There are a few things that I didn't cover in this video and are a little outside the bounds of audio, but not entirely unrelated. I thought of adding it to the video at the end but fearing that the watchtime would be even worse than probably already is, I'm going to try and add them in comment form. For example, yes, physical media is still king when it comes to the best quality, especially audio. I stream most of my movies and TV shows too, but for the special ones, those that I really like, I pick up a physical copy. If you have some sort of home automation setup, you can get pretty crazy too and create automated scenes (dim lights) when you play or pause movies depending on your devices, but that setup probably warrants an entire video by itself. Lastly there is one feature unrelated to sound that I discovered during this project that I can't use yet, but really want to, and that is QMS which stands for Quick Media Switching. If you, and I hope you do, have your players and TV setup so that it changes the refresh rate to match the frame rate of your media, you'll for sure know that every time you play something, the screen will first flash black to change the refresh rate before starting to play. This has been like this since I can remember, but newer TVs have variable refresh rate and if they also support QMS, and are paired with a receiver like the Onkyo RZ50 that also supports it, will adjust the frame rate dynamically without needing to black out. Now, my TV is from 2017 and doesn't have QMS or VRR so I can't have it yet, but this is pretty cool, it's a small detail but one I really wish I had. That's about it, thanks for reading this too ;)
Well of course the "internet" forums you go into are a mix of hardcore and "Wish I had Dreamers" are going to guide you toward dedicated system. But if that's what you were going for to begin with then you got what you were looking for. Its always going to be more to be satisfied. You could of easily started out with the Sony HT series and either got the same sound immersion or better, and if you didn't like it easily returned it and went the other route. Beautiful thing is is all wireless and customizable. And you still ended up with the oddest center channel I've ever seen on youtube. Makes no sense to be so meticulous and then do that. Oh well other than that great video.
I know... and thank you 🙂 You're not the first mentioning the center speaker 🫣 someone else mentioned that I should try removing it all together and see how it sounds like with a phantom center, which is one of the things I want to try out. I'm still curious about the Sonys though, maybe some day 🙂.
@@CheeseTurbulencewhat I did was took a tower speaker and built a new enclosure that had a better balance of the drivers in the new horizontal enclosure. The reason why I chose to go this route is I wanted all my main channels to be the same sonics and audio quality as the left and right channels. When I finished this portion of my project, you couldn’t tell it from being a factory built speaker. It sure sounds sweet too! Most center channel speakers made today suck in my opinion. I wanted to be able to set my Marantz Pro Processor to large, on all my main channels to get a perfect, true full range sound. Now the sound is absolutely seamless and perfection to my ear!
You should get surround speakers sooner or later. There is a great alternative setup which you might like and sounds fantastic. Place them sideways at about 180cm height facing each other. Look for more details online. It is also recommended as a plan B with no rear space. You'll love the immersive sound and lovely sound placement.
Semi unrelated Question: What TV lowboard are you using? It looks clean. And google Image search seems to find the Speekers if i search it with a screenshot.
Here’s an idea: why not bring your center console down by designing new feet for it to lower it down 3-4 inches thereby giving you the necessary space to put your center channel directly under your display where it should be.
Raise your TV, put the center at the front edge of the console (will avoid reflections off the surface), pull the mains out a little more to be in line with it, reap the benefits. I’m impressed by the amount of time, effort, and money you’ve put it to what is really a great setup. It’s breaking my heart to see you leave easily achieved performance benefits on the table. Raising the TV will take an hour, which is nothing compared to time already spent, and I guarantee a very noticeable benefit from getting that speaker out of the cabinet and under the TV. The entire point of a center is to anchor dialog to the middle of your screen for off center viewers. You’d be better off having no center and running phantom than having one that isn’t centered. Additionally, even a speaker with no ports will have resonant frequencies in an enclosure. One last suggestion - get the plant out of there. Any object you place in the path that the audio takes from the speaker to your ears will have an effect on it, absorbing or reflecting certain frequencies. Great video on your journey and decision making process, but I’m begging you, please fix your center channel. If it’s a WAF thing I get it, my wife pushed hard for me to put my center in our cabinet, but I said no, lol. Enjoy your system!
Good comment. Having brought the centre channel out from within, the virtual effects have become more noticeable, too. For instance, when the actors talk within a closed open environment say like an underground bunker cave or tunnel for instance one should be able to pick up on the Echo effect instantaneously! Whereas if the centre channel happened to be housed within the cabinet, that same obvious Echo effect would be Limited. Plus, as you mentioned with the Reflections, the reflections muddy the sound, too. When watching movies, I used to throw a thick blanket over the coffee table. Mind you, now I'm familiar with what a thick blanket can do to the sound of the room. The thick blanket is never coming off 😊 If interested, here is a short demo... ua-cam.com/video/K49Af49krMc/v-deo.htmlsi=u47PVo9e3XTV_Ejd
While I agree with the idea to raise the TV in the current set-up, the downside will be sub optimal TV height. He's TV is already too high for couch viewing. So I would suggest changing the console for a lower one in this case.
@@arturskalis4752 Here's my problem with that suggestion - a lower console will put the center channel much lower than your ears and lower than the main L&R channels. My LRC are all at ear height and my TV above them. This gives me on-axis frequency response with perfect imaging and even panning. I have never once thought that my TV was too high. I've heard others also give greater significance to the height of the TV than I do, but I don't get it - eyes are able to look up a little bit without needing to crank your neck. Not to mention, I don't sit with my neck perfectly perpendicular to the floor and my eyes pointed straight ahead. If you lean back at all, your head naturally tilts up. Personally, I wouldn't even consider getting new furniture instead of just raising the TV 6", especially when factoring in the sonic compromises to do so. To each his own though - everyone should tailor their system to their own preferences.
god i love your style of editing. it's so clean and simple. your videos somehow feel distraction free (even though they're usually dragging me away from something i should be doing instead)
Same. I'm not even the audience for a lot of what he covers, but I subscribe to his channel because of the inspiring way that he assembles his videos. I'm glad that he's got his unique style and isn't following the norm on UA-cam.
Have you considered getting shorter feet for your TV cabinet to make room for the center? Having the most important speaker in the worst position possible is not really optimal. I would also suggest to invest in some room treatments like a carpet or ceiling absorbers
I unfortunately can't modify the cabinet, but I will try to play around with the setup a bit more, based on the comments I got on this video 🙂, thank you!
@@CheeseTurbulence I would try to adj the TV a few inches higher. I have a different setup, which makes it easier than yours to adj TV height. Having the center speaker on top of the shelf, under the TV, near the center at the front edge of cabinet is definitely the best placement. I have my surround speakers, where you put the height speakers, but they are angled at the wall, for bounce surround, instead of bouncy height channels off the ceiling. I really wish the surrounds were on the side, but my LR is really hard to wire the surround left speaker because of a 6ft opening to the kitchen and a door to the back yard patio, before it. I feel the front L, C, R speakers are the most important to setup right for sound. The surrounds and height channels are just a bonus.
Some changes need in your room put rugs down in front of speakers, the hard flooring will give bad acoustics sound reflections, echoes. Get that plant away from the speaker blocking sound. Raise the TV up a bit put that centre speaker in the middle of the TV underneath TV
For stereo and maybe music sure, not so much these days with how decent the dsp correction in modern avrs work, they will eq out difference between speakers with boundaries closer etc. The common sense shit with where the center is etc for sure though :)
^exactly this^ increase the height of your TV by 3 inches and locate your centre channel in the centre and add some rugs and soft furnishings. The sound in your room will slap agains all those hard surfaces… it should thud, not slap.
Room correction was the biggest game changer for me (Pioneer Elite Air Studios tuned) as I have an asymmetric room on one side consisting of a wall of windows, the other side open to the dining room. The first time I played it, my mother and father were visiting. They said it sounded like the cellist was right in front of them, and they could hear the hall as well. Oh, it's also amazing with movies.
