Letters to the Editor - December
2002
Back surround
December 27, 2002
To Roger Kanno,
Your articles on Home Theater & Sound are very
useful to A/V fans, especially beginners like me, and I will continue to support the site
and tell my friends. I have some questions and hope you can help me with your advice.
Recently, I have decided to upgrade my home-theater setup.
I plan to buy the Onkyo TX-SR600, and it has 6.1 channels. However, my listening position
(the sofa) is placed directly against the rear wall, so the back surround speaker will be
installed at about 1.5 meter directly above my head. I want to know whether my room layout
is suitable to add the extra back channel. If it is really added (I prefer this), what
should I do? Do I need to point the speaker down a bit? What time-delay setting in the amp
is required (I am aware that the Onkyo model will only allow the speaker-distance
setting)? Also, what type of speaker is better, direct radiating or dipole, as I am now
using two dipole surround speakers that are also mounted on the rear wall? Thanks very
much for your help.
Harry Choi
One and a half meters is not a great distance, and I
find that dipole or other diffuse-radiating speakers generally work best when the surround
speaker must be placed relatively close to the listener. You might also consider getting
an in-wall/in-ceiling speaker that has a tweeter that can be angled and try aiming it
slightly away from the listening position, such as bouncing the sound off of the back
wall. The situation that you describe is not ideal (as with most back speaker positioning,
certain compromises must be made), so I would only proceed if you are serious about it,
and you may still find that you cannot get the back surround speaker to integrate to your
satisfaction with the other speakers.
You should set the time delays for each speaker (center,
left surround, right surround, and back surround) so that they all match the distance of
the left and right main speakers. However, if your receiver does not allow you to set the
back surround delay separately from the left and right surround and the distances to the
listener are different, you will have to experiment to see what delay setting gives the
best compromise in sound for all of the surround speakers....Roger Kanno
Speaker materials
December 26, 2002
I'm looking to buy front speakers, and I'm trying to choose
between Dahlquist and Axiom. I see the main difference is that the Axiom tower has
aluminum woofers, whereas the Dahlquist has polypropylene mids. I was wondering what the
difference is between the two materials and which is better for home audio. Thanks for any
help you can lend!
Tyler Wright
It's hard to gauge a speaker's worth based on one single
material versus another. The implementation is what is key, and how the material fits in
the overall design. It takes reputable speaker manufacturers many hours of testing to
determine the best material to use for a particular application. Sorry I can't be of more
help, but there are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to a subject such as this....Jeff
Fritz
DVD-player selection
December 20, 2002
To Wes Marshall,
I read your
July review of the NAD T571 DVD player. I'm looking at possibly getting one of the NAD
DVD/CD players, but having a multi-disc changer isn't as important to me as simply getting
the greatest possible sound and picture quality, and good value for my money. I don't
understand every detail of the features listed. I'm curious whether you think the
single-disc T562 would offer significantly higher quality than the T571 (or T572, which I
also see). Any other brands that you would suggest I look at in this price range? I do
want MP3 capability and probably also digital home movies in MPEG format. Thanks for any
advice you can give.
Dave McMullen
I haven't used the T562, but I don't think it plays MP3.
You have to go to the T571 or newer T572. Luckily, we now live in a world where high-end
dealers allow loaners and discount dealers offer a 30-day return. What I would do is try
to get a T572 on loan and try it against a 30-day-return Panasonic DVD-CP72, my current
touchstone for the best available in the low-price echelon. Try them in your own system
and see which works better....Wes Marshall
Front-speaker placement
December 14, 2002
To Roger Kanno,
I just read your July 2002 article about speaker placement. Of course, the
front-to-back distance is pre-determined. But one thing I didn't see is how close or far
away the front speakers should be from each other and the center-channel speaker. I'm
thinking of a plasma screen and figure the center-channel will be directly above it. But
given a 14' front wall, should I put the front speakers 2' on either side or 4' on either
side? I hope you get my drift. Just wondered if there was any rule of thumb (ear) so to
speak.
Thanks!
Ed Rubacha
When I set up the front speakers in a home-theater
system, I try to place them so that they provide good stereo imaging and a solid center
image. In a "typical" room this usually means placing them 6' to 8' apart
(stereo speakers usually image best when the distance to the listener is one and a half
times the distance between the speakers). Some people like a bigger soundstage and prefer
to place the front speakers farther apart and let the center-channel speaker fill in the
center image. This will provide a very wide front soundstage when listening to
multichannel material, but it usually results in diffuse imaging when playing back stereo
recordings. Placing one or both of the speakers too close to a side wall is also not
recommended (try to leave at least a couple of feet of clearance) and ideally both would
be equidistant to the side walls. Thus, the distance between your front speakers will be
determined by your own preferences and by other factors such as the distance to the
seating position or the space available on either side of the video display
device....Roger Kanno
Surround configuration
December 12, 2002
Editor,
I'm hoping that you can help me out by clarifying an idea I
have for a speaker setup I'm considering for my home-theater system. What I would like to
ask you is concerning the type of speaker purchases for 6.1 and 7.1 setups. I've visited
dolby.com and thx.com to see if an answer is available, but it's not. Can I install L/C/R
channels (non-dipole) with dipole surrounds (with all six or seven speakers being
timbre-matched, not counting the subwoofer)? Thank you very much.
