Speakers for home theater

[Exterous]

When I do listen music thru earphones - STEREO, I do wonder, where should I put subwoofer, so, my stomach could "hear" extra bass - 1 or 2 Hz, because neither me nor other humans can't hear anything ~100Hz below...but some can claim - they can hear all frequencies, anything....

Ah so you were being a dick. Got it. Anyway subwoofers CAN add a lot to the audio experience. Then there is the addition of physical sensation which can also add a lot to movies as well.

No one here said he couldn't enjoy a system without a subwoofer just that it adds a lot to the experience. And it's not exactly an unsubstantiated claim. You might have gotten some milage out of saying that it varies by person

 

[Gintaras]

And the troll is wrong, what a surprise.

When you say that someone is wrong, care to explain WHY(wrong). Otherwise, you the one who's a troll, and NO surprise

Besides which using headphones/earphones is very different from using speakers in many ways. I always recommend getting a subwoofer for any kind of home theater setup whether it's a full 5.1 or a 2.1 setup for a system. It adds a lot to music that's being played or any movie that's being watched.

Are you an audiophile? Recommender....

When music is played, it matters a lot, what are you playing? LP? Cassette? CD? MP3? or any other media?

How an album was recorded and mixed - so will you hear - no anything extra.
If anyone will say that they hear some extra sounds - it's a mirage either caused by bad hearing or just want to believe that they hear anything extra.

This week I had a conversation with a musician about this. He told me, that as of today, very few albums are recorded and mixed for 5.1, rest are Stereo - left and right channels.
Connect as many speakers as you want, but all receiver will do - split Stereo sound to those extra speakers.
Music DVDs, live concerts are different story.

I've tried to listen LPs with center and back satellite speakers. All I got - distraction from the back surround satellites to Stereo sound coming thru main front floorstanding speakers.

Only TV, video hooked all 5 speakers for sound.
Why 5 for 5.1?
I've 2 as a front - Polk Audio Monitor50 Series II, since there is no subwoofer, and receiver setup has on option: "No sub present", it gives another option(s): "Front speakers Large" and "Extra Bass"
I do have for bass - 4, 2 on each channel drivers, instead 1 on a sub and I'm getting better - softer and richer bass than I used to, when I had 5.1 - 4 small(2 front, 2 back) speakers and a subwoofer. And neighbor downstairs doesn't complain at all, if I make a little louder - sound is softer than used to be with a sub.
And before I had a sub that was downfiring, so, I had to lift from the floor even if was not that loud at all.

 

[Gintaras]

Ah so you were being a dick. Got it. Anyway subwoofers CAN add a lot to the audio experience. Then there is the addition of physical sensation which can also add a lot to movies as well.

http://www.engr.uky.edu/~donohue/audio/fsear.html

(sensation for you would be, if put your ear down to my butt and when I fart, it would be a sensation for you, if you hear fart coming from 5.1 - main hole and 5 small ones...)

 

[Exterous]

http://www.engr.uky.edu/~donohue/audio/fsear.html

(sensation for you would be, if put your ear down to my butt and when I fart, it would be a sensation for you, if you hear fart coming from 5.1 - main hole and 5 small ones...)

What is your point here? Why are you arguing about a 5.1 system for audio when no one has said surround speakers are better for audio? The argument is for a subwoofer. You'll still get signal for a subwoofer based on the crossover on the sub and receiver and freqs in the music even if the music doesn't have a mixed .1

And what is the point of your link? A hearing test? It's already well documented that humans can hear down to 20hz

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2003/ChrisDAmbrose.shtml

 

[Gintaras]

What is your point here? l[/url]

I don't usually argue with an idiot, because they can drag me to their level and beat me with their experience

 

[Exterous]

I don't usually argue with an idiot, because they can drag me to their level and beat me with their experience

Avoiding the issue are we? I don't think your poor attempts at insults will work to cover that

 

[nsafreak]

Avoiding the issue are we? I don't think your poor attempts at insults will work to cover that

Yeah he is avoiding the issue, he completely missed the quote I gave from research that shows people with good hearing can hear down to 20hz. I've had an audiologist test my hearing and I can hear down to 20hz as well, not always true with all people since some folks have damaged their hearing. Not always their fault but it does happen and in those cases the lowest frequency that they can hear has been affected.