I have been doing HT for over 30 years, and I am not here to judge; I am just suggesting that you try it without the center and see if you like it, especially after room correction. Just go in the receiver and say you do not have a center then re-run Dirac (you may want to tow the towers in a little). If you sit in the middle, you can get away with no center easily. You may benefit more without it. Other than that, I just want to say you did a fantastic job picking speakers and a receiver.
I bought a pair of monitor audio bronze 50"s 2 years ago. They did take about 2 weeks of "running in" before they sounded better than straight out the box. I do have them on speaker stands so they are ear height, toe'd in a bit, and away from the wall. Watching UA-cam & other tv at ~-45db they sound good, but crank them up to -30db and boy do they come alive! Punchy, crisp, clear ❤️❤️ best speakers I've bought. They replaced some mission bookshelf speakers.
Good Video. Practical explanations for a complex subject. Most people don't realize the importance of speaker placement and room acoustics. A friend of mine purchased a very expensive sound system. He got it home and set it up and was really disappointed with the sound. Really harsh and bright along with an echo because he had a marble floor, blinds instead of curtains and very little soft furniture for sound absorption. It took me quite a while to convince him that his acoustically live room was just not a good match for his speakers or most speakers for that matter. His amplifier had no function that could correct for room acoustics. I told him to buy a carpet and some curtains, maybe a thick tapestry or two. He frowned and said it can't make that much difference. Take a photo of you room and go back to the shop you where you bought the speakers and see what they say. He did that and was told the same. He finally got it and started making changes to his room.
I’ve been really impressed with our Sonos speaker with sub and surround sound. Their intelligent room tuning is impressive. I’ve always had to adjust the sound and tune systems. This one I just set it and forget it. It’s working great so far. Heard about all the system update issues before I set mine up. I’ve had zero issues with my system! Love it.
You should look into some room acoustical treatment so a mix of absorption and diffusion. It will make a big difference. An untreated room often has a lot of echo so a long reverberation time which smears the sound you hear, these reflections make it especially hard for people understand speech. Stay away from thin foam it is not effective and only reduces the very high frequencies thus making the room unbalances. For absorption you want some panels 2 to 6 inches deep depending on what frequency ranges you want to affect. Spending some money improving the room is worth it.
You could add some hidden speakers on the rear wall. You can purchase or DIY some picture frame speakers. Ikea have some sonos versions. Acoustic panel with sound actuators from dayton audio. They are not the best solutions but are still room friendly and do provide some sounds for a better experience.
Good Video! You’re right, a good 2 Channel system is better than a thrown together surround system all the time. Also you get what you put into your system,Don’t Rush or it will sound like you did.
One thing I know a lot of people DON'T do is think to look up their speakers actual manual. Or a google search will usually tell you the suggested distance from wall/apart/toe-in etc where basically every speaker is different to. I also suggest people try ceiling mounted as well as upfiring to show them how better ceiling mounted is :D :D I see a lot talking about treating their room/floor etc, sure it helps a ton BUT modern AVR's do more than a good enough job with dsp correction if there are balance eq problems and whatnot.
Limited space is not a reason not to use surround speakers. You can use dipole surround speakers for limited space, especially if the listening position is too close to the rear wall. You can use a pair of dipole speakers on the back wall. You can use a pair of dipole speakers on the back wall. Dipole speakers can make a room feel bigger because the sound is diffuse, not direct to the ears like most speakers.
Thank you for the insight in your audio journey! What's the TV media station box / table called? Am looking for furniture for my first flat and that looks really nice!
I have 2 speakers for home theater 3 way “custom” speakers that we threw together out of spare parts Sealed cabinet 12” woofer with a sealed mid and a horn tweeter. Definitely a 100% dynamic 0% surround kind of setup but it’s very fun to listen to whether it’s music or movies
If I'm not mistaken, a "true" 5.1 is actually with side speakers, rather than rear speakers. When you add rear speakers, it should be as a 7.1. Imagine building up the system from the front; 2.0 -> 2.1 (add sub) -> 3.1 (add center) -> 5.1 (add sides) -> 7.1 (add rears). This is excluding height and multiple subs.
@@rasmusmathiasjuuljakobsen2980 This is correct, however Dolby's official recommendation is about 110 Degrees from front center either direction if only doing a 5.1. From my experience though, 90 degrees works fine and any good room correction should run with it just fine.
The best _and worst_ thing about Dirac is that it's remarkably good at making different speakers sound the same. I do use it, though. My room geometry is a mess.
Subwoofer positioning, yes it's really a real thing, it's not a joke at all, I found it out myself when I was listening to music that one of the corners in the room had superior base quality than the rest of the room, I placed the subwoofer there and voila.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 Great video.... Question ... Is there any way to replace your media TV stand with mesh sliding doors? You should also look at " tow in " for your floor speakers.
Having the center speaker off center triggers me quite a bit, not going to lie. Also, leaving out side surrounds is just wrong. The immersion over only fronts is huge. It's much more important than front heights, easily.
You could simply remove the centre speaker and use the left and right to make a phantom centre channel. If you have the perfect triangle as you say, then you should get just as good if not better spatial sound.
My Klipsch speakers have such a pronounced sound stage, I had to get out of my chair and put my head up to the center channel (to make sure it wasn’t working) while listening to stereo music. The Koors- Everybody hurts gave me goosebumps!
@@CheeseTurbulence This is actually a very good way - but left and right speakers are more crucial in regards to placement. I setup my HT for stereo music first and HT second. my speakers totally disappear at times with music and is very hard to tell if the centre speaker is on when watching movies.
Nice setup bro, It's minimal kinda. Clear and easy to understand presentation. Big fan of your select brands/equipment. Can't really afford most of it as it's way overpriced here in South Africa due shipment etc other silly reasons. I suspect, most suppliers think we're star struck about brands and will pay anything but not me... 🤧 😅😂! Well done and thank you!
You are not lying, the prices over here are dream killing. I have built, what audiophiles would probably consider a "low end" 6.1 setup, but I am in love with it. If you aren't opposed to it, check the used market. I got a mint condition, vintage Harman Kardon 6.1 receiver for super cheap from a place called Rendo's Audio, and it's been running like a dream for the past year or so. Good luck man, hope you get to build yourself a nice system.
Thank you so much! 🙂 I went to South Africa a couple of years ago, wonderful place, but I also remember the prices on electronics where indeed very high 😞.
I have a pretty simple 2.1 setup that serves me incredibly well. Denon PMA600NE with two sets of speakers - a set of KLH Model 6 for music, and Infinity RS4001 for movies, placed directly atop the KLH speakers. I switch between them via a home built speaker switch. I also have a sub but didn’t use the LFE output, as that didn’t allow me to adjust the crossover myself. Instead I’m using an automotive line output converter tied into the Infinity speakers’ cables to get a more adjustable sub out. I don’t find that I need a center channel. And to me, the utter simplicity leaves less room for distraction. I do need to adjust volume now and then for action scenes or when switching sources, but that’s the biggest annoyance I ever encounter. Dialogue is very clear and the stereo sound is directional enough for me without being overwhelming. I’ll make more use of this video if I ever get a bigger space. My current place is tiny so unfortunately there’s no physical room to upgrade at all anymore. As others have said, this video is very well made, excellent editing and info. Thanks!
Another point we could have discussed is the source device itself for movies…for example, if you use an Apple TV, it will not play DTS:X as is and will convert to LPCM, without height info leaving the height modules useless
'A good stereo pair beats any mediocre surround system '-- that's exactly my experience. I had been using the top of the line Dolby Atmos Samsung soundbar that comes with rear speakers and a separate sub. It's great for what it is. But when I recently switched to the Klipsch The Sevens stereo system, I was simply blown away by the heft, impact and realism of the audio. It is now my default setup for movies.
