Living room setup advice

energizer123 · 2 Aug 2022 at 13:39

MrRockliffe said:
1. You definitely want a sub. I have a personal preference for sealed, but if you're predominantly watching films, I'd go ported for better depth to the bass. Sub isn't just about bass, but it also impacts the soundstage.

2. I wouldn't change the speakers, Monitor Audio stuff is nice

3. I wouldn't get a Denon X3 series with your speakers. In fact, I wouldn't go Denon at all. I'd cough up the extra for Anthem MRX 540 - the room correction you get really helps integrate all of your components, and it's something I now wouldn't go without.

4. Return your cables

Thanks this is useful.

Reinforces - i need a sub regardless.

I will look at that amp.

Noted on cables - what would you suggest instead?

^JP^ · 2 Aug 2022 at 13:48

When you calibrate use the Audyssey MultEQ Editor App and watch some videos on how to use it correctly.

These are long in-depth videos but loads of useful info on how to use the app, exactly what it does and getting the most out of it.

Audyssey Room Correction Performance Tips for Your Denon/Marantz Receiver

In this livestream we discuss calibration and set up tips to get the most out of Audyssey room correction from your Denon or Marantz AV receiver. We discuss ...

www.youtube.com

Optimizing Audyssey Room Correction & New Updates

Room acoustics have a great impact on the home theater listening experience. Based on a decade of university research, Audyssey developed advanced room corre...

www.youtube.com

Also if you can, run cables under the floor or carpet and get some rears

hornetstinger · 2 Aug 2022 at 13:57

"Noted on cables - what would you suggest instead?"

Kabledirect OFC 2.5mm-3.5mm

Yeah use the phone app for room correction set correcion cut off to around 300hz

MrRockliffe · 2 Aug 2022 at 14:16

energizer123 said:
I'm using a Denon and the supplied mic is that too basic?

Would I not get more out of my expensive ones if setup properly too? As a direct comparison without calibrating the new ones, even my girlfriend was amazed how much better they were than then Dali Zensors.

Thanks all

The basic Audyssey only does time/phase correction, from memory.

You're looking for something which can do phase and frequency. I think the MultEQ XT32 gets a decent writeup, but I have no experience of it myself. I've used Dirac and Anthem Room Correction (ARC), and I found that ARC did the best at preserving the tone of the speakers, while adjusting for room nodes/phase. Plus, it comes with a good, calibrated mic, which other solutions tend not to - this is important, because how can you expect to measure frequency response if the microphone is not calibrated?

energizer123 said:
Thanks this is useful.

Reinforces - i need a sub regardless.

I will look at that amp.

Noted on cables - what would you suggest instead?

I use Fisual S-Flex 2.5mm. The housing is nice and flexible and I've found it easy to terminate. Fisual also do banana plugs, which are good value at around £12 for 10.

What's the volume of your room? If you're able to give me all 3 dimensions in metres, I can recommend an appropriately priced/sized sub.

hornetstinger · 2 Aug 2022 at 14:22

"which other solutions tend not to - this is important, because how can you expect to measure frequency response if the microphone is not calibrated?"

Correct I've had two calibrated microphones and values between them are several dB out, so a generic mass produced microphone, the results will be out.

energizer123 · 2 Aug 2022 at 14:53

Thanks all for this.

Are there are decent wireless subs or does it not exist?

hornetstinger · 2 Aug 2022 at 15:00

energizer123 said:
Thanks all for this.

Are there are decent wireless subs or does it not exist?

You can buy a regular sub and use a wireless kit, Rel and SVS make one.
I'd rather have a wired sub than wireless (unless I guess it does both)
You'll be paying the extra for wireless.

Plus you'd still need a mains cable so it's not wireless. Unless it has a nuclear reactor or something like that.

energizer123 · 2 Aug 2022 at 15:14

Plug is fine, it's to the receiver. Would the amp you recommended work with a wireless kit?

hornetstinger · 2 Aug 2022 at 15:57

It'll work on any amp it has RCA in and RCA out in the tx

energizer123 · 2 Aug 2022 at 16:19

Great - think I've found my solution.

Will take your sub suggestion and buy the kit. That be best combo?

lucid · 2 Aug 2022 at 16:22

energizer123 said:
Atmos - Audio SILVER AMS (7G) Gloss Black (will go on top of front speakers) (new)

energizer123 said:
Amp does do dolby Atmos.

energizer123 said:
The atmos will go on top of my front speakers.

True ATMOS won't work properly without having a base layer of a wired 5.1 speaker layout before you add the ATMOS speakers. That's why a lot of the existing ATMOS amps won't let you configure (add) ATMOS speakers until you've confirmed that the surrounds for 5.1 are in place.

