Just replaced my bose am16 system with paradigm millenia 30's for front left right and center monitor audio rsfx for surrounds x4 and velodyne optimum 12sub and dont really notice a huge difference.Should i not be blown away? What am i doing wrong?

marantz sr8002
ps3
panasonic 58pz750
14awg speaker wire

You're kidding right?

Have you recalibrated things with Audyssey for the new speakers?

What sort of room are they in? What material did you test with? How did you calibrate everything?

Just replaced my bose am16 system with paradigm millenia 30's for front left right and center monitor audio rsfx for surrounds x4 and velodyne optimum 12sub and dont really notice a huge difference.Should i not be blown away? What am i doing wrong?

marantz sr8002
ps3
panasonic 58pz750
14awg speaker wire


Blown away? No way.

You should hear an improvement in the highs and lows, and you should also perhaps be able to play your system a bit louder. The subwoofer rolls off around 29 Hz (typcial of most standard subwoofers).


http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/speakers/2236/paradigm-millenia-series-home-theater-speaker-system.html?print_page=y

The room is 16x20 i used the audyssey to calabrate the speakers .I do notice the subwoofer being better but expected more from the paradigms also with the bose system i used to set the volume at 35 to 40 and now i find i have to go higher to get the same comfortable level should it be alot more powerful? Dont really know how to calabrate manually but shouldnt the audyssey work? Just expected alot more considering the money i spent.Paradigms sounded amazing at the store but cant get same effect at home is the receiver not powerfull enough? Sorry for being audio virgin but sick of being improperly informed.

The room is 16x20 i used the audyssey to calabrate the speakers .I do notice the subwoofer being better but expected more from the paradigms
also with the bose system i used to set the volume at 35 to 40 and now i find i have to go higher to get the same comfortable level should it be alot more powerful? ”More” – that’s kind of vague. What is your idea of “more?” Most people would consider better highs and lows to be “more” – i.e., an audible improvement in sound quality. I’m confident that your receiver has plenty of power. Where you have to set the volume control has nothing to do with an improvement in sound quality. It only means that your new speakers require a bit more power to drive them to the same level as the Bose.

In case you weren’t aware, the placement of your subwoofer will greatly affect its performance. If your system is set up in an open family room, try putting it in or near a corner. If you’re in a dedicated room, also try a corner, or down the wall 4-8 ft. from the corner.

As for the main channels, if the highs don’t seem any better than the Bose speakers, try increasing the receiver’s treble control a bit.

What you might do is spend some time (a few weeks) listening to the new system. Once you become accustom to the way it sounds, I’ll bet you’ll be able to tell a difference if you switch back to the Bose system.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

The room is 16x20 i used the audyssey to calabrate the speakers ....Paradigms sounded amazing at the store but cant get same effect at home is the receiver not powerfull enough? Sorry for being audio virgin but sick of being improperly informed.

Dear Audio Virgin,

I speculate, based on your posts, that you are hearing your room acoustics, instead of the fine equipment you purchased. No HT equipment, no speaker setup, nothing can correct room acoustic problems, except room acoustic treatments.

It is unfortunately the case that you need to do some more research and find out why you are not getting what you paid for in your new HT setup. Check out the room acoustics forums here at AVS.

Oh, and don't have any second thoughts about the Bose stuff.

Like he said. Room shapes, size, speakers arrangements, walls-floor-ceiling surfaces and even the furnitures within the room have quite a big influence on room reverberations, reflections and hences how the speakers sound. More so then the make of electronics or even the brand of speakers no matter how good they are.

In case you weren’t aware, the placement of your subwoofer will greatly affect its performance. If your system is set up in an open family room, try putting it in or near a corner. If you’re in a dedicated room, also try a corner, or down the wall 4-8 ft. from the corner.



corner placement is surely not a good idea.

Corner placement is fine in a room that's open enough to keep it from getting "boomy".

Don't mess with Wayne, he'll put the hurt on ya...

Once again, the whole room acoustics problem must be solved simultaneously. Sub placement depends on room responses and modes that occur in that frequency range, and placement and bass responses must all be worked out together. Last week I was in a room with just awful bass modes, and the corner placement of the subwoofer was a poor choice. My own HT has a corner sub, but the room response is flat to 3 dB, because I have 3/4 walls are 100% bass traps.

Then mid/HF are another story entirely. The OP (as well as everybody else) has got to come to terms with the room issues to get satisfactory HT sound.

Thanks for all the input guys.As far as i know the speaker placement and sub are correct from the original install all i did was pull new speaker wire through the existing holes and put up new speakers and sub in the original spot.The room acoustics were supposedly pretty good (clapping hands in midair listening for echo) from the 20 year in the business installer.Sub has mic as well that i used but also a dial for crossover but dont know what that sould be at.Do the speakers have to be broken in?Dont get me wrong it sounds pretty good especialy the sub but after hearing so many bad things about the bose i just expected more.The system is used 99% for bluray movies and all i want is a crash to sound like crash and wisper to sound like a wisper better than the bose.
thanks again guys!!!!

Dont get me wrong it sounds pretty good especialy the sub but after hearing so many bad things about the bose i just expected more. Well, one of the issues most of us have with Bose is that they’re overpriced for what you get. Your AM-16 for instance - a comparably priced entry level 6.1 system from SVS, HSU and I suspect at least a few other manufacturers, would blow the AM-16 out of the water. For its sound and build quality, the AM16 should only cost $3-400 tops, if that. The AM-16’s primary “claim to fame” over other small systems is its novel dual-driver cubes that can be spread apart. However it’s a fairly silly idea, as tiny drivers like the 2.5” speakers in the cubes have extremely wide dispersion to begin with.

