Transform my living room! - Page 2

You don't need to wall mount... just need decent speaker stands for the bookshelf surrounds that gets their tweeters to at or a little above ear height (to clear your seating). I usually like metal ones that can be filled with lead pellets, so they're heavy, non-tipsy, and resonant free. Yes, they still look stylish.

And even though you're doing 5.1, the surrounds in this configuration, are still called side speakers. It makes it easier to remember to plug into the correct binding posts when you're wiring the receiver (and power-amp if you get one) you do decide to add back speakers for 7.1 later.

Pretty useless. Bi-amping is a good way to waste money on extra cable for very little benefit.

A better overall investment to consider adding to your list would be a multi-channel amp like the Emotiva XPA-5, Outlaw Audio Model 7500, Parasound New Classic 5250 v.2, or something else similar.

I just want to double check which model center and bookshelves you ultimately went with so I know their dimensions. Are you going to be sitting in any high backed seating that blocks your ears and the back of your head? That's kind of a no-no, especially when using stand mounted surround speakers (or back channel speakers, for that matter), but I just wanted to make sure.

Monster subs for monster sound! You'll love it.

I have one of HSU's slightly older subs and it's a beast too, but the VTF-15h looks a lot "pertier."

VTI DF (single pole) or RF (a bit more stable with three poles-- two for filling, one for wire management) Series speaker stands are decent looking for the price. Metal bit or sand fillable too. There are fancier stands out there, but they will cost you plenty.

Always put a thin felt pad or strips between the stand and the speaker's wood finish where it might touch so you don't scratch or ding it. Just don't obstruct the rubber pads touching the speaker, so it won't slide off the top plate when lightly bumped. That would be bad.

Larger center speakers sometimes take two stands for that extra bit of stability. Really depends.

Have you considered surge protection?

It would be wise to scope out whole house devices that go on the main breaker panel. The first line of defense for all electrical devices and appliances in the house.

A surge suppressor/filter is the second line... it takes up any slack. Just don't get Monster products. Waaaaay over priced for what you get. Many like BrickWall, SurgeX, Furman, APC Home Theater products, and a few other quality brands.

So, any updates?

The diffuse Verus surrounds are for the sides, the Verus bookshelfs are for the rear.

You want to try to get the tweeters from the two pairs of surrounds at about the same height. Ideally, you want the surround tweeters 2-3 feet up from your ears while in the seated position.

If you're using stands for all four surrounds, just make sure they are a little above ear level, if possible, with the tweeters of the surrounds at the same height.

Here's the basic 7.1 speaker layout (sides at 90 degrees, backs at 150 degrees).



Throw distance on the projector should usually be within the front 10% of the projector's throw range (the projector is placed closer to the screen given a certain image size wanted) so you have a brighter picture over the life of the bulb.

The further away the projector sits, the dimmer the image. You may want to play with this before mounting your projector permanently.

You should only have to put the projector in ECO mode as it should be plenty bright... with a longer life expectancy for the bulb.

Put the sides on stands as well. Don't worry about wall mounting for now. You really don't want misaligned speakers if you can help it, and you don't want to have such a big height disparity between the pairs of surrounds (it'll sound weird).

You'll need to consult the Epson manual, which should give you its image offset (it also has some play with its vertical lens alignment as well so as to avoid using keystone correction... that shouldn't be used). A lot depends on how far down your screen is going to drop. You want your eyes at approx. 1/3 up from the bottom of the screen image so you don't crane your neck.

The electric screen should have drop adjustments. Some of this is adjustment by trial and error and what is most comfortable for you.

When sound effects pan across the room and around your head, it'll sound like it's in a kind of "horse shoe." The sounds will seem like they're coming from below or above you and traveling up and over or below your head (depending on how the sound effect is steered).

You want nice, even audio panning for 7.1 systems.

The screen must be level, so you may need to add shims to compensate for the wonkiness of the room. The projector must also be level with the screen, not the ceiling. Otherwise, the image will look slightly tilted.

Sounds great! I'm sure you're very excited to calibrate the complete system and then crank that baby up!

If you don't have a video calibration Blu-ray at hand, the Disney WOW set is actually quite good (covers beginners to advanced users) and easy to navigate... and fun too!

http://www.amazon.com/Disney-WOW-World-Wonder-Blu-ray/dp/B0045ASBLG

There are actually quite a number of true 7.1 channel Blu-ray's available. You can also engage Dolby ProLogic IIx: Movie Mode post-processing to simulate 7.1 audio from stereo and 5.1 tracks (works similarly to Lexicon's touted Logic7 steering).

