Basic home audio stuffs (mbm and co.)

[shaina]

What is the part of that, shay?

Well... In my opinion sound is what your ears hear, and everyone likes what they like...
You say that they work well together, that is great , and you have the equipment to drive speakers properly
Until i have it set up in my room, i would have to wait and see how it sounds for myself before i would say they work well together
Speakers could be great!!!But What is driving them is a POS!!?? Or What he is going to broadcast could make a difference in sound??
Everything has a better chance to sound good in a sound proof room or theater built room, making something sound great in a room that you use every day is a much bigger task!!

That is what i mean, and it is not worth debating over because no one is right or wrong. In the end you have to live with what you have
Goes back to saying asking questions like that are loaded and hard to answer

I can tell you i have looked at the Atmos systems(9.2.2 )..... Good thing i am poor right now after my trip, but i think the wife would say it is loud and good enough what i have anyways(sad to say it is not my penis waking her up at night in bed)
Really.... what do broads know??

Meg...
Just to go off topic for a second....
It is that debate that taking a true BD rip of 30-70gigs and reducing/muxing it to 1-10gigs and saying that it is the same, and really no difference in sound or picture???
I am still trying to figure that one out
All i know is if i really like the movie i will download and stream/install it in the true BD rip..(no WiFi all wired in my house and i don't do it that often), and there is a huge difference in sound and picture (day and night!!)that i can see, but how many people have the sound and video equipment to notice??
Try explaining to someone when the cable company is saying they are broadcasting in 1080p it is not even close to that??
The next question is... Who really cares?? Well... At times i do..
Do you?? Do most people?? More loaded questions right??

[megabyteme]

You'd be pleasantly surprised how seamlessly the speakers mesh together. In the isolation of my dedicated room, everything is quite involving. Only when it gets shut off do you realize how much your attention was focused on the movie.

I easily spent several hundred hours looking into various bi-pole, di-pole, and regular speakers for my system, which at the time was based on a Lexicon DC-1. It was the only system utilizing 7 discreet channels at the time. Nobody, including Lexicon really knew what was the best way to make use of the sides speakers, yet alone make sides and rears work together. I auditioned an INSANE number of options.

Ultimately, I decided on these things:

-REAL movie theaters use regular speakers for their sides and rear channels

-The ability for a speaker to produce a neutral, yet dynamic range was the most important characteristic

-The goal is to envelop the listener without drawing attention to the speakers

-The tweeters needed to be mounted ABOVE the listener by 2-3 feet to eliminate most of the discernable directionality (should be diffuse, not locatable)

-There was no reason to spend $2000+ on 4 speakers that match EXACTLY since we perceive sound differently as it travels around our head (rub/snap fingers and move them from front to side to behind your head and tell me that sound is the same- it is definitely not...)

-Speakers that are too small are pathetic for this task; speakers that produce full-range are not necessary because bass should already be filling the room from sub

-All of these points were confirmed after I took the plunge and tried fairly cheap speakers. Sound improved once I upgraded to the Polks. I find no need to upgrade the sides and rears.

-Placement and setup volumes are nearly as important as the side and rear speakers themselves.

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To answer your off-topic question, Shay, I believe that a great movie can be watched on a 13" Black and White set from the 1970's with a single 4", mono speaker and still accomplish its effect.

I rarely download anything over 4GB, but I feel that is about the point of diminishing returns- even on a 102" screen, with a dedicated theater setup. Beyond that, I doubt many people would be able to score a perfect 10/10 blind comparison test performed at random, with volume and brightness level matching.

A considerable amount of the 50GB+ file size is there to combat easy piracy and distribution. Placebo effect is also quite real.

[shaina]

Lets go through a few things... But mostly i agree with you

-"REAL movie theaters use regular speakers for their sides and rear channels"
Start reading a little more on that Meg.... Atmos theatres are far from normal speakers now

And all of this sounds great for a sound proof room or a dedicated theaters in your basement, but try doing that in a bedroom or a true family room in your house, That is a whole different ballgame

As for your logic on Blu-rays and protection??
You are kind of off on your assumption that the protection takes up that much space, If you say that on a game console burnt game i would agree with you...
But when it comes to Blu-ray movies, the only thing added is a small file in the sound.. That is it!! And when you mux it you are degrading the sound file more than the Picture itself. The audio file is quite large on a Blu-ray for the reasons of true channel separation, and with a better quality sound system it is noticeable big time
Again you could take Bose speakers and there shitty non powered sub-woofer and put it in a sound proof or theater room and they sound great!!!
Put them in a bedroom or a normal room and they are not even close to the same sound....

