mayo
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Posts posted by mayo
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1 hour ago, Chris A said:
No...you don't. Turning off the center loudspeaker in my setup results in at least a 50% reduction in speech intelligibility (subjective assessment).
Personally, I don't recommend the Academy unless it's a choice of last resort. Bass response and horizontal coverage issues (sitting anywhere off the exact center sweet spot) for the "horizontal centers" is always an issue. Most that acquire them (the Academy) seem to end up selling them, or not using them.
Anything you might recommend for a center channel that isn't a Heresy or something impossible to have conspicuous on/around media console?
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1 hour ago, Shakeydeal said:A good tube preamp is always worth the investment......
Duly noted, sir.
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On 5/21/2021 at 4:16 AM, ODS123 said:
This is our approach. ..While I do have an AVR (Onkyo), Center and Surround speakers, nowadays we nearly always just play movies through the McIntosh Integrated and Cornwalls with Apple TV Audio set to Stereo. Our days of watching Jurassic Park and other bombastic big special-effect movies are largely behind us.
So you get a good enough of a phantom center in stereo with movies and TV? Do you keep it 2.0 (or 2.x) versus a 3.x because of the Mac quality and to keep the inferior AVR amp out of your front? Asking because my wife is notoriously challenged with understanding dialogue (ESL and partially deaf).
We are somewhat done with "popcorn" entertainment, though not sure my youngest (7 y.o.) is ready for Citizen Kane or 12 Angry Men. Loved Sound of Metal and all its nuance and human messiness.
So while I am not having any regrets about turning away from HT in this room, I really think I should track down a used Academy for center channel and 1 or 2 subs for movies. As far as powering such a system, my desire for something like a First Watt (e.g., F7 or F8) is dampened by this possible need to power a center and connect a sub. I guess I could pick up a cheapish AVR (maybe use two extra channels to bi-amp the CW's) or just go with a three-channel amp. If I'm able to score that Rose Hi-Fi streamer, it's preamp should be more than satisfactory. But maybe added a tube preamp would be worth the investment.
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18 hours ago, ODS123 said:
Our great room system is highly biased toward 2-channel. ..My center speaker and surrounds are Paradigm and Polk Audio, respectively - so, they don't match. I bought them when my F/R speakers were Paradigm S8v2s. But when it comes to movies, no one in my family is bothered by the slightly timbral/tonal mis-match - we're too focused on the story, etc.. And we don't have a subwoofer. ..Don't really miss it.
Definitely food for thought. Be easier than trying to find an old heresy to fit up front.
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1 hour ago, Shakeydeal said:
I get what everyone is saying about having the family enjoy music too. Sure, that's important. But for me it's about having something adequate in the living room and relegating the serious system to it's own room. We are empty nesters, so my wife comes downstairs from time to time to listen with me.
The problem I see with having the best system in a family type room is that not everyone wants to listen to music when you want to. Or they might not want to listen to what you want to. Yes, you are indeed lucky to have a wife who will allow speakers like Cornwalls in the main living space. Cherish that for sure. But some of us are lucky with a wife that will allow an entire room dedicated to nothing but listening to music. And mine actually let me put that requirement at the top of the list when we were house shopping.
So we are all fortunate in this hobby to some degree. Just enjoy music on whatever system you have available to you.
Shakey
I understand and appreciate your position here. When our birds have flown and more possibilities open up in the house, I look forward to this possibility. Thanks for your input here (as well as your other posts in this forum that have educated me).
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1 hour ago, ODS123 said:
There's a great deal of "perfect becoming the enemy of good" thinking on this forum. ..But when you see what some feel is a perfect setup, you often see a man-cave that is totally unrealistic for someone who needs to keep a SO happy. Indeed, most look like systems relegated to a garage or a basement.
Let me just say, , the fact that your SO is willing to let you have Cornwalls in the family great room puts you in the 98th percentile
..These days, most SO's of audiophiles want tiny speakers that are concealed by a fern or are flush-mounted in a wall. ...Dont sweat the fact that you're maybe wringing just 95% out of what the speaker can offer. ..They'll still sound leaps and bounds better than Sonos.
