Good Floorstanding Home Theatre Setup. - Page 2

neutralizer · 22nd June 2008, 5:06 PM

Well went and had a look at Pymble Hifi and was to be honest less than impressed. Spoke to Borris, nice guy but way to much of a 'believer' in all the bullshit for my taste. Had a listen to some speakers, the only ones that to sounded like what we were after were 16K so we're going to keep looking.

Pretty much decided to go with two separate amps; one for stereo with 2 nice floor standing speakers. And then a separate 5.1 amp with a separate 5.1 speaker set.

We'll probably just get a comparatively small HT setup as the room its going in has some odd dimensions that make it difficult to place the two big fronts (which we want for stereo) even vaguely near where they need to be for 5.1. As such we concluded its better just two have to separate systems. A small and comparatively mobile HT setup (possibly wall mounts or bookshelf type things) is what we'll likely have to use for the TV 5.1.

Will look into Monitor, Krix and Klipsch.

THE D · 22nd June 2008, 6:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stooge007

these towers have twin 8" mids with a horn tweeter. to me, they sound really nice with the Onkyo.

if you hit up Harvey Norman, you may be able to get that same combo for around the $5k mark, go have a listen

No such thing as 8 inch midrange drivers, they would have to be mid/woofer drivers and would not trust Harvey Norman as far as I could throw them.

To the OP.....
Don't buy two amps, most 5.1 (or more) receivers over $1000 are just as good as most 2 channel amps. Also, good receivers have stuff like the audyssey EQ room correction system built in.

Don't waste money on buying two sets of speakers, just find fronts you like and then buy the matching center and surrounds (never buy the center and surrounds from a different maker than the fronts, its also best if you get them from the same range).

On the other hand, the sub does not need to come from the same maker at all.

neutralizer · 22nd June 2008, 6:18 PM

Hi mate,

I know exactly where your coming from but we have one essential problem. The only spot we can put the two main floor standing speakers (which will be the 2 stereo speakers and the Front Left/Right of a 5.1 setup) won't fit near where the TV is. I realise its hard to understand why this situation can't be helped, but take my word for it, there is only one position in the room where these two speakers can go and the TV isn't anywhere near them in fact its the other end of the room.

So basically we have to keep these separate unless we want really unbalanced 5.1 where the two main speakers that we would want to use for stereo our the ones outputting the Rear Left/Right of the surround which would be weird with pissy little front left/rights which is all that will fit near the TV.

The reason for the layout problems is two doorways, stairs and fireplace causing all sorts of problems.

THE D · 22nd June 2008, 7:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neutralizer

Hi mate,

I know exactly where your coming from but we have one essential problem. The only spot we can put the two main floor standing speakers (which will be the 2 stereo speakers and the Front Left/Right of a 5.1 setup) won't fit near where the TV is. I realise its hard to understand why this situation can't be helped, but take my word for it, there is only one position in the room where these two speakers can go and the TV isn't anywhere near them in fact its the other end of the room.

So basically we have to keep these separate unless we want really unbalanced 5.1 where the two main speakers that we would want to use for stereo our the ones outputting the Rear Left/Right of the surround which would be weird with pissy little front left/rights which is all that will fit near the TV.

The reason for the layout problems is two doorways, stairs and fireplace causing all sorts of problems.

Hmm...... what size are you thinking of for the 5.1 speakers?

Because you could just buy some good bookshelf (aka. standmount) speakers which you could use instead of big floorstanding speakers because you will have a sub anyway (the only real reason to go floorstanders over standmounts is because most good standmounts only go down to 40 (odd) hz, but because you have a sub it won't matter)

Btw I am not talking about tiny sat + sub systems (the ones you get in big box stores).

Zee · 23rd June 2008, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neutralizer

Well went and had a look at Pymble Hifi and was to be honest less than impressed. Spoke to Borris, nice guy but way to much of a 'believer' in all the bullshit for my taste...

Shame, I'll have to kick his arse next time I see him. Maybe he goes into "non believer" mode when he talks to me, 'coz he knows I'll pull the BS flag.

Oh well, at least you saw a few other things you are not likely to see elsewhere.

Z...

Stooge007 · 23rd June 2008, 8:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE D

No such thing as 8 inch midrange drivers, they would have to be mid/woofer drivers and would not trust Harvey Norman as far as I could throw them.

mid - mid/woofer = potato - pota(h)to

and sure, there are some dodgy HN salesmen, but in my experience, if you know what you want already (having auditioned the potential gear), then HN are normally quite good for price negotiations, especially when the Klipsch F3 pack retails at $4k and the Onkyo 875 retails for $3k + (yes, i know street prices are way less than that, but anyway).

neutralizer · 23rd June 2008, 8:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zee

Shame, I'll have to kick his arse next time I see him. Maybe he goes into "non believer" mode when he talks to me, 'coz he knows I'll pull the BS flag.

Oh well, at least you saw a few other things you are not likely to see elsewhere.

Z...

Yeah horses for courses, is the conclusion I'm reaching when it comes to audio gear. My sticking point is I'm just not willing to pay more for something that's supposedly technically better unless I can hear the difference...
$40,000 dollar cabling and shit does not do anything to impress me

Luke212 · 23rd June 2008, 9:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neutralizer

Yeah horses for courses, is the conclusion I'm reaching when it comes to audio gear. My sticking point is I'm just not willing to pay more for something that's supposedly technically better unless I can hear the difference...
$40,000 dollar cabling and shit does not do anything to impress me

7.1 receiver + power amps. cant be happier.

i would disagree with people saying $1000 receivers can power hi end speakers. double your power, double your performance. the numbers arent there with an integrated system.

