT ALL I ran Audyssey the other day but didn't move the microphone about the room. Never had to with my old Sony but now the daddy marantz is in town. I'll have to re-run Audyssey and move the microphone about, see what difference it makes. 

Only using the two 683 floorstanders at the min so would it really make much of a difference??? 

Good question if you only using a stereo-pair of speakers at the moment. I suppose it would depend on the current soundmode you use if Audyssey is applied to that or not (let's say 'STEREO DIRECT' mode might disable the EQ). For multi-channel set-up's I most definitely recommend doing the full 8-point calibration carefully (using a tripod!) and move the microphone positon in ideal locations in and around the listeningposition. Audyssey themselves strongly recommend doing so for one simple reson - in order for the system to gather as much acoustic information about your speakers and your listeningroom as possible and set the EQ according to all collected data. Makes perfect sense. I never do one-point calibration any longer, on my Denon the difference is very noticable. With a full calibration soundstage is larger, more stable and threedimentional.

Hi Ricky,

You keep mentioning 8 - point calibration ? I think my Denon does 6-point one, but of course my one is low-end unit, while your is 3808... Does that depend on the model or else ?

And also I was going to ask you about the Harmony Remote - are you happy with it ? I`ve never had the chance to use one of them. Do they work well ( in therms of adapting the functions of the original remotes - is it functioning well, or it misses some functions ) ?   

Sorry, I was refering to the 8-point calibration that happen to be part of the Audyssey MultEQ XT system, simpler versions of it have fewer measuring points, but the essence of what I meant to say still stands. The more advanced MultEQ XT32 also have 8 measuring points but a higher filter resolution (even more accuracy). See the chart from Audyssey's homepage below.



I once thought I'd get better results by a single measuring point (my main seat/sweetspot) but that is not true in this circumstance. Audyssey have some really great tips on their homepage. 

http://www.audyssey.com/audio-technology/multeq

In terms of the Harmony remote I was a bit doubtful of it before I bought it but now I really could not go back to using anything else! It truly is that great! It's easy and intuative to set up regardless of equipment (all done via your PC and great software) and the day-to-day use is splendid. The only "drawbacks" might be that some commands respond slowly at times, but this might be due to the signal transfered through my hidden RF-system in the cabinet. But honestly its not bad at all. And also it requires reload of the battery like twice a week for me (cause I use it so much).