Home theater using ONLY phantom speakers

[curban]

I have tried this with some success using a (€100) AD converter. It worked well with a pair of golds. I have since bought an ARCH and will try do the same over a network connection (no wires across the floor). I have wired ethernet on ”both sides of the room”. This allows the Phantoms to be used both in home cinema and for playing music. If it works well, I will get more ARCHes to be able to build a complete system with multiple channels.

I have tried this using one ARCH now (don't buy them all at once...) and it worked fine. I'll get another ARCH and try the other channels now. The sound, compared to my old setup with "normal" speakers, was unbelievable.

I have today received my second ARCH. It was a bit fiddly to install (first one was easy). I use one for the L/R front, and one for L/R back/surround. I currently have no center speaker. I must say that the sound is now even better, and I'm very glad to have made this switch from "normal" speakers, multiple amps and subwoofer. The amp/processor has of course been set to not send a signal to the non-existent center speaker.

In short I have gone from using Amphion speakers as front/center/back et c, with each channel having a separate subwoofer (5 of them) to using four Phantoms (no center). My daughter (17) and I quickly viewed some central scenes in movies we like (Gladiator, Star Wars VII, Top Gun Maverick, Desolation of Smaug). From a 5.5 system to a 4.4 if you will.

I set the delays of the ARCH to the lowest value and there is no detectable problem with lip sync, sound effects, et c. Since these are also lower than previous setup, my projector can now show the picture slightly lower on the wall (no speakers or amps in the way) causing a slightly better viewing angle. This was an unexpected side effect. Had I not made the switch I would have hidden the amps and placed the old speakers a wee bit lower in order to attain the same effect.

It's a bit unfortunate that the new speakers don't support ARCH. But I'm happy now. I might add some picture later.

I now have plenty of Amphion speakers (very good!) and five subwoofers for sale. :-)