Going to 7.1: Do Surrounds need to be at ear level? (1 Viewer)

[Dougofthenorth]

@Sam

Greetings!

I spoke to Ron & am trying to work out a wedge (or some such) solution to aim his rears down a bit.
Then have the sides at the recommended (above ear) side height - then do trial & error with the speaker di/bi switches, going from speaker to speaker in relationship to one another - to see if he can find settings that would work for him.

I myself, was never able to use bi/di successfully in any position other than at the sides.
I even tried them for height effect speakers, but switched to single direct radiating. (but that's my room not his...)

The encoding for the rear center(s) seem(s) to prefer a narrower pinpointed arc

 

[Sam Posten]

I stand by my advice from page 1.Recommended 7.1 mix: Shoot em up.

 

[Edwin-S]

Well, can you tell a difference between 5.1 and 7.1 in a room that small? I probably would have just used the two extra speakers for front highs myself.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Well, can you tell a difference between 5.1 and 7.1 in a room that small? I probably would have just used the two extra speakers for front highs myself.

With the very little amount of time I had to listen thus far....not really.

There are times I can pick out objects/instruments being thrown to the rears, but
it's not as dramatic as I had hoped.

....again, I haven't spent a lot of time with the new setup.

...and again, I do realize that my setup is not optimal. I do not want to drill holes
for height speakers. So, in the end, I have no-one to blame but myself.

 

[Edwin-S]

It would be interesting to see if your impression changes once you have had more time to get used to it. Might have to play around with settings a bit to see if you can improve the experience. BTW, how big is your room? I have a couple of old speakers that I started thinking I could mess around with to see if it actually does anything noticeable in the room I'm in.. Only thing is one side of my living room opens onto a dining room and the other side is a picture window, not quite sure how I could use the speakers as normally they would be wall-mounted, not be on stands.

I can get why you wouldn't want to drill holes for speakers. Anyway, good luck. Hope it works out for you once you have have had more time to get used to it.

 

[schan1269]

Can you move the couch forward another foot?Part of the issue might be the diffuse. But...

 

[Dougofthenorth]

With the very little amount of time I had to listen thus far....not really.

There are times I can pick out objects/instruments being thrown to the rears, but
it's not as dramatic as I had hoped.

....again, I haven't spent a lot of time with the new setup.

...and again, I do realize that my setup is not optimal. I do not want to drill holes
for height speakers. So, in the end, I have no-one to blame but myself.

Ron,

There is no blame here anywhere.

Room vs speaker setup is almost as different as individual fingerprints. (Maybe more?)

It is going to take time & trial & error to get this as right as possible for your configuration.
There will be an acceptable solution or workaround on the horizon at some not that distant point.
And when best setup, your ears brain will then get accustomed over time, to the nuances in the soundtracks.

To be very frank, I find a lot of 5.1 material rather lame & for me.
- DTS 6.1 & 7.1 produce a larger & more active envelope in my room.
(I realize that's to some degree also influenced by the RXZ11's way of expression)
Most 5.1 material I usually matrix or use a DSP program to liven it up - all TV viewing for example.

I too will be going through the whole experience all over again, as I recently was able to be in a position to replace my Boston VRMC & VRMX speakers with 8 other Focal speakers, then finally being able to match my Focal L&R mains & center with matching Focal speakers.
(Including matching wood grain color.) [2 of them - thanks only to your much appreciated help]

Except for speaker positioning, I bet I will be futzing & f@rting around with this for many months, with regards to tweaking it all.
You will long be done & happy, before I'm finished...

Soldier on.....

 

[schan1269]

I'm trying to figure out if I want to revamp my theatre...

Had my BIC V going on 20 years now(22 maybe??). Landed the final set to do 9.1 around 5 years ago...so might sell the V830, V820(2 pairs), V62 and V62 CLRS.

I went to an estate auction yesterday. My gf thought she lost me in the swath of unbelievable goodness before me.

9 pairs(with two centers, 2 towers NIB) of Infinity Intermezzo. I was the only one there...that cared. I got the 9 where I could Ebay/Craigslist half(to keep 4 pairs...essentially) at "fair prices" and quintuple my money.

 

[Dave Upton]

A trick I often use for 7.1 is to pull out the trusty SPL meter and override Audyssey a little. I've found a 2 -> 2.5 dB pump in the rear surrounds when dealing with dipole or bipole speakers makes a world of difference.

 

[Dougofthenorth]

A trick I often use for 7.1 is to pull out the trusty SPL meter and override Audyssey a little. I've found a 2 -> 2.5 dB pump in the rear surrounds when dealing with dipole or bipole speakers makes a world of difference.

Exactly, I tweak the YPAO settings - for front center & rear centers & indeed it helps overall with the impact of each of those channels.
Having said that, I find I need 2 settings, 1 for DTS & 1 for DD especially in DD 5.1 but not as noticeable in the DD HD formats, or in the rarer older DD formats that are labelled "optimized for home theater". Not much difference when using a DSP feature with either DD or DTS cores.

Luckily, Ron has an analogue (needle) SPL meter on hand.

 

[Dave Moritz]

Hey Ronald you got to do what you got to do sometimes, rofl. Sometimes the room limits what you can do so you have to change things up. Heck this is what I had to do because of the shape of the room and location of a window in the room.

 

[Dougofthenorth]

Hey Ronald you got to do what you got to do sometimes, rofl. Sometimes the room limits what you can do so you have to change things up. Heck this is what I had to do because of the shape of the room and location of a window in the room.

Unfortunately, he said he would drill holes in his head - before doing so in walls or ceilings