With the couch against the wall, you can try bipole speakers mouned on ghe wall behind the left and right seat of the sofa. I am using Wharfdale WH-DFS They are amazing.
Here you go: www.gazzda.com/products/p/fina-sideboard? I actually didn't know it (bought it as a floor model), but someone else posted it in the comments 😅
When I upgraded my home cinema to the Genelec G Three and G Two speaker I decided to go against a center speaker because their imaging is so good that the voices seem to come from a phantom center anyway. I much prefer it over a dedicated center speaker because with my old setup it felt way too focused coming from below the TV and it was rather distracting then adding to the magic. Also they can be placed up to 5 cm from the wall! I am super happy with my setup now (good looking, musical, compact but powerful) I just have to find a better surround dac someday (With less issues)
Someone else also mentioned trying out without the center speaker and a phantom instead, still haven't found the time to do it but it's definitely on my list 🙂.
You mentioned you live in an apartment. I’m worried about setting one of these up and then not be able to use it if it disturbs the neighbors. Anyone have any feedback on this kind of thing? Maybe some sound isolation tips?
I had a friend who started talking to me about getting a sound bar. After a few discussions and a trip to an AV shop they ended up with a whole 5.1 system.
I just got a pair floor speakers and an amp. You could buy a secondhand, to get better value, especially for the speakers. A center channel and a sub aren't needed. However, this really depends on the speakers etc. I have no issues with voices in shows/movies and the floor speakers have plenty of bass. However, this will probably depend of the speakers. These might require a different set up, e.g. shelf speakers which may be just more limited. The reason I went down this road was because a stereo amp was way cheaper than a receiver. This meant I could spend more on the pair of floor speakers. This also meant, the amp I bought sounded good too. Since it was focused. It was also really easy to set up. Receivers can require a PhD to set up. The only down side, is I don't have an amp with HDMI. I have separate remotes, which is annoying. This doesn't bother me though. I was going to buy a soundbar. I''m glad I didn't. Also even a 5.1 system would have been incredibly expensive. My main reason for writing this, is that stereo systems seem to be overlooked these days, but can sound amazing, even for movies. My dad has monitor audio's. I think they sound great.
I should have said, if you do buy an AV receiver and 2 floor speakers, you can always add later. I'm stuck with 2 speakers, because I bought a stereo amp, but I'm ok with it.
Soundbars are a nice solution if you are living in an apartment or don’t want, can’t have multiple speaker wires in the room. But in my opinion they will only only be an improvement over your flat panel display’s speakers. A true home theater system will require an AV receiver capable of minimum of Dolby Atmos 7.1.
Placing the subwoofer in corners changes the acoustical environment by turning the subwoofer's radiation into a "half-space" scenario, where the walls act as boundaries that reinforce low- mid frequencies. This can lead to an exaggerated bass response, amplifying certain frequencies more than others, resulting in a very boomy or uneven sound. It's better to avoid corners and experiment with placement to achieve more balanced bass distribution across the room. I know that the room correction will try to compensate for that, but as soon as you turn the volume up it will start to sound a lot flatter resulting in mudy bass. Otherwise the setup is absolutely beautiful great job!
Thank you so much! 🙂 Now I'm thinking about where I could place the sub, probably going to experiment a little more when I find the time, thank you for your insights 🙂.
If you were to upgrade this setup and add two rear speakers, which ones would those be and would this mean you’d need to update something you already own? Thanks! Great video
Thank you! 🙂 I don't think I would need to change anything else, the Receiver will easily support more speakers. I also think I would try it first with my Atmos speakers, placing those as the surrounds to get an idea of whether it is worth it or not.
Still trying to figure out if I should go with a full set of Sonos, Q995D or theatre quad 😳. Leaning towards the Q995D in terms price/function. A lot of rumors about a new Arc that can be great but the problems with the app is concerning.
Most speakers (bass reflex technique) performance will almost be completely destroyed by placing the close to the wall. If you have no other choice you need to look for frontfire speakers.
Just watched the video for the second time, as I'm now more set on going into the hometheater space. Absolute love it and could relate to so many thoughts u had in the video. Next to it I also really enjoy your interior design, especially the cabinet and bench/stool thing you placed over the sub. Could you share where you got those from?
Thank you so much! Appriciate it and glad I could help 🙂 The stool over the subwoofer is from "Cinas": www.cinas.com/products/rib-stool-45x35cm-teak The cabinet is from Gazzda and you can find it here: www.gazzda.com/products/p/fina-sideboard
For your sanity, that was a staged scene, the tables was immediately wiped afterwards and usually there are always coasters on these tables 😛. Thanks for watching, the kind words, and the concern regarding my wooden tables 😅.
You are right.... // Suggestion: Raise the TV a little bit so that the center channel speaker would fit, or get a smaller center speaker... The right center channel speaker and placement is critical to give you good surround sound.
That is a little stool that happened to fit exactly over the sub and hides it nicely 😅. It's from a brand called "Cinas": www.cinas.com/products/rib-stool-45x35cm-teak
I really don't mean to bust in here, but still, one can purchase a quality cabinet for less than £200. The Centurion Capri avr/tv cabinet is not just able to accommodate a centre channel correctly, it also has a high black gloss finish throughout the whole of its exterior as well. Plus not only does it has beam through glass doors, it has an extremely low profile. Which means when sitting in the MLP, not only does it give one the option to have a perfect line of sight with a low mounted TV, acoustically, there's very little boundary interference from it's cabinet, too. However, the best thing about this particular cabinet is being able to assemble and dismantle all while keeping the components in place! (without any tools) can't tell you how much of a benefit this will be if one happens to turn into an upgrader in the future. I have my huge arcam AVR in one cabinet and two matching power amps in the other. I've had to add my own ventilation fans, which for an extra £20 are temperature controlled (via probe). The 150 cm long cabinet is able to accommodate up to a 65-inch TV. If interested, click on the red dragon twice the view, but don't expect the lights or the floating effect! ua-cam.com/video/K49Af49krMc/v-deo.htmlsi=4JaRJQKMkPT0_fAU
I put my CS above the screen because all speaking faces are in the upper third of the Screen. Sounds more natural where the voice is coming from. Behind the screen would be perfect, but only special cinema screen for projectors can do that.
Hi, does Dirac improve the "virtual surround" with a stereo set up? And is Dirac changing anything in the deep which is not accessible under normal settings?
And the Onkyo TX-NR7100, which is even more budget friendly, smaller and offers the almost the same features - except for preouts, which I doubt many need that go for a minimalist setup.
@@mlangenberg I went for that receiver myself. I figured 9 speakers would be my max and didn't plan on using pre-outs. The Z50 is going for what I paid for the 7100 a couple years ago, so that makes me a little envious. I do plan on adding height channels to my 5.1 setup at some point. It included multiple 4k, 120Hz HDMI inputs and Dirac live.
Both are quite old and probably difficult to impossible to get at this point 😞. The one with the “handle” or part of the leg poking out at the top is from a brand called “WOUD”: woud.dk/products/come-here-side-table-white-pigmented-lacquered-oak The second one I bought when a local furniture store was closing its business about 6 years ago. Unfortunately it has no branding or anything on it so I’m afraid I don’t know anything about it 😔. Sorry I can’t help you more with your question.
Yes.. I'll come. With the pitch fork 😐😂 You have 2 sweet speakers firing into the wall and a center firing into your right knee like, bruh 😐😂 Just try angle left and right to be straight to where you're sitting and move the center to be on the on the console table and use a little shim to slightly tilt it to go for where you're sitting. Please, just try it 😭 Oh and also, ideally you'd want a center that matches with your fronts(as in, the same series). Not sure if you actually already have but, just so you know.