There are a couple of amps that will do either 5.1 or 3.1.2 (which is what you want to do). This workaround doesn't do proper ATMOS though (see above). It uses a sort of upscaling technology to create virtual speakers from the existing 3.1 base layer. The effect is rather room dependent. The side walls are used to bounce sound off to create phantom speakers. How effective that is depends on clear lines of sight, wall materials, and the layout of the room.

The Yamaha RXV6A goes further than that. It will do 5.1.2 but using wireless speakers for the surrounds. That means you don't need to run speaker wires to the back of the room. You can have ATMOS upfirers and wireless rears.

If the house is owned rather than rented then get a trade in to run the cables for you. There are flat speaker cables, and very small diameter sub leads (under 4mm across) with excellent shielding. For the sub lead look up "hum-killer easy conceal" on eBay.

energizer123 · 2 Aug 2022 at 16:33

Lucid - that is really useful thanks.

The plus is I have the Atmos speakers on a 14 day trial so I can see how they sound in the room. Sounds like they will be going back and i'm better investing that money in a really good sub and stick to a 3.1

It is owned, would you recommend cables over the wireless solution? Does it make a big difference?

hornetstinger · 2 Aug 2022 at 16:37

energizer123 said:
Great - think I've found my solution.

Will take your sub suggestion and buy the kit. That be best combo?

I don't think you can get a better sub for £450 Enter in

0889028170380

hornetstinger · 2 Aug 2022 at 16:55

I'd say just stick with cable. Cheaper and better sound. And you don't need two wall wart adapters.

lucid · 2 Aug 2022 at 17:05

energizer123 said:
Lucid - that is really useful thanks.

The plus is I have the Atmos speakers on a 14 day trial so I can see how they sound in the room. Sounds like they will be going back and i'm better investing that money in a really good sub and stick to a 3.1

It is owned, would you recommend cables over the wireless solution? Does it make a big difference?

When using Wi-Fi for wireless rears (as opposed to Bluetooth) - which is what the Musiccast speakers do, they're Wi-Fi - and combining that with movie surround which might already be compressed if you're watching streaming content; it never gets any better than DD+ for Atmos (DD uses lossy compression, so DD+ does the same for streamed Atmos-enabled content), then wired or wireless for the surrounds isn't that big a deal. Other stuff is going to overshadow the wired/wireless debate such as the speaker quality and room set-up.

The thing with wired is it gives you peace of mind. Wired always works unless the cable is broken.

It also gives you the opportunity to use speakers better suited to the job. You've got to pack a lot of stuff into a wireless speaker before you get to the parts that make sound. As much as I like Yamaha gear I still have to be pragmatic. One Musiccast 20 or 21 wireless speaker is £180. A pair then is £360. That same £360 buys a hell of a lot of performance in a conventional speaker that could be used for surround. Another view is you could spend less on conventional speakers and still equal the Yamaha performance. If money isn't the main consideration then maybe it's aesthetics - a speaker being the right colour or size - or simply practical? "I don't have a mains socket nearby"

Wireless is improving, but not all wireless is the same. Thinking about your sub, there are various flavours of Bluetooth including AptxHD and low latency, but they all use some form of compression and/or introduce some delay or signal loss, or both. Cables don't do that. I can see the appeal of wireless compared to losing a couple of hours on your hands and knees hiding a bit of wire, but I've never lost my surround speakers or sub because the router needed to reboot or some neighbour decided to mess about with their wireless settings and it knocked mine off.

hornetstinger · 2 Aug 2022 at 17:21

Best to buy a shby that is wired and upgrade the wireless box if there is substantial upgrade quality.

But wired will be best

hornetstinger · 2 Aug 2022 at 17:24

Oh be prepared for the weight

Weight

72.5 lbs. (32.9 kg)

energizer123 · 9 Aug 2022 at 22:49

thanks all for your help.

I’m returning my speakers and going with 3 x mk950 for the centre, left and right and a mk v12+ sub

hornetstinger · 10 Aug 2022 at 00:26

M&k are great subs but they are pretty expensive for the spec 12" 400w £1800 that's VERY expensive

Typically 12" 4002 subs are around £350-£1000.

Other options for 12" sealed box

Bk xls400
Svs sb2000 pro
Svs sb3000

You don't need to get the same brand of speakers and sub

^JP^ · 10 Aug 2022 at 07:26

Indeed, I have Dali Opticon speakers and an XTZ 12” sub, 700W RMS, goes pretty deep, really well made and can be had for £5-600
Worth checking out!

SUB 12.17 EDGE

www.xtzsound.eu

If I was spending £1800 I’d want a much more powerful SVS or actually probably just get two XTZ, two subs is always better than one