Whats Your Audio / Home Cinema Setup?

[SlowGrayAudi]

For black friday i got a full 5.1 Klipsch setup. Bought all the pieces individually. They're not a set.

Replaced an old mix of logitech sub/energy satellites.

1x Klipsch R-120sw 12"subwoofer
1x Klipsch RP-500C 5.25" center channel speaker
4x Klipsch R-51M 5.25" Bookshelf speakers

Running through an old Sony 7.1 reciever.

Pardon the mess. I need to figure out speaker mounts for the four bookshelf speakers. I got a hanging vesa mount attachment for the center channel. Just havent had tome to take the TV down yet.

It sounds amazing. But apartment living limits how crazy i can get with it.

 

[TB]

Newly acquired over the weekend - a Bose Cinemate speaker system. For free!

It's in my exercise room connected to a 50" plasma that is slowly dying. Video source is a Tivo Mini.

Now I just need to get my Harmony 880 figured out so I can cut it down to one remote.

 

[BloodRaven]

Surround: Klipsch Quintet III
Sub: BIC America F12
AVR: Pioneer Elite VSX-60
TV: Samsung 50" 4K
Peripherals: PS4

I want a new AVR as my current one doesn't do 4K

 

[tarkus1]

Yamaha RxA 3020 running through a
Monster AVS2000 voltage stabilizer and Monster power conditioner
Samsung 75" 4KTV
Golden ear Supersat front and center channel speakers
Golden Ear Invisa Series rear and surround
(1) SVS SB16 ultra sub
(2) PSA S3000 subs

 

[TB]

Yamaha RxA 3020 running through a
Monster AVS2000 voltage stabilizer and Monster power conditioner
Samsung 75" 4KTV
Golden ear Supersat front and center channel speakers
Golden Ear Invisa Series rear and surround
(1) SVS SB16 ultra sub
(2) PSA S3000 subs

Having never looked into them, I have to admit based purely on the name, I kind of assumed that Golden Ear was one of those cheap "out of the back of a van" systems but then the SVS Ultra said that would be a weird combination.

Doing a quick search, it sounds like the Golden Ears are quality kit. 👍

I'd love to see some pictures of the setup, if you're so inclined.

 

[tarkus1]

Having never looked into them, I have to admit based purely on the name, I kind of assumed that Golden Ear was one of those cheap "out of the back of a van" systems but then the SVS Ultra said that would be a weird combination.

Doing a quick search, it sounds like the Golden Ears are quality kit. 👍

I'd love to see some pictures of the setup, if you're so inclined.

I'll get some pics but I believe GoldenEar is fairly new and was started from the guy that started Definitive Technology, which is the same guy that started Polk many many years ago. At least that's my understanding but I could be wrong. I used to have a set of Definitive tech's which were beastly which is how I was turned onto the GoldenEar brand. They just weren't "wife friendly" when we re-did the basement so they had to go in favor of something less obtrusive. So out with the DT and in with the GE.

 

[TB]

I believe GoldenEar is fairly new and was started from the guy that started Definitive Technology, which is the same guy that started Polk many many years ago. At least that's my understanding but I could be wrong.

I read the same thing.

They just weren't "wife friendly" when we re-did the basement so they had to go in favor of something less obtrusive. So out with the DT and in with the GE.

Gotta keep them happy.

I'm very fortunate with the theater room that my wife really doesn't care what I do in there. Actually, she prefers to not know.

 

[tarkus1]

I read the same thing.


Gotta keep them happy.

I'm very fortunate with the theater room that my wife really doesn't care what I do in there. Actually, she prefers to not know.

You're a lucky guy but I guess I can't complain. As much as I loved the DT's I'm certainly not complaining about the GE's. Plus I do have to give the wife credit. She did turn it into something much more appealing than what I originally had.

 

[tarkus1]

Having never looked into them, I have to admit based purely on the name, I kind of assumed that Golden Ear was one of those cheap "out of the back of a van" systems but then the SVS Ultra said that would be a weird combination.

Doing a quick search, it sounds like the Golden Ears are quality kit. 👍

I'd love to see some pictures of the setup, if you're so inclined.

BTW it looks like I made a mistake earlier. The SVS sub is an SB13 Ultra and not 16.

 

[TonyJZX]

Like a lot of people I got into the home theater buzz but I never made the transition to bluray. In fact I probably have about a dozen BRs and they are all music discs.

Obviously streaming is the future. I also have little time for movies.

So like Andrew Robinson I moved to just 2 channel. Or 2.1 - you try to listen to music every day.

I have an integrated amp I use largely as a power amp.

I use an ancient professional a/v live events digital preamp as a dac. Its 24/192 and its better than many standalone dacs.

