Posted by Colin [ 208.38.59.162 ] on June 20, 2008 at 12:16:16:
Hi All,
Its been a few years since I've been here, so thought I'd drop in.
Back in 2001, I built a pair of Premium Stage 4 Pi (PSD2002, 15" Kilomax) and had been extremely happy with them. Well, between then and now, my wife and I have had two kids, I've changed jobs, and moved to a different house. Unfortunately, the layout of the newer house didn't permit me to have two separate rooms with one dedicated to home theater and the other for music listening. I still have a theater room, but the living room just doesn't accommodate the big Premium Stage 4 Pi's. Or at least my wife won't. Seriously, if I want music in my living room, at best I might be able to squeeze in some mini-monitors on stands and maybe hide a sub somewhere. My wife would prefer I get in-wall speakers 
So, I'm left trying to figure out what to do with this pair of Four Pi's. In my basement, in the theater room, they just don't sound nearly as good as they did in the previous house, at least not without some radical EQ. Maybe its because the electronics driving them are different, but more likely I suspect its the room acoustics. I used to drive them with a vintage Pioneer integrated amp, but that thing unfortunately died, and I found a new owner that gave me decent money for it even in that state. My home theater receiver is an B&K Components AVR101, which is/was considered by many to be a true hi-fi piece that just so happens to have a processor and 5 channels of 105Watts each of amplification instead of just two.
Has anyone built Premium Stage 4 Pi's recently? I noticed from a forum search that almost no-one talks about using the Kilomax woofer much anymore. Is it because there are now better alternatives? Since I already have 'em, I'm debating tweaking them to try and get them to sound good in my theater room, just for music listening. Maybe its because I'm comparing them to my home theater speakers, which are ACI Emeralds and dual 12" ACI subs that I built years ago, long before the Stage 4 Pis ever came into the picture and while ACI used to still offer kits. Those sound fantastic to my ears down there for both music and movies, but the Pi's just don't.
What would you do if you were me?
Colin
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