The more aggressive the soundtrack, the better it works.

While on the subject... Have you considered maybe painting that room a somewhat darker color (even the ceiling)? It will help tremendously with the video quality.

It's all personal, but to me I like the traditional 7.1 speaker layout and I don't choose to go with the height or wide front speakers since it's all done with post-processing. There are no discrete channels for those speakers in any current format... however, there are 7.1 soundtracks with side and back surrounds.

After you have received all your speakers and they are properly placed and calibrated using Audyssey... try switching your sides from dipole to bipole and back to see which way sounds better to you. Try a number of movies (dramas, of course, won't have a lot of surround activity, so go for action, sci-fi, modern animated films, etc.). I also like concert Blu-ray's and there are some good surround music Blu-ray's available from AIX Records and a few others. Don't forget to look up some multi-channel SA-CD's. Here's a list of them: http://www.sa-cd.net/

As to your color scheme... have you ever thought of Wedgwood based colors? They have some black in the color tinting and that helps absorb light scatter from the projector and screen. I see Wedgwood used in a lot of coastal houses. Anything's better than white in a TV room.

Oh, and if you find that Audyssey has set your front towers to LARGE (full range), force them to SMALL in the speaker menu and try a 60 Hz cross-over to start.
Edited by Dan Hitchman - 6/15/12 at 5:57pm

You can plug an internet enabled computer's analog or digital (Toslink optical or coaxial) audio output or an MP3 player (I think it has an iPod/iPhone dock plug) into one of the Onkyo's audio input jacks and probably assign the same HDMI input as your Blu-ray player into it. Re-label the new hybrid input, so you know what it's for. You'd get audio from the mp3 file and picture from the Blu-ray. I think that would work.

HDMI specs. don't allow you to mix audio devices into the same cable. Copyright crap.

If your components are not absolutely line of sight, you might re-consider and get the Harmony 900 or 1100 as they are RF remotes... and I've seen them discounted heavily on the internet from time to time. I like my Harmony One, but it's a pain in the arse sometimes since it's infrared.

With those Onkyo receivers known to get toasty, I would probably get component cooling fans and place them on the hottest parts of the receiver, blowing up to suck the hot air out. They should have an AC wall wort and you could plug that into the switched electrical plug in the back of the Onkyo to turn them on when the receiver is powered up.

Otherwise, get an open air component rack.

Next up...

I would recommend a multi-channel power amp or two (since you now have 7.1) and drive them off the receiver's pre-amp outputs. You'd be surprised at the audio quality improvement. Those Verus speakers would really open up. Emotiva is having a summer sale on their products. The XPA-5 (200 watts x 5) is $809. You could temporarily drive the back speakers off the receiver and then later get the XPA-2 for the Verus Towers. Just one suggestion.





Speaking of that, what do you think of the speakers you have now? Are you pleased with the sound?
Edited by Dan Hitchman - 6/17/12 at 8:50am

It's either the Blu-ray sound or the MP3 track. You can't have both unless you have a secondary audio system like a boombox or something like that. Sorry...

Speaking of that, be sure to turn off all dynamic range compression and the secondary audio on your Sony Blu-ray player... or it won't properly bitstream the unadulterated primary soundtrack audio to your Onkyo.

I'd go with the amps before yet another projector, but that's me... a better longer term investment.

I'm not sure exactly why you want to mix sound from a computer into the rear channels. If you're playing music from an MP3 player or streaming sound files from Windows 7 Media Player hooked to the Ethernet port you can, again, set your default surround modes on each input to Prologic IIx Movie and you'll get 7.1 channel steering.

Seems like an awful lot of trouble to play additional audio commentary tracks. It sounds like you're maybe complicating things a bit. Some of these streaming apps show up on multiple devices because the manufacturers want to cover all their bases. They don't know in what way and where you're going to use their products. A lot of people don't want to have to add a computer in to their home theater systems.

Another reason for the Ethernet port is for firmware updates. You definitely want to make sure all your A/V components have the latest firmware (that goes for the projector as well). One reason to run a Cat 6 cable to your projector (and a compatible trigger cable for electric screen automation) and other electronics. Also, some brands allow for IR control over IP using their Ethernet ports... that allows for remote control from the latest Android and Apple touchpad and phone remote control apps as well as Crestron, Control4, iRule, and other home network systems.

Since you'll have multiple devices needing the internet, you'll need a good multi-port switcher.