So close... (1 Viewer)

CALL911 · Dec 23, 2012

I am very close to finally getting my movie room with my 7.1 system up!
Just finished buying the last of the stereo equipment the other day.
Here's the setup;
Front speakers: Paradigm Mini Moniter V.7
Center speaker: Paradigm Center 3
Rear and side speakers: Polk Audio OWM 3
Sub Woofer: BIC America F12
All powered by a Marantz 1603
I have all the speakers wired in except for the Center 3, and the sub. After those, I just need to plug the receiver in and get it dialed in. I heard the Marantz 1603 powering the mini monitors and center 3, at a local Classic Stereo shop, and was very impressed. I can't wait to see how the whole system sounds in the room.
The room is in my basement and all the walls and ceiling have been covered by soundboard, and then carpet.
Anyone have any tips on how to dial the receiver in so the sound quality is top notch?

CALL911 · Dec 29, 2012

Finally done!
Just plugged everything in the other day. WOW! I must say I am very impressed with the performance of this 7.1 combo. I had high expectations, and this passed them! The bass, the clarity, it is really phenomenal. I am sure there are even better combo's out there, but for the money I spent, I am quite satisfied.
Special thanks to all those out there who had helped me earlier with speaker reccomendations, and with other reccomendations.

gene c · Dec 29, 2012

"Just plugged everything in...."
Did you run the Audyssey auto setup and room eq? If you did, double-check the settings it came up with. These auto setup programs like to set most speakers to Large (wrong) and the crossover setting too high (wrong again). If not, be sure to at least manually set the speaker sizes, distances, volumes and crossovers. You also have to make the appropriate settings in the BluRay player and cable/satellite box, etc if you haven't already done so.
Marantz remotes are much better than they were a few years ago but a good Harmony or Universal remote might make things easier to use for the family. I currently have a Marantz 6005 and a 5005 (among other things) And they're fairly easy to set up and operate compared to their Denon cousins (IMO of course). Enjoy!

CALL911 · Dec 29, 2012

I did run the Audyssey setup. Then a friend came over and we checked all the settings and made adjustments. I am glad we checked it as you are correct, there were wrong crossovers, distances and volumes. There was a noticeable difference in sound quality after the changes were made.
Now, after using the system for a couple movies, and video games, I am wanting to make some additional fine tuning. It now comes to personal preference. In a small action clip the thundering bass seems impressive. But after watching a 2 hour movie that is packed with action scenes, I found it a bit much, and plan on adjusting a few more levels.
The Marantz 1603 remote is nice, but wish it had some addtional buttons.

Jim Mcc · Dec 29, 2012

Carpet on the walls huh? Can you tell me more about that? What you used, did you glue it, etc? I thought about using carpet tiles in my basement theater room wall or walls, but was totally blasted when I asked at Avsforum. Most said the room would sound too dead and/or flat.
As far as Audyssey, most people seem to worship it. BUT what good is it if you have to make these adjustments afterward? It sounds like it's a waste of money. My current Insignia receiver has it's own version of auto speaker setup, and it did the same thing(setting all speakers to large).

CALL911 · Dec 29, 2012

]

Jim Mcc said:
Carpet on the walls huh? Can you tell me more about that? What you used, did you glue it, etc? I thought about using carpet tiles in my basement theater room wall or walls, but was totally blasted when I asked at Avsforum. Most said the room would sound too dead and/or flat.
As far as Audyssey, most people seem to worship it. BUT what good is it if you have to make these adjustments afterward? It sounds like it's a waste of money. My current Insignia receiver has it's own version of auto speaker setup, and it did the same thing(setting all speakers to large).

