Showing (off) your Roon setup - description and photos [2015-04 .. 2021-03]

Those are ATC SCM 25ASL speakers if I am not mistaken.

Holy macaroni, I’d bet you’re a happy camper. I’m sure I would not part with these if I ever be luck enough to have them, super nice. :smile:

Here’s my (rather complicated) setup. I’ve worked to get music accessible in hd across my whole property including – inside and outside – and now have 15 zones served by a roon nucleus+ (not counting computers that can also be a zone). Everything related to music has a hardwired network connection with 10G links to important areas. My nucleus holds all of my music (~70K tracks) in a 4TB SSD which is backed up to a Synology NAS. I don’t have a dedicated listening room so have a setup in my theater area that can let my McIntosh AV Processor manage all speakers (and crossovers) when playing video but lets a JL Audio Subwoofer Crossover manage the same left, right and sub speakers when playing audio. This gives me the ability to tune for both movie playing and music playing.

I’ve included a diagram and some pics. Enjoy.

Here’s my theater cabinet and racks that was custom built…

Here’s my network rack serving the property…

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You my friend are my kindred spirit. I have a much of the same gear except I didn’t score that new UBNT router.

Nice! Great minds… :slight_smile: The new UBNT router seems solid. I actually just got it and am in the process of transitioning from my checkpoint 790 firewall/router which is still in the rack in my pic…

Check out the new Allo Katana DAC if you’re looking at a new HAT Graham. I think it can do balanced outputs with some DIY soldering.

@Graham_Bird Take a look at the Apple Pi DAC, compatible with a screen with Ropieee.

@andybob, @Henry_McLeod,

Thanks! I had seen the APi but not the Katana (though I had heard of Boss).

What struck me about both of these is that a) we are counting angels on a pinhead in terms of tech specs - now it may be that others can hear these reflected as a prefereable sound, but we got to techie stuff very quickly. To me (and this is a VERY personal opionion), these might be fun to play with and check out but I’m not seeing an overwhelming benefit over e.g. the IQAudio boards I’m running. And they are 3 times the price, and the katana especially looks like very hard work.

Where are folks finding a HAT + touch screen case, perhaps I missed it?

It looks like time for someone to do a direct comparison of the HATs out there: I’d really like to see that!

So, at least for now, in my mind there is a gap for a Pi product that is much more aesthically pleasing as a total package and (separately) a better tablet solution than I’ve found to date.

Has anyone got direct exeprience of these two HATs? On a head to head basis?

Thanks for the inputs folks!

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The Pi is just shipping. Mine is at the DHL reception depot. Nobody will have been able to make direct comparisons yet, but the APi does work with the official Raspberry Pi 7 inch screen and SBC. But the official enclosure for both won’t cover a HAT without some faffing around.

You can use a number of cases with touchscreen and HAT. Audiophonics sell one called RaspTouch but not cheap.
This one’s with a hat already but they sell it on its own to.

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/network-audio-players-rasptouch/rasptouch-open-source-player-es9023-dac-raspberry-pi-3-silver-p-11255.html

Cheaper ones tend not to cover the hat or need some slight modification to cover such as this one

https://www.modmypi.com/raspberry-pi/screens-and-displays/screen-cases/raspberry-pi-7-touchscreen-display-case-black?gclid=CjwKCAjwtIXbBRBhEiwAWV-5nhHIbxfq3LjWB9HbAmAScXl1e_ERhC22IQcdHi7s6wsDvxwa1dS6IxoCWx4QAvD_BwE

or this is uncovered,

http://www.eleduino.com/Raspberry-Pi-Official-7-Touchscreen-Display-Case-100%-Bamboo-Made-p10581.html

I have both.

@pl_svn: what speakers are you driving with that J2? That amp is on my short list. I’ll be going from VTL tubes to solid state, and I’d love to learn what you have to say about the First Watt.

