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Post by octavarium on May 13, 2016 0:31:22 GMT
Hello all,
I'm looking for opinions on the type of surround speakers people are using I.E. direct firing vs bipole/dipole etc... and where they are being placed. Would you use all direct firing or all bipole/dipole or mix and match and if you mixed and matched, where would you mount them? Direct firing on the sides or in the rear, for example?
I'm also really curious as to how high you would mount the speakers, at ear level or higher? I'm surprised at how little discussion there is on this (at least that's not about 15 years old) and what I can find, most articles/people state that surrounds should be placed a couple of feet above the listening position. I thought I saw a post on here somewhere, but darned if I can find it now.
I'm currently running Def Tech Mythos Eights for the sides and Mirage Nanosats for the rears all a couple of feet above ear level in my 9.2 system.
I'm know expert, but I do consider myself to be an audiophile and love to learn and get other people's thoughts on the subject.
Thanks!
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Post by Hexspa on May 13, 2016 5:25:15 GMT
I know nothing about that but there are some home theater guys on here. I tried to find some of them - you can look through the Acoustics threads and try to message them. Besides Ethan, of course.
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Post by Ethan Winer on May 13, 2016 19:27:42 GMT
I suggest direct-firing (standard "box" speakers) for all the speakers in a surround setup. The notion that speakers should spray sound all around the room to enhance ambience is fatally flawed in my opinion. All of the ambience and reverb etc the producers want is already in each channel. What you want is a clean, clear, and neutral environment in which to reproduce those channels. The first document below is by NARAS (the technical wing of the Grammys) showing how they recommend setting up a surround system. The second link is to my own article which is shorter and more direct: Grammy Surround StandardsHow To Set Up A Room--Ethan |
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Post by octavarium on May 14, 2016 3:20:04 GMT
Thank you for the responses guys.
Ethan- the link to your article was what I had read the other day. Thank you for the reference.
I'm inclined to believe direct firing speakers are the way to go as well. Maybe not so much during the advent of the home theater, but now yes. I've seen people get chastised in forums for using height speakers much less speakers that disperse audio in multi-directions because the audio was not intended to go to height channels, so it is all driven by a purists bane, DSP.
I have my Mythos speakers, which are direct fire, at my sides and the Nanosats in the rears. I've read that direct firing speakers should be placed in the rear at minimal and all around at best.
Curiosity got the best of me last night. I have an extra pair of Nanosats, so I decided to hook them up and place them at ear level on tables on each side of me. I fired up the new Star Wars as a test and was floored by how warm and enveloping the opening music was. I was a little disappointed, as I chose different scenes throughout the movie, on how the surround sound effects were not as localized as they should be. This could be because I was streaming the movie during the test rather than playing from the bluray and receiving compressed audio with less dynamic range. It could also be because my system is not currently configured for the new speaker placement. Other source material sounded pretty good, but I did notice the lack of any overhead envelopement with the speakers sitting lower. Another annoyance was my right surround speakers level sounded low compared to the left one. I'm guessing that is because I have curtains above it soaking up the sound vs the left that is against a bare wall. The Nanosats fire upward vs outward.
I will need to play around some more and dial things in to get a better feel. I may even end up moving the Mythos to the rear to see how that sounds.
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Post by Hexspa on May 14, 2016 8:03:42 GMT
I was a little disappointed, as I chose different scenes throughout the movie, on how the surround sound effects were not as localized as they should be. This could be because I was streaming the movie during the test rather than playing from the bluray and receiving compressed audio with less dynamic range. It could also be because my system is not currently configured for the new speaker placement. Other source material sounded pretty good, but I did notice the lack of any overhead envelopement with the speakers sitting lower. Another annoyance was my right surround speakers level sounded low compared to the left one. I'm guessing that is because I have curtains above it soaking up the sound vs the left that is against a bare wall. Imaging will suffer due to boundary interference. If your room isn't treated for bass and first reflections, all the sound bouncing around and getting randomly absorbed is going to affect what you're hearing. Ethan's article describes where you should have first reflection treatment. Bass treatment goes in the corners. |
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