Islander

Thanks for the tip, Peter! I'll give it a try sometime. Pat on the Island

Actually, that is where those speakers usually are. To move the right one further right would mean removing the fireplace and its raised deck, and if the left one was further over, I wouldn't be able to get past it into the livingroom. The livingroom is also my photo studio, so I need space to lay out backdrops when I'm shooting. The square white object near the ceiling is a softbox mounted on a studio flash unit, and there are posing chairs and tables stored along the wall. Measured center-to-center, the speakers are 5'2" apart, and the sweet spot where I listen is around 8 feet from them, so the sound stage is reasonably wide. I"d like to have them around 7 feet apart, but that would be a total width of 9 feet and I'd have to climb over the left one. You may notice that they're not parallel. I experimented with four different toe-in settings and got the best sound with the one that has the centerlines crossing about 4 feet behind the listening position. Pat on the Island

Speaking of the "brown note", did anyone see South Park last week, when 4 million kids were playing a concert with recorders to set a world record, and one of the South Park kids inserted the note into the sheet music? When it was played in unison and broadcast around the world, 6 billion pairs of shorts needed to be changed and civilization was brought to a temporary standstill. Of course, a recorder or flute couldn't play anywhere near that low, so the world's underwear is safe... Pat on the Island

First, dewa..., I'll mention that I envy speakerfritz's electrical setup. Mine's much more basic. Now to your question. You definitely want some sort of surge protection to protect your equipment, and of course one would think its cost should bear some relation to the cost of the equipment it's protecting. Filtering is desirable for two reasons: noise coming through your AC power line, and noise originating from components in your system, particularly digital devices like CD and DVD players. With my system, I was able to hear noise during FM reception while a disc was loading in the DVD/CD player (a Yamaha DVD-S550). Upgrading to an FM antenna with a shielded cable suppressed that, however. I also noticed some noise on FM when I first plugged in my Paradigm PW-2100 sub with its Class D (digital?) amp. Plugging it into a nearby receptacle that's on a different circuit cured that. I was also dubious about the hype around home theater power bars, so I went with a Tripp-Lite Isobar Ultra 8 commercial grade surge protector with 4 filter banks. The Ultra 4 has 2 filters and the Ultra 6 has 3. The Ultra 8 lets me plug in the TV, VCR, DVD player and receiver into independently filtered outlets so they don't interfere with each other. The Tripp-Lite unit is metal-bodied and not that expensive, and I noticed differences with it in the system. FM reception is a little quieter, and blacks seem a little blacker on the TV. Add in peace of mind from surge protection, and $89usd seems like a bargain. Pat on the Island

As you mentioned, the sub is just there to extend the speakers' low-frequency response. Without a meter, start with the sub hi-cut at 120 Hz for small main speakers or 80Hz for big main speakers. Set the volume so bass instruments sound natural and you won't be far off. Set the phase at reverse to start with, but whichever setting gives you more bass is the correct setting. You may find that TV and movies have more bass content these days than they used to, and now you'll be hearing it. Ideally, though, you'll have a test CD and a sound meter. I use Surround Test CD, a Finnish CD meant for setting up Dolby Pro Logic (4.1) systems, but its most useful feature for me is a set of 25-second-long test tones, from 200Hz down to 10Hz. First, I turn off the sub and run through the tones with the meter at the listening position, writing them all down, to see what the unassisted speakers do. Start at 200Hz with the volume at a reference level (I use 80dB), and see if it remains there as the frequency descends. You may be surprised to find that even large speakers may start to roll off at 80Hz or higher. The room is a big factor at low frequencies. Then, turn on the sub and run through the tones again. For volume, 9 or 10 o'clock (3 or 4 on the dial if it has numbers) is a good starting point, and try around 80Hz as a hi-cut setting. If you can adjust the low-frequency cut-off from the amp, that's simpler, just set the sub's cut-off as high as it goes (usually 120-150Hz). If the volume remains near the reference level all the way down, you're all set! Likely it won't be. If it's low or high between 30-80Hz, adjust the sub volume as needed. If it's lower or higher than the reference level between 80-120Hz or so, adjust the sub hi-cut (or receiver LFE lo-cut) for the smoothest response, with the fewest dips and peaks. Naturally, your ears are the final judges, but narrow dips and peaks are easiest to spot with a meter. After you've run through the tones a few times, it'll seem pretty straightforward. Hope this is helpful. Pat on the Island

