Home "theaters"

Evan Kirkendall

Evan Kirkendall

Senior
Jan 10, 2011
903
4
18
Abingdon, MD
www.harfordsound.com
Well, now that I'm home full time, my old home stereo setup leaves me wanting more... And, I'm sure whatever I end up with next will leave me wanting more in a year or so, but until then........


I'm looking for a 5.1 system. I don't really care, but the woman does. So, I'm thinking about going down 2 roads here...


Option 1:

Buy a receiver and some surrounds, and build the main L/R/sub combo. Nothing I couldn't knock out in a few days during the slow season. But, that puzzles me- what kind of combo do I go for? I have plenty of amps and DSP laying around, so thats no issue. Anyone have favored HF drivers? Woofers? Size? Ect?

Recommended receivers? Surrounds?


Option 2:

Buy a complete package: this is the "Easy" way out. But, if theres something already awesome out there, I might as well just buy it. Suggestions?



Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! :lol: :lol:




Thanks!

Evan
 
Re: Home "theaters"

Budget?

I just went the lazy/cheap route - Samsung 51", mount, Onkyo HTIB, couple cables, and a few hours install. Under $800 grand total.

Every dollar spent is a dollar less for the dream system, Danley SM speakers with DTS-10 subs, hence the super low cost.
 
Re: Home "theaters"

Evan Kirkendall said:
Anyone have favored HF drivers? Woofers? Size? Ect?
Click to expand...

Not sure I would say favored, but I just built a set of L/R speakers for a Christmas present using the BEMA 5in coax. The passive network was pretty easy, and they sound great. I'm still not sure what the magic is to make a great sounding center channel. All of the off-the-shelf ones which I've really loved were made with 2in mids and some type of dome tweeter.

Mark
 
Re: Home "theaters"

It really depends on what you are looking for from a HT system.

Is it for "general usage"? If so-then having a center channel with great clarity is important for regular TV-like news etc.

Or is it for "getting the most out of action movies"? If that is the case-then be prepared to spend some serious money. I know some HT guys have upwards of 60KW worth of power and tons of subs etc. They fill up whole walls.

How low do you really want to go? There are many out there with systems flat to below 10Hz and loud.

Now that may be a bit on the extreme end-but the term "home theatre" means VERY different things to different people.
 
Re: Home "theaters"

I just do a Left, Center, Right, Sub with some old Klipsh speakers and a Event 20/20 Sub (way more power than needed) I use a Harmon Kardon receiver getting the optical out of my LG LCD Tv. Its wife friendly and sounds pretty darn good. We don't have any surrounds because I broke them during our last move :(

I tell my friends to just go on Craigslist to find some stuff, there's always a bunch of good stuff cheap.
 
JTR, danley and Seaton sound offer some if the best home theater performance of "off the shelf" gear.

If you don't wantto go to that extreme there are many options. Generally speaking you get the most bang for your buck from internet direct offerings vs big box stores. Companies like HSU Research, Aperion, Sierra acoustics, Salk sound (some of the best custom finishes to match your decore) , Emotiva, svs audio, etc.

If none if that matters then get whatever sounds good and pleases your wallet.

Or build your own. There are several DIY websites and forums for home theater.
 
Re: Home "theaters"

I haven't messed with this recently but back in the '80s I used to sell a surround sound decoder (based on analog delay line). The matrix was pretty simple. Front left and right were stock. The mono center channel (if used) was L + R. The rear channel was also mono but L-R. There was also some delay added into the rear channel, so your ears would receive loud sounds from the front speakers before the rear speakers and perceive the sound and action as being in front of you localized on the screen. The whole idea is for the rear speakers to be sonically invisible, so your brain perceives those rear sounds as environmental, not discrete sources.

Modern mutli-channel surround systems probably use logic to enhance separation, and maybe even discrete channels, but the simple L-R surround matrix worked nicely even with simple stereo music.

JR

PS: I've heard some poorly handled movie soundtracks (on local TV) sound silly, when the mixed hard left & opposite polarity hard right surround channel special effects explosions mostly cancelled out when the program was dumped out as summed together mono for broadcast. :-(
 
Re: Home "theaters"

Tony Williams said:
I tell my friends to just go on Craigslist to find some stuff, there's always a bunch of good stuff cheap.
Click to expand...

x2. I picked up a B&K Reference pre for peanuts a couple years back - tons of I/O (XLR outputs) and plenty of functions to do a good home theater. It seems that the folks that turn over high end audio equipment like that just want to get rid of it to get the next big thing.

As long as your L/C/R speakers are similarly voiced, you'll be good to go.
 
Re: Home "theaters"

If the L and R speakers are close to the screen there may not need to even be a C speaker. Generally the C speaker is to localize dialog at the screen, and for wimpy systems to add some LF response that doesn't need to be localized anywhere.

