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3.1 System Opinions

2K views 69 replies 11 participants last post by  dsrussell 
#1 ·
I apologize up front for asking questions, most of you if not all of you are much more knowledgeable then I ever will be in this area. I have been reading through hundreds of posts on this forum trying to decide what speakers to get. This is my first "good" Home Theater system I am looking to put together.

I will start with my room, 22x38 maybe 22x40 with 20-22 ft vaulted ceilings, the TV and Front and Center speakers are in a recessed area of the front wall 14Ft wide 10ft tall and 3ft deep. the area directly in front is carpeted 22x15 the rest of the room is ceramic tile. Everything faces the kitchen and the back wall is on a 30 degree angle to the wall the TV is on (The house is shaped in a V and this room is in the middle)

I have a set of Klipsch R28f and the matching center and while it sounds good I have a lot of ear fatigue after listing to them for a few hours. I do 70% or so TV and 30% music. These are what I am looking at right now:

1.HTD Level three towers and center
2.Boston RS366 and
3.Polk Audio RTi10

I am looking to be $1200-1300 on the 3 fronts

For an amp I was looking at a SVS PB-2000 but HTD said their level three sub would fill my room just fine also. I was thinking towers because of the size of the room.


thoughts?
 
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#3 ·
Anything over 5,000 cu. ft. is considered an "extreme" room size for a subwoofer. You have 3 extreme rooms plus a large room all rolled up into one. If an HTD rep actually said that their sub would fill approx 18,000 cu. ft. "just fine", then I'd say he is lying through his teeth so badly that he'll need dentures in the morning. No single sub I know of will fill that space to anyone's satisfaction. All one can hope for is to buy two good subs (and place one, perhaps both, near-field) and hope for the best.

I agree with you that towers are probably a good bet in your cathedral, although you may consider some high-efficiency bookshelf speakers from Seaton, JTR, Reaction Audio or PSA. But for anything close to your budget you may have to look at Reaction Audio's CX-10: http://reaction-audio.myshopify.com/collections/speakers/products/cx-10 or PSA's MT-110s: http://www.powersoundaudio.com/products/mt-110 (although I doubt the aesthetics will pass your approval).

Other than that, setup an appointment or two and audition speakers in your area and find a pair that doesn't give you ear fatigue. That means take plenty of music and listen for well over an hour (when I audition, it is usually for at least 2 hours).

I think you have to drag-and-drop your pictures onto your post.
 
#5 ·
The effect of a sub is more about how far away you are listening rather than room size. Actually the bigger the room is the better the sub works because there are less troublesome room nodes.

If you are listening at the far end of the room then, yes size matters, but it is a distance problem, not room size. If your listening area is relatively close to the speakers it's more of a matter of how much sub do you want.




Anything over 5,000 cu. ft. is considered an "extreme" room size for a subwoofer. You have 3 extreme rooms plus a large room all rolled up into one. If an HTD rep actually said that their sub would fill approx 18,000 cu. ft. "just fine", then I'd say he is lying through his teeth so badly that he'll need dentures in the morning. No single sub I know of will fill that space to anyone's satisfaction. All one can hope for is to buy two good subs (and place one, perhaps both, near-field) and hope for the best.
 
#6 ·
I questioned the Htd sub filling the room myself, I forget the persons name but they did say they had a level two sub in the showroom that filled it just fine and the overall dementions of the room were the same as mine. I think he might have missed the vaulted ceiling part because that adds a significant amount of space.
 
#20 ·
That is one very nice room! Heck, my 4 bedroom home of 1,760 sq. ft. is smaller :eek:.

HTD makes some nice speakers. So does EMP Tek and six dozen other companies, so my suggestion of going out and auditioning still stands. SVS and PSA are the only companies I know that allow free shipping both ways during their trial period. Only you will know what speaker is right for you. As far as your subwoofer needs are concerned, you'll need a big budget. If that is not in the cards, then look along the lines of a high-output sub (above 40 Hz) such as the Premier Acoustics PA-150 (they will deal and many have gotten this sub for well under $400, and as low as $350). While I don't consider P.A. to be a high quality sub like those from the usual Internet Direct companies, a couple of these would help your bass needs ... to a point.
 
#17 ·
Room size is CRITICAL for sub function!
 
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#25 · (Edited)
+1
Too many good post to reply tonight.