Don't route signal cables (analogue & digital) with power cables. Not unless one doesn't mind having a heightened noise floor, of course. Just because one doesn't hear any interference now, it doesn't mean one's not gonna hear any interference in the future. Took me months until I found out the power cable was the culprit and was intermittently causing the interference! BTW, Arcam AVR's also come with Dirac (full bandwidth) Mind you, extra for bass management
Thank you for the continued tips! 🙂 I don’t hear anything as of yet, but I had this issue, or still have it actually with my Studio Monitors in my office… Even separating it hasn’t helped though.
Soundbars get a bad rap from audiophiles, but when it comes to creating a clean looking setup a good soundbar is hard to beat. And a good Sonos or Bose soundbar do sound great when accompanied by one of their subwoofers.
Like other say. Rise TV is optimum choice. Center under TV is best choice. Front speakers shoud have little angle to center when we sit for sure. Subwoofer in corner is always bad choice for music. For movie is ok much boomy bass. Like you said dirac can change sound a little for better. For subwofder you can use unik1 microfone with laptop or something and chose better place if you have dsp on subwoofer you can correct some frequencies for better linear bass. And start your crossover from 80hz and try different steps. Subwoofer on from is easy way. I have near couch too just remember to change phaze on subwoofer to 180 or less. For me between 120 to 180 is best bass. If you don't like change in on back subbwoofe you can switch to negative phase on avr option. I chose polk audio signature elite es55 front speakers, slim center es35c under TV becouse es30 is to big for my rtv table and dominate it. Svs sb-1000 pro is my subwoofer becouse it is small, have dsp, app and great for music also. It's not ported so easier to put some place. I have ported before was more boomy. I have 5.1 configuration with bi-amp mode on avr yamaha rx-v6a. It's all good economic choose. If I buy monitor audio it will be silver serries much better. If have big room 3 way center speaker shoud be much better but for me mine is ok. If I change apartment I will think to put more money for new audio. 5.1 is good for moves and gaming console too.
Unfortunately, the choice is a soundbar - only devoted to the TV and whatever comes out of it... or either a Stereo or AV multichannel receiver. As far as I know, the soundbar cannot be used as a discrete audio system center channel. There is a lot of times an Optical input to soundbars, but AV receiver outputs for Center channel are usually powered- incompatible. Don't know what the solution is if you want to use the TV and an audio system just for music.
Would you say what you achieved is better than the theatre quad, I had my mind made up about getting the theatre quad because of how simple it is to setup and how good it is meant to be , but this video is making me second guess
Did you consider the Samsung q990 at all? Rtings claims it's better than the hta9s... And one reason I am strongly considering a soundbar is it's seamlessness... No troubleshooting inputs, formats, on/off triggering etc, it just works
I did come across it, but at that point I had already decided to go dedicated. But I am tempting to give a soundbar another try at some point, it's just the financial justification that's a hindrance 😅.
Hum so do you recommend a... 3.1 system? I have two floor stand speakers and a subwoofer and i'm getting motivation to buy a central piece but it feels a little bit short.. I don't know :)
It’s from a Swiss furniture store called “pfister”. But it was a floor model and didn’t have any branding on it, so I don’t know what make and model it is 😔.
is it possible to test 2 pairs of music frame hw-ls60d + Q-series HW-Q990D 11.1.4ch Soundbar + Samsung 8K Neo-QLED QN900D TV on movie and gaming effect?
Nice setup but the Sony Theatre Quad was the better solution for this use case for home cinema. Cheaper, more speakers and much better sound bubble. I'd have only gone for this solution if I listened to music more often than watching TV shows and movies.
First off amazing video, watched it from start to finish. My only critique is please hide those wires in the wall going from your tv to your power outlet on the bottom. I know you painted that wire channel green to match the walls but it’s very obvious lol just get a drywall saw, cut out some holes and install an outlet extender kit it’s very easy to do yourself
Cinema sound at home? Well, the only way to achieve something close to cinema sound is to have extremely sensitive horn speakers and compression drivers. I find it quite amusing when I see many home theater owners, swearing they can achieve better sound using speakers with silk dome tweeters. Having a good sounding system is something easily achievable, having a sound system close to a really good commercial cinema is smth entirely different. And, oh, man, please find a solution to place that center speaker where it belongs. Most of the horizontal center speakers suck big time, having a terrible and very narrow sound dispersion.
As far as I know, Onkyo has THX certified AV receivers, to use with Klipsch THX-certified speakers. This was a system designed by George Lucas, which simulates a theater experience at home. Ideally the listening position is supposed to be 12' back from the front. - Would be nice but I myself don't have that kind of space. - What did work pretty good for me was running Audyssey on my 10 yrs old Onkyo AV Receiver. The improvement is significant.
I wanted to maximize what my room could handle 🙂 but I will say, the up firing speakers aren't 100% necessary, they do make a difference but it's not that big.
great video especially as an introduction for those getting into home theater! just remember, audio just as video are means to an end, and that end is immersion. so just buy a bigger tv for gods sake :)))
There are a few things that I didn't cover in this video and are a little outside the bounds of audio, but not entirely unrelated. I thought of adding it to the video at the end but fearing that the watchtime would be even worse than probably already is, I'm going to try and add them in comment form.
For example, yes, physical media is still king when it comes to the best quality, especially audio. I stream most of my movies and TV shows too, but for the special ones, those that I really like, I pick up a physical copy.
If you have some sort of home automation setup, you can get pretty crazy too and create automated scenes (dim lights) when you play or pause movies depending on your devices, but that setup probably warrants an entire video by itself.
Lastly there is one feature unrelated to sound that I discovered during this project that I can't use yet, but really want to, and that is QMS which stands for Quick Media Switching.
If you, and I hope you do, have your players and TV setup so that it changes the refresh rate to match the frame rate of your media, you'll for sure know that every time you play something, the screen will first flash black to change the refresh rate before starting to play.
This has been like this since I can remember, but newer TVs have variable refresh rate and if they also support QMS, and are paired with a receiver like the Onkyo RZ50 that also supports it, will adjust the frame rate dynamically without needing to black out.
Now, my TV is from 2017 and doesn't have QMS or VRR so I can't have it yet, but this is pretty cool, it's a small detail but one I really wish I had.
That's about it, thanks for reading this too ;)
Well of course the "internet" forums you go into are a mix of hardcore and "Wish I had Dreamers" are going to guide you toward dedicated system. But if that's what you were going for to begin with then you got what you were looking for. Its always going to be more to be satisfied. You could of easily started out with the Sony HT series and either got the same sound immersion or better, and if you didn't like it easily returned it and went the other route. Beautiful thing is is all wireless and customizable. And you still ended up with the oddest center channel I've ever seen on youtube. Makes no sense to be so meticulous and then do that. Oh well other than that great video.
I know... and thank you 🙂
You're not the first mentioning the center speaker 🫣 someone else mentioned that I should try removing it all together and see how it sounds like with a phantom center, which is one of the things I want to try out.
I'm still curious about the Sonys though, maybe some day 🙂.
@@CheeseTurbulencewhat I did was took a tower speaker and built a new enclosure that had a better balance of the drivers in the new horizontal enclosure. The reason why I chose to go this route is I wanted all my main channels to be the same sonics and audio quality as the left and right channels. When I finished this portion of my project, you couldn’t tell it from being a factory built speaker. It sure sounds sweet too! Most center channel speakers made today suck in my opinion. I wanted to be able to set my Marantz Pro Processor to large, on all my main channels to get a perfect, true full range sound. Now the sound is absolutely seamless and perfection to my ear!
You should get surround speakers sooner or later. There is a great alternative setup which you might like and sounds fantastic. Place them sideways at about 180cm height facing each other. Look for more details online. It is also recommended as a plan B with no rear space. You'll love the immersive sound and lovely sound placement.
Semi unrelated Question: What TV lowboard are you using?
It looks clean. And google Image search seems to find the Speekers if i search it with a screenshot.