When I originally thought of putting carpet on the walls and ceiling, I asked for a quote from our carpet installer for our home. They said they had never done anything like that before, and wanted $2500 just for installation in the room. They had planned on using a glue, and made very clear they would not warranty they carpet from falling down both on the walls and ceiling. Whether they wanted to scare me off by gouging me with the price, or did not want to do it by telling me their work may not hold the carpet in place I'm not sure. But it was enough to make me want to do it myself.
Having first installed the soundboard, I knew I would need something else over it as the soundboard was very fiberous and brittle, and I knew nothing would stick well to it, and it would not be strong enough to holdup much weight on its own. I decided to cover the soundboard with 1/4" plywood which I screwed into the studs through the sound board.
My biggest challenge was finding a solution for the ceiling as gravity is constantly pulling and I did not want the carpet coming down over time. I decided to go with 18" carpet tiles. The tiles were light weight which meant they would not hold much weight to be pulled. I ended up buying a glue that was meant for installing linolium tiles on a floor. The glue was extremely messy when applying on the ceiling. I got it all over myself, the ladder, and the plastic I laid on the floor. But, after waiting for it to tack up, it made for an easy installation of the ceiling carpet tiles, and it was extremely strong and sticky. The tiles are very secure, and I have no doubt that they will hold in place for longer than I will be alive.
On the walls I wanted to use a thicker pile carpet. I wanted to find old shag carpet, but found some longer pile that seemed to fit the bill. The pile carpet was thick, and heavy, and I was not confident glue would hold it. So, I measured the size of a wall and cut out the carpet. Then I got a wood 2x4 and cut it to the length of the carpet cutout. I purchased a pneumatic stapler and stapled 1" crown molding staples through the back of the carpet into the 2x4. Then, with the help of another person, we lifted the carpet piece by the 2x4 to the top of the wall, and I screwed the 2x4 into the studs through the plywood and soundboard, and into the studs to hold the carpet up. I then went down the carpet, and stapled it to the wall in numerous areas helping hold the carpet in place.
After the carpet was up, I stapled other cutouts of the carpet around the 2x4's to cover the wood. I made some vertical 2x4's as well to hide some of the seams between carpet sections. I made some of them more decorative into the doorway as seen in this pic.
As far as the sound quality, I would say those who said it would sound dead or flat didn't know what they were talking about. Its quiet when having a conversation in the room. When closing the door, it is totally silent in the room. However, turn on the receiver to music, games, or movies, and the sound is top notch. I have been in friends houses with similar surround sound systems, and their systems echoed, and shook the house. Mine is crisp, and clear without echo, and unless you turn the system almost all the way up, it is difficult to hear in other areas of the house.

CALL911 · Dec 29, 2012

As far as the Audyssey goes, I didn't mean to bash it as much as I might have. I think it was a good system. It got things close to where they needed to be with very minimal effort. The distances and volume levels of the speakers that I adjusted, were minimal at most.
The biggest sound difference I noticed from adjustments were adjusting the mids and highs and bass to the levels I wanted. As stated in one of my more recent posts, further adjusting will be necessary until I find where I like everything.

schan1269 · Dec 29, 2012

The main issue with "room eq" systems...
They attempt to make the sound "flat"...
We don't hear "flat"...but, no two people hear exactly the same either...
I've never, and I mean never, set-up a HT where the "auto room EQ" came up with what the end customer thought was ideal...no matter what the program was...even REW.
Flat to appease a topology graph, and pleasing your ears...are not always the same thing. Bass performance notwithstanding...

schan1269 · Dec 29, 2012

@ Jim
I used to frequent AVS, but I don't anymore since they are "all about Denon"...
What is funny about carpet on the walls(and wish I could get to AVS to laugh at them) is that is what was recommended, for years, by Klpsch to smooth out the Klipschorn and LaScala...
Even sadder part. I was having a slightly less than polite discussion about using the Cornwall as a center speaker(look up its history)...
I was the one "banned for a week"...