Put that way, I do feel lucky. Thank you, sir.
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7 minutes ago, ODS123 said:
Stay the course... To optimize that room you may need to add a rug here or there and maybe a few well placed wall hangings. ..But there's no reason why it can't work.
Keep the music where all can hear it...
Thanks! Apart from some other, more technical considerations, this is what I was hoping to hear . . . [stares blankly, apprehensive of being told something he wanted to hear]
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On 5/10/2021 at 9:03 AM, Bubo said:
If you think of the entire space as a speaker cabinet, and the CWs as the drivers, you have ports, and the side rooms are traps and or resonant chambers which are tuned. I think the Altec 19 has the big chamber, little chamber design.
An open door to a resonant side chamber may be significant, something to play with.
Open doors and windows to the outside are always good.
It's hard to kn ow the effect reflections, or damping of the ceiling beams.
Glass is highly reflective as are stone and tile floors etc.
The only reason I have surround sound is boredom, it was an experiment. I was perfectly content with stereo. Judging by the way guests would jump during action scenes, nothing was lost.
My suggestion is set up a really good stereo using the CWs and stop.
Soft good, hard bad.
Some curtains that can be closed over the sliding doors are a good idea, I like the insulated curtains, rubber or foam backing seems to work well.
Thick rug in the middle of the room is a good idea.
Little platforms to get the Mids at ear level is a good idea.
Stuffed furniture is good.
Or just keep it simple and put a lesser stereo in the bedroom or office and decent quality FM radios in other rooms FM the original after AM, free streaming music.....Yamaha has a nice integrated amp for $400 the 300 something with bluetooth if you feel attached to a playlist.
I had an extra pair of heresys so I put them in the BR, sound great with Yamaha gear. FM, TT, DVD player.
If you can figure out how to put an equalizer between your pre-amp and amp, I would do it and tune it by ear.
After all f the exercises it comes down to your ears and the way you like to hear the music. DBX and others make great EQs that are for recording studio use, if it doesn't sound good, they don't eat...the way things should be. For bucks, there are auto EQ models, but since your gear won't be moving to other venues, I would just go manual.
Thank you for all the input and ideas. I just may go with a stereo movie setup in the end. Or I might forsake the CW's (😟) and get the RF8000 or RP 7 for left and right channels.
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On 5/10/2021 at 3:10 AM, rplace said:
Interesting piece of gear. Not on my radar. Concerns about the AKM chip availability? Perhaps with the house not built yet you have some time.
That room scares me for music. I'd at least look at $1,900 into a Sonos 5.1 movie set up, that could also be whole house background music. And explore other options for serious music in a different location. Save the wife's concession for another day.
https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/surround-set-arc-sub-one-sl.html
Not sure the offer comes with a rain check, though, especially after we move in and she's looking to add new furniture and decor.
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On 5/10/2021 at 12:47 PM, Deang said:
🤣
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13 hours ago, ODS123 said:
As I see it, music is best as a shared experience. ...We have our system (Cornwall iii's) in our great room and wouldn't have it any other way. ..My wife and I raised our kids listening to our music as we listened to theirs. ..Through ups and downs, we had our music to keep us close by giving us a common denominator. ..And we always tried to be positive about whatever they were into - which was not always easy.
Today, they love Leonard Cohen, The Clash, Bob Dylan, Richard Thompson, Carly Simon, Wilco, Pink Floyd, etc.. And my wife and I love White Stripes, Black Keys, Imagine Dragons, Taylor Swift, etc..
Would my system sound better in a dedicated 2-channel room? Perhaps. But the music wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable.
Our great room has very similar shape/ dimensions. ..Walls not quite as yellow as they appear. ..Couch is 12' from of cabinet, then 20'' of kitchen.
Well said, sir. The family component is the most important part of the system for me, too.
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On 5/9/2021 at 4:50 PM, Shakeydeal said:
That Great Room is not such a great room for an audio system. My guess is you'll get about 70% of what a system is capable of. But since half of your time will be spent watching movies, at least 50% of the time it won't matter so much.
