Home Theater Done Right: Millercarbon's System


Dual use, should probably be the title. Oh well. Finally posted my system. Someone’s always asking about how to do a dual use system. Well, here’s how its done.
Cinephile or audiophile, movies and music are the two things I have loved for as long as I can remember. I want my music to sound as good as possible, and I want my movies to look and sound as good as possible. Everything is a compromise and yet when it comes to these two the compromises are remarkably few. If any. At least that is what my system shows. Because it is a first-rate audiophile sound system, AND a top level home theater.
Whether music or movies an immersive experience is the goal. To lose yourself in the experience. To be carried away.
Studies show viewers consistently rate video quality higher when sound quality is high. Unfortunately the Home Theater industry has chosen to pursue quantity over quality. Which cannot ever work. No amount of surround speakers will ever make up for poor quality. Everyone knows this perfectly well. Being able to convince anyone otherwise is a testament to marketing.
But that’s not my main point here. Rather it is that everything matters. Seemingly minor little things like cryogenic treatment, HFT, ECT, Total Contact, fuses, cable elevators, etc when added together actually make so much difference it is almost impossible to build a truly good system without them.

Removing those tweaks from my system would lower it down to merely average.

Anyway, the system is posted. Enjoy the pics. I am not that good a photographer but Steve Clarke was busy. Tried to get the tubes go glow- how’d I do?

The system evolves. Here for reference are some pics from 16 years ago. https://www.theanalogdept.com/c_miller.htm
Comments welcome. Enjoy!


128x128millercarbon
Wow, nice system & room! I like the careful routeing of cables. Have you thought about upgrading the power cord of the lava lamp? ;-)

The lava lamp power cord isn't detachable. No IEC. See? And you don't mess with vintage gear like that. Kills resale. Rookie. ;-)
Besides, it is sitting on a BDR Shelf. How many lava lamps you seen on a $350 BDR Shelf??? Lol!
Seriously though, its a crowd-pleaser. The pics aren't close-up enough to tell but the LEDs are all dimmed with tiny little blobs of Blue-Tack. When the music goes on and the lights go out they glow softly which combined with the tubes and the lava lamp is downright dreamy.


We are experiencing a pandemic of misinformation. I always wanted to use pandemic in a sentence. 
Wow, nice system & room! I like the careful routeing of cables. Have you thought about upgrading the power cord of the lava lamp?  ;-)

@three_easy_payments,
Check out My Labor of love in the Members Reviews thread. MyMat.
Pedantic, I think not.

I always wanted to be able to use ( pedantic) in a informative way.
Mass per sec is not the right answer. It’s mass-on-spring, that’s the right answer. And UN-stiffness. The less stiff the better the isolation. The best isolation and best sound occurs when the component can move most easily - I.e., UNSTIFF. Stiffness is good for the top plate, though, for isolating against bending forces. People out there, stove piping their systems and reaching conclusions about reality that are troubling, to say the least. Am I being pedantic enough?
Miller, beautiful system. Isn't it nice when it all comes togeather? Enjoy the music.
slaw,Yeah with vibration control its a combination of mass, stiffness and damping. Mass alone improves the low bass foundation but it will be a bit bloated and not tight the way you want. Lead shot in a bag is like this. Stiffness alone is great for transients and leading edge detail but will also be out of balance if its too light. Light species woods, pointy aluminum cones. Damping lowers the noise floor but without enough stiffness it sucks the dynamics and life out of the music. Sorbothane.
None of these is perfect but each has its uses. Its like Synergistic Research Element Copper Tungsten Silver cables. Copper is great for bass but silver has better treble and tungsten has magical midrange. Any one alone can be good but all three together are amazing.
Chris Brady (Teres) also made resin stabilized and lead shot weighted platters out of various hardwoods like Cocobolo. Not only beautiful they sounded great too but were costly to make and in spite of everything they did to stabilize its still wood. Chris also made a black platter out of some composite material.
A useful feature of the Teres modular design, the platter lifts straight off making comparisons a breeze. Chris did a demo one time and the differences between the platters was clear and easy to hear. The black one was the best sounding but the worst looking. The platter is one of those rare things in my system where I chose looks over sound. Every time someone sees it I know I made the right choice.
You're right, I'm aware, and had plenty of time to think it over. Decided long ago if I do anything with the platter it will be to build a new one from some of the BDR Shelfs I have just sitting around. I built several plinths out of other materials, the BDR Shelf cannot be beat. Nothing else even comes close. A BDR platter will raise the Miller Carbon to, well nobody ever compares turntables so let's just say it will be a lot better. But it will also require precision machining, and $$. But then it will also require I know not what to make it look as good as that shiny lead shot in acrylic.

@millercarbon,

The Teres platter is visually stunning!. I’ve experimented lots with lead shot throughout the years in contiplating my tt project. What I found is one needs to be very judicious in it’s use. It’s very easy to overdamp.

In my prototype motor enclosure, I used lead shot, but I mixed it with an epoxy to ensure no movement.(micro-rattling)

I wonder if Teres did testing with different lead shot sizes? A smaller size would give a tighter fill.
millercarbon
Perfect Path Solutions Omega E-Mats and E-cards have an effective range of a few feet. These transformers and PPS are all within a few feet of each other. Its like a perfect storm of Perfect Path Solutions and electromagnetic fields.

>>>>The E-Cards and E-Mats have an effective range of a few feet? Interesting, must be that action-at-a-distance thing going on. Are they firing off photons? Are they absorbing photons or electrons, maybe neutrons? Which electromagnetic fields are we talking about here? Did you mean electromagnetic waves? Maybe magnetic fields, or electric fields?
There’s a synergy to the way the system is laid out that people should know. Its not apparent from the photo’s but the stepdown transformer is on the other side of the floor directly beneath the amps. Power comes up and out through the hardwood cover in the wall and is hardwired directly into the Medusa. Projector power then goes right back and up through the wall, across the ceiling in the attic to the projector. This eliminates hum by having everything on one circuit. This also keeps the 110v wire down to a very short 5 feet.
Now here’s where things get really interesting. Perfect Path Solutions Omega E-Mats and E-cards have an effective range of a few feet. There’s one Omega Mat on top of the stepdown transformer, and another one behind the Medusa. There’s one E-card inside the stepdown transformer. (As pictured its outside but its actually slid in between the windings and the iron plates!) There’s another 4 E-cards on the Medusa, between the Dayton sub amps, behind the power transformer on the Melody amp (look real close, the one on the amp is new and has a black label), and on the Synergistic Research Atmosphere interconnect.
These transformers and PPS are all within a few feet of each other. Its like a perfect storm of Perfect Path Solutions and electromagnetic fields.


Cool I thought it was something like that they look a bit like gel ice packs but I figured that wasn't it.
Good question! Dive weights. I’m a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver.

Discovered years ago mass not only dampens vibration it also improves dynamics and slam and bass extension. Not to mention some stuff like the Oppo is so darn light and power cords so stiff it helps things stay put.

There’s lead on top of the Herron and the Verus motor controller too. Look back at the old photo’s, those dive weights were on the Aronov integrated amp transformers, now they are on the Oppo.