Guy Fauvel
Yes, this is a typical configuration for a 6.1/7.1
system. Direct radiators in the front and dipoles in the rear are quite common. A system
like this is designed to give you diffuse sound in the rear and more precise sound up
front. If you've got the space for such a system, I say go for it!....Jeff Fritz
Back-surround placement
December 11, 2002
To Roger Kanno,
I noticed your comment regarding the left and right
surround speakers and went "oh no." You state that these speakers should be
beside the listener. Well, that is the way I had them until I looked at the Dolby site.
They say that these speakers should be "slightly" behind the listening area and
about two or three feet above the listening point. I just filled in the holes and painted.
Oh well.
My question is regarding the placement of the back surround
speaker for 6.1, and I envision only one speaker back there. Should I put in a dipole
speaker and place it right in the middle of the room? Will that "clash" with the
left and right surrounds? The way I have placed the left and right surrounds, the distance
to the back surround may be only five feet between each other. Is that a concern? I have
lost some vertical wall space as well, as I have installed risers, with the back one being
12" high, and that only leaves me about five to five and a half feet to play with. My
room is 11'W by 20' L. My sweet spot is at the 16' mark. That is where my first row of
chairs are. I would say the left and right surrounds are at approximately the 17' mark, so
they are about 3' from the back wall.
Regards,
Jim Taylor
Placement of the surround speakers is one of the most
problematic aspects of setting up a home-theater system. Depending on the type of
loudspeaker that you are using, the layout of your room, and your own preferences, the
ideal speaker placement will vary considerably.
A dipole speaker will not necessarily clash with any other
speaker as long as it is a timbral match (i.e. it sounds similar) for the other
speakers it is being used with. Whether this type of arrangement will work better in your
room than a single direct-radiating speaker pointed forward or two direct radiators side
by side (as sometimes recommended by THX) or any other arrangement for that matter is
difficult to predict. Generally, I find that dipole surrounds work well when space is at a
premium and direct-radiating surrounds require a bit more space to image their
best....Roger Kanno
Bass-management problems
December 10, 2002
Editor,
I have my receiver set up for both 7.1 home theater and a
5.1 SACD using the analog inputs of my B&K receiver.
After untold hours of experimenting, I cannot get the sound
levels of the speakers to match up with the two competing bass-management systems. The
receiver, of course, has bass management for THX, and the Sony SACD has an internal BM
system, which is needed as the receiver has a "straight through" 5.1 analog
input.
In the initial receiver setup I adjusted the speakers for
equal 75dB sound levels and then when I checked the SACD sound levels (using the similar
SACD player's BM system), the subwoofer is about 13dB too low. If I set up the SACD BM
first, I get the opposite problem -- the bass volume on the movies is way too high. I've
played with changing the speakers to small, large, direct, you name it, doesn't matter.
At first I thought I had a defective Sony SACD and returned
it -- but got the same result. A call to Sony tech support ended with the technician
blaming the receiver. I called B&K and they said the 5.1 is straight through.
But a trip to my dealer was informative. He has a different
receiver for the SACD demo in the showroom (a Sony). We ran through the SACD player's
internal BM six-speaker white-noise speaker-level volume settings in the store and when it
came around to the subwoofer -- bingo, hardly any sound. Just like my problem at home! So
-- whatever I'm doing wrong, my dealer is doing the same thing! Can you shed light on our
confusion? I don't think even the Outlaw ICBM can make up for this 13dB bass shortfall.
Dennis Laslo
This is an easy one. The LFE channel, when set to flat
in the Sony's bass-management system, is correct when routed through the B&K's analog
pass through. The specified 10dB boost (Dolby's LFE specification) in the software you
play will compensate, so that what you actually hear is correctly balanced. With movie
soundtracks, the LFE is setup to play 10dB louder than the main channels to compensate for
the bass output of the other speakers in the system. However, you don't need to set the
LFE 10dB louder! When you play back an actual movie this is part of the soundtrack's spec.