JR
 
Re: Home "theaters"

For a front end to your system you may want to consider a preamp from Sherbourn. They have a pretty screaming deal going on right now to get rid of their old stock.

I currently have a Harmon Kardon AVR-354 for the living room and the similar HK AVR-254 for my bedroom. If I were looking to replace them, I'd definitely be snapping up these Sherbourn products, they have lots of I/O and certain models feature XLR outputs.
 
Re: Home "theaters"

What are your goals (taking into account the "woman's" wishes)? Do you (does she) want a simple, all-in-one system? Do you want it to be inconspicuous?

The two most important factors for my girlfriend are aesthetics and sound. She also likes the idea of a small integrated system, but was turned off by the idea if the blu-ray player developed a problem or if just the amp developed a problem the entire unit would be unserviceable. Some of the speakers in the package deals cannot be ordered separately should one fail. Or the models turn over so fast that they stop making them.

We opted for a separate receiver and Klipsch speaker package with sub. It was on a close out and sounded the best to our ears out of all the pre-packaged speaker systems. Visually appealing. Check. Great sound. Check. Very small footprint. Check. $400 discount. Check. Neither she nor I need rock concert sound. I already get that with my band. However, this system will provide nice sound for the home theater and when she connects other sources to it.
 
Re: Home "theaters"

John Roberts said:
I haven't messed with this recently but back in the '80s I used to sell a surround sound decoder (based on analog delay line). The matrix was pretty simple. Front left and right were stock. The mono center channel (if used) was L + R. The rear channel was also mono but L-R. There was also some delay added into the rear channel, so your ears would receive loud sounds from the front speakers before the rear speakers and perceive the sound and action as being in front of you localized on the screen. The whole idea is for the rear speakers to be sonically invisible, so your brain perceives those rear sounds as environmental, not discrete sources.
Click to expand...

Reminds me of the Fosgate Audionics DSL. My first foray home surround sound was with some of those products. Most HTIB and "Future Circuit" gear on the floor is more about compromise than quality.

When I had my A/V store, my home theater was an revolving door of products from B&W, Paradigm, Bag End and the like. Since closing, it's remained with a pair of Bag End Infrasub 18s and Paradigm Monitor Series for the rest of it. As Bennett eluded, never skimp on the center channel. It's where most of the sound comes from and timbre matching when sounds are panned through L-C-R can mean sonic difference between a Harley driving across and a Harley-moped-Harley.
 
Re: Home "theaters"

Evan,

If your wallet permits, you won't be disappointed.

Barefoot Sound

None of their speakers are cheap, but absolutely fantastic, and they will hold resale value well.

VOID will back me up on this one. Sadly my wallet does not currently permit, but if that ever changes, I know what I want.

However, I would also suggest demoing as much product as you can. As much as each of us can make recommendations, tastes and expectations differ drastically, and this purchase is about what YOU like, not us.

PS - You're done with touring? Or just on hiatus for a while?
 
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Re: Home "theaters"

You can buy EV Sentry 100 studio monitors for $50 each on eBay. That's a hell of a deal - they're worth much more than that in terms of sound quality.

I use a Denon 09 model (has all the HDMI features I needed - I don't care about 3D), an Oppo BDP-103 Blu Ray player, two EV Interface 1 Series IIs as LR channels (similar to the Sentry 100 but a consumer model), one EV Sentry 100 built into my TV cabinet, and a pair of EV S40s for rear channels. Without the display, that came out to be under $1k.

There's an old Crown D150 sitting in my home theater rack for use with one of the subs for my pro rig, but I live in an apartment and I didn't want to blast the neighbors with bass or carry a big sub up and down the stairs all the time so right now I don't have a sub in the rig.
 
Re: Home "theaters"

Here is a photo of one of the more "insane" home theater guys breaker panel just for his Home Theater.

He has separate transformers outside just for the home theater-and it isn't that large.
 

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Re: Home "theaters"

Ivan Beaver said:
Here is a photo of one of the more "insane" home theater guys breaker panel just for his Home Theater.

He has separate transformers outside just for the home theater-and it isn't that large.
Click to expand...

-that's useful, no wires connected to those breakers! :-)

And totally unnecessary amount of power as I just helped our local theater upgrade to a new digital projector and the whole rig with new JBL mains and surrounds with a new Christie digital projector didn't even use up the single-phase 100A service the 1914 building has!
-and they can seat more than 125 people with it getting loud enough for people to get up and complain. (If the projection booth has more than 3 20A outlets I would be amazed)

And seriously, Eaton homeline panel? -can you go any cheaper? (Where's the Square-D QO bolt-on breakers if you really want to impress people with your money-spending skills!) -and what's with the double breakers when you have all those empty slots?
 
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