I have completed my 7.1 HTS setup now!

DannyD

Hey garnier...finally someone else with a velodyne dls5000r...two in your case. I'm curious what it's like having two of them? I've been debating for months on whether to add a second one. Is there a big enough differnce to justify the cost of a second or would you recommend directing the funds elsewhere for upgrades. I would love to rock dual subs though...just tell me you love it and don't regret a thing and my orders in!!

garnier

In my setup, I feel the difference between having one subwoofer and two subwoofers. I placed each on opposite corners. For me, subwoofer bass work like a gas filling up the living room space. If you have two, then one on each corner fills up the space, and there are more gas in the space at any given time. You will notice its absence when there is only one on one of the corners. You feel that you are enveloped in more bass when there is an additional subwoofer, even though one DLS-5000R already seems to be a very powerful subwoofer with its 1,000 watts RMS. I think you will notice the difference too if you have a second one also.

SlowcarIX

did you try stacking up the subs one on top of the other? when i ran 3 subs, it sounded the best when i piled them up

garnier

No, I did not even think of stacking my subs together. That is a novel approach, and I do not know how it would sound in my living room.

Did you just get those LSi15's? I did not notice that in your pictures in your post, "my setup". They look nice!

And I just read what you said about not knowing where to start to put some acoustic panels due to number of opened areas in your HTS space. I am sure one on the ceiling would cut off the primary reflection point on that area and cut off the reverberation from reaching your seats, and behind the sofas may also work additionally, and any available walls on the side walls would help too! Just 4 or 5 acoustic panels (one on the ceiling half-way between front speakers and your primary listening area (in the split center line), one opposite each front LSi15 behind your sofas, and lastly, one or two on the side walls, also half-way between LSi15's and the listening area, if a space is available) would make a noticeable difference in my opinion.

SlowcarIX

when i had 2 dswpro600...i tried every combination i could put them, i got a square room - FL/FR, FL/RL, FR/RR...and everything in between and piling them up in a corner works best. it sounded great and i went from 2 to 3 600s.....

the LSi15 was my initial setup...all thats left from when i started is the tv and 1 pair of rti4

this is "the" present setup



i'll stop changing stuff and get some acoustic treatment next:p

DannyD

Did you start off with one velo in the front corner and if so what did you keep the volume on the sub itself at? I have mine at 50%. I don't think I should go much higher then that. I would like to try 75% just for kicks and giggles. have you ever pushed your sub or subs that hard?

garnier

I started with the front right subwoofer first, and then added the second one to the rear left corner.

I purchased a Radio Shack sound meter, and from my listening position, adjusted the subwoofer volume level to 75 db for each one, turning off one while measuring another. From about 10 ft away from front right one at 75 db, the volume of the subwoofer was about 36/100, from about 6 ft away from the rear left one at 75 db, the volume of the second subwoofer was, strangely, louder at 43/100. I set them at Jazz mode, because the preferrable Movie mode is too deep for me, considering my neighbors. The Auddesey in my Onkyo receiver set the speaker level calibration at -14.5 db.

Hawkeye

garnier wrote: »

Actually, being the person I am, I just decided to get everything done by the end of this weekends, and ordered a bunch of stuffs that I had mentioned in my previous thread that I would have, including such things as cables, wires, and an Onkyo Pro pre-amplifier, all for $2,500.00 more! So, I did end up spending a grand sum of about $17,800 for my entire HTS setup; but I will sell my Onkyo TX-SR805 on e-Bay for about $500.00. I guess I would receive the rest of my "last" stuffs by this Thursday or Friday, so that I can install and calibrate them again.

