RagE Theater

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I think I now not only have pen!s envy, I have HTPC envy as well!!! That is one IMPRESSIVE set up you got there. Puts the little MSI Mega 180 based system I just put together to shame.... mines so small.... your is so BIG!

NICE!!!!!!!!! High quality and very thoughtful work there!!
 
1) that reciever is insane.
2) beer is good.
3) the xbox looks perfect like that.
4) *takes notes*
5) are you using specialised A/V cables, as in brand/type?
6) have you considered a HDTV Wonder + bigger harddrives?
7) that reciever is INSANE.
 
that's an awesome setup. much props to you. My HTPC is just a little silver iDEQ sitting next to an old 27" TV and a Philips stereo system. It works for me. ^_^
 
riffst3r said:
1) that reciever is insane.
2) beer is good.
3) the xbox looks perfect like that.
4) *takes notes*
5) are you using specialised A/V cables, as in brand/type?
6) have you considered a HDTV Wonder + bigger harddrives?
7) that reciever is INSANE.
Click to expand...

1) Yes, receiver is awesome. Plays full reference without breaking a sweat and power to spare.

2) Beer is always good and bottles give size references for things.

3) I also am impressed with the look of the XBOX. Intriguing "mod", no?

5) Most of the cabling is "RCA" brand. Not cheap crap but not crazy insane either. A few of them are "Accoustic Research". Those were a little over-the-top for me

6) HDTV Wonder not really required. Neither was the AIW either, really. I don't watch normal TV much so recording it is not really required. I may set it up sometime just for the hell of it but not used now.

7) Yes, I also like the receiver
 
PowerLlama said:
I would've died doing all that cable work... You did an EXCELLENT job keeping it nice and neat
Click to expand...

The speaker set-up took me and one of my guys from the shop around 10 hours. A good portion of that was me crawling around on my belly in insulation in the attic pulling cables - I'm never going up there again.

The cabling behind the rack was done three times as I made changes. About 6-8 hours each time (including beer breaks, of course). It is finally all to my spec now, which is why I am finally showing pics
 
Nice set-up PS-RagE!
though don't you wish you had a larger monitor?
 
I upgraded the media server back in December. It now sports dual Xeons at 2.8GHz on an ASUS NCL-DS, 1G ECC DDR2, and twelve WD4000YRs in RAID5 w/ 3Ware 9550SX, powered by a 1kW PCP&C PSU :


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High res version

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Worklog of the build is here.

.
 
th3 godfather said:
i'm sure im not the only one thinking "holy shit"

so how much storage does that come out to?
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Four terabytes in three partitions:

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I knew there was a reason I woke up this morning.

Very very nice. It is threads like this that remind me why my life goal is to win the lotto.
 
NewBlackDak said:
Now the big question.
How much does the server weigh?
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Its heavy.



Rob Black said:
What did you do with your old server?
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I parted it out to upgrade other machines. The removable drive bays are actually quite handy now
 
So following Okie's example, I looked into the Pure|AV line of products and found that they were available with UPS. Since we've been having many power blinks here lately, I figured it was about time and ordered one. Convienently, they come with rack mount wings. I was hoping to get it in black, but they only come in silver. Even still, I think it looks just fine.

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While I was at it, I also got a big 1400VA unit to put under the server and another little 400VA for the cable modem and wireless router in the basement:

ups.jpg
 
Yes they are simply amazing, I just wish I heard about these PureAV products a long time ago. The rackmount brackets are an awesome extra unexpected accessory... they even included it for my unit!. I didn't go the UPS route because of the price and also the reasoning that I don't need it, but their UPS lineup is nice :)
 
Just curious, but most manuals for large receivers like that you need to keep some clearance around (above mostly) to allow for proper cooling. I have been thinking about 7v'ing a 120mm fan into my cabinet to expel some heat. I have a glass door over the front, which can keep the air in (you open the glass after watchin a movie when the amps have been in constant use, and you can feel the heat).

So I guess my question is, how hot does it get, and what was your solution
 
hardwarephreak said:
Just curious, but most manuals for large receivers like that you need to keep some clearance around (above mostly) to allow for proper cooling. I have been thinking about 7v'ing a 120mm fan into my cabinet to expel some heat. I have a glass door over the front, which can keep the air in (you open the glass after watchin a movie when the amps have been in constant use, and you can feel the heat).

So I guess my question is, how hot does it get, and what was your solution
Click to expand...


He doesn't have a sealed unit as you have, which is why he doesn't have heat issues or at least shouldn't.
 
Indeed - not sealed. Wide open at the back and room around the sides. Receiver barely gets warm. In fact, I have never heard the cooling fan turn on.

Originally, when the wall unit had a back and I just had the equipment stacked up, it would throw some heat. Now that the equipment is all rack-mounted though, heat has never been an issue.
 
Well mine is open on the back and has as much or more clearance on the sides...I also leave the door open pretty much all of the time, and I have a additional amp so that adds to the heat. But I was wondering since you added that UPS right above the Yamaha.
 
Well, the giant 4x3 HD CRT was a hell of a nice tv but when watching anything widescreen suddenly my huge-assed TV became small again. So finally I decided it was time to upgrade - again.

Originally, I was looking at Panasonic's big plasmas but when I saw the giant Samsung 46" LCD HDTV, I had to have one.

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You, sir, have too much money and hardware on your hands.

And I salute you!
 
wow, i thought the file server was super great, this is just as good of work:)
 
It seems every time I upgrade one piece, every other thing needs upgrading too. Anyhow, the XBOX turned out to be disappointing on the big LCD so I went out and got an XBOX 360. The HD-DVD option wasn't too expensive so I figured I might as well get one of those too.

Had to also order the laser-cut rack shelves. I wanted both the XBOX and the HD-DVD to match so I went looking for a dark grey bezel. Finally, when I gave up hope of finding one to match, I bought the "universal" one that you print your own image and put it under a plastic cover. Lo and behold, the plastic underneath was the grey colour!

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The original XBOX took up 3U, the XBOX360 and HD-DVD take up 5U so I had to completely rearrange the rack again. Since the 480p looked terrible on the 1080p display, I decided to pull the Denon DVD drive. Also, the Sony CD changer was just collecting dust so I pulled it as well. The VCR stays cause - hey - its the clock!

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The XBOX is connected to the big LCD display via the VGA port giving me true 1080p - and very impressive it is! The DVD upscaling is outstanding. Easily as good as the HTPC.

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You can kind of see also in this pic the bias lighting I put behind the TV (thanks ctantra)

Kinda funny how the whole stereo has been converted to digital transfer devices.

I suppose I'll update the satellite receiver to a HD model some day. I don't watch much regular TV so that is not too high on my list.
 
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