Can't hear my ADP-170's. Need placement advice. (1 Viewer)

[Josh~H]

Here's a schematic of my HT: Josh's Home Theater

I just bought a Paradigm set yesterday: Atoms for front L/R, CC-170 center, ADP-170 L/R surround, PDR-10 sub, and an old Sony rear surround. Problem is, I can't hear my ADP-170's very well. More precisely, the whole rear stage is very weak, and is completely dominated by the front, even when I bump everything in the rear up a couple of dB. I know the ADP's are supposed to provide a diffuse surround, but this is ridiculous.

I posted a similar question in the HT Construction/Interiors forum, but my question there was more about whether theater curtains would help overall. I'm wondering whether I can get a little more mileage out of the ADP's simply by putting them up higher (they're at ear-level right now, along with the rear surround), aiming them differently, etc. Also, I'm currently using VERY thin speaker wire for the rear...probably 18 or 20 gauge, and 20+ feet to each speaker. Can such a cheap wire possibly be attenuating the signal so severely?

I get to audition these speakers for 13 more days, so I have a little time to mess around with them. Suggestions welcome!

 

[Ned]

That open hallway below the right surround is very bad for dipoles. I think for your room you should go with monopoles or the type of dipoles that are mounted at a 90 degree arc rather than 180 degrees (such as the Axiom's).

Don't worry about the difference in brand as matching timbre is pretty much impossible with surrounds. Even identical speakers all around will sound different in the surround channels because of their placement relative to your ears.

So perhaps move the atoms to the rear and upgrade the mains to titans? Or go with the Axiom QS4/8.

 

[JeffHayes]

Hey Josh,

I meant to mention this in my reply to your curtain question. How wide is the hallway behind that right side surround dipole? DO you think it would be possible to mount some sort of floor-to-ceiling screen or mini-wall (say a foot wide or so) perpendicular to side wall and inline with the rear wall? How tall are your ceilings? How far off the floor are those ADPs mounted? If they are lower than say 6 feet, perhaps you could get a 6' bookcase from Office Depot, Office Max, Staples or Ikea and place it on the hallway wall so that the rear firing driver of the ADP-170 fires into the side of the bookcase, reflecting the sound back into the theater room, rather than sending it to the nether regions of the house down the hall?

See ya,
Jeff

 

[Donnie Eldridge]

Have you calibrated your system using a SPL meter yet? If you haven't then you need to before you even consider upgrading speakers.

 

[Will Gibbons]

The dipoles should be labeled for correct left and right orientation. Just in case, have you checked for this?

Regards,
Will

 

[MikeTrotter]

Will and Donnie have very good troubleshooting tips I would check into first.If those two tips don't solve problem.I would shoot for another pair of Atoms for rears.