Set it to flat and listen to a disc and it should all sound correctly balanced....Jeff
Fritz
Center-channel issues
December 9, 2002
To Roger Kanno,
First off, I just want to thank all you folks at the SoundStage! Network for a
fantastic set of websites! I had always assumed that high-end audio consisted of the
expensive (and overpriced) stuff at the big-box stores or the REALLY pricey equipment at
specialty shops. Thanks to you guys, I have a home-theater setup that blows away everybody
who comes over to our place, sounds great with music and movies, and I didn't spend nearly
as much as I'd anticipated.
I'm in need of some advice, though. My receiver is the
Arcam AVR100, driving an Axiom array of M40s, VP150, QS4s, and AX500 sub. Our room is not
particularly large (about 350 square feet.). I'm having a problem with the center channel.
Because of lousy mixing on DVDs, I find I need to set the center channel to about +4dB
when watching movies. Whenever I turn the Arcam louder than 45dB/channel, though, I find
the dialogue and center-channel effects get a bit muddy. Do you think this is because the
receiver is straining, or is it just revealing problems from the source DVD? Should I
consider getting a monoblock amp for the center channel, and if so, which companies would
you suggest I consider? Thanks again.
Frank Warsh
The center-channel is often called upon to reproduce a lot
more sound than we realize. This can put a strain on the amplifier or the speaker itself.
Also by virtue of the center-channel speaker's orientation (drivers placed side by side
instead of vertically aligned) and placement, which is usually on top of a television, it
is difficult to get good, clear sound out of the center channel. If your AVR100 is having
trouble driving lower-impedance speakers, you might try changing the impedance switch from
its 8-ohm setting to the 4-6-ohm setting, although the Axioms don t seem to be a
particularly difficult load to drive. Adding a more powerful external amplifier would
certainly increase the power available to the center channel, which should clear things up
a bit, but I would consider this only as a last resort as the cost of a good amp would be
substantial....Roger Kanno
In-wall and in-ceiling speakers
December 6, 2002
Editor,
I enjoyed reading your October article "Home-Theater
Trends for 2003." I am looking into purchasing in-ceiling speakers for a multi-room
setup. Dealers have suggested Sonance, SpeakerCraft, or Niles (looking at $500-750 per
pair) depending upon which one they seem to carry. Any thoughts on the best of these
three?
You also mentioned new entrants coming to market -- any you
could suggest? I appreciate your help as I navigate through these choices. Thanks.
Rich
I mentioned the Revel in-wall speakers in the article,
but there are lots of others to choose from. Companies like Paradigm, NHT, and Audio
Products International make them, and they all make conventional speakers you could pair
them with (either now or in the future). I've said before that when looking for in-wall or
in-ceiling speakers, look to good speaker-making companies, not just companies that make
custom-install products. Seems like a logical approach to me....Jeff Fritz
System advice
December 4, 2002
Editor,
Hate to do this in the same breath, but I'm a fan of yours
and I also do need your expert advice on some speakers I'm about to buy.
It was after stumbling across your rave
review of the B&K AVR307 that I started to take a closer look at the product and
after listening to it I was bowled over and was totally convinced of your spot-on
assessment. You really hit the nail on the head, and I was sold on the receiver. However,
I decided to wait a bit and order myself the Ref 50 and Ref 200.7. Before making my
purchase, I also read your opinions of the Anthem AVM 20 and PVA 7. And how you were
absolutely bowled over by them -- together with many other experts from the other mags.
Unfortunately, these babies do not come in 220/240V and
thus can't be used in Malaysia. I confirmed it with the Canadian manufacturer over the
phone. Shucks! Now I'm scouting around for speakers and a subwoofer. I've narrowed it down
to three models --- JMlabs Electra 936, Onix 750 Rockets and Thiel CS1.6 or CS2.3.
My budget is around $10,000. I love listening to music as
much as getting really blown away by no-holds-barred action sequences.
Rich, crystal clear, dynamic, quaking, encompassing,
enveloping, tight bass, disco danceable (sounds awful I know, but you get the drift)
should sum things up quite nicely for me. I guess that doesn't put me in the purist
category, huh? So, what would it be for me? Thanks so much. And hey, what a thrill getting
to e-mail you like this!
Mah Sih
Thanks so much for the kind words. With your budget, I'd
seriously look at a full Thiel system featuring the CS1.6 floorstanders, the MCS1 as
surrounds and center-channel, and the new SW1 subwoofer. It's not an inexpensive system,
but after
reviewing the MCS1 and hearing both the sub and the newest CS1.6, I don't think you
can go wrong. Further, you'd likely have to spend a lot more money to significantly
improve upon the performance. Good luck with the system, and please let me know what you
decide upon....Jeff Fritz |
