My Phantom voyage

[ragwo]

So, next up; proof of concept. Would my plan work? When I bought the preamplifier I forgot to check if it was HDMI ARC compatible. Well, it's ancient, so it isn't. The solution would be the toslink output of the TV but then lipsync could be a problem. Thankfully there were no problems even with the processing of the sound, the AD-conversion and the Phantom inherent latency. With DOS1 the Phantom latency on the optical input fluctuated from approximately 100 ms to almost 500 ms, with DOS2 it's steady 60 ms. I do love progress.
A picture of the initial test. 
   

Testing in progress, the Gold's are mounted.
   

My wife is very understanding and patient with my numerous HiFi escapades, but there's one mutual understanding between us; we shall never make a hole in our lovely aspen wall. That makes mounting the surround speakers a challenge. There's no room for ordinary stands, the roof is also made of the untouchable aspen and the Phantoms are unfortunately not self levitating. What to do?
A visit to the local metal shop was the answer. A sketch on a post it turned out as this after a couple of days.
   

Do pay attention to the extra weights. With the Phantoms attached the stands would be quite top heavy and really wobbly. As I made no calculations of weight distribution etc. beforehand, it was more than exciting to try it out for the first time. Don't pay attention to the clutter in the background. The tidy pictures will come later. 
   

It worked! No nose dive from 2 meters height for the Silver Phantom. By the way, I'm using the mounting bracket from a Gecko to attach the Phantom.