Here’s an idea: why not bring your center console down by designing new feet for it to lower it down 3-4 inches thereby giving you the necessary space to put your center channel directly under your display where it should be.
Raise your TV, put the center at the front edge of the console (will avoid reflections off the surface), pull the mains out a little more to be in line with it, reap the benefits. I’m impressed by the amount of time, effort, and money you’ve put it to what is really a great setup. It’s breaking my heart to see you leave easily achieved performance benefits on the table. Raising the TV will take an hour, which is nothing compared to time already spent, and I guarantee a very noticeable benefit from getting that speaker out of the cabinet and under the TV. The entire point of a center is to anchor dialog to the middle of your screen for off center viewers. You’d be better off having no center and running phantom than having one that isn’t centered. Additionally, even a speaker with no ports will have resonant frequencies in an enclosure. One last suggestion - get the plant out of there. Any object you place in the path that the audio takes from the speaker to your ears will have an effect on it, absorbing or reflecting certain frequencies. Great video on your journey and decision making process, but I’m begging you, please fix your center channel. If it’s a WAF thing I get it, my wife pushed hard for me to put my center in our cabinet, but I said no, lol. Enjoy your system!
Good comment. Having brought the centre channel out from within, the virtual effects have become more noticeable, too. For instance, when the actors talk within a closed open environment say like an underground bunker cave or tunnel for instance one should be able to pick up on the Echo effect instantaneously! Whereas if the centre channel happened to be housed within the cabinet, that same obvious Echo effect would be Limited. Plus, as you mentioned with the Reflections, the reflections muddy the sound, too. When watching movies, I used to throw a thick blanket over the coffee table. Mind you, now I'm familiar with what a thick blanket can do to the sound of the room. The thick blanket is never coming off 😊
If interested, here is a short demo...
ua-cam.com/video/K49Af49krMc/v-deo.htmlsi=u47PVo9e3XTV_Ejd
While I agree with the idea to raise the TV in the current set-up, the downside will be sub optimal TV height. He's TV is already too high for couch viewing. So I would suggest changing the console for a lower one in this case.
@@arturskalis4752 Here's my problem with that suggestion - a lower console will put the center channel much lower than your ears and lower than the main L&R channels. My LRC are all at ear height and my TV above them. This gives me on-axis frequency response with perfect imaging and even panning. I have never once thought that my TV was too high. I've heard others also give greater significance to the height of the TV than I do, but I don't get it - eyes are able to look up a little bit without needing to crank your neck. Not to mention, I don't sit with my neck perfectly perpendicular to the floor and my eyes pointed straight ahead. If you lean back at all, your head naturally tilts up. Personally, I wouldn't even consider getting new furniture instead of just raising the TV 6", especially when factoring in the sonic compromises to do so. To each his own though - everyone should tailor their system to their own preferences.
Add a rug, deaden things just a shade.
You go through this whole video about making this system but put your center in a waaaay "off-center" position? Damn...
you can literally shorten the legs of the cabinet below your tv and have the center speaker actually in the center.
god i love your style of editing. it's so clean and simple. your videos somehow feel distraction free (even though they're usually dragging me away from something i should be doing instead)
Thank you so much, means a lot! 🙇♂️
Same. I'm not even the audience for a lot of what he covers, but I subscribe to his channel because of the inspiring way that he assembles his videos.
I'm glad that he's got his unique style and isn't following the norm on UA-cam.
Seriously! This is not a video topic I'd usually watch but your videos are always A+++ so I had to 💜
@@AllisonRoadWest Thank you! 🙇♂
@@justBri123 Thank you too! 🙇♂
amazing work! this is my next challenge and I'm glad you had so much insight on it.
Glad it was helpful! 🙂
One of the few channels whose videos I watch to the finish without getting distracted.
Thank you so much for that! 🙇♂
Have you considered getting shorter feet for your TV cabinet to make room for the center?
Having the most important speaker in the worst position possible is not really optimal. I would also suggest to invest in some room treatments like a carpet or ceiling absorbers
I unfortunately can't modify the cabinet, but I will try to play around with the setup a bit more, based on the comments I got on this video 🙂, thank you!
@@CheeseTurbulence I would try to adj the TV a few inches higher. I have a different setup, which makes it easier than yours to adj TV height.
Having the center speaker on top of the shelf, under the TV, near the center at the front edge of cabinet is definitely the best placement.
I have my surround speakers, where you put the height speakers, but they are angled at the wall, for bounce surround, instead of bouncy height channels off the ceiling. I really wish the surrounds were on the side, but my LR is really hard to wire the surround left speaker because of a 6ft opening to the kitchen and a door to the back yard patio, before it.
I feel the front L, C, R speakers are the most important to setup right for sound. The surrounds and height channels are just a bonus.
Some changes need in your room put rugs down in front of speakers, the hard flooring will give bad acoustics sound reflections, echoes.
Get that plant away from the speaker blocking sound.
Raise the TV up a bit put that centre speaker in the middle of the TV underneath TV
Exactly! That center channel below and to the right would bother me to no end. It’s called a “center” channel for a reason.
For stereo and maybe music sure, not so much these days with how decent the dsp correction in modern avrs work, they will eq out difference between speakers with boundaries closer etc. The common sense shit with where the center is etc for sure though :)
^exactly this^ increase the height of your TV by 3 inches and locate your centre channel in the centre and add some rugs and soft furnishings. The sound in your room will slap agains all those hard surfaces… it should thud, not slap.
Room correction was the biggest game changer for me (Pioneer Elite Air Studios tuned) as I have an asymmetric room on one side consisting of a wall of windows, the other side open to the dining room. The first time I played it, my mother and father were visiting. They said it sounded like the cellist was right in front of them, and they could hear the hall as well. Oh, it's also amazing with movies.
I have been doing HT for over 30 years, and I am not here to judge; I am just suggesting that you try it without the center and see if you like it, especially after room correction. Just go in the receiver and say you do not have a center then re-run Dirac (you may want to tow the towers in a little). If you sit in the middle, you can get away with no center easily. You may benefit more without it. Other than that, I just want to say you did a fantastic job picking speakers and a receiver.
I bought a pair of monitor audio bronze 50"s 2 years ago. They did take about 2 weeks of "running in" before they sounded better than straight out the box.
I do have them on speaker stands so they are ear height, toe'd in a bit, and away from the wall. Watching UA-cam & other tv at ~-45db they sound good, but crank them up to -30db and boy do they come alive! Punchy, crisp, clear ❤️❤️ best speakers I've bought. They replaced some mission bookshelf speakers.
Good Video. Practical explanations for a complex subject. Most people don't realize the importance of speaker placement and room acoustics. A friend of mine purchased a very expensive sound system. He got it home and set it up and was really disappointed with the sound. Really harsh and bright along with an echo because he had a marble floor, blinds instead of curtains and very little soft furniture for sound absorption. It took me quite a while to convince him that his acoustically live room was just not a good match for his speakers or most speakers for that matter. His amplifier had no function that could correct for room acoustics. I told him to buy a carpet and some curtains, maybe a thick tapestry or two. He frowned and said it can't make that much difference. Take a photo of you room and go back to the shop you where you bought the speakers and see what they say. He did that and was told the same. He finally got it and started making changes to his room.
Really nice first setup. My first speakers were from Monitor Audio as well (Silver RX8) and they have been my favourite speakers thus far.
My friend you went through the path I am going to just right now trying to start my own 5.1 sistem, thanks for the video it was really helpful!!
Glad I could help! 🙂
Placement and room acoustics are more important than the speakers unless the speakers are borderline broken.
I’ve been really impressed with our Sonos speaker with sub and surround sound. Their intelligent room tuning is impressive. I’ve always had to adjust the sound and tune systems. This one I just set it and forget it.
It’s working great so far.
Heard about all the system update issues before I set mine up. I’ve had zero issues with my system! Love it.