They are balanced.

I use a cheap hdmi switcher.

I use a pair of JBL spks + a pair of powered 12" subwoofers set to stereo.

Tbf I dont even have the subs powered on. THe JBLs have good low end extention anyway.

I find music to be pretty much close to what people would call an 'end game' system. It doesnt get much better than this without spending huge amounts of money.

A pc streaming 24/96 music to this system is as good as I can reasonably expect.

 

[Sprite]

I thought I’d move my recent purchase and updates on it to this thread rather than keep spamming the Recent Purchase Thread.

I’m (at the time I type this) waiting on the HDMI cables.

I know the 48gbs 8K cables are a little overkill, however I wanted to ensure I could push the highest signals to the TV and back via eARC to the soundbar.

Once I get a PS5 (not in a rush though) they should support 4K 120 too. That’s if Sony every sort out the firmware on their TVs.

Soundbar & Bracket Boxed

TV Boxed


I’ll post up some installed pics and impressions once I have it done. Maybe Thursday depending on when I can get to the Handyman shop to pick up bolts and raw plugs for the soundbar bracket.

Well we have cables galore now. 4 1.5m Chord C-View. Hopefully should limit any handshake and throughput gremlins.

 

[Sprite]

The images do not really do the TV justice.

It was an easy install but just took a full day as did everything methodically. Started around 11 in the morning after I'd been to the Handyman shop to pick up a new drill bit, screws, rawl plugs and washers. Finally sat down at around 6 to start the soundbar calibration.

The TV has now got most of the settings updated based on a chap from AVS forum and YT Classy Tech. I don't normally pay much attention but a lot of people seemed to have given high praise on his basic setting (He uses some motion settings etc which I don't) but the rest I used.

I reset my Oppo 203 to output 4k (it was set to output 1080p previously) and have asked for the TV to do Dolby Vision (I'll switch back and fourth between the two to gauge which does it better, Player led or TV led). I also asked for HDR tone-mapping to be aiming for around 1000 nits as Peak on this set is around 700 for highlights. It would hit close to 1000 but that's with all the horrid processing turned on and in Vivid mode. I may adjust my Peak on the Oppo a little lower but at this time it looks outstanding.

The Soundbar is fantastic. Now I have come from a Yamaha Amp and B&W 685S2 speakers (2.0 set-up) but it couldn't do a correct downmix and speech would be just drowned out by all the other effects. The old system was my fidelity focused and everything just sounded lush and not harsh. Plus It could go nice and low but also at low volumes. The soundbar has changed everything.

Speech is now up front and easy to hear above the din of everything else going on. The soundstage is a lot bigger stretching well beyond the edges of the TV, however this gives a thin sound (our living room is a very odd shape owing to a chimney breast and bay window along with a door directly to the side of the soundbar) however everything is now audible and a little clearer. The DSP from the Sennheiser is having to work pretty hard to give us something decent.

It really comes alive once you give it some beans, volume brings everything out and small surround sounds start to bounce about and it starts to dig deeper. I'd say despite the claims you don't need a Sub with this bar, I'd have to disagree and is something I'll look into (maybe a baby REL). Music played via my HDD through the Oppo sounds fantastic and while not up to the level of the B&W's it certainly isn't something to scoff at either.

I've just watched the first 20 minutes of Alien Covenant in 4K HDR and its a superb experience and I cant fault the TV's shadow detail etc. I honestly cant see how it could get better. (I know some sets can eg Sony A90J, Panasonic HZ2000 and Sony Z9J) but I'm super happy with how this screen turned out and very pleased with the soundbar.

 

[TB]

Fantastic write up, @Sprite! Looks amazing!

Even without hearing it, it's a pretty safe bet you might not need a sub but it's equally safe that one would help fill out the low end just a touch. 👍

 

[Sprite]

Fantastic write up, @Sprite! Looks amazing!

Even without hearing it, it's a pretty safe bet you might not need a sub but it's equally safe that one would help fill out the low end just a touch. 👍

The issue we have is, I love loud cinema sound so a Sub might not be needed as it seems to really dig in when the volume goes up On the flip side the other half hates loud stuff so we don't listen at high volumes when watching together and that accounts for about 90% of our TV time. A sub may just help the bottom end at lower volumes. I'll give it more time and I may grow accustomed to it and in the end feel no need.

 

[TheCracker]

I found that with my Q Acoustics soundbar (which does a fairly decent sized sub built in, at the expense of making the bar itself oversized in depth) At low volumes everything is a touch muted, although still better than the TVs own speakers, but as you increase the volume, everything starts to wake up and the clarity and base levels are great. Unfortunately that volume level is a bit much for a semi detached house with 1960's paper-thin walls and/or partners who are trying to sleep or work.

