Definitive Owners Thread - Page 109

Hi. I am looking for some recommendations for my family room setup.

The floor dimensions of the family room are 16'(w) x 18'(d). The ceiling is 20' high. At the back of the room (overhead) is the 2nd floor loft. The ceiling is 9' high here and is about 4' from the back wall (pretty much all behind the listening area). So basically, you have 4' of 9' ceiling (behind the listening area), then 14' of 20' ceiling (at and in front of the listening area). The 2nd floor loft is open with a railing (open spickets) running the entire width of the room (16'). My sitting area will be about 10' to 12' from the speakers. The speakers will be positioned 5' to 6' above the floor on the wall to the left and right of a 50 plasma TV which is mounted on the wall above a fireplace mantle.

Speakers I'm looking at: Mythos Gem, Mythos Gem XL, Mythos Six.

Asthetics are VERY important. I originally tried out a Mythos Solo XL. I loved the sound but it looked like a big black object occupying two-thirds of my fireplace mantle. My mantle is white and the walls are light tan. I am planning to add a sub - probably a supercube I. For now, I will not be doing a surround-sound setup. I am looking to do a 2.1 stereo setup. I do however want to set something up which will be easily scalable to a 5.1 surround.



My concerns:



1.) The speakers will be well above listening height.

2.) Some of the sound will be projected to the loft on the 2nd floor since the loft is open to the family room below.

3.) Due to the high ceilings and the open floorplan of the house, there is a lot of echo in the room. There is a 4' wide opening to the foyer (behind the family room), and an 8' wide opening to the kitchen to the left of the family room.



Any advice will be highly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

that 20' ceiling is going to eat up a lot of your bass, not to mention the openings to the other rooms

you might want to look at a supercube reference or a trinity depending on how much bass you require

Need some advice, I now have a set 350/PC2000 and set of PM1000's. Do I set them to small or larger, what crossover should I use, and if I can should I select crossover different for each set of speakers? I have a Yamaha 5860, my current sub is a Onkyo 8" 150watt type, soon to be replaced.

Of what you have I have only owned the 350s and I also owned the PM80s. I am not sure of your receivers capability, but I would try the 350s/2000 at 40-60 and the 1000s at 80. If your receiver doesn't allow you to set each set individually, set them all at 80. That's what I would try.

I am looking at a new system with 2 BP7000SC's and a 3000 center, with 2 BPVX/P surrounds. With a Denon 3808CI@130Wx7 how many watts and what amplifiers would you recommend to sufficiently power this setup? Thanks in advance!
JR

can someone answer a question for me?

Is it better to take the front grills off of the speakers while listening to music or watching a movie?

No, no literature on the 450's either.

JR, I guess it depends on what stadium you're going to play them in. I think you've got a pretty good setup with the 3808ci @130 w per channel. I'm going to power the almost same setup (CLR2000 center instead of the 3000 you have and 2 BPVX surrounds) with the Onkyo 875 (if it ever arrives) @ 140 watts per channel. You may want to bi-amp the BP7000sc's which is what I'm going to do.

im getting almost that same setup in the next couple of weeks. right now i got my denon 4308 powering my current 704's and they pair very well. i upgraded from a yamaha rx-v650 and quickly realized i was missing a ton of surround effects. i also realized i didnt have to max out the system to hear what people where saying anymore. if you can swing 2k i will tell you a few places to look for the 4308ci if your concerned about power, just pm me if you want the info i should be able to get it to you quickly.

In theory, perhaps. In practice, you'd be hard pressed to tell any difference. I didn't with my Energy Encores. I also noticed that the mythos grilles are extremely thin compared to my Energy sats.

I think you're on the right track when you ask what amp to use. The Denon receivers (and pretty much all others) come with a set of pre-outs so that you can run a separate more powerful outboard amp and not use the lesser quality amp modules they give you in a receiver.

In that case, you can save a lot of money and go with the less expensive new Denon models like the 2808 or 2308 (not shipping yet) which I think gives you all the same bells and whistles but just lacks the wattage, but who really cares since you'll be using a separate amp! And one things for sure, the Def Tech towers love wattage and lots of it especially from solid state amplifiers.

I have the same configuration. Here are my settings:

350's: Small/cross=60
PC: Small/cross=100
PM1000's: Small/cross=80
Sub: LFE only/cross=80

These are the settings that Audyssey in my Denon 2807 suggested. I have played around with them, using various test discs & tones. I found that for music (using only the 350's with/without sub) 60Hz sound wonderful.

If using 7-channel stereo, there is some imbalance between the 350's/1000's, both because of difference in drivers, and the cross being different. But, I don't run 7-channel stereo that often.

For HT, this gives a great sound stage, and the LFE along with freq's below cross, are fuller and more pronounced. I also tried crossing the center lower, but it just didn't make that much difference, and the PC gets a little "crowded" when you get down to 80 or less.

