Mk 4. Real loudspeakers.

I was by no means unhappy with the sound of the NuBox speakers, however, I felt more could be had. So I ordered new front and center speakers, namely Nubert's top-of-the-line NuWave speakers. These were the NuWave 125, and the center NuWave CS-65 (delivered on 2005-08-01). First, I switched the surround left/right and the back surround speakers, using the RS-5s as surround left/right speakers.

The difference to the previous setup was stunning. In particular, the precision and the sheer power was a clear indication that "size does matter". The homogeneity of the five NuWave speakers was also superior to the previous setup.

Just as an experiment, I tried the old large NuBoxes as surround speakers — and was again surprised, this time how much better multichannel music sounded with large speakers also in the back. For serious multichannel music listening, small surround loudspeakers like the RS-5 are simply not acceptable. The drawback with the experiment setup was: the homogeneity was broken; the NuBoxes could not match the precision of the NuWaves. Also, there was no way to accommodate boxes of that size at the required position in the apartment — I definitely wanted wall-mounted speakers. I ordered two NuWave DS-55 (delivered 2005-10-13), which turned out to tonally match the from NuWaves perfectly, and have bass power approaching that of a "big box". Wall-mounting a 16 kg speaker is not really a trivial endeavor. However, Vogel's VLB 200 wall mounts turned out to be perfectly capable for this. Also the design matches the NuWaves. See the photographs below.

Also the design of the NuWaves suits my style much better than old wannabe-wooden NuBoxes. I do not like loadspeakers pretending to be pianos. The NuWaves say to me: "Hey here I am, made of metal and synthetic materials, and I am proud of that. I am not a piano, but a loudspeaker!". According to this, the look of the old subwoofer Nubert AW-850 did not fit to the new NuWave speakers. so I made it black by using self-adhesive foil (see the photos). Although not perfect, I consider the result quite acceptable.

Most cables have been replaced by Clicktronic products. Also the Stax Headphone driver unit has been replaced by the Stax SRD-7 (bought on eBay). The body shakers in the sofa (now powered from the "computer" amplifier) have been re-enabled. The Thorens turntable was tuned again, with a new stylus, new drive belt, and new paint.

The old center and surround speakers have been moved into the bedroom setup, which is now 5.1. The old front speakers (NuBox 460) have been sold.

The Nokia dBox was modified to, among other things, provide separate YUV-Outputs. This modification is described in detail in this article.

To switch between analog multi channel sources, together with some additional possibilities, a switch box was constructed, see this article.

In November 2006, I replaced the Panasonic projector by the slightly more modern (but already by the time of purchase not quite up-to-date) Sanyo PLV-Z4. This is intended to be in use until "Full HD"-projectors (1080p/24p) economically accessable. The Panasonic now resides with my brother.

A projector mount was constructed along the same lines as the previous one, however with the board in plywood, covered with adhesive foil in blackwood look (see photos). The projector is connected through YUV-cables, as with the Panasonic. The DVD-DVI-cable has been replaced by a DVI-HDMI-cable (for the HPTC). Additionally, there is a serial connection, which I intend to describe in detail here.

The new Sanyo offers considerably better contrast, and a much better usability concept. On the downside, Panasonic's advertised "smooth screen technology" is obviously not just advertisment; close to the screen the "chicken net effect" is much more noticable than with the Panasonic.

• Projector Sanyo PLV-Z4 [1280 x 720 resolution] (2006-11-23)
• Receiver Yamaha RX-V 1400 (2004-01-20)
• Loudspeakers:
  • Front Left/Right: NuWave 125, anthracite (2005-08-01)
  • Center: NuWave CS-65 anthracite (2005-08-01)
  • Surround Left/Right: NuWave DS-55 anthracite (2005-10-13) (using Vogel's VLB 200 wall brackets)
  • Left/Right Back Surround: NuWave RS-5 anthracite
  • Subwoofer: NuBox AW-850
• Screen Mediastar 16:9, 2.34 meters wide
• Turntable Thorens TD150/II (purchased 1972), equipped with SME Model 3009 Series II Improved Arm and ADC XLM MKII stylus.
• Timer: Pioneer DT-555 (only used as clock)
• TV: Philips Matchline 28ML8805
• Laserdisk Player: Sony MDP 650D
• DVD Video/Audio Player: Panasonic S75. Regional Code free (using a special remote control).
• S-VHS ET Recorder Philips VR-1100
• Nokia dBox II running Tuxbox
• "Telefunken" PALplus-decoder (manufactured by Nokia)
• Stax SR-X Mark 3 electrostatic earphones, with SRD-7 adapter. Purchased in 1982, adapter in 2005.
• Remote Control: Philips Pronto RU 890 (purchase 2000-09-05)
• Cables mainly Clicktronic.

• TV-Live Light 13W
• Vivanco Control 5. Modified.
• Analog 8 channel switch.