 

[MatskiMonk]

@Sprite

The low end response of the sound bar isn't going to be anything like a dedicated sub, and volume almost doesn't matter. It's not chucking all the sound waves at you, irrespective of the volume - you wouldn't run a set up without a tweeter, it's the same with a sub.

A traditional centre channel speaker is designed, along with its channel mix, to deliver dialogue, it's centered around the 1kHz region that human speech is. By virtue of its placement under/above the screen, it also centers dialogue on the screen.

A sound bar, elaborate as they may be, is trying to throw the entire frequency range required across all corners at you, from one direction, and it's doing it in a box that dictates it can't do certain frequencies very well. This is a similar problem to a 2.0 setup... the same speakers that are trying to project the main stage at you, and the left/right separation for the main bulk of the sound, are trying to do the subtle/centered dialogue job also.

I suppose I'm old school though... I aim for a full range speaker in all of the 5 locations, and if you don't have to worry about neighbours, a powered sub in the .1 location too. 'Ain't no replacement for displacement' as they say.

 

[TB]

I suppose I'm old school though... I aim for a full range speaker in all of the 5 locations, and if you don't have to worry about neighbours, a powered sub in the .1 location too. 'Ain't no replacement for displacement' as they say.

7.3 is better.

All of my speakers cut off at 80 Hertz where the subs take over.

That said, there are plenty of situations where a soundbar would be preferable to a full surround setup, like in my living room. Sure, the separation on a soundbar can't touch individual speakers but it'll still sound better than the built-in TV speakers.

 

[Sprite]

@MatskiMonk unfortunaly I don’t have the space for a full surround system. Plus the boss wouldn’t allow it, heck she hated my 685’s on the stands being in the room.

If I’m honest I’m really impressed with the soundbar despite its limitations. It sounds pretty impressive and it’s DSP system does a really nice job of giving phantom channels and a wide soundstage. It’s certainly lacks low end but I expected this (despite what reviews and marketing stated). A small sub will help with this, our living room is very small, we’re in an 1800s end terrace so I guess small isn’t really doing it justice 😄

 

[Sprite]

Well it’s been a few days now since I’ve had the new screen and soundbar.

As mentioned on the A80J (specifically the “77 due to having an evo panel from LG) I used the settings from someone who frequents the AVS forum and has a YT channel.

The settings should get as close to D65 white point and Delta Errors under 3 (most are well under 2) without the need for a full calibration. As the panel is new, a full calibration isn’t needed until at least a few hundred hours of mixed viewing to allow it to settle in. Now all of this is moot for me as I’m colour blind 😆, however my fiancée isn’t and she’s stated everything looks spot on colour wise (I asked her to pay attention to skin tones).

I’ve now watched a few films 4K & 1080p plus some TV shows on DVD (we’re currently rewatching Star Trek Voyager). As you can guess stretching a 576i or lower resolution over such a large screen really shows up the limits of what can be done with poor sources. 1080p from disk looks really nice and upscales really well by the TV (source direct being fed by the Oppo so it doesn’t do the scaling etc). Native 4K looks stunning but really shows how bad some discs look compared to others.

For example, I watched Bladerunner on 4K today. What a transfer this is, the whole thing looks so beautiful, for about 90% of it you can just pause it and gaze as the cinematography and film making skill on show. Now I say 90% because there are very dated special effects which the 4K just enhances their limits even more than 1080p. Also there are a lot of soft focus shots when clearly the actors are stood still but just out of focus. I can only assume they missed their marks or the limits of on set screens meant they couldn’t quite see if in focus or not so took those shots as they were. But overall it’s a beautiful film and very cinematic on a larger screen. I have seen this in the cinema a few years back on a limited run they did. I’d have to say this was as close as I could get without a projector, albeit with better contrast than the cinema.

We also watched Avengers Assemble tonight on 4K and while this film is newer than Bladerunner it just didn’t carry the same impact. Granted more shots in focus and a clear uptick in many other areas, however it just looks ok. Now Bladerunner is a true 4K scan and Avengers is a 2K uprez and it shows it’s just less filmic.

I also scanned over Pixar’s Soul in 1080p and it just looked so lovely. Bright, colourful and luscious. Heaven knows how good it will look in 4K HDR, it’s films like that make me wish I wasn’t colour blind too.

