Several Questions for you audiophiles - 05/26/04 08:36 PM
First of all, I'd like to say that I'm very happy to have found this message board. I've been reading for a few weeks and have found everyone to be friendly and helpful- unlike many boards I've come across. I decided to pack my questions all in this post, rather than flood the board with several different ones.
CURRENT SETUP: I have a Phillips 55" HD widescreen (love it) and a Sony "HT in a box" 5.1 audio system. Not exactly top of the line audio, but I got it for about 100bucks because the box was damaged (I work for SCEA, so I can purchase from the local "Sony store" which is open to employees only). I live in an apartment and my living room is approx 15x15. I sit about 11 or 12 feet from the front of my T.V., with my couch pushed right up against the rear wall.
My plans are to upgrade to a Yamaha2400 and Axiom speaker setup- I just want to make sure I'm making the best decisions.
Questions:
1. Surround sound. I am probably going to go for 6.1 for now, and possibly 7.1 in the future. If I go for 6.1, would a QS8 as a rear center be the "optimum" choice? If I end up going to a 7.1, I think I would end up being stuck with an extra QS8. Do you think I should go with maybe an M3 or M2 as a center rear speaker for a 6.1, in case I go with 7.1 in the future? Should I just skip over and go straight to 7.1. The thing is, since my couch is against the wall, I am probably going to go with two extra "presence" speakers up front. Is this a good set-up? Is it worth it- or should I just stick to 6.1 until I get more space to work with?
2. Speakers. Of course, M60's are very tempting. Here are my concerns: My T.V. is fairly tall, so the VP150 would be a good height above the M60's, so I'm concerned it won't necessarily be "balanced" with the height of the speakers on the floor. Will the M22's on 16" or 24" stands be considerably higher, and even preferable as far as matching the height is concerned? Is it even noticeable if the speaker is much lower? I live upstairs, and I really don't need to be blasting my neighbors ears out. I listen at fairly low volumes at night, but I want that sound to be clear and "strong". Are M60s going to be a "bigger" sound at equal volume compared to M22s (both with a subwoofer at low volumes)? I'm not really concerned about the price, but of course, an extra 400dollars is nothing to sneeze at. I could get two pair of M22s for the price of the M60s- or maybe a pair of M22s and a pair of M2s or M3s for the dedicated "presence" speakers. Besides the "what if" factor, would I realistically miss the M60s if I rarely crank it up REALLY loud?
3. DVD-A/SACD players. Should I even bother? I have a 5 disk DVD/CD changer that works fine- but I would love to listen to SACDs and DVD-As. The thing is- it seems most of the players aren't a very good value. First of all, we only get analog connections with them because the record companies don't want us to have "perfect" digital connections for copyright issues (similar to how most cable companys have deactivated the DVI outputs for HDTV STB's). In addition, many recievers don't have bass management for analog inputs- those that do must do an extra conversion to digital just to make that feature work- and the SACD players that have bass management (I think) are quite expensive. So tell me, are SACDs REALLY that impressive?!?! Could some of this just be the placebo effect of the owners who dished out big money for these players (much like people who swear one brand of reciever is "bright" and another brand is "warm"- or the whole speaker break-in debate). I don't doubt that they MAY sound a little better- but is it really THAT noticeable (and worth it)? I have listened to several DVD concert videos that were recorded (or remastered) in digital 5.1 and I think they sound great- what do I really gain with DVD-a or SACD? I would probably buy one if there was a player that had DVD/DVD-A/SACD/CD capability, could hold 5 disks or even 200-400, upconvert to 1080i with a DVI output, and has bass management.. I looked but I don't think one exists yet.
4. Remotes. I have done a lot of reading about the various cool remotes out there and I can't pull the trigger because they all have good pros and cons alike. I am aware of the programming issues of the Pronto, but I'm kinda leaning that way (recent firmware release supposedly fixed a lot of nagging issues people had with them). The Harmony seems pretty interesting also (either the 688 or 768). Lately the MX700 has caught my interest also.. what do you folks have, and what do you like/dislike about it?
5. Setup. So here is what I am thinking - M60's or 22s in front, VP150, QS8s, and either the EP175 or an STF-2 (I'm not concerned with shaking the building- I just want a good quality sub). Do you think that for the extra two speakers in a 7.1 that I should go with the M3s or the M2s? The M3s seem that they would have a little "bigger" sound simply because of their larger driver- but the M2s MIGHT match a little better with 22s or 60s.. would I even notice that one "matches" better than the other?
6. Antenna. Anyone know of a good quality powered FM antenna? I would like to pick up more stations, and clearly. I saw one at Radio Shack for about 30bucks, and haven't done any research on these.. does anyone have one that they like or consider to be the best quality?
7. NBA playoffs. O.K., this is OT - but does anyone else in the world, besides me, think that the East actually has a chance this year? They play MUCH harder every possession and their defense is just astonishing.. Who thinks the Lakers don't play hard enough and are gonna end up getting spanked by pure hustle and better team-play? Go Pistons..
