HT install sounds awful... no worries, though - it's fine this way!

mdaudioguy

So, my brother-in-law asked me for a recommendation on speakers for his new HT room, so of course I recommended a nice Polk-based system. I even linked him to some fantastic deals on Polk Audio Direct. Two weeks later, he sends me a message - Hey, can you stop by and help me set these speakers up? They arrived, I assume! This is going to be fun!

Yeah... he decided to just stick with some speakers he already owned to go with his new Denon AVR-2311CI:redface::

Mains = Bose 701 (Good news, though! They're the Series II model with a separate LFE connection!)
Center = A small, thin Bose (never looked at the model number, but it's waaayyy undersized for the job)
Surrounds = (and this is where it gets weird) massive RBH di-/bi-poles that are rated at 4 ohms. I have no idea how these came into the picture.
Back = a pair of Speakercraft in-walls (probably the only sensible part of the system)

I reluctantly helped him get it all set up, and he loved it! I explained to him the the 6 ohm Bose and the 4 ohm RBH clearly represented too great a load on his Denon, but he just responded that he had purchased an extended warranty on the AVR... So, I cautioned him to go very easy on the volume...

The result? A front soundstage that's all over the place - except where the dialogue needs to be, and absolutely no LFE to speak of. However, it does generate lots of sound and fury, so he's happy! I guess that's what it's all about!

P.S. Before I got there, he had been watching movies with headphones on, and later mentioned that only the left side of the headphones worked, so I guess this setup IS an improvement!!

ROHfan

Some people you just can't get through to. It's like the frustration I go through when the wife asks about our audio system, "when is it enough?" Then I have to explain, once again, that it's a hobby, it's supposed to be fun, it's supposed to evolve and get better. I think if the hobby was cheap she wouldn't give a ****. I'm sorry, I'm hijacking your thread. Enjoy your system, your BIL might never understand. :frown:

Lietuvis91

Hahaha! I know those people... my buddy was braging to me how his $199 samsung htib sounds just as good as my ht setup and he spend only $199. Well, 2 months later mine are all broken in and sound great and his center was blown already... ooops! Lets not even compare the sound quality, but to this guy, if it made lots of loud noise, his gear was as 'good' as mine in his head... to each his own i guess...

For some 'odd' reason movie night is ALWAYS @ my house... hmmm... go figure!

greyford1979

I always just smile and keep my mouth shut when I tell a friend at work about my new pioneer elite receiver and the Polk setup I have and they start going on about their blu ray based HTIB system that puts out over 1000 watts:rolleyes:

Sherardp

I just looked at the other thread. That would have been a kick a$$ setup had he gone with your original plan.

20hz

ROHfan wrote: »

Some people you just can't get through to. It's like the frustration I go through when the wife asks about our audio system, "when is it enough?" Then I have to explain, once again, that it's a hobby, it's supposed to be fun, it's supposed to evolve and get better. I think if the hobby was cheap she wouldn't give a ****. I'm sorry, I'm hijacking your thread. Enjoy your system, your BIL might never understand. :frown:

My latest quote from my wife " why does it have to be so bassey"
what could I say , to me a never ending hobby .

main sytem
Center=kef 100 center
Mains=polk moniter 5
Subs=2 externally amplified subs one has 2 12's the other is a 15"
Avr=Sony ES

Man cave
Center=diy
mains=polk ls=50's
rears=JBL

Dobermann

I had a buddy bragging about his new Bluray player and how awesome it looked, "the picture is crystal clear!" and so on. I go over to his house to check it out and he's got it hooked up through composite video. Not component, not HDMI, the old-school red, yellow and white cables. I tried to explain to him that he was defeating the whole purpose of having a Bluray in the first place but I couldn't make him understand. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

DVOuSS

Stupid people don't like to know how stupid they are....

tonyb

Dobermann wrote: »

I had a buddy bragging about his new Bluray player and how awesome it looked, "the picture is crystal clear!" and so on. I go over to his house to check it out and he's got it hooked up through composite video. Not component, not HDMI, the old-school red, yellow and white cables. I tried to explain to him that he was defeating the whole purpose of having a Bluray in the first place but I couldn't make him understand. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

I used to notice stuff like this too. It bothered me for awhile but then you realize if it makes someone happy, leave it alone.

Systems

Dobermann wrote: »

I had a buddy bragging about his new Bluray player and how awesome it looked, "the picture is crystal clear!" and so on. I go over to his house to check it out and he's got it hooked up through composite video. Not component, not HDMI, the old-school red, yellow and white cables. I tried to explain to him that he was defeating the whole purpose of having a Bluray in the first place but I couldn't make him understand. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

..when he does hook up to HDMI or component and gets the full 1080i or even 720 it will blow his mine some more..

Systems

tonyb wrote: »

I used to notice stuff like this too. It bothered me for awhile but then you realize if it makes someone happy, leave it alone.

..How are you likein them Focus you have.I have been checkin them out..

mdaudioguy

tonyb wrote: »

I used to notice stuff like this too. It bothered me for awhile but then you realize if it makes someone happy, leave it alone.

