July 2001

Theater Profile -- Steve Bruzonsky: A Certified Home-Theater Fanatic!

I first learned of Steve Bruzonsky through the Audio Video Science Forums, where Steve acts as the moderator in the "Special Guests" and "Audio-Video Improvements" sections. I knew from the start that he was a certified home-theater fanatic due to both his elaborate system and his genuine passion and enthusiasm. Here was a gentleman that had eight subwoofers in his dedicated home theater, and enough fervor to fuel a high-school pep rally. This was the type of hobbyist that loves every part of the home-theater experience: building them, equipping and tweaking them, talking about them, and, most importantly, enjoying movies in his home. After looking at the setup Steve had amassed and its performance capabilities, I knew I had the right guy. What a great place to start the Home Theater & Sound Theater Profiles.

His wife’s suggestion -- a dedicated room

According to Steve, it all started rather innocently on a summer evening in 1996. His wife asked him to clean up the basement by getting rid of "all the wires and stuff." She suggested that he build a room to house all the gear. Steve initially thought it would be too expensive and generally impractical, but as it often happens when the wheels start turning, the idea had some feasibility after all. According to Steve, "A few hours later, after a friend and I had surveyed our lot, I told my wife that she had a great idea. We had room to build a dedicated room onto the house. So what does my wife say? She ‘was just kidding.’ I wasn’t."

The design and construction

One thing you will see in the course of this article is that Steve had a lot of help with this project. Expertise abounds throughout the Bruzonsky theater, and it started right away in the design phase. "In September of 1996, I was referred by Esoteric Audio to Bruce Bender, a member of the Arizona Audiophile Society. As an architectural draftsman, Bruce contributed some excellent, relatively economical ideas for the room." The details included using 2" x 6" studs and soundboard on all interior surfaces in addition to the typical gypsum. To buffer the cinematic rumblings from the house proper, a large bathroom and hallway was specified in between the master bedroom and the audio-video room. This had the added benefit of making the addition a fully functional mother-in-law facility, which would aid in resale should the need arise.

The actual room dimensions are 18.25'W x 25’L x 12’H. Every effort was made to shield the living space from the theater in order to maximize flexibility and enjoyment, while having little impact on the rest of the house. For example, the cement foundation has structural seams between the theater and the hallway/bathroom and also between the hallway/bathroom and master bedroom for vibration control. I have heard of decoupling components but not rooms! According to Steve, "Double Masonite doors with wood and rubber seals lead from the master bedroom to the hallway and from the hallway to the theater. Double 2" x 4"-studded walls, with a 1" air space in between, separate the master bedroom and the hallway/bathroom. USG Acoustical Sealant was used on all the stud surfaces to minimize vibrations."

Details, details, details! To make sure that the theater environment remains quiet, the AC system was installed with great care and planning. For example, the return is at the rear of the room, situated underneath a section of cabinets and is approximately 10’L x 4"H. These features, along with oversized insulated air ducts with gentle turns, guarantee whisper-quiet operation. A total of 19 dedicated audio-only 20-amp circuits using 10-gauge wire were installed for the vast array of electronics. Attention to detail didn’t end there. Steve states, "The 19 audio circuits lead to their own panel box outside, which are all the same electrical phase. Every ‘even’ circuit in the panel box is skipped because typically the panel box has each circuit the opposing phase, which doubles the AC power noise. Four-gauge copper wire runs from the panel box to an 8’ copper ground rod, and then four-gauge copper wire runs back to the pre-existing lead to the house ground to which the other two electrical panel boxes are connected. The audio electrical outlets are Hubbell 20 amp." Got all that?

The room’s interior colors are optimized for CRT front projection: black carpet over the cement foundation, a black ceiling, and black side walls from the front screen out seven feet to the edge of the windows. The remainder of the room is dark gray. Remote-controlled Draper Lightblock shades were installed so that the room remains completely dark for video. Speaking of experts, Steve enlisted the help of Loren Roetman, who owns Home Entertainment Concepts, as the construction phase drew to completion. According to Steve, "Loren had some wonderful ideas, which included deco side theater lights, as well as six classic leather recliners." Loren also aided Steve in initially selecting the primary equipment, which included Aerial Acoustics speakers and Bryston amplifiers.

The challenge

Maintaining and improving a home theater like Steve’s is a challenge. Obstacles abound, as Steve relates, "Over the past several years, I have made many changes, primarily in accessories, in my quest for improving my audio, video, and home-theater picture and sound. Along the way, as one demos and makes changes, there are pitfalls where the system just doesn't look and sound as good as it did before -- but I figure out what I did ‘wrong,’ correct it, and continue the plunge ahead for better performance. Like fine-tuning a racing car." Steve notes two major challenges, starting with complexity.