Now the soundbar has had some tweaking and is sounding much better. Purists may want to tune out now 😂 as the bar obviously uses DSP to try its best at giving a surround like sound. The bar itself is Atmos and DTS-X compatible and has two up-firing speakers for height channels. I will say it’s not even close to full surround. I get no rear effects and minimal height. This will be due to my seating position and the height of our ceilings. My room is small (about 11 feet by 14 feet) we have an open fire to the left, a door and bookcase to the right and a bay window behind the seat which the TV and bar face.

What I do get though is a very wide soundstage which covers the whole TV wall side to side and top to bottom and extends about 3 feet into the room. I also said it was lacking low end, well I’ve now fixed this issue, the bar has an app which can be used to make all manner of changes to the bar, including a basic EQ on each of the 4 DSP sets. In the Movie setting I’ve upped the Lower region by about 3db and lower mids by 1db. I’ve also lowered the highest frequencies by 1db. This allows the low end to come in much more to the room and when I’ve been blasting the volume (not even close to full whack as it’s just too loud for our house) the highs don’t get too fatiguing and I can watch & listen for longer periods.

Going back to Bladerunner, throughout the film pouring rain is prevalent and it just sounds like the rain is coming from the ceiling and hitting the floor in front of me. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to experience this all around me with a correct set up, just like it was in the cinema, but beggars can’t be choosers. Just like the image, Avengers fell short of Bladerunner in this regard too, it was clear and at times bombastic but this is odd occasions, it tends to aim for compromised soundtrack and middle of the road.

I also tried some music, from high resolution files on my HDD, SACD, Blu-ray audio and DVD Audio. They all sounded fantastic and enjoyable. It’s not quite up to my modest 2.0 system but still for casual listening it’s adequate and the boss is happy she doesn’t have my speakers out in room away from boundary walls etc.

I’ve also updated my Harmony remote today to take off the old system and add the new components. This in turn allows the boss to use it without her getting annoyed with multiple remotes to contend with.

So do I still want a Sub?… hmmm yep, am I anxious to get one?… nah I can wait a while and see how things go. Now the next mission is to get the dedicated music room sorted upstairs. I’ve been allowed to set everything up in the front bedroom. At the moment though it’s got a double bed and other bits to get rid off. So looks like the work isn’t over yet.

If anyone has any questions don’t hesitate to ask.

 

[Dennisch]

With the new ES amplifier, the speakers can't stay behind. Totally not necessary but still necessary.

SS-F7 ES.

They're hideous but beautiful. But thanks to the poopie brown I was able to pick them up for €125.

 

[TB]

Great. Now Ebay thinks I need new speakers.

 

[Dennisch]

Great. Now Ebay thinks I need new speakers.

I need 2 more to replace the rears.

It's late here so I can't go blasting for too long but it is glorious. The sound quality of these is just great. Needs a bit of fine tuning and a lick of black paint and then a search for 2 more.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Great. Now Ebay thinks I need new speakers.

And who are you to say no to eBay?

 

[hornet_burnout]

Recently got these used NAD for a secondary stereo set in the office/man cave/living/GT playing room. Which sound great on my very old Mission speakers that where the back HT speakers for years. Need to buy a new pair now...

 

[TB]

Recently got these used NAD for a secondary stereo set in the office/man cave/living/GT playing room. Which sound great on my very old Mission speakers that where the back HT speakers for years. Need to buy a new pair now...

Nice!

I'd move those speakers up a bit to get them more in line with the TV.

 

[coryclifford]

NAD has been a staple in my life for about 30 years. Not a lot of stuff, but they’re nice. Newest is the C316BEE V2 etc.

I do like.

 

[hornet_burnout]

Nice!

I'd move those speakers up a bit to get them more in line with the TV.

Actually they are almost at ear height, the TV is too high for the seat, but it's gotta be like that because... steering

 

[TB]

A coworker was looking for a sub to put out in his garage so I directed him to one I saw on Facebook. He told me this morning that he picked it up and installed it this weekend.

I got to thinking and realized that I have, if you count the vehicles, too, NINE subs in my house. And when the new Elantra shows up, it'll be 10.

Theater room: 3
Exercise room: 1
Office: 1, plus 1 that needs a home (probably the theater room)
Pilot: 1
Highlander: 1
Tacoma: 1

 

[RikkiGT-R]

My TX-NR646 died last week, and without taking it to a specialist I know it's the HDMI board... again
So I need a new AV Receiver, and since that's 2 Onkyos that have died I'll be looking at another brand this time.

 

[wfooshee]

I had a Yamaha receiver that the HDMI board went out on. I was able to repair it myself by sourcing the part on eBay. It was simply a matter of some disassembly, unplugging, unscrewing, remove, install, screw, connect, assemble. Seems like it was only a couple years or less when it died again, at which time I elected to upgrade the receiver. The old one had an older HDMI standard and had no awareness of 4K.