Hey All,

Just wanted to post some of the pictures of my new media room. I finally finished it this weekend. We added on several years ago and this room was just going to be attic space so I decided to have them frame it out and sheetrock it. The rest was done by my wife and me. It is 17'-6"x13'-6". The only thing I wish I would have done is put down carpet. Our children are very young and prone to spilling drinks and I just could not imagine having coke stains everywhere. I may put carpet down later. I have put down several rugs to help with the absorption and I also put some insulation on the walls below the chair rail. As you know, trying to place absorption panels in the proper location can look rather ugly, and my wife insisted that it better look good. So this is what I came up with and I have to say, it has worked out pretty well. I used 1" thick insulation board and covered it with some material that I came across at a fabric store. Air seemed to pass through it very easily, so I figured it would work ok. The wood is all oak, stained in a mahogany color. The sconces are on a dimmer and there is a window behind the tv so that is why the curtain is there. Anyway, take look and let me know what cha think. Oh, and maybe some suggestions on what I can do on the back wall.

Thanks,

Todd


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That is pretty sweet! Those look like QS4s. How do you like the surround effects with them positioned that way?

Very nicely done.

Excellent! What is the sub, BTW?

Thanks guys. I positioned them in several places and found they sounded best there. The closer I got to the back wall the more they seemed to disconnect.

I watched my first Blue Ray movie last night on my Sharp 1080p. Oh man, it was absolutely amazing. I put a regular dvd in and you could definitely tell the difference, but the picture was still really good. The sound was a different story. The Blue Ray sound was so much more dynamic and the clarity was crystal clear.

Todd

I like my clarity opaque, personally.

The sub is an Axiom. I purchased it about 3 years ago. I think it is a 10". Back when I bought the set of speakers they offered two different subs, the one I have and a 12". I thought the 12" would be too large for the size room I have.

Very nice setup Todd!

Not to nitpick but I genuinely believe you would get significantly better music, and movie performance with your front speaker spread out some more. Perhaps centered right below those pictures. And maybe toed in a bit. Especially if you do any listening in 2 channel.

I agree with that.

Now that I relook at those pictures I agree also. Your soundstage will open up if you spread out the mains more.

When I first set up my front mains I had them placed just in front of the pictures and it sounded as if the center channel was where all the sound was coming from. It seemed as if there was a gap in the sound between the center and front mains. I read a post somewhere on this forum where Alan Lofft said the front mains should be spaced no more than half the distance from where you are sitting in relation to the front mains. I am about 7 feet from my front mains and my speakers are spaced about 4 feet apart. I use to have my center channel on top of my tv though, so maybe it will sound different with it positioned as it is now. I will try to spacing them out a bit and see how it sounds. Thanks guys for the input.

I too agree, try them out at the extremes then move them back in a few inches at a time until you are happy with the soudstage, I bet they will be out a little more than they are now.

When listening to music, the voice should appear as if it is coming from the center channel, that is the best imaging. The other instruments will be in other locations.

It is my understanding that you want them about the same distance apart as you are from them. A slight toe in towards the center seat may help as well.

Shal,

The stereo sound localization very much depends on the CD that you're playing. When I listen to Diana Krall: Love Scenes for example, she is dead centre between my 80s and her bassist is a touch to the left. But when I play Echoes of Incas: Ventana Al Sol, there are sound cues at the centre, to the left and right of centre, at the left and right speaker and even cues well beyond the speaker boundaries including behind me to the left and right sides.

Start with an equilateral triangle and keep moving your fronts closer together from there. And leave them where it sounds best to you.

That seems to make more sense. Maybe it misread the post. I wasn't too pleased with how close they were anyway. I will start with the equilateral triangle as suggested and slowly move them in. Thanks guys

Mojo's point is very important. Make sure you try for 4-5 CDs that you really like to find the best "return" for your "positional money".

Your room looks great Todd, nice job.

Equidistant isn't a set in stone rule regarding placement. Play with the speakers in several different width locations and see what you think, this can take up quite a lot of time so be patient. Find the placement that makes these speakers shine, so that whenever do find the sweet spot you can then go back and tweak 'em a little more after a couple of months 'cause you'll find that sooner or later you just can't seem to leave the things alone for any length of time without *another fine adjustment* ... happens to almost everybody.