THE D · 23rd June 2008, 9:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luke212

7.1 receiver + power amps. cant be happier.

i would disagree with people saying $1000 receivers can power hi end speakers. double your power, double your performance. the numbers arent there with an integrated system.

What the hell are you talking about?

http://hometheatermag.com/receivers/...75/index2.html
That is some very good measurements don't you think?

Also it looks like you don't even know that 2x the power will only get you a few db more volume and with most speakers giving about 90 db at 1 watt @ one meter, you would not need much more power to get a volume which will wreak your ears in a matter of Mins.

Luke212 · 23rd June 2008, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE D

What the hell are you talking about?

http://hometheatermag.com/receivers/...75/index2.html
That is some very good measurements don't you think?

Also it looks like you don't even know that 2x the power will only get you a few db more volume and with most speakers giving about 90 db at 1 watt @ one meter, you would not need much more power to get a volume which will wreak your ears in a matter of Mins.

theyre good measurements, but you want to be running 200W-300W per channel not 82W 5channel and 60W full channel

there is a volume knob on the processor. why would you want to operate at ear bleeding volumes?

THE D · 23rd June 2008, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luke212

theyre good measurements, but you want to be running 200W-300W per channel not 82W 5channel and 60W full channel

there is a volume knob on the processor. why would you want to operate at ear bleeding volumes?

What?????
Why would you need more watts if you are not going to use them by turning up the volume.

Let me guess...... you think that higher max rated watts = better even when you are not turning up the volume (aka. not using them).

Zee · 23rd June 2008, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE D

Let me guess...... you think that higher max rated watts = better even when you are not turning up the volume (aka. not using them).

Actually, I tend to find that the amps that tend to offer the higher rating, say 200W rms/channel, also tend to be built with better components.

I have never heard my bookshelves sound better than when powered by a 400w/ch Sunfire amp.

Having said that, I have heard quite a few 20w/ch power amps kick the butt of supposedly 100w/ch home theater receivers.

Z..

THE D · 23rd June 2008, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zee

Actually, I tend to find that the amps that tend to offer the higher rating, say 200W rms/channel, also tend to be built with better components.

I have never heard my bookshelves sound better than when powered by a 400w/ch Sunfire amp.

Having said that, I have heard quite a few 20w/ch power amps kick the butt of supposedly 100w/ch home theater receivers.

Z..

The measurements are the only thing which matters.

What I linked to has very good measurements, so at least SQ wise it is very good.

Do you have anything to backup your calms?

Luke212 · 23rd June 2008, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE D

The measurements are the only thing which matters.

What I linked to has very good measurements, so at least SQ wise it is very good.

Do you have anything to backup your calms?

no measurements are not everything. mosfet amps sound different to bjt amps as a glaring example.

SCorpion2 · 23rd June 2008, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE D

The measurements are the only thing which matters.

What I linked to has very good measurements, so at least SQ wise it is very good.

Do you have anything to backup your calms?

yer, i've seen 600w amps struggle to drive a single sub.

they weren't clipping, but the tops of the peaks became fuzzy indicating that the power supply side of things was struggling. in this particular case there wasn't enough capacitance on the power rails and it was simply running out of puff.

we dont buy headroom because it makes us feel all warm on the inside, and it has nothing to do with increasing SPL.

so measurements be damned if u dont know how to use them.

22nd June 2008, 5:06 PM	#16
neutralizer Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sydney, Northern Beaches Posts: 1,390	Well went and had a look at Pymble Hifi and was to be honest less than impressed. Spoke to Borris, nice guy but way to much of a 'believer' in all the bullshit for my taste. Had a listen to some speakers, the only ones that to sounded like what we were after were 16K so we're going to keep looking. Pretty much decided to go with two separate amps; one for stereo with 2 nice floor standing speakers. And then a separate 5.1 amp with a separate 5.1 speaker set. We'll probably just get a comparatively small HT setup as the room its going in has some odd dimensions that make it difficult to place the two big fronts (which we want for stereo) even vaguely near where they need to be for 5.1. As such we concluded its better just two have to separate systems. A small and comparatively mobile HT setup (possibly wall mounts or bookshelf type things) is what we'll likely have to use for the TV 5.1. Will look into Monitor, Krix and Klipsch. Last edited by neutralizer; 22nd June 2008 at 5:08 PM.

22nd June 2008, 6:18 PM	#18
neutralizer Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sydney, Northern Beaches Posts: 1,390	Hi mate, I know exactly where your coming from but we have one essential problem. The only spot we can put the two main floor standing speakers (which will be the 2 stereo speakers and the Front Left/Right of a 5.1 setup) won't fit near where the TV is. I realise its hard to understand why this situation can't be helped, but take my word for it, there is only one position in the room where these two speakers can go and the TV isn't anywhere near them in fact its the other end of the room. So basically we have to keep these separate unless we want really unbalanced 5.1 where the two main speakers that we would want to use for stereo our the ones outputting the Rear Left/Right of the surround which would be weird with pissy little front left/rights which is all that will fit near the TV. The reason for the layout problems is two doorways, stairs and fireplace causing all sorts of problems. Last edited by neutralizer; 22nd June 2008 at 6:20 PM.