Physics cannot be got around. The MAGICO Ultimate speaker system, at $229,000 a pair, is a 5-way horn-loaded system, but the woofer is a 15-inch direct-radiating speaker. The mid-bass horn is a trapezoidal shape, 48 inches wide on its upper side and 60 inches long. The whole assemby is 94 inches tall, weighing 800lbs. See: www.magico.net That's a serious horn system, but a true bass horn would have been even bigger. Bigger horns have been built experimentally for stage use, but when the length of the horn gets to 10 feet or more, delay issues arise and everything gets more complicated. Not to say that it can't be done, just that the cost and hassle outweigh the benefits. Pat on the Island

Croy, doesn't your sub have a variable crossover? I'm using two Yamaha receivers, an RX-V392 in the bedroom and an RX-V750 in the livingroom. The 392 is an older model, and its manual states that the LFE channel is 200HZ on down, and there appears to be no adjustment. No problem, I just set the high-frequency cut-off on the subs to where it needs to be. Yes, I need two subs for the bedroom, not for the volume, but because the mattress absorbs sound and makes it obvious that the bass is coming from one side of the room. The 750 has selectable LFE high-frequency cut-off in the audio set-up menu, and I'd be surprised if any modern AV receiver didn't have it. Anyway, your sub should have the adjustment on its control panel, along with volume and phase. If your sub is dancing around on the floor, try putting a high-density foam pad under each foot. Thick black neoprene is ideal. Pat on the Island

Swerv, I'm using a Paradigm PW-2100 with a pair of La Scalas. I chose the 10-inch 2100 over the 12-inch 2200 because it's reputed to be faster and more musical. They both have the same 400-watt RMS/1500-watt peak amplifier. The price here in Victoria is around $900CAD, so you could even try bargaining for a pair for $1800 including tax. The sound is clean and strong, and if you hook it up in the "plus 6dB way", connected to to both its left and right inputs, as I mistakenly did at first, you'll have enough bass to kick your sofa across the room. Watching the No Doubt Rock Steady Live DVD, Tony Kanal's bass seemed as accurate and lifelike as I could ever imagine. As for low-end response, below 40Hz or so the room becomes a big factor. You'll only get 20Hz in a really big room, no matter what kind of speaker you have. Anyway, the lowest note on a 4-string bass guitar is around 40Hz, while a 5-string can go as low as 30Hz. Below that is only certain pipe organ music (correct me if I'm wrong). Pat on the Island

Oops! I should have written "Measured 1' in front of each speaker, the left one is up by 0.5dB,", not 1dB. That makes more sense...

Based on my newbie experience, measured with a Radio Shack digital SPL meter, here's what I've found: my 1974 La Scalas that I've had for just a month are about 8dBA more sensitive than my Audio Logic 750 speakers. The AL750 cabinets are 36" tall, 16" wide, 12"deep, and of bass reflex design, each with two 10" mid-bass drivers and two dome tweeters. They were manufactured in the Toronto area around 1980. I'm guessing their sensitivity would be in the typical 89-91 range. As for location, the left La Scala is 68" from the outside wall and roughly 10' from the back wall, while the right La Scala is 64" from the other outside wall, but only 8" from the rear wall. The room is sort of L-shaped. To balance the volume at the listening position, about 8' from both of them, 0.5 dB was added to the left speaker. Measured 1' in front of each speaker, the left one is up by 1dB, but at a point 8' in front of both, the output is equal, making me think that the difference between 1/2 space and 1/4 space is not that great. It might be more noticeable if the right speaker was backed right up against the wall. The attached picture may make it easier to visualize. Beside the right speaker is a Paradigm PW-2100 sub, which seems to work really well with the La Scalas, although I was surprised to find that I got the smoothest response with the sub hi-cut set at 150Hz.