The basic of audio is the following (for the OP);
Speaker only see from your main listening area,
Sub on the other hand, see all the space that need to be fill, as your room and all open space to it.
And also can be very demanding of their placement in the room.


These are the main reasons that so many people go with bookshelf all around and use multiple subs.


I personally think you would be better serve with towers in the front (for the extra mid-bass) but they would still need to be with a good quality sub or two, just because you got such a big place.
But this is a separate debate by it-self:D (towers vs bookshelfs).


Ray
 
#30 ·
For the front three I would also consider the Ascend Acoustics CMT340s. They should have a decent amount of punch and would come under budget. They look to have a very linear frequency response, so high accuracy. The subs is what you need to worry about. I wouldn't bother with the SVS or HTD subs. The Premiere Acoustics sub would be OK if you don't care about deep bass. I would go for the Hsu VTF3 mk5. It will match the PA-150s upper bass output and completely destroy it in deep bass. It would have also have far more output then the PB2000 and is only $100 more. It is the highest bang for the buck sub available at the moment.
 
#34 ·
I wouldn't rule EMP out...I recently bought a pair of EMPe5Bi, which there web site says is out of stock till march....but the had a return pair (B stock) that I bought for a nice price. If you go to their contact page, email them, Brian Tracy will email you if they have an center channel availability. Excellent speakers, especially considering the price!

I haven't heard the HTD level three, but I love ribbon tweeter, so that speaker is one that I would love to hear!

The Ascend Acoustic CMT340 is another excellent speaker- much like the EMP, very clear and detailed. The AA speakers hit low, the EMP have better midbass and are better looking.
 
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#36 · (Edited)
Oh I forgot about a brand!

Chane! (thanks Elihawk for somehow reminding me when you mentioned "ribbons")

They have a nice tower, similar to HTD in many ways. They feature ribbons, and aren't too popular. They have great specs I must say. They can sure handle some power and have great sensitivity that you will need to fill your room

The A5rx-c for $430 each and matching center for $230 each making your total for the speakers $1030. Add the extra $170-270 dollars to better/dual subs
http://www.chanemusiccinema.com/chane-loudspeakers
 
#40 ·
For those who do not prefer Klipsch - HTD will not have a blaring in your face sound -
compared to the Klipsch horn speakers.

Also - I do prefer the JBL Studio 5 series bi-radial horn sound signature, over the HTD
ribbon horn tweeters.
 
#44 ·
Great choice. But you might want to call and cancel the order. HTD has a 10% off sale starting the 24th :p.
(or call and ask them to credit you 10% for the upcoming sale in 3 days)
What finish did you get?

What receiver are you eyeballing or features you are wanting?
 
#47 ·
Suker, when those arrive and you have had a chance to listen, bump this thread with your impressions! And enjoy...
 
#50 ·
So speakers arrived and I must say so far I am very impressed! The finish is perfect and concidering I run a chain of auto body collision shops it takes a lot to impress me! So far I have played back a few cd's and am now watching a movie. I like the sound quality but I know I have a ton to learn about the set up of the receiver. I ran the set up once but I think I have to do it again, I don't think I placed the mic correctly in a few places. I'm Happy I figured out how to turn it on so far!
 
#51 ·
I got the Macassar Ebony finish on mine and it's quite a speaker. That must have been some fast shipping. They are located in El Paso, Texas so I got mine in just a few days. Where are you located?

BTW, glad they are working out so well for you so far! Feel free to ask questions about the receiver. I once owned the Denon e300 and currently own the x4000. I'm sure I could help you in some fashion!
 
#65 ·
I did use a tripod and did the sub crawl. The best spot was directly in front of the fireplace and I didn't think that was a good idea. I put it just to the right about 2 ft. It still sounded decent there. The first time I did the set up I did the 12-00 but it set the level to -12 so the faq post said that was not a good thing to back the sub down till I get -3 to +3. So that's what I did. I know the sub is small for the room but what exactly will that do? With car audio a smaller sub will still give you decent sound but won't give you the punch in the chest feeling. So if I went from one 10 that sounded good and went to a 12 or two 12's with car audio you felt more of the sub. I'm ok without feeling it but I still want to hear it. Does that make any sense?
 
#67 ·
One thing, when doing Audessey, don't place the mic on your head! I assume that was a joke, use a tripod or some device that will prevent edge reflection issues...
 
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