Chris Boylan and Son - why cloning is and should remain... illegal.

Big Picture Big Sound co-founder Chris Boylan fell in love with music at an early age and discovered the joys and obsessions of hi-fi audio shortly thereafter. At age 6, he was convinced that his sister's plastic battery-operated portable record player was the best music reproduction system known to man. At age 6 1/2, he began experimenting with an acoustic isolation platform made entirely of Silly Putty to tweak the sound. Around this time, his parents also bought him his first set of drums so they could get their pots and pans back.

In the early 1980s, Chris' passion for film naturally led him to the wonders of home theater, which back then meant a Hifi VCR, a huge 25 inch TV, a receiver, 4 speakers, and an outboard Dolby Surround Sound decoder hooked into the receiver's tape loop. Chris was an enthusiastic fan and owner of the original Yamaha DSP1 - the first true home theater processor that also happened to be packed with cheesy multi-channel surround modes. Chris admits he took guilty pleasure in his misspent youth, playing punk music through the DSP1's "Cathedral" setting.

Boylan's musical taste is as eclectic as his system, spanning from modern and classic rock, to jazz, to electronica, to orchestral music and even opera. "There's nothing like Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen, followed by the Mobile Fidelity Ultradisc of Rush 2112, with a dab of Kraftwerk thrown in to put a system through its paces." As far as films, Boylan's tastes run toward Science Fiction, Fantasy and Adventure with a fondness for directors who see things a bit differently, like Luc Besson, David Fincher and Peter Jackson.

Chris' musical adventures have included STATIC 13 - a hard rock band that released two albums, managed to get some college airplay but never paid the bills, so he turned to other more lucrative pursuits. His professional background in the consumer electronics industry began in 1988 with a sales gig at Hifi Buys in Atlanta, Georgia. He moved to New York City in 1990 to marry his college sweetheart, and began contributing to Enjoy The Music Magazine in 2001 as a travelling show reporter and equipment reviewer.

His views are not always popular, but he always does his best to tell it like it is. Chris launched Big Picture Big Sound with partner-in-crime and film maven Joe Lozito in 2005.

• View Chris' articles on Big Picture Big Sound
• E-mail Chris Boylan

Current Reference System:

Source Components:

• Sony DHG-HDD500 High Definition DVR
• DISH Network ViP722 HD DVR
• Toshiba HD-XA2 HD-DVD Player
• Sony PlayStation 3 Blu-Ray Disc Player
• Samsung BD-P2500 Blu-ray player
• Systemdek IIx turntable with Rega arm and Linn K-9 cartridge
• Sony ES DTC-59ES DAT recorder
• Pioneer Elite DV-47Ai DVD player (DVD-Audio, SACD)
• Panasonic DMR-E100H DVD/Hard Drive Recorder
• Sony ES TCK-707ES Cassette Deck
• Pioneer Elite PDR-W37 CD Recorder
• JVC SR-V10U S-VHS VCR

Preamp/Processor:

• Integra DTC-9.8

Amplifiers:

• Conrad-Johnson Premier 11a stereo tube amp
• Marantz AV500 Monoblocks (X3)

Loudspeakers:

• Martin Logan Aerius (Front Left/Right)
• Martin Logan Cinema i (Center Channel)
• Martin Logan Fresco (surrounds)
• Outlaw Audio LFM-1 Subwoofer (x2)

Video Display:

• Panasonic TH-46PZ800U Plasma HDTV

Other accessories and tweaks:

• Adcom Line Enhancer ACE-515
• Little Sorbothane feet thingies under several source components
• Radio Shack Ferrite RF Chokes around power cables and some interconnects

Secondary Home Theater System:

Source Components:

• Toshiba HD-XA1 HD-DVD Player
• Pioneer DV-563a DVD player (DVD-Audio, SACD)
• Samsung SIRT351 HDTV Receiver (Set Top Box)
• Pioneer CLD-D604 Laserdisc Player
• Pioneer DVR-640H-S DVD Recorder/PVR

Receiver:

• Onkyo TX-SR605 Home Theater Receiver

Loudspeakers:

• NHT SuperOne (Front L/R)
• NHT Super Center
• NHT SuperZero (Rear and Side Surrounds)
• NHT SW2P Subwoofer

Video Monitor:

• (variable)