The Stoakley Home Theatre version 2.0 (1 Viewer)

Hey all,


It's been far too long since I've contributed anything to this group, but, as most of you know, life gets in the way sometimes. I have been lurking again when I've had the time but didn't really have anything to say. However, since the launch in 2004, the theatre has been updated!!


Last week I held last rights for my 57" Sony Grand Vega rear projection unit as it finally died . It's been dying a slow, painful death for the past 6 months however, on a road trip last week I got a call from my bride that said it had finally given up the ghost. Oh well, time to shop


So, since I was replacing the TV, I thought I better replace the receiver and if I was replacing the receiver, I might as well replace.... well, you get the picture.


Here is the new gear update:


TV - Panasonic Viera 65" TC-P65VT25

BLU-Ray - I got the Panasonic freebie 3D player - DMP-BDT100 but I also have a PS3

Receiver - Since I loved my Denon AVR-3300 I figure why change things, so I upgraded to the AVR-3311CI


That's all the new gear I've gotten so far. When I have some time in a week or so I'll update my album with the new gear, etc. It's nice to have gained the extra 28" from the CRT depth and so far the picture looks gorgeous and the sound is fantastic.


That's about it. Everything else in the theatre is the same and after 7 years I'm still loving it!!!


Cheers!


Andrew

OK... I had some time so I added some new pictures of the new gear. I guess just click on my profile and that will bring you to the one album I have of pictures.


Cheers!

Andrew

Hey all,

Thanks for comments on the upgrades. It's a lot of fun and the new tv has added a lot of space to the theatre.

I've put a side by side comparison of the front to show the difference.










With the replacement of the old RPTV I've gained close to three feet of floor space, which my bride is most happy about!

Thanks again to all the comments.


Cheers,


Andrew

I have read around and they had said that the "center speaker" should be at ear level.

Originally Posted by noob5684

I have read around and they had said that the "center speaker" should be at ear level.

Click to expand...

Not necessarily... it all depends on the layout of your room and what your main listening area is. My main listening position is the front row, so I don't have an obstructed view of speakers. There is a slight 15 degree angle on the centre speaker and that directs the sound directly to my face


I played around with some temporary stands to see if there was an issue and I couldn't hear one once it was calibrated properly.


The height of the back seating is tall enough that I can see the front of the centre speaker and the sound is good from back there too. No complaints!


Cheers,

Andrew

Originally Posted by noob5684

I have read around and they had said that the "center speaker" should be at ear level.

Click to expand...

Actually, if you think about it, that would almost always be impossible, since the screen would most likely be in the way (you generally place the screen so that eye level is about halfway to 2/3 up from the bottom edge of the screen).


Perhaps you were thinking of the general "rule of thumb" for your main speakers which suggests that the tweeters of the main speakers be positioned at about ear level.


Most folks take the approach that Andrew has taken - position the center channel beneath the screen and aim it slightly upward. If you shop around for center channel speaker stands, you'll see that a vast majority of them are 10-18" tall and angled upwards.


Of course, all of these are just guidelines. Proper calibration of a system is a crucial step to making sure that regardless of the speakers' positions, the resulting soundfield at the prime listening position is as uniform as possible. The auto-setup utilities in modern receivers are quite adept at overcoming placement anomolies that in many cases are unavoidable to users due to room geometry and other factors beyond one's control.