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!


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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.

Miller, beautiful system. Isn't it nice when it all comes togeather? Enjoy the music.
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?
Pedantic, I think not.

I always wanted to be able to use ( pedantic) in a informative way.