Home Theater: It's a start!

[StarsFan4Life]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: StarsFan4Life
I should have a $350 giftcard coming today to CircuitCity. What do you guys recommend from here in terms of a subwoofer:


http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm.../ccd/sitewidesearch.do

Howdy,

What did you end up buying?

Went and got the Klipsch SUB12. Got it home, unpacked it and it was freakin huge. I tested it and tweaked it as best I could but it was "muffled" a lot. Ended up taking it back yesterday because of the size of it mainly. Now I have a $350 GC that is burning a hole in my wallet.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

The 10" Boston Acoustics is $199 You could upgrade the rears with the left over cash, if it works out for you.

I'm a audio n00b meself, and I found this quick and dirty sub setup guide helpful Text

I picked up a BIC V1220 for cheap, and it is really boomy. Particularly in the W.E.F. location which is the traditional corner one. I used some of that guide's advice, and though I have to adjust the level through the A/V constantly, depending on the music or movie, I have managed to eliminate most of my personal taste issues with it. HTH, and post back what you try next. BTW, I'm envious of the price you paid for those Infinitys, was that in store only?

 

[StarsFan4Life]

I got the Infinity Primus P362's at Fry's for $99 each. I really should have gone back to get two more. I just placed an order with us-appliance.com for a pair of Infinity Primus P142's for the rear speakers for $108 shipped.....I was told this is a hell of a deal.

Now, I received my PC350 yesterday and it is freakin huge. Had to re-arrange my setup to accomidate the speaker. So I get my rear speakers in a week or so and now just need a subwoofer.

Is that Boston Acoustic's speaker any good? I see all but 1 store around me are OOS and they are OOS online as well. That worries me...

 

[DAPUNISHER]

As stated, I'm a n00b, so I wouldn't fell confident to answer the question on the sub any other way than to say that everything I've read so far indicates BA is a very good company and many users seem to love their products. The price is certainly right, and no harm in bringing it home for a demo imo. Maybe the size and sound will sell you on it. Heck, you could always buy some blu-ray flicks or something with the leftover GC $.

 

[Tiamat]

For any subwoofer you end up with, you need to set it up properly just like any other speaker. Place the subwoofer at your listening position and crawl around to find the location where the bass sounds the cleanest. Rules of reciprocity apply. Place the subwoofer at that location and you will have the clean bass when you sit at your listening position.

In your room, expect the subwoofers to be large in order to deliver clean and adequate bass.

Why don't you just hook up your logitech subwoofer properly as I just mentioned above and see how your sonics lie. You won't get much bass below 35hz, but its a start. By finding the optimal location for a subwoofer in your room, you find the optimal location for any subwoofers in your room.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
By finding the optimal location for a subwoofer in your room, you find the optimal location for any subwoofers in your room.

Rules of reciprocity apply

Good stuff, thanks. :beer: I wish there were more succinct answers like this provided more often. This audio scene seems like really esoteric shat to me most of the time.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: Tiamat
By finding the optimal location for a subwoofer in your room, you find the optimal location for any subwoofers in your room.

Rules of reciprocity apply

Good stuff, thanks. :beer: I wish there were more succinct answers like this provided more often. This audio scene seems like really esoteric shat to me most of the time.

When someone works hard to understand the mathematics and physics of the situation, they tend to forget to step down the language for everybody else when they share their knowledge.

It is also kind of tough for people to know how to simplify the wording so that it applies for 90% of cases. After trying stuff out so many times, you begin to figure out rules of thumbs, acknowledging exceptions, so that wording can be simplified.


The better version of what I would have said would recommend using a microphone and recording frequency response at each candidate location rather than depending on the ear.

Additionally, if your room is symmetrical, mirror image of optimal subwoofer locations should work. If you have determined that the front left corner works best, the front right corner would work as well.

This rule applies for 1 listener (single listening position).

If you have a group of listeners, there are different rules and different "camps".

Todd Welti of Harman International Industries Inc. found that optimal group listening and bass uniformity (in a shoe-box room) occurred with a total of 4 subwoofers, one placed on each mid-wall floor location. The second best was with 4 subwoofers, one placed at each floor tri-corner. The third best was with 2 subwoofers placed mid-wall opposing each other. (Welti, T., Subwoofers: Optimum Number and Locations , pp. 1-80.)

Here is another link that further shows multiple subwoofer arrangements and the consequences.

Here is the link that describes the "Crawl" method where you use your ears to determine the best location for a single subwoofer for a single listening position.

 

[StarsFan4Life]

Getting there (what I now have):

Sony STR-DG520 Receiver

Infinity P362 FloorStanding Speaker x2

Infinity P350 Center Channel Speaker

Infinity P142 Rear Speaker x2

Infinity PS-10 10" Subwoofer

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: StarsFan4Life
Getting there (what I now have):

Sony STR-DG520 Receiver

Infinity P362 FloorStanding Speaker x2

Infinity P350 Center Channel Speaker

Infinity P142 Rear Speaker x2

Infinity PS-10 10" Subwoofer

Come on, post your opinions of course!!!!!!

You've done the hard part (whipping out the wallet) now do the easy part (relax and listen)!