Cool, glad to hear that it's working great! 🙂
I would think about a rug to freak with those reflections off of the hardwood floor
You should look into some room acoustical treatment so a mix of absorption and diffusion. It will make a big difference. An untreated room often has a lot of echo so a long reverberation time which smears the sound you hear, these reflections make it especially hard for people understand speech.
Stay away from thin foam it is not effective and only reduces the very high frequencies thus making the room unbalances. For absorption you want some panels 2 to 6 inches deep depending on what frequency ranges you want to affect. Spending some money improving the room is worth it.
You could add some hidden speakers on the rear wall. You can purchase or DIY some picture frame speakers. Ikea have some sonos versions. Acoustic panel with sound actuators from dayton audio. They are not the best solutions but are still room friendly and do provide some sounds for a better experience.
😮 Didn't think about that... that's a great idea to keep in mind, thank you!
Good Video! You’re right, a good 2 Channel system is better than a thrown together surround system all the time. Also you get what you put into your system,Don’t Rush or it will sound like you did.
Thank you! 🙂
One thing I know a lot of people DON'T do is think to look up their speakers actual manual. Or a google search will usually tell you the suggested distance from wall/apart/toe-in etc where basically every speaker is different to. I also suggest people try ceiling mounted as well as upfiring to show them how better ceiling mounted is :D :D
I see a lot talking about treating their room/floor etc, sure it helps a ton BUT modern AVR's do more than a good enough job with dsp correction if there are balance eq problems and whatnot.
Limited space is not a reason not to use surround speakers. You can use dipole surround speakers for limited space, especially if the listening position is too close to the rear wall. You can use a pair of dipole speakers on the back wall. You can use a pair of dipole speakers on the back wall. Dipole speakers can make a room feel bigger because the sound is diffuse, not direct to the ears like most speakers.
Never heard of this, but I'm glad I know now, thank you! 🙂
@@CheeseTurbulence not to mention you have enough space to pull the couch out aabout a meter
Thank you for the insight in your audio journey!
What's the TV media station box / table called?
Am looking for furniture for my first flat and that looks really nice!
I have 2 speakers for home theater
3 way “custom” speakers that we threw together out of spare parts
Sealed cabinet 12” woofer with a sealed mid and a horn tweeter. Definitely a 100% dynamic 0% surround kind of setup but it’s very fun to listen to whether it’s music or movies
great video et amazing production quality! Even as a home theater enthusiast, that knew about everything you touched in this video. suscribed!
Thank you! 🙂
You could have put your surrounds on either side of the couch. They don’t have to go behind you if the room doesn’t allow
If I'm not mistaken, a "true" 5.1 is actually with side speakers, rather than rear speakers. When you add rear speakers, it should be as a 7.1.
Imagine building up the system from the front; 2.0 -> 2.1 (add sub) -> 3.1 (add center) -> 5.1 (add sides) -> 7.1 (add rears).
This is excluding height and multiple subs.
@@rasmusmathiasjuuljakobsen2980 This is correct, however Dolby's official recommendation is about 110 Degrees from front center either direction if only doing a 5.1. From my experience though, 90 degrees works fine and any good room correction should run with it just fine.
The best _and worst_ thing about Dirac is that it's remarkably good at making different speakers sound the same.
I do use it, though. My room geometry is a mess.
Subwoofer positioning, yes it's really a real thing, it's not a joke at all, I found it out myself when I was listening to music that one of the corners in the room had superior base quality than the rest of the room, I placed the subwoofer there and voila.
Nice video, nice setup, but no mention of where to get the TV console. Thanks
excellent content, as usual. what is your TV cabinet? looks awesome
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 Great video.... Question ... Is there any way to replace your media TV stand with mesh sliding doors? You should also look at " tow in " for your floor speakers.
Thank you! 🙂
For the cabinet, they don't make any mesh doors for it that I know of 😞 but I have since towed in my floor speakers again 🙂.
@@CheeseTurbulence Hey, just check if the doors are removable ❓If so, to make your own mesh door is an easy DIY jobs of 2-3 hours 👍🏽
Didn't think of that... sounds like a cool project, thank you! 🙏
Having the center speaker off center triggers me quite a bit, not going to lie. Also, leaving out side surrounds is just wrong. The immersion over only fronts is huge. It's much more important than front heights, easily.
You could simply remove the centre speaker and use the left and right to make a phantom centre channel. If you have the perfect triangle as you say, then you should get just as good if not better spatial sound.
My Klipsch speakers have such a pronounced sound stage, I had to get out of my chair and put my head up to the center channel (to make sure it wasn’t working) while listening to stereo music. The Koors- Everybody hurts gave me goosebumps!
I actually didn't know that was possible, I have to try this, thank you! 🙂
@@CheeseTurbulence This is actually a very good way - but left and right speakers are more crucial in regards to placement. I setup my HT for stereo music first and HT second. my speakers totally disappear at times with music and is very hard to tell if the centre speaker is on when watching movies.
Nice setup bro,
It's minimal kinda. Clear and easy to understand presentation. Big fan of your select brands/equipment. Can't really afford most of it as it's way overpriced here in South Africa due shipment etc other silly reasons.
I suspect, most suppliers think we're star struck about brands and will pay anything but not me... 🤧 😅😂!
Well done and thank you!
You are not lying, the prices over here are dream killing. I have built, what audiophiles would probably consider a "low end" 6.1 setup, but I am in love with it. If you aren't opposed to it, check the used market. I got a mint condition, vintage Harman Kardon 6.1 receiver for super cheap from a place called Rendo's Audio, and it's been running like a dream for the past year or so. Good luck man, hope you get to build yourself a nice system.
Thank you so much! 🙂 I went to South Africa a couple of years ago, wonderful place, but I also remember the prices on electronics where indeed very high 😞.
wow!! such a great video, well done!!
Thank you so much! 🙂
I have a pretty simple 2.1 setup that serves me incredibly well. Denon PMA600NE with two sets of speakers - a set of KLH Model 6 for music, and Infinity RS4001 for movies, placed directly atop the KLH speakers. I switch between them via a home built speaker switch.
I also have a sub but didn’t use the LFE output, as that didn’t allow me to adjust the crossover myself. Instead I’m using an automotive line output converter tied into the Infinity speakers’ cables to get a more adjustable sub out.
I don’t find that I need a center channel. And to me, the utter simplicity leaves less room for distraction. I do need to adjust volume now and then for action scenes or when switching sources, but that’s the biggest annoyance I ever encounter. Dialogue is very clear and the stereo sound is directional enough for me without being overwhelming.
I’ll make more use of this video if I ever get a bigger space. My current place is tiny so unfortunately there’s no physical room to upgrade at all anymore.
As others have said, this video is very well made, excellent editing and info. Thanks!
I would love to know what the media cabinet that is. It’s gorgeous
The cabinet is from Gazzda and you can find it here: www.gazzda.com/products/p/fina-sideboard? 🙂
Great upload , massive inspiration to us smaller creators and collectors
Thank you so much! 🙂
Greetings from the Netherlands and a thank you for this informative video! Love the funny text stuff :P
Thank you and greetings back from Switzerland! 🙂
You could move the seating forward 50cm and add surround speakers ( with atmos ) - a smaller stand mount from the same series would be ideal.
Another point we could have discussed is the source device itself for movies…for example, if you use an Apple TV, it will not play DTS:X as is and will convert to LPCM, without height info leaving the height modules useless
You stole me a good laugh with the "sonos Argh" soundbar :D
'A good stereo pair beats any mediocre surround system '-- that's exactly my experience. I had been using the top of the line Dolby Atmos Samsung soundbar that comes with rear speakers and a separate sub. It's great for what it is. But when I recently switched to the Klipsch The Sevens stereo system, I was simply blown away by the heft, impact and realism of the audio. It is now my default setup for movies.