I suspect your disappointment with your new system may have to do with your not knowing what to listen for as an improvement between the two? Music would probably be a better source for that than movies. Maybe you could do something like hook up one of the Bose to your left front channel and one of your Paradigms to the right (or perhaps one set connected to your “A” speakers, and one for your “B”). That would let you easily switch between the two speakers for instant comparison. I usually put the two speakers side by side for such comparisons – makes it easier for your brain to focus on them than if they’re spread out in the usual left and right positions.

I expect you can easily tell the difference between the Velodyne subwoofer and Bose bass module, so we’ll concentrate on the upper frequencies. For starters, get a CD with well-recorded cymbals. Most any jazz CD would probably qualify, but something from the GRP label is a safe bet for a good-quality recording. The AM-16 has notoriously bad high frequency response and on top of that, large paper-cone drivers just don’t have the “shimmer” or “sheen” that a good silk or metal dome tweeter will. The superiority of the Paradigm’s high frequency resolution should be instantly noticeable.

The next place where the AM-16 falls on its face is the upper bass. Its tiny satellite speakers roll out on the bottom end before the woofer module picks up, so you have a considerable hole in the upper bass region. This can be a bit more difficult to hear, so if your receiver will let you select the frequency for the midrange tone control, set it for about 250 Hz, and slowly boost several dB while playing the music, and listen for the audible change. This will do two things: a) let you know what this frequency range sounds like, and b) let you hear what each speaker is doing in that range. Do this slow boost for the Paradigm and Bose separately. You’ll probably notice that the change is much more audible with the Paradigms; if so that means they don’t have a hole in response that the Bose does and were reasonably flat in that region to begin with. Now that you know what to listen for, return the tone control back to flat and you should be able to easily hear the Bose’s lack of upper bass.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Thanks for all the input guys.As far as i know the speaker placement and sub are correct from the original install all i did was pull new speaker wire through the existing holes and put up new speakers and sub in the original spot.The room acoustics were supposedly pretty good (clapping hands in midair listening for echo) from the 20 year in the business installer.Sub has mic as well that i used but also a dial for crossover but dont know what that sould be at.Do the speakers have to be broken in?Dont get me wrong it sounds pretty good especialy the sub but after hearing so many bad things about the bose i just expected more.The system is used 99% for bluray movies and all i want is a crash to sound like crash and wisper to sound like a wisper better than the bose.
thanks again guys!!!!

Clapping his hands? That was the installer's acoustics test? Oh yea, he's a pro. Ok, well it's your system.

Clapping his hands? That was the installer's acoustics test? Oh yea, he's a pro. Ok, well it's your system.

If you have no measuring equipment and know what to listen for, clapping your hands is a valid way to figure out the general acoustics of a room.

However, a seasoned professional really should have some measuring equipment on hand...

Corner placement has always been a bad choice for me. My room, my ears.

You should be hearing vast differences between the systems. Please don't be offended, but you are not doing something like playing MP-3's through it are you? Might I recommend a few events out at the local coffee house to reacquaint your ears with real music. MP-3's, radios, cars, and Bose systems. We forget what music actually sounds like.

Gsm, Hand clapping has worked fine for experienced sound people for about 4000 years. Any fool can use 20th century electronics, myself included. They did not have them when they built the great halls of Egypt, China, Rome, Europe... We call that "skill". Some still have it. A pro may have a trunk full of equipment, but you probably can't afford to pay him to set it all up. Your BRAIN will eq your room for you. Don't worry, just listen.

Hey guys just hooked up a marantz sacd player (really cheap) and borrowed 10 discs from the store i bought everything at including the demo discs i heard and am finally noticing a HUGE improvement.Music really sounds amazing.Also started playing with sub placement and found that the corner sounded boomy.Started playing with eq but not sure what to fiddle with?The sub sounds even better than before after i started playing with crossover.Tvrgeek was right in that i need to just keep listening .Overall i just want to thank all you guys for your usefull advice and that with more listening time,knowledge and proper advice i will no longer be an audio virgin.

This sacd player is really nice, sounds crystal clear. Guess now my ht wil be used for 50% music 50% bluray.

Man the paradigms really sound awesome now!!!Cant believe i doubted them.As for the bose what was i thinking?

One more thing you can do: check the results of the Audyssey treatment, and report back what it shows in the setup menu. From there, you can be given some more direct setup suggestions.

If you have no measuring equipment and know what to listen for, clapping your hands is a valid way to figure out the general acoustics of a room.

However, a seasoned professional really should have some measuring equipment on hand...

Clapping your hands is a reasonable way to find flutter echoes. Unless you have set up your HT in a solarium or a hallway, flutter echoes should not be an issue. A seasoned installer should have been able to present a compendium of the expected room modes just based on measurements with a tape measure. He would advise if or where to add bass traps. With nothing more complicated than a mirror, he could have determined the first reflection points from the speaker install points, and have advised acoustic panel placement. Then, depending upon if this is a HT or a music-only setup, and where are the seating areas, he could have advised how to treat rear walls, if at all.

And tvrgeek, your obscure remarks about ancient China aside, (I didn't know they invented home theater!), it is precisely skill and brains that an installer is supposed to bring to the table. Any fool can plug the boxes together. With nothing more than a ruler, a mirror, and his brain he should have left with either a perfected system, or a report on how to achieve it. With all that, the OP wouldn't have been left to flounder around at AVS forum.

No argument there on the installer! Just a minor correction, not inventing HOME theater, but did a fine job of live theater.

Sounds like an improvement is source material was what the OP was missing. Garbage in, garbage out. Some laws never change!

Bose toys are as good as many things out there but vastly over rated and could be easily beaten by many things on offer for years now. The likes of Sony or Denon mini combo or a Yamaha soundbar offer even better features and performance.