pelennor

Fan modded Behringer is probably the way to go, I'd be very tempted to go for the EP4000 though, it's pretty tried and tested for running subs and well within the price range. There's also a quiet 24V fan available via element14, which is comparatively easy to swap out via instructions on the net (although at your own risk etc). I'm running EP1500s for my mains and surrounds, using the 6.5mm inputs, and although you can hear a slight amount of hum through the speakers, you have to put your ear right up to them to notice it. I've also heard that some of the Crown series amps are quiet enough to not need fan modding, and might be a better choice if you're not wanting to go that way, I'd be tempted to try and solve your soft start problem in a different way, via making sure that the amp's power socket doesn't have power when not in use. Remote controlled power point could work well, and you could just hide the remote when you're not around.

I've heard good things about the SVS series of subs. The Rhythmik kits might be nice too, if you don't mind taking on building a cabinet, or getting one built.

There may not be too many users locally yet .. you may have better luck canvassing opinions on the Emotiva forums for the moment...

Having gone from AV receiver only to AV receiver + amps to pre + amps, I'd agree that the best option if you can manage it is separate pre / power. I don't understand why there aren't that many processors around, and the ones that are around are often the size of an AV receiver anyway. Some other processor options to consider depending on budget would be the Emotiva ones. The XMC-1 in particular looks like it has a lot of potential, or if you're looking for a more cut-down version, the UMC-200. Having said that, they both are fairly new (the XMC-1 hasn't even been released yet), so might be wise to give them a bit of time to weed out any initial issues.

By the sounds of it, Terminator 2 has a lot to answer for in getting many of us into home theatre.

Agreed. Alternatively the brand new Outlaw processor looks interesting http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/975.html, or there's always the Emotiva UMC-200... I think that's a good move .. there's usually a big gain to be had by using external amplification, in my experience.

A lot of AV receiver preouts are comparatively low voltage, which is why companies like Emotiva build their amps with high levels of gain.

If you define niche as "unavailable in JB Hi Fi", then NAD, Integra, and Rotel are all niche. And as unfortunate as it is, the mainstream buyer generally gets their HT system from somewhere like JB.

Fan modded behringer ep4000 has always been a popular choice

Chances are it will sound strange with a non voice matched centre .. I've done it before, and it's not pretty. Having said that, I'd go one of two ways: 1. Try the new Motion 30 centre .. it has bigger woofers, and might be more "clean and deep" sounding than your current motion 8 2. Look for another centre with similar drivers to your Motion 40s. That would mean ribbon tweeters at least, and preferably similar woofers. So possibly something like http://www.monitoraudio.com.au/products/gold-gx/gxc350/ or http://stonessoundstudio.com.au/stone/ribbon_speaker_kit/ribbon_speaker_kit_info.htm

As an experiment, why not set your main speakers to small, and then see what it sounds like in stereo(using the sub)? If nothing else it will give you an idea of whether your sub can handle the bass duties better than your AV receiver can (which is likely). I'd definitely look into adding either a power amp or an integrated amp with HT bypass into the mix. Personally I'd go for a power amp, and still have the main speakers set to small, but at a lower crossover frequency. For me, that gives the best integration and using the mains/sub for what they do best.

That Slayer effort is way up there. I'd also add Maynard's effort at the end of Tool's "The Grudge" (it's not far off a 30 second continuous scream), as well as almost a whole bunch of Phil Anselmo's work with Pantera (search youtube for top 15 phil anselmo screams) Oh, and Mike Patton from Faith No More. That dude is so good at screaming he's done zombie vocals in a number of movies/games.

The Antec Sonata case is a good option if you want it reasonably quiet and reasonably priced. You can get it even quieter by following some of the suggestions above (fanless, SSD etc), but for around $140 including power supply the Sonata is good value. Also, if you happen to have your HTPC in an enclosed cabinet along with other gear, that's going to cause some overheating issues (since the hot air coming out of the PC's fan exhaust(s) has nowhere to go). If that's your problem(and it was for me), I'd recommend looking into cooling your cabinet as well as/instead of the PC. The easiest/cheapest way I found was to rig some quiet PC fans up into the back of the cabinet (1 for intake, 1 for outtake) connected to a power supply that has a molex connection on it (like the ones on older style hard drives)

MS40 should be not much over $200 if you shop around. Using the MS40's myself as a PC speaker, they're awesome for the money.

Speak for yourself, I've got a degree in science (Computer Science is still a science, right?)