And again that goes to what you are looking for be it quality at low levels or high levels or both...
My wife's cousin use to own a car stereo stores and mainly went after insurance claims..
To make a long story short.... He had a theater room in his basement when nobody did, and he had state of the art sony gold series amps pre amps , you name it...All in a specially built room with racks on racks of equipment, the walls were just wires in them and turned into speakers for the sides(all state of the art!!)...
He had custom foot ottomans with foot controls that were all sub-woofers, and everything was all remote, be it lighting, to screens , the whole nine yards...
I went a few times and was in heaven!!! A few years later it was collecting dust!!!(and the fucker paid nothing for any of it all given for free!!!), his kids never went downstairs either....
To me personally home theater rooms are great, but sitting in a basement no matter how fancy it is, not my cup of tea and too far from the kitchen!!
So i had to build and make my family room and bedroom my home theater rooms (have a fifth bedroom with cheaper surround in it)
If Skiz is reading and not responding to any of this
You can have lots of equipment and projectors and plasmas and UHD tvs, it is all the preference that you want and are going to use and enjoy
That is why i could never tell a person..Ya that will work together or ya those speakers will be good???
All i could say is, if i was asked what i have and do i like it?? And i would say yes. But it doesn't mean you are going to like the sound or picture right...
If he lived close and asked me to help wire it or help him with the setup?? no problem!!

I can tell you i bought most of my equipment and tv's from a friend that had a small stereo store and he custom built all the homes and cottages for the owners of Blackberry, and they were very happy and the sky was the limit!!!!
And out of recommendation i bought one of those color Pronto remotes that cost me $1,000.00(really just under with the charging stand) that is now in my basement collecting dust, and if i wanted i could go buy one of those Logitech's or harmony for $99 and it would have been just as good or better for me...
But say la vi right....

As for watching a great movie on a small screen and basic sound?? I agree with you 100%!!! , but since i do have the privilege of having a bigger tv and a half descent surround setup... What the hell right

[Skiz]

I think you should be quite happy keeping what you've got, move the 45B's to the rear channels, and get those 70/75's. The center channel should be quite compatible soundwise to the new fronts.

The subwoofer would still be fine, its bass output would not be as necessary once the 70/75's were in your system.

Refresh my memory- what did you end up with for a receiver? How big is your new room? Were you using rear channel speakers before?

I hadn't really considered that but it sounds like a good idea. I think I'll hold off then on buying some of that until I'm ready to do it all at once. I'm looking to swap out the 46" tv that I have right now with a new 60" and buy the Monitor 70's at the same time. (new monitor has set me back quite a bit )

Receiver is a Yamaha RX-V375 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B981F38)

The new living room area is a rectangular basement room right at 30' x 12' and we'll be watching the tv from about 9-10 ft away across the short side.

No rear channel before. It was solely running on the speakers I mentioned before: 2 fronts, center, sub.

[shaina]

I think you should be quite happy keeping what you've got, move the 45B's to the rear channels, and get those 70/75's. The center channel should be quite compatible soundwise to the new fronts.

The subwoofer would still be fine, its bass output would not be as necessary once the 70/75's were in your system.

Refresh my memory- what did you end up with for a receiver? How big is your new room? Were you using rear channel speakers before?

I hadn't really considered that but it sounds like a good idea. I think I'll hold off then on buying some of that until I'm ready to do it all at once. I'm looking to swap out the 46" tv that I have right now with a new 60" and buy the Monitor 70's at the same time. (new monitor has set me back quite a bit )
Receiver is a Yamaha RX-V375 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B981F38)
The new living room area is a rectangular basement room right at 30' x 12' and we'll be watching the tv from about 9-10 ft away across the short side.
No rear channel before. It was solely running on the speakers I mentioned before: 2 fronts, center, sub.

May i ask why you never connected rear speakers??

Reason being, the rear speakers didn't have to be the greatest , but it would have taken the void out of the sound effects. Saying that, any reasonable speakers you had lying around would have sufficed for rears at the time
Plus some amps will give an error or just won't switch into Digital modes because it is not reading connections of the proper amount of speakers connected..(Will sit in a fake/mock Pro Logic mode and put void sound through speakers not intended for the sound effect)..
Some people that can't wire them because of the obstructions in the room, so they just use wireless rear setup so the Amp recognizes the proper connections and uses the proper channel switching needed for the sound....
Just some suggestions Skiz......

