[kgveteran]

I hear alot of hair spliting discussions about tiny improvements that seem to drag down Home theater fun.


What made a HUGE difference in your system ? One thing for me was the AT screen. Getting the speakers behind the screen made a world of difference once I did that. Having subs with enough headroom and always run linear way past what I'll ever need. A truely great DIY forum that helped me build world class speakers for the LCR and surrounds.


I mean real big noticeable improvements !!!



Lets hear it !!!!

 

[amicusterrae]



Quote:
Originally Posted by kgveteran /forum/post/18197003


I hear alot of hair spliting discussions about tiny improvements that seem to drag down Home theater fun.


What made a HUGE difference in your system ? One thing for me was the AT screen. Getting the speakers behind the screen made a world of difference once I did that. Having subs with enough headroom and always run linear way past what I'll ever need. A truely great DIY forum that helped me build world class speakers for the LCR and surrounds.


I mean real big noticeable improvements !!!



Lets hear it !!!!

Learning about room acoustics and optimizing the placement of my speakers. Also, using RABOS equalization on my sub to smooth a room-induced bass hump.

 

[kgveteran]

OMG YES, the biggest and most important piece of equipment....The room!!!

 

[aquaphile]

all new cables!

yes, that was a joke.


I recently moved, and my new space is pretty much an acoustic nightmare. So although it certainly isn't an improvement for me, it's a huge eye-opener as to what a difference room treatments and room acoustics can make. So, needless to say, room treatments are getting higher and higher on the upgrade list.


good idea for a thread btw. looking forward to see what everyone has to share

 

[kgveteran]



Quote:
all new cables!


yes, that was a joke.

Nice ! You get it....

Like thinking you didnt need a sub and then getting one.....huge !!!

 

[razel]

Proper setup. From gettings the settings calibrated, to speaker placement and putting pillows in the right place. Every setup owned by my family and friends, that's all we did and that's all they needed to max out enjoyment of what they already own.

 

[ccotenj]

"knowledge" is probably the most important thing, as others have already pointed out...


however, as far as "spending money" items, it's hard to beat the 400 clams i spent on the anti-mode 8033...

 

[Lhasa-lover]

Many years ago (well over 10) I finally sprung for an SPL meter. The difference between my system once calibrated as opposed to it when it was not was HUGE. Now many years have passed and like some of you, I EQ my room, use sound panels and bass traps, Run auto EQ, moved to much better speakers and electronics but nothing I have done since has ever seemed to make as much of an impression on me as that first time I used that SPL meter.

 

[bluesky636]

I find that turning my system on has made the biggest difference.

In all seriousness, my system has been built up over many years as technology and my knowledge has expanded. If pressed, I would have to say the biggest "Oh WOW!" moment came when watching/hearing "Jurrassic Park" on DVD with DTS vs the same movie on VHS with Dolby Surround. And that was before large tvs were readily available.

 

[RUR]

Room treatments.

 

[Easyaspie]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Lhasa-lover /forum/post/18197884


Many years ago (well over 10) I finally sprung for an SPL meter. The difference between my system once calibrated as opposed to it when it was not was HUGE. Now many years have passed and like some of you, I EQ my room, use sound panels and bass traps, Run auto EQ, moved to much better speakers and electronics but nothing I have done since has ever seemed to make as much of an impression on me as that first time I used that SPL meter.

I don't have any room treatments but I 100% agree with proper calibration via an SPL meter prior to having Audyssey making the biggest difference. You cannot trust your ears.

 

[Lhasa-lover]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Easyaspie /forum/post/18198083


...You cannot trust your ears.

Up until that time, I thought I could! That's what started me off along the path of measuring and testing. Prior to that SPL meter lesson, I also believed that cables made a difference, that speakers broke in, and electronics had a unique sound. I learned not to trust my ears. Too easily fooled!

 

[David James]

In alphabetical order:


Overhead projector

Room treatments

Speakers

Subwoofer

 

[rhcorolla]

Since room treatments has already been taken...

Adding No Rez damping material to my front mains, center, & sub. Eliminating/ significantly reducing unwanted cabinet resonances makes a really big difference in tightening up bass & improving the overall sound for HT and music.


Big bang-for-the-buck. Highly recommended.

 

[kgveteran]



Quote:
Originally Posted by ccotenj /forum/post/18197727


"knowledge" is probably the most important thing, as others have already pointed out...


however, as far as "spending money" items, it's hard to beat the 400 clams i spent on the anti-mode 8033...

Interesting piece. How did you hear about this. Ususally stuff like that gets around, I've never heard of it.

KG

 

[kgveteran]

It's amazing how many people are saying Room Treatments. At least in my neck of the woods I first heard of them back in 1987 while visiting CSE Audio in rochester and viewing a control room with treatments. It was a Pro Audio store.

 

[craig john]

I've had quite a few "A-Ha!" moments with my HT over the years. I think the first was the acquisition of a 50" Pioneer RPTV back in 1988. At that time, 50" was *HUGE* for a TV and I can remember vividly the thrill of watching that thing for the first time.


