Want to upgrade but what am I missing?

[Paducah Home Theater]

Both are at the the full LFE setting.

Almost sounds like you would be well served by some room correction software and some quality calibration time. Have you messed with the Audessey-like "YPAO" on your Yamaha? That kind of sounds like your gain is maxed out which typically isn't a good thing but maybe you mean the LFE output in the receiver. Still, that's usually not normal.

should my subwoofer arrangement on my Yamaha setup be set to "left and right" or to "monoaural" for both?

Seems like there's a bunch of guys just running mono nowadays even though they paid good money to have the top-tier Audessey with SubEQ which is supposed to help smooth things out with two subs. So, different people will likely give you different answers here. Edited November 22, 2015 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters

[Paducah Home Theater]

I'm surprised nobody has recommended shifting over to the heritage line yet.....

I did mention the Heresy earlier at least in passing. Seems like this is the kind of guy who would love heritage if he listens to Yusuf Islam... I mean, Cat Stevens.

But, if he's got to modify his entertainment system just to fit an rc-64ii, not sure what he's going to do about a center channel.

The THX Ultra2 subs are fairly potent too. I've not heard any of the newest subs, but one thing that is great about the Ultra2 is the port design causes a ton of air to blow. It can make explosions quite convincing...

As far as that goes, the THX line in general sounds great for dialogue in movies but I don't think he'd like them for music.

Edited November 12, 2015 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters

[Gentle Ben]

Amazing what a little rearranging and tweaks can do. My situation is now much better but that is not to say I'm not still looking to upgrade components.

 

Here is what I did. Moved the SW-112 to the left front position. Turned both subs (SW-112 and R-115SW) all the way up to the LFE setting (to at least 125Hz) and set the gains (volume) to about halfway. In the Yamaha settings, I changed my RF-82ii fronts to "small 60Hz" and all other speakers to "small 80Hz." Also have both the subs at mono for now. These adjustments alone definitely brought out the midrange or what I call brilliance of the speakers ... almost too much.

 

I also must confess, and was remiss in not saying this before, that today was the first time I had the chance to really crank up my system since installing the Emotiva XPA-7 external amp. Wow! I was able to play both music and blu-ray at much much louder levels without any harshness or distortion.

 

Blu-ray War Horse was awesome as ever except the explosions, thundering horses, etc. were more balanced in the room. With CD, Cat Stevens' Hard Headed Woman really produced both intense highs and thundering kick drums, especially from the 115SW. Even the CD of Tom Jones (don't laugh, its got great orchestral background) jumped out of my speakers when he sang Delilah. Will try some Vivaldi and Beethoven next ... at both high and low levels.

 

I have used the YPAO in the past but it wants to nearly hush my system entirely, forcing me to have to crank up the volume to suit me. Thus I had to manually increase the gains on several speakers quite a bit. Perhaps with the Emotiva power in play now, YPAO might give me a different result, expecially with moving that sub. I'm also not beyond hiring someone to professionally calibrate my system but I would want to hold off on that until I have all my future pieces in play.

 

Until I upgrade speakers, I must thank all of you who have helped so much in getting my current system up to expectations.

[Nismo]

In addition to balancing out your space, other reason I initially recommended the possibility of a matching R-115SW, is it would be the least expensive option for change & scratch the upgrade itch (vs. new AVR or Front Mains, etc.). But even better if you can repurpose & reposition your 112 & make it work!

 

As far as what your missing... DTS:X & Atmos would be a consideration when it comes to movies. Lot's of AVR options with DTS:X & Atmos capability. And plenty of in-ceiling or upward firing speaker option as well. Object based audio is very effective & is changing the way we experience movies. I have enjoyed Atmos for over a year now & wouldn't go back to a non-Atmos setup. If you're a movie buff like me... you'll enjoy the new format. And I'm not selling anything, not hitting you with phone #'s & website spam.

[Nismo]

Amazing what a little rearranging and tweaks can do. My situation is now much better but that is not to say I'm not still looking to upgrade components.