 

[nsafreak]

When you say that someone is wrong, care to explain WHY(wrong). Otherwise, you the one who's a troll, and NO surprise

Sure, I'll quote it again:

Physics[/I]. 4th ed. New York: Wiley, 1998: 466.]"Experiments have shown that a healthy young person hears all sound frequencies from approximately 20 to 20,000 hertz."

Who's trolling again?


You completely left that out of the post that you quoted a response to, how convenient.

I wouldn't say that I'm an audiophile but I am a bit on the picky side when it comes to choosing my speakers and headphones. Otherwise I wouldn't have spent the money that I have on my Paradigm speakers or Audio Technica headphones. I have listened to my speakers with and without my subwoofer (Paradigm PDR-10) turned on and it makes a definite difference to how the music/movie I'm listening/watching is experienced.

I'm sure I can find plenty of audiophiles that will recommend a subwoofer any time that you are putting together a sound system and plan on watching movies on it. You can get away with it to a certain extent if you're only listening to music and your main speakers have enough downward reach into the frequency spectrum. But otherwise it is a common recommendation. Which subwoofer is recommended of course will vary from situation to situation and from person to person but it will be recommended.

 

[gar655]

That's all I'm missing...

So says the scarecrow.

 

[KillerCharlie]

Thanks for the suggestions. I like the idea of starting with floor speakers then adding a sub later. Are a set of bookshelf speakers too weak?

If you buy two floor standing speakers now, could I buy a 5.1 system later and replace two of those speakers with the floor speakers? Presumably the 5.1 system would be lower quality than the floor speakers.

 

[BurnItDwn]

If you don't mind speakers that take up a bit of room, the BIC America RTR1530 speakers are very durable and fill a room nicely would sound.

I bought a pair of them about 9 or 10 years ago and they are still going strong and kicking ass. I have them set up as my main front channels on my current projector setup. They run about $100-150 each...

While I also have a nice Sub, they are capable of delivering deeper bass than most other regular speakers, and they aren't boomy.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/BIC+Ame...&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=2750514

http://www.amazon.com/BIC-AMERICA-RTR-1530-15-Inch-Standing/dp/B00009WBYI


They are kinda bulky, and they weigh about 80 pounds, so they aren't the easiest to manage, but the sound that comes out of them is fantastic.

 

[frowertr]

Not to start anymore arguing (this thread has had enough) but now that I have a sub I can't imagine listening to 2-channel music without it. My Epik Legend will absoutely own ANY pair of bookshelves/towers when it comes to digging deep and bringing out the low notes with music. It absolutely blends perfectly together and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The problem is there are lots of crap subs out there. Hell, Best Buy has a whole shelf of them. Unless one is willing to spend some money on a decent brand name (i.e. HSU, Epik, SVS, etc...) it would probably be better to just use a good quality pair of bookshelves/towers and call it a day. There is nothing worse than a boomy/loose sub when playing music. It will ruin the entire expierence.

Thanks for the suggestions. I like the idea of starting with floor speakers then adding a sub later. Are a set of bookshelf speakers too weak?

It really depends on the brand. I have a pair of Paradigm Monitors I use for rear surrounds and they can pump out some volume. I wouldn't hesitate to use them for fronts in a 2-channel setup.

If you buy two floor standing speakers now, could I buy a 5.1 system later and replace two of those speakers with the floor speakers? Presumably the 5.1 system would be lower quality than the floor speakers.

Unless you used the two floor standing speakers as your rear surrounds, then no. Your L/C/R speakers must all be timbre matched. That means those three need to be the EXACT same speaker. But you could use towers for rear surrounds if you wanted. It is not important to timbre match them as rear surrounds are really for "effect". More than 75% of sound in a movies will come from your L/C/R.