Top tier video
Love so much the cabinet ♥
With the couch against the wall, you can try bipole speakers mouned on ghe wall behind the left and right seat of the sofa.
I am using Wharfdale WH-DFS They are amazing.
Thanks for that tip! 🙂
I love that TV console! Does anyone know what it is?
Anyone can help!
Here you go: www.gazzda.com/products/p/fina-sideboard?
I actually didn't know it (bought it as a floor model), but someone else posted it in the comments 😅
In a situation like this, best place for the center speaker is on top of the TV,.close to the ceiling
When I upgraded my home cinema to the Genelec G Three and G Two speaker I decided to go against a center speaker because their imaging is so good that the voices seem to come from a phantom center anyway. I much prefer it over a dedicated center speaker because with my old setup it felt way too focused coming from below the TV and it was rather distracting then adding to the magic. Also they can be placed up to 5 cm from the wall! I am super happy with my setup now (good looking, musical, compact but powerful) I just have to find a better surround dac someday (With less issues)
Someone else also mentioned trying out without the center speaker and a phantom instead, still haven't found the time to do it but it's definitely on my list 🙂.
You mentioned you live in an apartment. I’m worried about setting one of these up and then not be able to use it if it disturbs the neighbors. Anyone have any feedback on this kind of thing? Maybe some sound isolation tips?
I had a friend who started talking to me about getting a sound bar. After a few discussions and a trip to an AV shop they ended up with a whole 5.1 system.
I just got a pair floor speakers and an amp. You could buy a secondhand, to get better value, especially for the speakers. A center channel and a sub aren't needed. However, this really depends on the speakers etc. I have no issues with voices in shows/movies and the floor speakers have plenty of bass. However, this will probably depend of the speakers. These might require a different set up, e.g. shelf speakers which may be just more limited.
The reason I went down this road was because a stereo amp was way cheaper than a receiver. This meant I could spend more on the pair of floor speakers. This also meant, the amp I bought sounded good too. Since it was focused. It was also really easy to set up. Receivers can require a PhD to set up.
The only down side, is I don't have an amp with HDMI. I have separate remotes, which is annoying. This doesn't bother me though.
I was going to buy a soundbar. I''m glad I didn't. Also even a 5.1 system would have been incredibly expensive.
My main reason for writing this, is that stereo systems seem to be overlooked these days, but can sound amazing, even for movies.
My dad has monitor audio's. I think they sound great.
I should have said, if you do buy an AV receiver and 2 floor speakers, you can always add later. I'm stuck with 2 speakers, because I bought a stereo amp, but I'm ok with it.
Soundbars are a nice solution if you are living in an apartment or don’t want, can’t have multiple speaker wires in the room. But in my opinion they will only only be an improvement over your flat panel display’s speakers. A true home theater system will require an AV receiver capable of minimum of Dolby Atmos 7.1.
Placing the subwoofer in corners changes the acoustical environment by turning the subwoofer's radiation into a "half-space" scenario, where the walls act as boundaries that reinforce low- mid frequencies. This can lead to an exaggerated bass response, amplifying certain frequencies more than others, resulting in a very boomy or uneven sound. It's better to avoid corners and experiment with placement to achieve more balanced bass distribution across the room.
I know that the room correction will try to compensate for that, but as soon as you turn the volume up it will start to sound a lot flatter resulting in mudy bass.
Otherwise the setup is absolutely beautiful great job!
Thank you so much! 🙂 Now I'm thinking about where I could place the sub, probably going to experiment a little more when I find the time, thank you for your insights 🙂.
ever thought about putting the center channel on top of the cabinet? that's where i put mine
He does show that in the video, with the argument that it blocks the screen.
Excellent video, just subscribed!!!
I'm good with pair of active studio monitors and a sub
If you were to upgrade this setup and add two rear speakers, which ones would those be and would this mean you’d need to update something you already own?
Thanks! Great video
Thank you! 🙂
I don't think I would need to change anything else, the Receiver will easily support more speakers.
I also think I would try it first with my Atmos speakers, placing those as the surrounds to get an idea of whether it is worth it or not.
Still trying to figure out if I should go with a full set of Sonos, Q995D or theatre quad 😳. Leaning towards the Q995D in terms price/function. A lot of rumors about a new Arc that can be great but the problems with the app is concerning.
Most speakers (bass reflex technique) performance will almost be completely destroyed by placing the close to the wall.
If you have no other choice you need to look for frontfire speakers.
Well done 👏
Thank you! 🙂
Just watched the video for the second time, as I'm now more set on going into the hometheater space. Absolute love it and could relate to so many thoughts u had in the video. Next to it I also really enjoy your interior design, especially the cabinet and bench/stool thing you placed over the sub. Could you share where you got those from?
Thank you so much! Appriciate it and glad I could help 🙂
The stool over the subwoofer is from "Cinas": www.cinas.com/products/rib-stool-45x35cm-teak
The cabinet is from Gazzda and you can find it here: www.gazzda.com/products/p/fina-sideboard
Enjoyed the whole video! ❤
...up until you didn't use a coaster for your beer at the end! 🤦
Keep up the amazing work (and get some coasters)!!
For your sanity, that was a staged scene, the tables was immediately wiped afterwards and usually there are always coasters on these tables 😛.
Thanks for watching, the kind words, and the concern regarding my wooden tables 😅.
Center position?? Oh come on.. you can talk for hours, but when you don‘t even get the simplest of the simplest basic right?! What do you expect?
You are right.... // Suggestion: Raise the TV a little bit so that the center channel speaker would fit, or get a smaller center speaker... The right center channel speaker and placement is critical to give you good surround sound.
what TV/Audio stand do you have?
what did you put on top of your subwoofer at 14:05?
Looks like it might be an end table from IKEA? Just a guess. Looks kinda cool.
That is a little stool that happened to fit exactly over the sub and hides it nicely 😅.
It's from a brand called "Cinas": www.cinas.com/products/rib-stool-45x35cm-teak
Where have you got the tv furniture? I can't find one enough deep for the hifi
Pls what is this media console ? Great vid
Thank you! 🙂 The cabinet is from Gazzda and you can find it here: www.gazzda.com/products/p/fina-sideboard
I really don't mean to bust in here, but still, one can purchase a quality cabinet for less than £200.
The Centurion Capri avr/tv cabinet is not just able to accommodate a centre channel correctly, it also has a high black gloss finish throughout the whole of its exterior as well. Plus not only does it has beam through glass doors, it has an extremely low profile. Which means when sitting in the MLP, not only does it give one the option to have a perfect line of sight with a low mounted TV, acoustically, there's very little boundary interference from it's cabinet, too. However, the best thing about this particular cabinet is being able to assemble and dismantle all while keeping the components in place! (without any tools) can't tell you how much of a benefit this will be if one happens to turn into an upgrader in the future. I have my huge arcam AVR in one cabinet and two matching power amps in the other. I've had to add my own ventilation fans, which for an extra £20 are temperature controlled (via probe). The 150 cm long cabinet is able to accommodate up to a 65-inch TV.
If interested, click on the red dragon twice the view, but don't expect the lights or the floating effect!
ua-cam.com/video/K49Af49krMc/v-deo.htmlsi=4JaRJQKMkPT0_fAU
I put my CS above the screen because all speaking faces are in the upper third of the Screen. Sounds more natural where the voice is coming from. Behind the screen would be perfect, but only special cinema screen for projectors can do that.
That’a an option I never thought about 🤔 Need to keep this in mind for any future updates, thank you 🙂.
I was literally thinking about this just last night watching dune 2 lol
I bought the 4k Blu-Ray for Dune 1&2 but haven’t watched them yet with the new setup, but can’t wait 🤩
@@CheeseTurbulence they are ungodly good. Zimmer and Villenueve are amazing
Hi,
does Dirac improve the "virtual surround" with a stereo set up?
And is Dirac changing anything in the deep which is not accessible under normal settings?