Agreed! And when I said I reluctantly helped my BIL, that probably wasn't the best word... I gladly helped him, but couldn't believe what he had settled on, but to each his own! Just couldn't believe I spent time setting up Bose!:eek:

Upstatemax

I just fix it for them...

My best friend picked up a ps3, I went over to his house with an hdmi cable in hand. I re-hooked it up and reset all the settings on the ps3 and the TV. He came downstairs and just said that he figured I would make it better...

He does not even bother trying to set AV stuff anymore, just waits till I come over.

Systems

Upstatemax wrote: »

I just fix it for them...

My best friend picked up a ps3, I went over to his house with an hdmi cable in hand. I re-hooked it up and reset all the settings on the ps3 and the TV. He came downstairs and just said that he figured I would make it better...

He does not even bother trying to set AV stuff anymore, just waits till I come over.

..good friend you are to him..hi-5 at ya!

Zeros

20hz wrote: »

My latest quote from my wife " why does it have to be so bassey"
what could I say , to me a never ending hobby .

That reminds me of my wife. Whenever she puts a movie on for the kids she hits the switch to turn the sub off. It's funny until I go to play Xbox or something and realize half way through that there is no LFE. :redface:

PrazVT

Thankfully my cousin's husband had heard both my RTi A system and my LSi9 system prior to deciding on how to deal w/ his HT setup. So he mostly listened to me when it came to picking components while staying in budget, and he's happier for it.

DVOuSS

lol...If I hear one more person brag about how life changing their Bose system is I may vommit. I understand not having the fundage to afford good equipment, but I do not understand going out of your way to overpay for some....

mdaudioguy

^^^ It's more a matter of believing the hype. To the casual listener, it usually sounds good, especially when compared to nothing else. To the more critical listener, eh, not so much!

DVOuSS

Bose has made a few good models, mainly I am speaking on their HTIB for $2000 models...

SDA1C

So my sister makes a special effort to call and tell me about the 2k they just spent on a Bose system. I was at the airport heading their way and said "aw bummer, if I'd have known that Id have brought a 500$ set of Polks to show him what quality sound is and he might be able to get his money back"

That was 5 weeks ago and I haven't heard another word LOL!

Sherardp

^ At that price they could have gotten a pair of LSi15's, the matching center, and a few other goodies.

SDA1C

LOL should have done just about anything else I'd say. But alas' I've not had the chance to ask how they like their prize. HeHe.

polkfarmboy

The op story reminds me of myself, I thought I had a great system and then realized that all I had was turds all over my room sticking to the wall

mdaudioguy

SDA1C wrote: »

LOL should have done just about anything else I'd say. But alas' I've not had the chance to ask how they like their prize. HeHe.

So what if they love it? Just smile and tell the it's nice.

Almadacr

Well you tried to do the best you could , you should tap in the back and say " good for you " . During this weekend , i was at a wedding and my uncle was there and we were talking about HD signals coming out of a HD box and following is " expertise " meaning that you can only get HD signal if you have a LCD , LED or plasma tv , i tap in the back and said , good try , pass by my place and i will print you some articles from the web and show you in what world he is living in . :rolleyes:

20hz

mdaudioguy wrote: »

^^^ It's more a matter of believing the hype. To the casual listener, it usually sounds good, especially when compared to nothing else. To the more critical listener, eh, not so much!

Yup you said it all here , I had a twist cube apart it was 3" computer moniter speakers w/out terminals they were attached on pins w/a wire wirewrapping tool the wire was solid core mabe 24 gauge not even audio wire , the most impressive thing is how much money they get for them .

comfortablycurt

What a lot of us have trouble remembering sometimes, is that not everyone is obsessed with their audio reproduction. To the average, casual listener...the mismatched setup described in the OP is all they'll every realistically need. There's no denying that even a mish-mosh system like that really IS a quantum leap forward from using a TV's built in speakers. Would I ever have that system in my home? Hell no...but I, as do most of you, pay a lot more attention to sound quality than the average consumer does. To a lot of people, their music playback system is simply for background noise. To most people, music is never really the main event.

tonyb

comfortablycurt wrote: »

To most people, music is never really the main event.

Good point Curt, plus marketeers know this and produce products aimed at that segment.

BTW- welcome back, glad to see your doing good.

matchan

Sherardp wrote: »

^ At that price they could have gotten a pair of LSi15's, the matching center, and a few other goodies.

amen to that

decal

DVOuSS wrote: »

Stupid people don't like to know how stupid they are....

Why do some of you feel the need to demean others for their choice in audio equipment? So what if they like something other than what you deem appropriate,it's their money and most of all it's what sounds good to them. Let's lose the elitist attitudes.

Joe08867

decal wrote: »

Why do some of you feel the need to demean others for their choice in audio equipment? So what if they like something other than what you deem appropriate,it's their money and most of all it's what sounds good to them. Let's lose the elitist attitudes.

That's a good point. But this is also an audio site for people that have a real interest in the quality of sound and opinions on how to get there. If that makes us elitist than that's fine with me.