@Antonio_Bendezu speakers are Klipsch Cornwall III (purchased for the 2A3 SET I’ll never part with :wink: )
(thinking about some Zus in the future, but they’re very hard to hear in a shop, here)

still having mixed feelings about the J2 (I’m just on my 2nd day with it) but it’s a keeper for sure
what I can say so far compared to the above 2A3 SET (Don Garber Fi “X”):

  • dead quiet! (“thumps” when turning it on, though. but nothing major)
  • lightning fast, live, engaging :slight_smile:
  • unexpectedly (my fault) way warmer sound (I’m not fond of warm sounding stuff)
  • almost on par as far as “liveliness” is concerned but… more micro-detail :slight_smile:
  • mids and highs to die for (maybe a tad sibilating, sometimes, on Ss: depends on recordings)
  • great bass and very “energetic” (when needed). maybe a tad “less controlled” (these 15" woofers are pretty hard to tame :stuck_out_tongue: ) than with my tubes
  • definitely not suited (as my SET) for orchestral music :frowning:
  • just great for whatever music makes your toes tapping :wink: plus, obviously, voice, strings, chamber music, jazz, world etc
  • personally I’d pick it over (almost) any 300B I ever heard. not sure about… over a 2A3 but they can live side by side (and they will, here :wink: )

oh, and… remember: it mostly is a 45x40cm radiator constantly at 55-60° C (these days) :grimacing:

I’ve been contemplating Heresys fed by a BottleHead SET amp. Heresys don’t seem to have much bass, according to specs.

Is it true Cornwalls need to be against a wall or in a corner?

Thank you, @pl_svn! That’s the most useful information I’ve seen about the J2. The reviews gush, but they don’t seem to go into much detail about the sound. I’m familiar with the Klipsch sound, too, so that helps me understand. I’m a little concerned about the warm nature of the sound, but my speakers could probably use that emphasis.

@xxx: I have a pair of Heresy speakers, and I’m happy with the bass. It won’t reproduce the deep stuff in the trip-hop I like to enjoy, but I don’t find the bass missing whenever I listen, and my main system speakers go down to 25Hz. The dude I bought them from (in a Walmart parking lot) threw in a Klipsch subwoofer, and I have not been compelled to connect it yet, after a year of enjoying them. I would not place the Heresy or Cornwall in a corner, but the Heresy does well very close to the back wall in my rig. You’ll definitely get better imaging and soundstage if you bring them out into the room, though, IMO.

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mines are placed 20-40cm (toed in) away from a (glass) wall on the back and 2,5mt away from side walls
spent months slightly moving them “around” to find the best position :roll_eyes:

Heresys’ bass is… ehm :stuck_out_tongue: (a dear friend has a pair)

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@CrystalGipsy, thanks I’ll check them out.

Cheers

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Wanna try the bass of my Heresy’s? They’ll blast your ears out with my 3.5 Watt tube amp. At 60% volume, without distortion! :slight_smile:

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How do they image, so close to the back wall?

No problems imaging. In fact this position improves speaker response as it eliminates quarter wave cancellation in the bass (a big problem between 1 and 2 meters). Since little energy gets reflected off the back wall (as everything above about 150 Hertz is going forward given such a very large baffle) the imaging quality remains good. Narrow baffle speakers radiate more energy backwards and can definitely suffer imaging issues from the proximity of a rear wall - so I don’t recommend this placement in general. There is of course a bass boost and it tends to excite room modes. I can hear one mode but it is not excessive and I prefer not to correct this with DSP. Pulling the speakers far out into the family living room isn’t practical but would probably improve the sound further - ideally I should have them as far out as possible - so your comment is spot on!!

I do have another large room I could use but it has multiple keyboards, multiple guitars, three drum sets and is sound proofed and it is where me and the band practice. I enjoy playing music too much to give that up!

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I’m loving seeing all of your set ups. Very envious of some(one day!)Moved my set up back to its original position. Had it merged with my TV for a while but couldn’t really use it as I wished to and felt the sound was compromised. Enjoying it more now with the speakers firing down the room.Need to sort my lps and cds now! If I could only tear myself away from R3 on my vintage Yamaha! I love Roon but it’s definitely a compliment to the rest of my well used kit. Enjoy the music!

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