The next "A-Ha!" moment was placing my first room treatments. I built a room in my basement for my HT in 1989 and I did an LEDE room. I had Klipsch Forte speakers at the time. They sounded so much better in the LEDE room than they sounded in my untreated room upstairs.


The next was when a friend suggested I set my speakers to "Small" and use a crossover. The improvement was totally unexpected and more significant than I ever anticipated. The Forte's had 15" PR's and extension to 30 Hz, so setting them to Small, I expected to *lose* bass. Instead, the bass improved by routing it all to the, (at the time), Earthquake subwoofer. More importantly, the rest of the audio system sounded so much better. The additional amplifier headroom just invigorated the main speakers, and the entire system played back cleaner, louder and with less distortion than before.


The next big moment for me was upgrading to Dolby Digital/DTS. The discreet surround channels were huge compared with PL.


The next big moment was when I got my first hi-def projector, a Sony VPL-HS20. I initially projected it on a piece of highly reflective, white bathroom pressboard. It had a huge hot-spot reflection of the bulb, but the picture was so big and so clear, it was astonishing. I eventually got a fixed frame Da-Lite screen, but the A-Ha moment was the projection onto that cheap piece of fiberboard.


The next big breakthrough moment was going to an AT screen. I did several other upgrades at the same time, (speakers, amp, pre/pro, BD player, etc.), but placing the speakers behind the screen eliminated the biggest complaint I had about all my previous systems: the CC below the screen. This upgrade was huge.


The last A-Ha! moment was my recent upgrade of my JL Audio subs to a pair of Seaton Sound Submersives. These subs just belt out beautiful musical bass and thunderous HT bass effects without turning a hair. They have allowed the rest of the system to really come to life. The *system* now has the output, low distortion, impact and dynamics I have been searching for since I started in this hobby well over 30 years ago.


Thanks for starting this thread KG. You don't post much anymore, but this was a good one!


Craig

 

[Dynamic1]



Quote:
Originally Posted by craig john /forum/post/18198331


I've had quite a few "A-Ha!" moments with my HT over the years. I think the first was the acquisition of a 50" Pioneer RPTV back in 1988. At that time, 50" was *HUGE* for a TV and I can remember vividly the thrill of watching that thing for the first time.


The next "A-Ha!" moment was placing my first room treatments. I built a room in my basement for my HT in 1989 and I did an LEDE room. I had Klipsch Forte speakers at the time. They sounded so much better in the LEDE room than they sounded in my untreated room upstairs.


The next was when a friend suggested I set my speakers to "Small" and use a crossover. The improvement was totally unexpected and more significant than I ever anticipated. The Forte's had 15" PR's and extension to 30 Hz, so setting them to Small, I expected to *lose* bass. Instead, the bass improved by routing it all to mt, (at the time), Earthquake subwoofer. More importantly, the rest of the audio system sounded so much better. The additional amplifier headroom just invigorated the main speakers and the entire system played back cleaner, louder and with less distortion than before.


The next big moment for me was upgrading to Dolby Digital/DTS. The discreet surround channels were huge compared with PL.


The next big moment was when I got my first hi-def projector, a Sony VPL-HS20. I initially projected it in a piece of highly reflective, white bathroom pressboard. It had a huge hot-spot reflection of the bulb, but the picture was so big and so clear, it was astonishing. I eventually got a fixed frame Da-Lite screen, but the A-Ha moment was the projection onto that cheap piece of fiberboard.


The next big breakthrough moment was going to an AT screen. I did several other upgrades at the same time, (speakers, amp, pre/pro, BD player, etc.), but placing the speakers behind the screen eliminated the biggest complaint I had about all my previous systems: the CC below the screen. This upgrade was huge.


The last A-Ha! moment was my recent upgrade of my JL Audio subs to a pair of Seaton Sound Submersives. These subs just belt out beautiful musical bass and thunderous HT bass effects without turning a hair. They have allowed the rest of the system to really come to life. The *system* now has the output, low distortion, impact and dynamics I have been searching for since I started in this hobby well over 30 years ago.


Thanks for starting this thread KG. You don't post much anymore, but this was a good one!


Craig

Which JLs I have a trio of 10w6es I was thinking of using them in a HT setup with a seperate amp @3 ohms 1000Watts. What do you think?

 

[kgveteran]

Wow, you really went back. DD and dts were biggies in the day. I can remember spinning laserdisc' like True Lies at the store I worked at ALL day long.....It wow'd em all !


My outboard DD unit at that time was the Marantz DP 870..... It made a huge improvement

 

[BGLeduc]

Laying my cylindrical sub (HSU 1225) down behind my couch. Near field placement was suggested by Dr. Hsu in some of the paper work that came with the sub. My room at the time did not allow for it, but when we moved house, I was able to try it.


"Astounding" would not be strong enough a word for it.


With cement slab floors, front of room placement never gave us the kind of tactile response that many talk about, but with the sub where it now is, saying that the couch feels like it is lifting off the ground is no longer an exaggeration.


Brian