MasonK

I am back at it. I have been away for awhile but I was able to set the project aside for a long time by toning down the RF-7 IIs and jacking up the dB on the center speaker. I'm sure this is fine for the aging-near-deaf-causual listener(sorry to anyone offended); but when I decide to endulge I get a very "canny" sound. And of course, it's all dialog. I need to get the full sound of the system that I know is there. I am close to tossing my UMC-1, but on the word of the XMC-1 and a discount(UMC-1 owners) I am not. I have been able to make the experience bareable with a lot of experimenting with drivers and different versions of TMT5 and various other programs. I am starting to think the HTPC route is not the way to go for this system. But I know there is much better sound to be had. A note on that: the sound of the lossless disc rips coming out to the RF-7 IIs is pure heaven. Goose pimples ensue. But most of the time I find myself watching movies where goose pimples are not. I have some time between now and Christmas to do some recalibrating and a lot of toying. I will be posting those pictures I promised. If anyone has any suggestions, I appreciate it. Thanks, ~Mason

The center speaker is the RC-64 II. The EMOQ calibration system likes to set the crossover for the center speaker to 55hz. I change it to 60 - 65hz and turn up the db some to make it easier to hear. The left RF-7 II is in the far left corner nearly against the wall because the new TV center/stand is so wide. So the floorstands are not very close together. I will have pics tomorrow. It is impossible for me to get the center speaker above the TV(as you will see). If I were to sit the TV on top of the center speaker with this particular TV center/stand, the TV would be way too high in the air. The new TV center/stand has the TV way too high as it is. Thank you, ~Mason

Hello everyone, First, a "brief" on the home theater setup I have been working on. My dad is an amatuer movie buff and I wanted to try some new things with the home theater. I made an HTPC for him that we rip movies to and watch from the pc as well as watch digital cable with a digital cable card tuner. Everything is done through the HTPC basically. He originally had Klipsch Quintet III system with synergy sub-10. He was extremely unsatisfied with the center's performance and wanted to upgrade it. In short, he decided to upgrade everything. 2 x RF-7 II 1 x RC-64 4 x RS-62 1 x SW-311 Emotiva UMC-1 Preamp/Processor Emotiva UPA-7 Amplifier Blue Jeans cable RCA cables going from UMC-1 to UPA-7, and Blue Jeans speaker cable going to speakers I thought I had the speaker placement planned out to the best of my ability, until I find out my dad purchased an atrocious new TV/bookcase center that he thought would go perfect with the speakers. I had no idea until I saw it and almost lost the rest of my hair. The original plan was to have the TV set on top of the center and the floor stand speakers in their normal position. Now(I will post pics soon), the center is in a cave below the listening position 12" from the floor, and the left floorstand in the left corner of the room. Why do I think this is a problem? The sound coming out of the center speaker sounds muddy compared to the rest of the system. When watching movies in DTS or DD(or their HD counter parts) the center channel seems get drowned out by the floorstands big time. The Emotive EMOQ software automatically sets the center speakers during calibration at +1.5db. But under "normal" listening volumes(using SPL meter) the center still seems to get drowned out or feel muddy. I have to turn up the center channel a little more myself, and my dad has to turn it up to +6 db. I would tilt the center speaker up a little, but the TV center has an edge that curves outward a small amount infront of the center speaker. Also the fits pretty snug in the hole - not much room to move up/down left/right. Am I crazy? Should I look elsewhere for the issue? Does it sound like the center is performing normally? Will it not be clearer outside of a box? Maybe some sound proofing inside? Thank you, ~Mason