I'm SOOO excited... (1 Viewer)

[JeremyR]

My dealer just called and my Paradigms I ordered are in. Whoooppeee.. I get to pick them up this afternoon. I'll be glad to get rid of those crappy HTIB speakers. A question though, I want to get the most out of my new system, and would like some advice on how to get the best possible setup. I have a Kenwood VR507 which has been a great receiver, and it allows me all kinds of setup options, such as listening distance, and individual volume controls, etc, etc. I've tried to measure distances from listening spots, which is kind of hard considering there's a huge span of difference in listening spots in my family room. I know there's cd's you can buy for setup, and equipment that measures sound, but I'm really an idiot here. I've gone and read some older threads but haven't really picked up on much, except that radio shack sells a meter that will tell me the sound level coming out of each speaker from one position so that the volume is consistent all the way around. Also, I may need to consider replacing my speaker wire, though the stuff I'm using looks pretty heavy. I'm not sure of it's gauge though, it doesn't seem to be printed on the wire. Sorry for such a long post, alot of stuff here. I guess I'm just excited about my new speakers.. not only that but I'm picking up Freddy vs. Jason on DVD to watch it tonight as it came out today. Woohoo....

 

[Toby Wong]

Keep in mind there is only one "optimal" seat in the room. This is not to say it will sound bad everywhere else, but it won't be as good as your calibrated "sweet spot". Play around with your setup and find what works for you. You sound like you are pretty pumped about it, congrats on your new gear.

 

[AndrewA]

Jeremy,

Congrats, I have Paradigm Ref. speakers and absolutely love them.

As for setup, there are a variety of DVD's for calibration out there, AVIA, and Essentials are the ones that come to mind. To properly calibrate, go get yourself a Radioshack SPL meter and use one of the above mentioned discs.

Have fun and enjoy your speakers.

 

[GrahamT]

Congrats Jeremy,

What speakers did you get? I've got all Monitors, and I love mine. As Andrew mentioned there is Avia, digital video essentials and sound&vision calibration discs. If you are going from HTIB to any Paradigms you will astonished at the difference.

 

[Mike_Skeway]

congratulations! I have some Studio 100's on the way myself. 570 will be next. Then some 40's.

Avia is a good calibration disk and Radio Shack has a new analog SPL meter out to replace the old one they discontinued.

 

[JeremyR]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I will go check out the SPL Meter and calibration disk. I'm still working with a budget, and that combined with a 15% discount from my local dealer afforded me a setup that absolutely BLOWS my mind compared to my Kenwood HTIB speakers. Got CC-170 for the center, Titans for mains, and atoms for surrounds. Certainly not their top of the line, but I'm also not working with a big space and they certainly seemed to be the best bookshelf speakers available to my ears after comparing to Bostons, Polks, Infinity's, Klipsch (yuck), and Def Tech's. He talked to me about upgrading my receiver to the Kenwood Sovereign line they sold since I'm such a big Kenwood fan. Though they were very impressive (EXPENSIVE!!!) pieces, my next upgrade will likely be a new subwoofer. Though the Kenwood that I got in the HTIB actually works quite well for me, only occasionally do I have trouble where it distorts or sounds like it bottoms out.

 

[cabreau]

JeremyR, you will be pleasantly surprised by the quality of sound coming from those speakers. Those Atoms are OUTSTANDING surrounds and the Titans have JUUUUUUST enough more than the Atoms to be good fronts for that system. The CC-170 is also a great center channel. Atoms and a CC-170 pleased me for a whole year before I upgraded to the Studio 20's. You will be very happy with those speakers. Just make sure you get a decent sub. The Paradigm PDR-10 is a great and fairly inexpensive match for those speakers.