[Skiz]

I hadn't really considered that but it sounds like a good idea. I think I'll hold off then on buying some of that until I'm ready to do it all at once. I'm looking to swap out the 46" tv that I have right now with a new 60" and buy the Monitor 70's at the same time. (new monitor has set me back quite a bit )
Receiver is a Yamaha RX-V375 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B981F38)
The new living room area is a rectangular basement room right at 30' x 12' and we'll be watching the tv from about 9-10 ft away across the short side.
No rear channel before. It was solely running on the speakers I mentioned before: 2 fronts, center, sub.

May i ask why you never connected rear speakers??

Reason being, the rear speakers didn't have to be the greatest , but it would have taken the void out of the sound effects. Saying that, any reasonable speakers you had lying around would have sufficed for rears at the time
Plus some amps will give an error or just won't switch into Digital modes because it is not reading connections of the proper amount of speakers connected..(Will sit in a fake/mock Pro Logic mode and put void sound through speakers not intended for the sound effect)..
Some people that can't wire them because of the obstructions in the room, so they just use wireless rear setup so the Amp recognizes the proper connections and uses the proper channel switching needed for the sound....
Just some suggestions Skiz......

Multiple reasons. 1) I'm not sure that I care about surround sound, even now. 2) It was a rental house and the living room was small and didn't really have a proper setup for surround. 3) Again, being a rental, I didn't want to buy any major purchases for that house and then have buyers remorse if I wanted something different in a new house a year later.

No void in sound effects. I went through the receiver setup and pointed everything to the speakers I had connected.

[megabyteme]

A solid, seamless wall of sound is the most important. Setup properly, the rears (and sides) can add extra dimension and immersion. Done poorly, it is irritating.

[shaina]

A solid, seamless wall of sound is the most important. Setup properly, the rears (and sides) can add extra dimension and immersion. Done poorly, it is irritating.

To a point.... As rears are sound effects not voice...(remember he has 5.1 amp not 7.1... hens no sides needed at this point in time), but having no rears is better regardless if they are just medium level speakers ??? Having a void in sound or having the sound reverted to other channels is worse in my opinion ...
Spending large amounts of money on rear speakers in not necessary.... But having none, you might as well just buy a sound bar
What ever you think ....
You are the Guru Pitka
Good luck Meg...

[QUOTE=Skiz;3779493]

Multiple reasons. 1) I'm not sure that I care about surround sound, even now. 2) It was a rental house and the living room was small and didn't really have a proper setup for surround. 3) Again, being a rental, I didn't want to buy any major purchases for that house and then have buyers remorse if I wanted something different in a new house a year later.
No void in sound effects. I went through the receiver setup and pointed everything to the speakers I had connected.

Reverting sound/channels is the same as a void, meaning the effect is not broadcasted in the room where it is supposed to be, changing settings on the amp is not going to change that...Up to you...
As for not making any big purchases for the rental was really smart Skiz...Room settings may change what you really want in the end
But it still makes no sense why you didn't at least buy reasonable bookshelf speakers for the rear?? The comment i said before, you may want all new stuff for the man cave, and you could have used the equipment you have now in a different room...
And a size of a room means nothing when it comes to surround sound, you build the sound for the room regardless what room it is...
And if you say you are not that interested ?? Why ask?? I guess the answer to that may be the excitement of the new house and all

I think you are in good hands With Meg...
Congrats on the new home

[megabyteme]

Skiz is actually quite smart with his purchases. Never seen him just waste money- even the speakers he was/is considering selling he'd get half his money back out.

I say just move those former fronts to the rears, add the 70/75's and enjoy. Nothing wasted; nice system built.

[Skiz]

But it still makes no sense why you didn't at least buy reasonable bookshelf speakers for the rear?? The comment i said before, you may want all new stuff for the man cave, and you could have used the equipment you have now in a different room...
And a size of a room means nothing when it comes to surround sound, you build the sound for the room regardless what room it is...
And if you say you are not that interested ?? Why ask??

You don't listen very well do you?

Yes, I suppose that if I really wanted to I could have put in rear speakers. I could have run some wiring up a 15 ft wall to the top of a vaulted ceiling, across the living room, and split to two speakers. I could have put in bug ugly brackets to hang rear speakers from that would have been suspended in a really odd place and looked stupid as fk all for some rear sound effects for the half dozen movies I watched in that room over 3 years. It was a small, temporary rental place and we had no place for side tables or stands. Trust me, there was no place for them without it looking awful. Plus, the missus would have had none of that shit on the ceiling.

And I didn't ask. I said I was considering getting the Monitor 70's and selling the rest to get back to a 2.0 system.