Thanks for the info!

For those wondering, my current list of items to check out so far are two floor standing speakers from these companies:
~Aperion Intimus 5T Tower Speaker
~Polk TSi 400 maybe 500
~KEF (Have not found any in person so not sure which model)
~Definitive Technology (Probably not but if I can get a discount from a friend maybe)

I think there was already a thread on this a while back but I couldn't find it...my setup is as follows:

Denon 4308ci AV receiver - 7x140W
7 NHT Classic series speakers (2 towers, 1 center, 4 surround and rear surround)
1 NHT Classic Ten 150W sub
Samsung 52" LCD
Panasonic Bluray player
Denon Ipod stand (integrates with on-screen menu)
Xbox 360
Monster "power filter"/surge protection box

I don't have a pic of the whole system at home handy but here's the receiver. The new DTS HD or Dolby HD sound format on newer blu-ray movies is amazing. The home theatre sound is so good that I often catch myself wondering whether the phone ringing or knock at the door is really at my place and not the movie...sometimes its a little freaky. So you can imagine a horror movie. Do you guys have the same experiences?

Any opinions on the Denon 4308 receiver from the audio experts here? I have had my Denon 4308 receiver about a year and probably do not use its full potential, especially because I am in a condo building.

Attachment 3262

Good system, receivers are usually never used to their full potential because they do so much, which is great. Living in a condo/apt. can limit a little use of a receiver, but it is all about getting that clearer sound out of the system, which will make it better for any place. You will not have to turn up the volume as loud which will make others around you happier, but when you do...it is soo sweet. ;)

They are pretty good units right there with onkyo have used one of them plenty of power but you will never get to its max potential.

Heres my system.

Panel
Pioneer Elite PRO-111FD 50" Plasma

Receiver
Pioneer Elite SC-07 Receiver

Sources
Pioneer Elite BDP-09

Speakers
Martin Logan Purity Towers (L&R Fronts)
Martin Logan Feature (Center)
Martin Logan Fresco i (L&R Rears)
Martin Logan Abyss (Sub)

Power
Panamax Power M7500-PRO Line Conditioner

Accessories
Universal Remote Company MX-3000 Tablet
Universal Remote Company MSC-400
Audio Quest Cables
Martin Logan Fresco i Floor Stands

There might be a few other things I'm forgetting but yeah that's the gist of it. The Receiver is 140 WPC but only powers the rears. The front Center (Feature) and Front Towers (Puritys) are self powered with internal 200W amps.

I just play everything stored on my PC with TVersity - Home through my PS3.

Bump

It's really not the same :) There's a million ways to play digital audio, I guess, but the Slim Devices stuff puts a lot of focus on good codec support in the hardware and high quality DACs and outputs. It's audiophile-grade stuff dedicated to the task of reproducing sound, rather than "hey we have audio out, let's tack on mp3 playing support onto our game console". I suppose if you actually are playing low-quality mp3s there might not be much difference anyways (as mp3 loses so much quality right off the bat), but for a FLAC (or other lossless codec) digital collection it matters.

There are only a few true competitors in this segment, the most notable being Olive and Sonos.

Regardless of what you use for the audio out part in the living room, one thing that's really nice to do for any of them is to move your digital audio library to a dedicated little NAS server, so that your PC can be shut off (or busy playing games or whatever). Stuff like the ReadyNAS (or any of its million competitors) is cheap and works well for that sort of thing.

Here is my setup (most not shown in the picture)

Olevia 47 inch LCD
Kenwood 5.1 surround sound w/ Sub
Samsung Blu-ray Player
Xbox360
Wii

TV was mounted above the fireplace in my apartment by me and my friend. Power outlet had to be ran and installed behind the TV and cables were ran separately. It took alot of butchering to the wall and studs but we patched the wall up and it turned out really nice. :tup: On a side note: the wii sensor bar (the wire seen running off the left side) has been replaced by a wireless one now.

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...n/S7300597.jpg

I must see pictures of this... you basically have the big brother to my setup.

Its an amazing system. I'll take some pictures when I set it all up. :D

I tried the Purity Towers in my living room and they had to narrow of a sweet spot to be truly appreciated. They were AMAZING sitting down, but the imaging was all but lost when you stood up. This is typical of all electrostat panels. I had purchased Montages as rears and decided to move the up front as an experiment. It was almost exactly what I was looking for- superior sound, and more importantly- the wife compromised on the smaller footprint.

Ultimately, I ended up toning things down- it is our living room and not a dedicated theater room so it all works out. I've got Montage's up front, Fresco i as the center, Dynamo sub, and vignettes as rears. Pioneer Elite Panel, Denon receiver, panamax conditioner- Harmony 890, PS3 and FIOS round out the fun. All and all I've been very happy.

Thats a nice set-up, I thought about going a similar route to you but I figured I may only get the chance to go this big once in life so I had better do it now. I've always been a huge fan of the electrostat panels beginning with the ML Clarity. I thought about a couple other speakers, Definitive Technology super towers and Vienna Acoustics, but ultimately my love for the ML sound won over. I love how directional they are but I always sit in the same spot to watch TV, movies, and music. I don't much care about the sound quality throughout the house for entertaining purposes because in all honesty, no one else is really going to notice anyways. :D

I'll post up some pics as soon as I have everything placed but it will be a while most likely because I'll be moving soon depending on a job opportunity. :)

Panel - Samsung 40" LCD
Receiver - Denon AVR-2808CI
Speakers - Orb Audio (peoples choice system)
PS3
AT&T U-Verse
Roku Netflix player