What Rick is saying is very true. I spent tens of hours positioning my fronts and I thought I found the perfect orientation with the massive toe-in that you see on the Wall of Fame. But after 7 months, I moved my 80s for a Paradigm A/B test and when I put them back, I didn't have them toed in at all. I found the soundstage opened up tremendously and the treble was "sweeter". What fooled me with the extreme toe-in was the clearness of the highs. The treble clarity that I thought was good was even more appealing with no toe-in.

Have you calibrated your speakers?

You guys seem to have a lot of experience with HT and how to notice the difference in the "soundstage". Can you give me some examples of what to listen for? Should I set things up while listening to music instead of a movie? Should I have someone move the speakers during playback while I stay positioned in my seat?

I just bought a sound meter from Radio Shack. Can the speakers be calibrated by just using the receivers tone test?

Reciever test tones will work just fine (worked with mine just fine).

Set your meter to "slow" and "C" weighting. THe difference that you noticed from the centre channel and your mains was most likely due to lack of proper calibration, once all your speakers are calibrated to 75db, the soundstage will be seamless from one speaker to another across the front.

When I start the test tone do set the meter reading to 75db by raising the main volume? Then set each individual speaker volume to 0 and as the test moves to each speaker raise each speaker volume until they all read 75db? Is this correct?

This is how I do it with my Yamaha receiver:

The test tone first goes to the left speaker, I have the trim for that speaker set to 0db, I then raise or lower the MAIN volume so that my front left speaker is reading 75db. This speaker is now my reference speaker for the rest of the speakers.

I then goto each other speaker in my system, KEEP THE MAIN VOLUME THE SAME, but change the individual "trim" db for each individual speaker so that it reads at 75db.

There you have it!

Its difference for all receiver companies, but thats how it is done on my Yamaha. I hope this helps!

Wow Rick, your HT is awesome!!! Love the set up and color scheme. I wish I had more room in mine. Is there a reason you have your mains pulled forward?

I notice it doesn't take much trim volume to raise the db to 75. I think the most is about 4. I then notice that the main volume on my Denon 1804 has to be around -10 before I reach a volume that I like and can hear well in quite scenes. Like someone talking without any background noise. But when an action scene begins I need to turn it down a bit. On the Denon, when I start getting close to "0" on the volume, is that the max I should go?

All the readings are taken from the sweetspot in the middle of your seating area or your favorite place to sit if its not in the middle but that will make the system sound really wierd for those in other places. For your 1804(same as mine) the easiest way to calibrate(equalize) the speakers is go into the speaker set up screen and then set them all to small(this can be changed later if you desire) continue through the screens setting up the distances and finally you will get to the test tone screen, go into the manual test tone, so you can have it on longer if needed, and take a reading for the first speaker, they use - LF. Whatever that reading is(probably somewhere in the 70-75db range), use that as the base to set the rest as you move through the speakers adjusting each one up or down to achieve that first reading; Center will be next, then RF, Right surround, Center rear(if turned on), Left surround and finally the sub.

You don't have to set the speakers to 75db the main idea is to have them all sounding equal at the sweetspot, which achieves the nice even soundstage.

A trick for the vocals during the quiet scenes is to run the center 2-4db higher than the others and it doesn't cause any problems for any other effects.

Thanks Jason. I will do that tonight.

Maybe double check the wiring to make sure nothing is crossed as -10 on mine in my room is incredibily loud, -20 to -15 is the norm for me to listen to movies, but it could just be the calibration and/or room differences.

Shal,

Use the calibration as a baseline and let your ears decide on the final tweaks.

I went home last night and calibrated all my speakers and then took your advice and moved the mains out about 16" each. I also toed them in just a bit. I was totally blown away at the difference. Wow!!! I now know what you mean when you say it would widen the soundstage. Thanks again guys for all your help and suggestions.

Did you set the center up a few db and have a chance to see if makes a difference?

yes I did, but it sounded a bit too loud. So I set it even with the fronts. When I calibrated my speakers, the center was way off.

I like the paint treatment, looks very warm. Looks like you made a great space out of what would have been attic. If you think it is still very reflective in your room you should take a look at gik accoustics web page. They make some nice absorption panels in colors that your wife may approve of, pretty good prices too.

Room Acoustics.....Can anyone give me some suggestions on treatments for my room. I think the angled ceilings are causing me problems. If I clap my hands, it doesn't seem to echo much, but it hurts my ears a bit. My back walls may also need some attention. You can view the pictures on the first page of this post. Maybe you've come across a website that talks about unusual ceiling shapes and how to treat reflections.

Thanks,

Todd

Stop clapping your hands with your head in between them.