Unfortunately my receiver will only let me choose overall crossover and not separate crossovers (fudge). So is 80 ok or should I go higher? My receiver is also asking to use LFE for sub only, fronts or both, which I should pick, I have both right now.

Steve or anyone else, can someone point me to a link or something that will help me use SPL to cal both sub and speakers. Is there a difference between the digital meter and the analog type, does Radio Shack offer the best type? Any recommendations on other meter would be helpful.

As for the wall mounted DT front options what is the best? I know Bipolar needs clearance so what is my next best option if I can go away from the wall?

Hmmm.... 80 should be OK.

Here's a few links that may help with calibrations.

http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/sp...d-sound-system

http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/ge...st-performance

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...hlight=guy+kuo

In fact, here is a collection of GREAT links on things you will find helpful.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=824554

Question about the Mythos ST.

If you want your sub to handle most of your bass what do the woofers in the Mythos ST effectively get used for?

Sorry if this is a noob question, but I am trying to understand if these speakers are right for me. I am looking to setup a 5.1 system eventually. Ideally, I would like to know if the Mythos ST is overkill if I plan on having a separate sub.

Thanks!

No, I don't think so at all. In a great set-up, you would run the STs as "large "in your receiver which means both the left and right main speakers will get a full range signal and the woofers will be fully incorporated handling all the low bass in those channels with the benefit of blending seamlessly (as opposed to crossing over to a separate box). A separate sub can then be incorporated to handle just the LFE (low frequency effect which is the .1 channel in a soundtrack) and you now have the flexibility to place it anywhere in the room where it sounds best and therefore gain much greater overall performance.

Nice, how would this apply to music?

Also, what do you mean by "as opposed to crossing over to a separate box".

Thanks again.

Dave

DAM!!!!!!!! if i finish all of those links, all i'll have to do is write a paper and i will have my phD. Thanks, i think.

depending on the size of your room and how much bass you like, you might not need an extra sub with the ST's

if you have a large room and love lots of earth moving bass, you will probably need 1 or more subwoofers for the .1 channel

you will still leave your ST's as large because all 5 channels are native full-range channels

for example, you can have a guy off to the left of the screen shooting a small hand gun and the mixer may have opted to keep it all in the left channel and not send anything to the .1 channel then a few seconds later, i tank could come crashing through a brick wall and the sound mixer probably would send that effect to the .1 channel

the .1 channel is for the lowest of the lows in movie effects but that doesn't mean that the other 5 channels are not getting any low information either

5.1 was designed to have 5 "full range" channels and one extra channel for the LFE "low frequency effects"

every movie is different

take the move "pulse" for instance. the scene where the girl goes down into the basement. as she's walking down the dark hall she steps in a puddle and you can start to hear the "pulses" from the computer room. these first pulses are not in the .1 channel but they are very low. when she opens the door to the computer room, the sound mixing engineer pans the pulses over to the .1 channel and they get really strong at that point

some people claim that all bass under 80hz is not directional and recommend you need nothing more than a sub/sat system with small speakers around the room crossed over @ 80hz and one or more subs handling all the lows from all the channels

i believe that the "upper bass" is more localized and when somebody slams a car door in the rear left channel, i want to hear it and feel it come from the rear left, not from where the subwoofer happens to be placed

it all depends on how a movie is mixed. some low budget films might just toss everything into the .1 channel

star wars movies mixed by skywalker sound at the THX facilities really put a 5.1 system through an all-around work-out

so to answer your questions directly. if you are using a sub with your ST's, don't worry, the subs built into your ST's will be getting much use if you set them to "large"

5.1 was designed to have a true "full-range" speaker at all 5 locations AND 1 or more subs for the .1 "LFE" channel

If used with a sub, should I set my StudioMon 350s (L and R) to small?

since your receiver does not offer many options, 80 will be fine with all your speakers

yes and set the crossover to 60hz like steve recommended

the 350's are rated down to 57hz +/- 3db so 60hz would be perfect

I hate to ask, but what do i need to look for in a receiver that would give those options? Please tell not to waste my money

Do the Mythos ST have power cords that need to be plugged in? I read somewhere that they have a power cord, and if so, how do I plug that into a power center? Would these be plugged into an analog filter outlet or what?

I have mine plugged into a high current outlet of my power center, APC unit.

you need more flexible bass management so that you can do what steve recommended:

350's: Small/cross=60
PC: Small/cross=100
PM1000's: Small/cross=80
Sub: LFE only/cross=80

crutchfield is a very good site for comparing features

i don't want to say that all new receivers have flexible bass management. that's something you're gonna have to do a little research on

here's a nice entry level receiver with built in Audyssey 2EQ auto speaker setup (microphone included)

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-LLpiivj...0&I=580TXS505B

ok thanks for a response. I was just curious.

I picked up an Onkyo 605 from One Call for $400 that lets me do all that. It's also an HDMI 1.3 receiver.

Anyone know how far the Bipolar towers have to be positioned from the wall?