Thanks for any responses/advice!
CURRENT SETUP: I have a Phillips 55" HD widescreen (love it) and a Sony "HT in a box" 5.1 audio system. Not exactly top of the line audio, but I got it for about 100bucks because the box was damaged (I work for SCEA, so I can purchase from the local "Sony store" which is open to employees only). I live in an apartment and my living room is approx 15x15. I sit about 11 or 12 feet from the front of my T.V., with my couch pushed right up against the rear wall.
My plans are to upgrade to a Yamaha2400 and Axiom speaker setup- I just want to make sure I'm making the best decisions.
Questions:
1. Surround sound. I am probably going to go for 6.1 for now, and possibly 7.1 in the future. If I go for 6.1, would a QS8 as a rear center be the "optimum" choice? If I end up going to a 7.1, I think I would end up being stuck with an extra QS8. Do you think I should go with maybe an M3 or M2 as a center rear speaker for a 6.1, in case I go with 7.1 in the future? Should I just skip over and go straight to 7.1. The thing is, since my couch is against the wall, I am probably going to go with two extra "presence" speakers up front. Is this a good set-up? Is it worth it- or should I just stick to 6.1 until I get more space to work with?
2. Speakers. Of course, M60's are very tempting. Here are my concerns: My T.V. is fairly tall, so the VP150 would be a good height above the M60's, so I'm concerned it won't necessarily be "balanced" with the height of the speakers on the floor. Will the M22's on 16" or 24" stands be considerably higher, and even preferable as far as matching the height is concerned? Is it even noticeable if the speaker is much lower? I live upstairs, and I really don't need to be blasting my neighbors ears out. I listen at fairly low volumes at night, but I want that sound to be clear and "strong". Are M60s going to be a "bigger" sound at equal volume compared to M22s (both with a subwoofer at low volumes)? I'm not really concerned about the price, but of course, an extra 400dollars is nothing to sneeze at. I could get two pair of M22s for the price of the M60s- or maybe a pair of M22s and a pair of M2s or M3s for the dedicated "presence" speakers. Besides the "what if" factor, would I realistically miss the M60s if I rarely crank it up REALLY loud?
3. DVD-A/SACD players. Should I even bother? I have a 5 disk DVD/CD changer that works fine- but I would love to listen to SACDs and DVD-As. The thing is- it seems most of the players aren't a very good value. First of all, we only get analog connections with them because the record companies don't want us to have "perfect" digital connections for copyright issues (similar to how most cable companys have deactivated the DVI outputs for HDTV STB's). In addition, many recievers don't have bass management for analog inputs- those that do must do an extra conversion to digital just to make that feature work- and the SACD players that have bass management (I think) are quite expensive. So tell me, are SACDs REALLY that impressive?!?! Could some of this just be the placebo effect of the owners who dished out big money for these players (much like people who swear one brand of reciever is "bright" and another brand is "warm"- or the whole speaker break-in debate). I don't doubt that they MAY sound a little better- but is it really THAT noticeable (and worth it)? I have listened to several DVD concert videos that were recorded (or remastered) in digital 5.1 and I think they sound great- what do I really gain with DVD-a or SACD? I would probably buy one if there was a player that had DVD/DVD-A/SACD/CD capability, could hold 5 disks or even 200-400, upconvert to 1080i with a DVI output, and has bass management.. I looked but I don't think one exists yet.
4. Remotes. I have done a lot of reading about the various cool remotes out there and I can't pull the trigger because they all have good pros and cons alike. I am aware of the programming issues of the Pronto, but I'm kinda leaning that way (recent firmware release supposedly fixed a lot of nagging issues people had with them). The Harmony seems pretty interesting also (either the 688 or 768). Lately the MX700 has caught my interest also.. what do you folks have, and what do you like/dislike about it?
5. Setup. So here is what I am thinking - M60's or 22s in front, VP150, QS8s, and either the EP175 or an STF-2 (I'm not concerned with shaking the building- I just want a good quality sub). Do you think that for the extra two speakers in a 7.1 that I should go with the M3s or the M2s? The M3s seem that they would have a little "bigger" sound simply because of their larger driver- but the M2s MIGHT match a little better with 22s or 60s.. would I even notice that one "matches" better than the other?
6. Antenna. Anyone know of a good quality powered FM antenna? I would like to pick up more stations, and clearly. I saw one at Radio Shack for about 30bucks, and haven't done any research on these.. does anyone have one that they like or consider to be the best quality?
7. NBA playoffs. O.K., this is OT - but does anyone else in the world, besides me, think that the East actually has a chance this year? They play MUCH harder every possession and their defense is just astonishing.. Who thinks the Lakers don't play hard enough and are gonna end up getting spanked by pure hustle and better team-play? Go Pistons..
Thanks for any responses/advice!