Tell me about it, but it is indeed exhausting to keep thinking about upgrading them, not to mention how much money I have poured into each upgradings (on average $1,000 each time, except on this supposedly final time)! I really wish that I could finally end this journey of "building a home heatre system" as soon as possible by this week!!! And then, I will keep what I have for the next 20 years, except a blu-ray player that I might get if Sony BDP-S2000ES comes down in price by half of what it is now (right now I have a Sony BDP-S1 that I got anew for $650 last summer)! I just don't see a reason to spend $1,300 now for a BDP-S2000ES when the only major difference with mine is its Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD bitstreams function. I would rather choose uncompressed PCM over Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD, or if uncompressed PCM is not offered, then just a regular Dolby Digital or DTS would still be fine with me!

I am not complaining, but I know I think about these too obsessively. Maybe I have a obsessive compulsive behavior on building an HTS! Anybody else suspects oneself of having the same problem as I do?

Garnier, believe it or not, you are not alone!! I hope for you and your wallet you will actually be "done" after this upgrade. I doubt it, but just the same.

You mentioned that you had a bright presentation in an earlier post. If I might make a suggestion. Since you now have a new load of stuff coming in, try replacing one thing at a time. For example, try only the pre and do a listening check. Did it sound better or worse? Now try IC's between CD and pre. Same thing, did it sound better or worse. If you replace one thing at a time, you will know what fixed your rig. If you put it all in at once, you won't know which piece had the greatest impact. Also, if you do it piece by piece, you may find the sound is to your liking without using everything you bought and can return unused pieces for credit.

Gordon

garnier

Thank you for your advise, Hawkeye.

I noticed that you have a nice 2-Channel setup with McIntosh products and a separate HTS with Definitive products. I wish I could pinpoint where the weakest link is in my setup by upgrading one component at a time, but I shouldn't spend too much time experimenting for now. I will just upgrade everything that I have oredred, also because I think they are worth having.

After twenty years with my current setup, I will go for McIntosh products too!

SlowcarIX

you should have some of these chesky disc
http://www.chesky.com/core/productlist.cfm?productcategoryid=1&genre_sysid=10016&name=Test%20Discs
http://www.chesky.com/core/details.cfm?productcode=JD037&productcategoryid=1 - this one is great if you had to pick one

garnier

Face wrote: »

Looks great!

Move your mains forward a little and they will sound better during 2 channel listening.

I did try to listen to 2 channel listening with the front channel tweeters facing directly at me, and it made a huge difference, much better forcusing and sound stage.

But when watching a movie, I noticed that it is not best to let them point at me directly. So I am letting each of them face about 2 inches away from each of my ears--front left channel 2 inches away from my left ear and front right channel 2 inches away from my right ear. I think even doing as simple as this improved some focusing, but not so much that I know where the sound is coming from which I don't want to happen.

Thank you for your suggestion!

Face

That's not exactly what I meant, but yes, toe can help or hurt in different applications.

I meant physically moving the speakers closer towards you, away from the rack, etc... Try to move them 1-2' towards you and see if you notice a difference while listening to music.

garnier

So I installed Monster Cable Z1 and Z2 series speaker wires for my surround and front and center speakers, respectively, for $700, and changed my receiver to a pre-amplifier with XLR outs for $1,600. I tested the differences in sound quality and noticed that the sound is clearer. I am not sure if it is because of the pre-amp or the speaker wires. Most likely it is the speaker wires, because when I connected the Monster speaker wires first and listened to the music and watched a movie, I heard the difference in SQ compared to prior to any of these changes. But when I again changed the RCA cables to XLR cables in addition to the already upgraded speaker wires, I could not hear much of a difference between RCA and XLR cables.

So I am done! I will stick with my setup for now until I decide to upgrade my blu-ray player to Sony BDP-S2000ES when it comes down in price under $1,000.00.

zx_toth

garnier wrote: »

I am not complaining, but I know I think about these too obsessively. Maybe I have a obsessive compulsive behavior on building an HTS! Anybody else suspects oneself of having the same problem as I do?

I have this problem too! You know its bad when you think about this at work, right before you go to bed, you are researching HT equipment when you could be listening to what you already have .... yes many of us have this 'fever'. I dont think there is a cure!

