Home Theater surround sound setup advice needed

[Tim Morton]

i use the harmony 880...without that i would be LOST...good luck, and another really good movie and one that has lots of great sound effects is "children of men".

enjoy...sounds like you are well on your way...and i cant wait to see the pics!!

[Larry Browning]

Ok, here are the pictures.
100_1810.jpg100_1816.jpg100_1814.jpg100_1813.jpg100_1808.jpg100_1818.jpg

[Tim Morton]

very nice larry....where is the subwoofer? And how did you decide to finish the surround install? They look like they belong there...

[Larry Browning]

The sub didn't get here until yesterday. I installed it last night. It really changed the sound quite a bit! Everything has a much richer sound now. I haven't taken any pictures of that yet, but I will. Maybe tonight. I am planning of setting up a Picasa web album. I will let you know when I get that setup.
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell what I did with the surround install. I found small packs of 2" bat fiberglass insulation at HD. I overlapped 2 pieces of that over the hole before installing the speakers. After the speakers were installed I went back into the attic and covered the bats with the blown in stuff. The only mishap was that I lost one of my favorite screwdrivers in the attic. I guess it fell out of my tool belt and into the abyss of fluffy insulation, never to be seen again.

[Larry Browning]

I created a Picasa web album with some better pictures here

[bill schmoott]

Well Mr. Browning as you can see there are more differing opinions on AV gear than there are the pros and cons of Griz vs. PM. It seems AV people are quicker to stab and jab than the debate between ROS and scraping/planing. Some on this thread have cheered yes, yes, while others have jeered, no, no. The important thing is what? That you enjoy the new toys. What I would suggest, now that you have the system set up is to enjoy it. Watch some movies, listen to the oldies like I do. When you are not woodworking, try getting those speakers out of the entertainment center and moving them further apart. Build some stands for them, slap in your favorite cd and see what kind of sound quality you can achieve. If money permits, maybe get some ear level rears, or a second sub. Most important Rock on Mr. Browning , Rock on!! Oh, and I +1 on the Saving Private Ryan. Rock on!!.jpg

[Tim Morton]

Well Mr. Browning as you can see there are more differing opinions on AV gear than there are the pros and cons of Griz vs. PM. It seems AV people are quicker to stab and jab than the debate between ROS and scraping/planing. Some on this thread have cheered yes, yes, while others have jeered, no, no. The important thing is what? That you enjoy the new toys. What I would suggest, now that you have the system set up is to enjoy it. Watch some movies, listen to the oldies like I do. When you are not woodworking, try getting those speakers out of the entertainment center and moving them further apart. Build some stands for them, slap in your favorite cd and see what kind of sound quality you can achieve. If money permits, maybe get some ear level rears, or a second sub. Most important Rock on Mr. Browning , Rock on!! Oh, and I +1 on the Saving Private Ryan. Rock on!!.jpg

bill is that a "funky wave" sub?

[bill schmoott]

bill is that a "funky wave" sub?

Paradigm Sub15........flanked by Studio 110 v.5, I have the studio 20 not shown as surrounds. Anthem MCA 30, OPPO, and PS3.......It has been a very enjoyable setup so far. Oh, the dresser I made about 10years ago and the stand to the right about the same. My neighbor swears the base cracked his foundation....lol

[Larry Browning]

When you are not woodworking, try getting those speakers out of the entertainment center and moving them further apart. Build some stands for them, slap in your favorite cd and see what kind of sound quality you can achieve. If money permits, maybe get some ear level rears, or a second sub.

Well, this is not going to happen. Mrs. B. only agreed to all of this if I would hide those "ugly" speakers. You cannot imagine what I went through to get permission to install the ceiling speakers, not to mention the sub that is visible. About the only thing I might be able to get away with is to build a raised platform for TV to sit on so that the center speaker be placed under it to be a true "center" speaker, instead of an "off center" speaker. But that is going to be down the road it bit.

Oh, one mere thing. Saving Private Ryan was on TV yesterday and I watched the opening battle scene. It was pretty good. But I also noticed that the surround effect is not as good on broadcast TV as it is on a DVD or Blu-ray even though it shows that it is being broadcast in 5.1. Is that normal?

[bill schmoott]

Well, this is not going to happen. Mrs. B. only agreed to all of this if I would hide those "ugly" speakers. You cannot imagine what I went through to get permission to install the ceiling speakers, not to mention the sub that is visible. About the only thing I might be able to get away with is to build a raised platform for TV to sit on so that the center speaker be placed under it to be a true "center" speaker, instead of an "off center" speaker. But that is going to be down the road it bit.

Oh, one mere thing. Saving Private Ryan was on TV yesterday and I watched the opening battle scene. It was pretty good. But I also noticed that the surround effect is not as good on broadcast TV as it is on a DVD or Blu-ray even though it shows that it is being broadcast in 5.1. Is that normal?

Well then, just enjoy it the way you have it. Entertainment center looks great.
I have watched several movies "broadcast" and on Blue-Ray. I agree, the TV Broadcast is not as good as a DVD or blue-ray, regardless of the way it is claimed to be Broadcast. Probably has something to do with the loss of signal.
Good luck

[Tim Morton]

Oh, one mere thing. Saving Private Ryan was on TV yesterday and I watched the opening battle scene. It was pretty good. But I also noticed that the surround effect is not as good on broadcast TV as it is on a DVD or Blu-ray even though it shows that it is being broadcast in 5.1. Is that normal?

i have found that comcast and now direct TV have pretty lousy sound...dish network used to have pretty awesome sound, almost as good as dvd and BD. IMO HD-DVD kills all for SQ.

[Tim Morton]

Hi Larry...if you are still seeign this thread...i wanted to show you something i am working on. I am upgrading my subwoofer. I currently was running a pair of 12" subs and am upgrading to a Mach 5 Audio IXL 18" driver...check out the comparison between the 12" drive i currently own, and the new cutout for the 18". Its scary big!!

[Sean Nagle]

Tim, that is a seriously big driver. What amp will you be driving it with? It seems to require a good amount of power, especially if the VCs are wired in series. What size is the box? Sealed?

Very fun. I'll be interested in your evaluation.

What 12's are you currently running?

[Tim Morton]

Tim, that is a seriously big driver. What amp will you be driving it with? It seems to require a good amount of power, especially if the VCs are wired in series. What size is the box? Sealed?

Very fun. I'll be interested in your evaluation.

What 12's are you currently running?

currently using some ACI (audio concepts) SV12's i picked up when they went out of business last year. I will wire the 18" in series and am using and elemental design LT/1300 so it will get over 1000 watts.

The box will be 6.75 cu ft ported and tuned to 19hz.

The driver is still undergoing final testing so is not yet available to be purchased...it will be an upgrade to the IXL 18.2. This should give me plenty of time to finish the box.

[Sean Nagle]

That's going to be some sub. A pair of those would would do some serious structural damage.

Thanks for bringing the Elemental Designs plate amp to my attention. I've bought sub drivers for my car from them before. I didn't realize they also sold HT plate amps, and 1300W amps at that! That will definitely be plenty for that driver.

So the Mach 5 Audio IXL 18" driver isn't generally available yet?