New member - amp question leads to speaker question (1 Viewer)

[bobert]

Hi,

Wow! What a site!

I believe there is a limit to how cool I can make my system based on room dynamics and no desire to place speakers in room or mount on walls (only in wall). And am just looking for general answers:

I have a family room that is too large to configure for real sweet spots. The television is 24 feet from the couch. The couch is an L shaped sectional. The TV is a 67 Samsung DLP and without my glasses I can't read subtitles from the couch. The sound stinks.
I have a Denon AVR 3200 purchased in 1997. The in wall rear speakers are now covered by the new couch and the Atlantic front and center speakers inadequately project sound. There was no place to put the subwoofer so it went onto a drywall ledge above the TV area.

At this point I am only trying to hear dialog better with my aging ears.

1. I assume any new amp I get is going to process sound better than my current amp based on technology improvements and HD/Blue Ray needs, yes? (Just got a BluRay - not hooked up yet). Should I get a new amp?

2. There are in ceiling speakers now that have tweeters that can be pointed in different directions. My ceilng is 12 feet.
Can I put front, center and rear speakers in the ceiling over the seating area and with some tweeter pointing get a better sound that may be "surround" on some level? Is it worth it to place 5 speakers in 12 foot ceilings where the front and center speakers are 12 feet in front of the rear speakers and the couch is over those rear speakers?

3. Should I just look for better speakers to project from TV back to the couch? i.e. try to see if Bose or some gee-whiz speakers
can project to the back of the room and forget surround?

10 year dilemma - sorry if this post was too long!

Bob

 

[Robert_J]

1. If your current Denon has the appropriate digital inputs and decodes Dolby Digital and DTS it will still work with Blu-Ray players. Since you are compromising on speakers by going in-wall you may not notice a difference in the newer sound formats.
2. In-ceiling speakers are only used as a last resort and are never recommended in the front stage. If you are going full surround then use the in-walls near the TV and put the surrounds in the ceiling near the couch. You sure don't want to put your front stage near the couch.
3. Yes, look for better speakers to project from the TV to the couch. Bose is not better. In fact most models are poor in both sound quality as well as build quality. $1,000 for a set of speakers with 50 cent drivers and a 10 cent plastic enclosure. If you want small speakers then the Energy Take 5 system is highly regarded.

What sub are you looking at? You didn't mention anything about a sub.

Welcome to the forum. Please pay attention to the section you are posting in. This section is for source units ranging from DVD players to VCR's to CD players to satellite receivers. A/V receivers have their own question (question #1). Speakers have their own section as well (questions 2 and 3).

 

[Selden Ball]

Bobert,

Modern AVRs include room equalization which can partially compensate for your home theater's audio defects. See the discussions in the receiver section for details.

 

[Robert_J]

Selden is correct on that. My Pioneer's MCACC auto calibration system will apply 3 bands of EQ to flatten the response of the speakers. I do find that a very good reason for upgrading.