Open floor plans suck for music listening. Just a sad but true fact. Movies? Who cares? But yes, 70% of a Cornwall IV is still pretty good, but you will need a good front end to get that.
My suggestion is to put together an adequate system in that room for video and find a better room for music.
Shakey
Greatly appreciate the advice even though a separate music room looks unlikely at this point. Is your 70% estimate in reference to the listening position or just in the room writ large? Would a double velvet (or something similar) curtain in the back bring that up to 80% in your estimation? Again, thanks.
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Hello and greetings from Phoenix, AZ! Would greatly appreciate ideas and advice for a new home build set to be completed later this year. Many early concessions to the wife has earned me a stereo/home theater budget in the great room. Please keep in mind the photo is from the model house. Our (future) great room will have similar 12' ceilings (and probably those beams). Also, the couch in the picture likely closely approximates where the main listening area will be.
As much as a 5.1.4 or 5.2.2 (or some other similar iteration) would be appealing, the room will likely be a 50/50 movie/music situation and I am thinking of striking the hot iron with a 3.1 or 3.2 with these components:
- Cornwall IV’s
- Klipsch RP-504C center channel
- unknown subwoofer or two
- HiFi Rose RS150 network streamer
- Leak 130 amp
Knowing the sensitivity of the CW’s and that quality > quantity with regard to power, I was considering a Primaluna Evo 200 or 300, but I think I will be staying away from tubes for the time being. I have looked at Leak, the Yamaha A-S1200, BasX 200/300, as well as some Cambridge/Monolith/Anthem amps.
Amp suggestions would be greatly appreciated, but I guess the issue of center channel needs to raised first. Will the RP-504C work well with the CW’s? (I know many here will likely tell me to put a Heresy in the middle, but that won’t really work aesthetically with the wife (acceptance of the CW’s themselves was an act of grace). If this center channel would work well, should I go with a three-channel amp or a stereo amp with another amp to power center and subs?
I would like to eventually add some surrounds (see green boxes added to walls in photo). Given the window restrictions on the left, was hoping for in-wall surrounds that allow the drivers to be angled down toward the listening position. From my understanding, this would be better than having ceiling surrounds and ceiling atmos speakers. If and when I go to a 5.x.x, I would look for something like a Denon AVR-X3600H to power the surrounds and use the pre-outs for stereo amps.
After much sweating over acoustics, I am taking a more laid back approach and hopeful that the front ports on the CW’s (along with a rug) will largely address any issues. (I want great sound but am not chasing the hi-fi dragon here, so to speak.) Absorbing first reflection on right side of the wall will be easy enough but I worry about limitations of left wall. The wife is okay with a track system for some doubled-up velvet curtains that could run along this wall (and maybe for the back of the room—see red lines in photo). If that works, I could build a sound absorber that could cover the window (not the sliding glass door) when the curtains are deployed. Thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Would a bit of ceiling absorption be advised to make the kitchen and nook area more pleasant?
I was initially going to add a 70V system throughout for background music but am likely moving away from this and just letting the CW's and some Bluetooth speakers fill out the house. With all the capabilities of the Rose streamer, though, I might soon find myself up the attic with speaker wires in tow. With regard to the Rose, I am kind of locked in on this quite expensive component because I know it will be a delight to my wife and kids and provide some killer functionality, all the while tickling my hi-fi sensibilities.
Sorry for the long explanation and thanks for making it this far! Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Mayo
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..These days, most SO's of audiophiles want tiny speakers that are concealed by a fern or are flush-mounted in a wall. ...Dont sweat the fact that you're maybe wringing just 95% out of what the speaker can offer. ..They'll still sound leaps and bounds better than Sonos.
Cornwall IV's in a Great Room
in 2-Channel Home Audio
Posted
Bummerooski because no way is the wife going to go for a rack or electronics on the floor. Ugg. Never thought running a 3.1 with CW's would be so challenging. Also, would hate to go stereo and have my wife still not picking up dialogue clearly. [dejectedly looks back at RP8000's]