The PSB Image B4's should be easier to run than the Sonys were, so you might well be OK. For bass management, there's three basic approaches 1. Set all speakers to small with an 80Hz crossover 2. Set all speakers to small with a crossover about 10-20 Hz higher than the lowest frequency that speaker can reach, according to it's specifications. So in your case, cross the DC7s and DC6 over at 60Hz, and the PSBs at 80Hz 3. Set all speakers with a suitably low response to "large", and the rest to small using 1 or 2 below. I'd experiment with all 3, and see what sounds best to you. If you run into issues particularly at high listening levels (distortion, AV receiver overheating/shutdowns), back off to a more conservative approach. Bass is the hardest thing to amplify, so it takes a disproportionate amount of the power to do so. Some people also find that approach 1 enables the sub and the other speakers to blend together better. Personally, I'm using approach 2, but with reasonably capable power amps rather than an AV receiver.

I was already keenly interested, but watching a HT demo at a hi fi store with a laserdisc playing Terminator 2 did it for me. Still one of my favourite movies, although it's even now better at home on Bluray than it was that day in the store.

Touch typing for me, once again due to going to a typing class as a joint high school - TAFE course in late high school (year 11). I think there was 3 guys and around 20 girls in the class. Fun times. I must confess that now I do occasionally look at the keyboard for some of the more obscure punctuation type things that have slipped out of my memory. Speed wise I was around 24 wpm back then, probably around 35-40 wpm now at a guess. I really should look into a mechanical switch keyboard for the desktop PC at home, those IBM Model M keyboards were so damn good to type on, albeit noisy.

Hmm .. your new 3 front speakers are all 6 ohms but 93 db sensitivity, so they shouldn't be too hard to drive in the scheme of things. The real question isn't whether the speakers can handle the power supplied to them, it's whether your Marantz can keep up with the power your speakers are demanding at your listening levels (if it can't, the Marantz will clip, possibly resulting in speaker damage). It's one of those unexpected things that it's easier to damage speakers by underpowering them than overpowering them (within reason) Since the surround speakers won't make as much difference if they don't tonally match your front 3 speakers, I'd err on the side of trying to find something fairly easy to drive if possible. Preferably 8 ohms impedance, and as high sensitivity as you can find. That way your Marantz will have the most chance of coping. Also, if you run into problems (or even if you don't), when you're setting up, consider setting all your speakers to small. It may seem like a "waste", but it will shift a large part of the ampification load to the sub, and make it easier for the Marantz to cope.

Well, according to the research referenced in http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/KB/BitPerfectJitter.htm , there have been experiments where listeners have been able to detect jitter. Presuming those experiments were properly conducted, they give us some idea of the measured level of jitter that becomes audible.

So the article is to do with jitter, the fact that if something is audibly different it should be measurable, and goes into detail about how jitter might possibly be measured. Sounds a lot like the methodology you're esposing, but it appears that you're writing the entire article off as paid shilling since you don't agree with the conclusions. Hmm, from a quick skim over his site, especially http://nwavguy.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/what-we-hear.html , he seems to be of the opinion that due to hearing bias and a lack of rigorous measurement and careful double blind testing, that the audio industry as a rule is offloading overpriced snake oil onto the onsuspecting public. Sounds strangely familiar... Yet even he admits that there needs to be a certain measurable level of jitter or less to be transparent (toward the bottom of the front page, and as part of his 4 criteria borrowed from Ethan Winer for transparent audio, in http://nwavguy.blogspot.com.au/2012_04_01_archive.html )

I think the idea is that in time sensitive applications like audio, jitter can be an issue, and thus a differentiator between cables. There's some interesting reading at http://www.anedio.com/index.php/article/measuring_jitter

This .. from what I've read online, the SSDs have a drive controller built in to them, and if it happens to fail, the BIOS won't even see that a drive is there, meaning you can't pull any data off them. Make sure that everything important on an SSD is backed up regularly!

And also one of mine. I think another part of why it was so popular is it's one of the few PA style amps that doesn't have really noisy cooling, and thus can be practically used out of the box without having to delve into the electronics of a fan mod. The pro amps still seem to have a cult following for running passive DIY subwoofers, but not that many have latched onto them for running their mains. The other interesting blind test involving Behringer is a speaker test in audioholics, http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/bookshelf/budget-bookshelf-shootout-2009/bookshelf-speaker-face-off-2009-results The Behringer B2030P did very well for itself, for an around $270 AU pair of speakers.

Ah, got it. You may be able to cut back one box and potentially some of the cost by getting a combined DAC and headphone amp (One of the audio-gd ones at around $400 had that, there are probably other options too).