Excellent video. The Onkyo TX-RZ70 also include Dirac at no extra cost.
Thank you! and thanks for additional info regarding the RZ70. 🙂
And the Onkyo TX-NR7100, which is even more budget friendly, smaller and offers the almost the same features - except for preouts, which I doubt many need that go for a minimalist setup.
@@mlangenberg I went for that receiver myself. I figured 9 speakers would be my max and didn't plan on using pre-outs. The Z50 is going for what I paid for the 7100 a couple years ago, so that makes me a little envious. I do plan on adding height channels to my 5.1 setup at some point. It included multiple 4k, 120Hz HDMI inputs and Dirac live.
dang it, now I'm starting to feel a little stupid 😅 Thanks for the added info 🙂
Totally unrelated but can you share where you got those small tables in front of your sofa?
Both are quite old and probably difficult to impossible to get at this point 😞.
The one with the “handle” or part of the leg poking out at the top is from a brand called “WOUD”: woud.dk/products/come-here-side-table-white-pigmented-lacquered-oak
The second one I bought when a local furniture store was closing its business about 6 years ago. Unfortunately it has no branding or anything on it so I’m afraid I don’t know anything about it 😔.
Sorry I can’t help you more with your question.
@@CheeseTurbulence ahh that's a shame. Thanks for the reply though!
What kind of end table is that, over your subwoofer?
Yes.. I'll come. With the pitch fork 😐😂
You have 2 sweet speakers firing into the wall and a center firing into your right knee like, bruh 😐😂
Just try angle left and right to be straight to where you're sitting and move the center to be on the on the console table and use a little shim to slightly tilt it to go for where you're sitting.
Please, just try it 😭
Oh and also, ideally you'd want a center that matches with your fronts(as in, the same series). Not sure if you actually already have but, just so you know.
Don't route signal cables (analogue & digital) with power cables. Not unless one doesn't mind having a heightened noise floor, of course.
Just because one doesn't hear any interference now, it doesn't mean one's not gonna hear any interference in the future. Took me months until I found out the power cable was the culprit and was intermittently causing the interference!
BTW, Arcam AVR's also come with Dirac (full bandwidth)
Mind you, extra for bass management
Thank you for the continued tips! 🙂 I don’t hear anything as of yet, but I had this issue, or still have it actually with my Studio Monitors in my office… Even separating it hasn’t helped though.
Soundbars get a bad rap from audiophiles, but when it comes to creating a clean looking setup a good soundbar is hard to beat. And a good Sonos or Bose soundbar do sound great when accompanied by one of their subwoofers.
Like other say. Rise TV is optimum choice. Center under TV is best choice. Front speakers shoud have little angle to center when we sit for sure. Subwoofer in corner is always bad choice for music. For movie is ok much boomy bass. Like you said dirac can change sound a little for better. For subwofder you can use unik1 microfone with laptop or something and chose better place if you have dsp on subwoofer you can correct some frequencies for better linear bass. And start your crossover from 80hz and try different steps. Subwoofer on from is easy way. I have near couch too just remember to change phaze on subwoofer to 180 or less. For me between 120 to 180 is best bass. If you don't like change in on back subbwoofe you can switch to negative phase on avr option. I chose polk audio signature elite es55 front speakers, slim center es35c under TV becouse es30 is to big for my rtv table and dominate it. Svs sb-1000 pro is my subwoofer becouse it is small, have dsp, app and great for music also. It's not ported so easier to put some place. I have ported before was more boomy. I have 5.1 configuration with bi-amp mode on avr yamaha rx-v6a. It's all good economic choose. If I buy monitor audio it will be silver serries much better. If have big room 3 way center speaker shoud be much better but for me mine is ok. If I change apartment I will think to put more money for new audio. 5.1 is good for moves and gaming console too.
Many NAD receivers also have Dirac Live.
Unfortunately, the choice is a soundbar - only devoted to the TV and whatever comes out of it... or either a Stereo or AV multichannel receiver. As far as I know, the soundbar cannot be used as a discrete audio system center channel. There is a lot of times an Optical input to soundbars, but AV receiver outputs for Center channel are usually powered- incompatible. Don't know what the solution is if you want to use the TV and an audio system just for music.
Lovely subwoofer table! Where did you buy it from?
It's a stool from a company called "Cinas": www.cinas.com/products/rib-stool-45x35cm-teak? 🙂
Would you say what you achieved is better than the theatre quad, I had my mind made up about getting the theatre quad because of how simple it is to setup and how good it is meant to be , but this video is making me second guess
I honestly can't say, never heard the theater quad 🙁 would love to do a side by side comparison though 🙂
Did you consider the Samsung q990 at all? Rtings claims it's better than the hta9s... And one reason I am strongly considering a soundbar is it's seamlessness... No troubleshooting inputs, formats, on/off triggering etc, it just works
I did come across it, but at that point I had already decided to go dedicated.
But I am tempting to give a soundbar another try at some point, it's just the financial justification that's a hindrance 😅.
My manual says my surrounds should be at 6 feet, damn, been at ear level this whole time. Should I actually raise them?
I would rather the surround than those up firing
Hum so do you recommend a... 3.1 system? I have two floor stand speakers and a subwoofer and i'm getting motivation to buy a central piece but it feels a little bit short.. I don't know :)
Why not just add a simple lateral speakers? They do make a huge difference, and the RZ50 support them well.
Where is your media cabinet from?
It’s from a Swiss furniture store called “pfister”. But it was a floor model and didn’t have any branding on it, so I don’t know what make and model it is 😔.
Looks like the Fina Sideboard from Gazzda
Thank you for that, I didn't know it myself!
Anyone knows which subwoofer does he have? Not shown in his description
It's the Monitor Audio Bronze W10 Subwoofer 🙂
is it possible to test 2 pairs of music frame hw-ls60d + Q-series HW-Q990D 11.1.4ch Soundbar + Samsung 8K Neo-QLED QN900D TV on movie and gaming effect?
Nice setup but the Sony Theatre Quad was the better solution for this use case for home cinema. Cheaper, more speakers and much better sound bubble. I'd have only gone for this solution if I listened to music more often than watching TV shows and movies.
First off amazing video, watched it from start to finish. My only critique is please hide those wires in the wall going from your tv to your power outlet on the bottom. I know you painted that wire channel green to match the walls but it’s very obvious lol just get a drywall saw, cut out some holes and install an outlet extender kit it’s very easy to do yourself
Thank you! 🙂 Regarding, the cables, I am renting and it isn't a drywall so I can't cut out pieces 😭.
what’s that tv stand?
Cinema sound at home? Well, the only way to achieve something close to cinema sound is to have extremely sensitive horn speakers and compression drivers. I find it quite amusing when I see many home theater owners, swearing they can achieve better sound using speakers with silk dome tweeters. Having a good sounding system is something easily achievable, having a sound system close to a really good commercial cinema is smth entirely different. And, oh, man, please find a solution to place that center speaker where it belongs. Most of the horizontal center speakers suck big time, having a terrible and very narrow sound dispersion.
As far as I know, Onkyo has THX certified AV receivers, to use with Klipsch THX-certified speakers. This was a system designed by George Lucas, which simulates a theater experience at home. Ideally the listening position is supposed to be 12' back from the front.
- Would be nice but I myself don't have that kind of space.
- What did work pretty good for me was running Audyssey on my 10 yrs old Onkyo AV Receiver. The improvement is significant.
Lol! Everywhere an oink oink! 😂
I do two channel movie watching with an expensive audiophile setup , is there a reason y didnt u go that route?
I wanted to maximize what my room could handle 🙂 but I will say, the up firing speakers aren't 100% necessary, they do make a difference but it's not that big.
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great video especially as an introduction for those getting into home theater! just remember, audio just as video are means to an end, and that end is immersion. so just buy a bigger tv for gods sake :)))
Thank you! 🙂