Jim Mcc · Dec 30, 2012

CALL911 said:
]
When I originally thought of putting carpet on the walls and ceiling, I asked for a quote from our carpet installer for our home. They said they had never done anything like that before, and wanted $2500 just for installation in the room. They had planned on using a glue, and made very clear they would not warranty they carpet from falling down both on the walls and ceiling. Whether they wanted to scare me off by gouging me with the price, or did not want to do it by telling me their work may not hold the carpet in place I'm not sure. But it was enough to make me want to do it myself.
Having first installed the soundboard, I knew I would need something else over it as the soundboard was very fiberous and brittle, and I knew nothing would stick well to it, and it would not be strong enough to holdup much weight on its own. I decided to cover the soundboard with 1/4" plywood which I screwed into the studs through the sound board.
My biggest challenge was finding a solution for the ceiling as gravity is constantly pulling and I did not want the carpet coming down over time. I decided to go with 18" carpet tiles. The tiles were light weight which meant they would not hold much weight to be pulled. I ended up buying a glue that was meant for installing linolium tiles on a floor. The glue was extremely messy when applying on the ceiling. I got it all over myself, the ladder, and the plastic I laid on the floor. But, after waiting for it to tack up, it made for an easy installation of the ceiling carpet tiles, and it was extremely strong and sticky. The tiles are very secure, and I have no doubt that they will hold in place for longer than I will be alive.
On the walls I wanted to use a thicker pile carpet. I wanted to find old shag carpet, but found some longer pile that seemed to fit the bill. The pile carpet was thick, and heavy, and I was not confident glue would hold it. So, I measured the size of a wall and cut out the carpet. Then I got a wood 2x4 and cut it to the length of the carpet cutout. I purchased a pneumatic stapler and stapled 1" crown molding staples through the back of the carpet into the 2x4. Then, with the help of another person, we lifted the carpet piece by the 2x4 to the top of the wall, and I screwed the 2x4 into the studs through the plywood and soundboard, and into the studs to hold the carpet up. I then went down the carpet, and stapled it to the wall in numerous areas helping hold the carpet in place.
After the carpet was up, I stapled other cutouts of the carpet around the 2x4's to cover the wood. I made some vertical 2x4's as well to hide some of the seams between carpet sections. I made some of them more decorative into the doorway as seen in this pic.
As far as the sound quality, I would say those who said it would sound dead or flat didn't know what they were talking about. Its quiet when having a conversation in the room. When closing the door, it is totally silent in the room. However, turn on the receiver to music, games, or movies, and the sound is top notch. I have been in friends houses with similar surround sound systems, and their systems echoed, and shook the house. Mine is crisp, and clear without echo, and unless you turn the system almost all the way up, it is difficult to hear in other areas of the house.

The room looks pretty cool. Thanks for all the info. Do you plan to "vacuum the walls and ceiling" periodically? Do you have any baseboard trim, or did you carpet right to the floor? The walls in my room are painted obviously, so I don't know how I would get the tiles to adhere? Do you guys think it would sound bad if all 4 walls weren't covered with carpet tiles?

CALL911 · Dec 30, 2012

Well, unlike the floor that gets traveled on frequently, the walls really shouldn't collect dirt in the same manner, and should really need vacuumed. At least no where near what the floor would require.
I did carpet all the way to the floor without baseboards.
Even though you painted the walls, I still think you could tile over it. Just use plenty of glue, and I might reccomend staples also. I think if you just did one side, it may affect your sound having different surfaces having different sound reflection and absorption properties.

Jim Mcc · Dec 30, 2012

Thanks Ben. If I do this, I will use carpet tiles.

CALL911 · Dec 30, 2012

Just remember, some of the lighter carpet tiles intended for a patio may be the better choice as they are lighter, and won't be as difficult to stay in place long term.
Best of luck!

Jim Mcc · Dec 30, 2012

I'm going to run this by a couple carpet places near me and see what they say, and of course, the wife. Last night I was reading about a couple guys that used heavy wallpaper paste, instead of adhesive, to be able to remove carpet without ruining the drywall.

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