Please check out my new home theater page! (1 Viewer)

[james e m]

My friend was nice enough to create a web page for my VERY modest home theater. I realize it's not the best home theater, but the equipment is temporary until I can save up more cash for a whole new system! I'm a 23 year old college student, so I am a poor man. Any tips would be great! I realize there are some flaws (component stacking etc.) but right now it's the best I can do. Let me know what you think!
http://mirkwoodhometheater.tripod.com/MirkHome.html
james
p.s. If the link does not work please use the home icon above. Thanks!
[Edited last by james e m on August 29, 2001 at 12:00 PM]
[Edited last by james e m on August 29, 2001 at 04:13 PM]

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Hi James. Not a bad system.
Since you asked for some suggestions...
- Do you have that center speaker up on feet, or just sitting on the TV? Try some rubber door-wedges or pink-rubber erasers to make feet. (paperback books also work well) Also, pull the center forward so it over-hangs the front of the TV by about 1/4 inch.
- Those are darn big woofers in those speakers. And it's the woofers that take most of the power. Since you have a dedicated sub, try defining the L/R speakers as SMALL and let the sub take care of all the low-frequency. This will free up power for the mid-range and tweeters. Many people find this sounds the best in their systems.
- The "speakers-in-line with the TV" placement looks good for pictures, but speakers tend to sound better with more room. Pull those L/R speakers into the room about a foot. Try some toe-in so the sound from each speaker intersect about a foot behind your primary listening position. (A cheap laser-pointer is a nice tool for this. Roll the pointer on a table and make sure the spot moves horizontally, and not in little-circles to make sure the beam is aligned with the body). Check the levels with your sound meter after moving the speakers or changing the angles.
- Stands: the speakers tend to sound better on spikes. In your case, try and get some small stands that raise the speakers up so that the tweeters on all 3 front speakers are closer to the same height. Experiment by placing a bunch of books under the L/R speakers to get them to the same height. Try Star Trek:Insurrection chapter 25 for sounds that swirl across your speakers. Listen and decide if the change is worth it before building/buying small stands for the L/R speakers. (Using rubber door-wedges under the center will tilt the center down and compensate for the L/R being lower. This might be the cheapest/easiest thing to do).
When doing things to play with the sound, I suggest setting up some chapter in a A-B repeat loop (the only use I have found for this feature) and turn OFF the TV. This will cause your hearing to become more sensistive to sounds that move from speaker to speaker.
Hope this helps.

 

[james e m]

Bob...
Thanks a lot for the info that I can use! A lot of peoples advice seems to be "buy better speakers" which does me no good. I'll try everything you suggested except moving the main speakers out, I can't do that because there is a wall on the one side and a couch on the other. Thank you very much!
james