Zsolt

garnier

I know it is bad. I hope it has not been like this, thinking about it too obsessively, but I could not stop until I thought things were where I wanted them to be. It just took such a long time to finish so that I would not have to keep thinking about improving my HTS obsessively anymore, more than a year for me! But I could not have done it any other way, I think! And most of all, I spent so much money into doing all these too! :)

iskandam

I started upgrading since last September. I went from an all-satellite speaker set up to Polk's entry-level R series. Between then and now I've moved up the food chain with RTi and finally an all-LSi HT set up. I also went through 4 subwoofers in the same time span. I'm finally satisfied with the sound but there are still a couple more pieces I need to get to truly complete this rig. I'm guessing a couple more months at least, but until then I can't stop researching components everyday

garnier wrote: »

I know it is bad. I hope it has not been like this, thinking about it too obsessively, but I could not stop until I thought things were where I wanted them to be. It just took such a long time to finish so that I would not have to keep thinking about improving my HTS obsessively anymore, more than a year for me! But I could not have done it any other way, I think! And most of all, I spent so much money into doing all these too! :)

garnier

I did more listening of my final HTS setup today after finally installing the Onkyo pre-amplifier Pro PR-SC885P yesterday. These might be my desperate illusions to justify all the money I have spent additionally, $4,000, after the purchase of an external amplifier ($1,900), to address my problem with having an ear fatigueness after watching a movie for more than 20 minutes; but I got the impressions that the acoustic panels ($1,800) improved the imaging of the sound with a better focus, but the new Monster speaker wires, Z1 and Z2 series ($600), allowed noticeably clearer sound and deeper bass to be produced, while the XLR cable connection ($100) from my pre-amp ($1,500) to an amplifier eliminated the ear fatigueness that I was complaining about. Again these might be placebo effects on me, but I want to believe that they are not! I think these differences are as real as a rock that anyone can grasp!

cfrizz

So long as you're happy with it & not financially bankrupt, good for you!

Congrats & enjoy.

garnier

In all honesty, I think my earache problem still persists after all these changes I have made or added on, such as XLR cables, acoustic panels, and speaker wires, all worth about $4,000.00. I don't regret having added these because they have improved a sound quality one way or the other, but I would still have to resolve the ear fatigue problem that I started experiencing ever since I upgraded to LSi speakers, a second subwoofer, and an external amplifier. I don't think there is anything else that I need to buy. I will just get rid of this problem by figuring out somehow which one of these new upgraded components is causing this!

jayman_1975

have you tried turning it down.?

garnier

I think I don't play at that high a volume level, just enough to hear the dialogue clearly, and not any louder than with my previous Monitor series 7.1 setup with a Denon receiver. Back then, I did not have these ear fatigue problems.

BlueFox

jayman_1975 wrote: »

have you tried turning it down.?

It appears he also needs to go to Radio Shack and buy an SPL meter. Then he needs to taks measurements during the sessions that hurt his ears, and post the results.

garnier

I already did, the SPL reading read around 60-70 db, A-Weighted, as I recall the measurements done a few weeks ago.

Hawkeye

Garnier,

You need to take a couple hundred dollars, no joking, and get a hearing test done before you spend any more cash on your rig. This test may reveal why you are getting ear aches which you seem to get at reasonable volume levels. My line of work requires me to get one every year and over time, 30 + years, I have damage that can be graphed.

I had a beautiful pair of Paradigm Signature S8's that were everything I was looking for in a speaker. Over the course of one year, they became torture to my ears whenever I listened to music and they had to go. I'm not saying your speakers have to go, but logic dictates that if the ear aches started with the Lsi, there is your problem, or you have had significant hearing damage.

Gordon

wilfred80

Nice setup garnier! I have quit a bit of work to do to complete my gameroom, but I hope to do something similar once I get the funds.