As we all know, the more complex a system is, the more variables need to be monitored and attended to. Steve has had his share of system-related quirks, which is challenge number one. "For about eight months during 1999/2000, I was undergoing home-theater hell! I had a full room of guests from AV Science and other home-theater websites, and during the start of the demo, one of my front Bryston 7B amplifiers got hotter than heck. I turned it off, and that was it." Although Steve made it through the demo using a phantom center channel, this problem was not over. Steve relates, "Over the next seven to eight months, I had this problem occur several times with the Bryston 7B. So the Bryston went back for repair and/or checkup along with the Aerial CC3 (later replaced with the CC5) center speaker. This problem was driving me crazy. Friends suggested it was my then Transparent Audio networked cables causing the problem, an oscillation from the Bryston amplifier, or a bad AC power circuit. Finally, I figured it out -- I was using cheapo hardware store wire to connect each of my five Vandersteen 2Wq subwoofers to each of the five Bryston 7B amplifiers. I had stripped the ends of the bare wire and inserted it into banana plugs. Depending on how I inserted the banana plugs into the amplifier’s binding posts, the frayed positive and negative wires could get too close and touch just a tiny bit. I ordered DH Labs T-14 subwoofer speaker cables with banana plugs and guess what -- never a problem again! Sometimes the problem is right in front of your nose, but you just can't see through the thicket and forest!"

There was more, Steve continues on that, "The number-two challenge is to realize you are addicted, and to act to limit your tweaking and upgrading before you go bankrupt. Folks following the forums I moderate know that I have yet to meet the second challenge. But I am working on it! "

The hobby

We’re always learning what’s most enjoyable and what sounds and looks best. Sometimes this comes from trial and error, sometimes from education, though there seems to be a ton of misinformation out there. Steve has faced some surprises along the way, and one involved the sound of HD broadcasts: "I first started on HDTV in February 2000 with an RCA DTC-100 HD receiver. I was disappointed to find most HD movies and sources were being broadcast in Dolby Digital 2.0. This was the pits; using only two speakers just didn't sound very good at all. However, I went in the DTC-100 menu and set ‘Audio’ to ‘PCM Only.’ Then I set the Casablanca to Circle Cinema using all my speakers and it sounded much better. The last draw was the Theta Casablanca upgrade from version one to two last October. I found the Casablanca 2 could simply be programmed to take Dolby Digital 2.0 and play it back automatically in any mode, so I set it to play back in Circle Cinema. Also, I found that Dolby Digital 2.0 translated to Circle Cinema sounds appreciably better than PCM stereo translated to Circle Cinema. The reason for this is the satellite algorithms used to compress and then decompress PCM apparently drops off a lot of dynamic bass, whereas the Dolby Digital formula apparently doesn't do this, so it’s more dynamic! My system sounded so good that I hardly cared anymore if a movie was Dolby Digital 2.0 or 5.1; it sounded great regardless!"

The Thrill

All this work has paid off for Steve since he really enjoys his home theater and the hobby in general. When asked what he likes best about home theater, Steve said, "The thrill of watching something and realizing that the work and tweaking you've been doing has actually finally succeeded; the thrill that my system looks and sounds its best ever! Last night was one of those moments! And this was watching HDTV! First, 61, directed by Billy Crystal, was the story of the early '60s New York Yankees and the homerun derby contest of Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, with Maris setting a new homerun record. It was in both HD and Dolby Digital 5.1! Great movie, great picture, and great sound -- I felt I was in Yankee Stadium."

As you can tell, Steve likes to watch a variety of programming on his system. We all have our favorites, Steve being no exception. Gladiator and The Patriot were simply outstanding. And I really enjoy some of the HBO and Showtime HD movies like 61 on HBO. And I love watching Stargate in 16:9 upconverted on Showtime HD on Friday evenings."

A home-theater system can be used for advanced-format music as well. Steve recently added a Sony SACD player to his system and found an interesting way to integrate it and enjoy SACD playback while utilizing his multiple speaker array. Says Steve, "I expected only stereo would sound good. Using Circle Surround with my Theta Casablanca 2 would require an additional analog-to-digital conversion step. But I tried it anyway using Circle Non-Encoded. My friend Shaun later said he saw my jaw drop! During our brief session, SACD in Circle Non-Encoded sounded better than SACD in stereo due to the naturalness of the soundfield. I just hadn't expected to be listening to SACD in Circle Surround. WOW!"

Where from here?

The upgrade bug has bitten many a person. Sometimes the bite is fatal, but other times you can fend off the little rascal. Steve is swatting at it as we speak. "I have had Internet friends ask me if I'm going to upgrade to Michael Kelly's upcoming Aerial Acoustics Model 20s or 30s for my front left and right speakers. First, the economy and stock market don't exactly allow me to spend that kind of money now. More important is the question of balance for home-theater purposes. Any time I make a change in some, but not all of my speakers, I can hear the discord or disjointedness in the sound. Home theater sounds best with equal-quality sonics in each vector; that's my experience. Now if anyone wants to give me five of those speakers, that’s a no brainer!"

So it looks like Steve is finished for now...yeah right! The bottom line is that Steve enjoys the hobby to its fullest. When he settles back in one of those leather recliners and fires up the rig, life is good. We at Home Theater & Sound know how he feels and wish him the best of luck with the Bruzonsky theater.

...Jeff Fritz
jeff@hometheatersound.com

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