 

Here is what I did. Moved the SW-112 to the left front position. Turned both subs (SW-112 and R-115SW) all the way up to the LFE setting (to at least 125Hz) and set the gains (volume) to about halfway. In the Yamaha settings, I changed my RF-82ii fronts to "small 60Hz" and all other speakers to "small 80Hz." Also have both the subs at mono for now. These adjustments alone definitely brought out the midrange or what I call brilliance of the speakers ... almost too much.

 

I also must confess, and was remiss in not saying this before, that today was the first time I had the chance to really crank up my system since installing the Emotiva XPA-7 external amp. Wow! I was able to play both music and blu-ray at much much louder levels without any harshness or distortion.

 

Blu-ray War Horse was awesome as ever except the explosions, thundering horses, etc. were more balanced in the room. With CD, Cat Stevens' Hard Headed Woman really produced both intense highs and thundering kick drums, especially from the 115SW. Even the CD of Tom Jones (don't laugh, its got great orchestral background) jumped out of my speakers when he sang Delilah. Will try some Vivaldi and Beethoven next ... at both high and low levels.

 

I have used the YPAO in the past but it wants to nearly hush my system entirely, forcing me to have to crank up the volume to suit me. Thus I had to manually increase the gains on several speakers quite a bit. Perhaps with the Emotiva power in play now, YPAO might give me a different result, expecially with moving that sub. I'm also not beyond hiring someone to professionally calibrate my system but I would want to hold off on that until I have all my future pieces in play.

 

Until I upgrade speakers, I must thank all of you who have helped so much in getting my current system up to expectations.

 

Excellent! Moving your subs & tweaking your settings (small for mains etc.) will help dial in your system. Your XPA is a beast.

[Paducah Home Theater]

Here is what I did. Moved the SW-112 to the left front position. Turned both subs (SW-112 and R-115SW) all the way up to the LFE setting (to at least 125Hz) and set the gains (volume) to about halfway. In the Yamaha settings, I changed my RF-82ii fronts to "small 60Hz" and all other speakers to "small 80Hz." Also have both the subs at mono for now. These adjustments alone definitely brought out the midrange or what I call brilliance of the speakers ... almost too much.

Interesting. What instruments are now improved? What you just did would make me think that midbass would be improved more than upper midrange and brilliance. Subs up front and mains crossed over lower at 60 instead of 80 would normally change the way things like bass guitar, floor toms, and male voices sound.

[twistedcrankcammer]

Gentle Ben, you have a private message from me, it will appear at the top of your screen as an envelope you need to click on.

Roger

[Gentle Ben]

 

Here is what I did. Moved the SW-112 to the left front position. Turned both subs (SW-112 and R-115SW) all the way up to the LFE setting (to at least 125Hz) and set the gains (volume) to about halfway. In the Yamaha settings, I changed my RF-82ii fronts to "small 60Hz" and all other speakers to "small 80Hz." Also have both the subs at mono for now. These adjustments alone definitely brought out the midrange or what I call brilliance of the speakers ... almost too much.

Interesting. What instruments are now improved? What you just did would make me think that midbass would be improved more than upper midrange and brilliance. Subs up front and mains crossed over lower at 60 instead of 80 would normally change the way things like bass guitar, floor toms, and male voices sound.

 

Can't say really as to specific instruments but vocals (Cat Stevens and Carly Simon) are better and not as muffled. I'll try 80Hz for the front mains as well, I used 60Hz simply to utilize some of the woofer power of the 82s. Not so sure I will notice the difference. My system has always had good treble and highs, it just seemed something was missing in the middle -- muddied and muffled. So far I have found some significant improvement thanks to all of you.

 

Next step is to get my brother to help me move the R-115SW across the room to the left front position where the space issue is a hindrance to buying a second R-115SW. It would impede foot traffic flow a good bit. But if it passes the wife-test on that left side, then I may be in business. Otherwise it would have to be a R-112SW or keep my SW-112.

 

What do people do without two subs?

[Paducah Home Theater]

What do people do without two subs?

Complain.

You can do it but I tried that with the same sub and everything always sounded lopsided with just one. Having it right in the middle up front was ok for the most part. Adding a second really balanced things out. There are several people just running one though, typically it ends up in a corner somewhere.

EDIT: The issue I ran into was that when cranked, this sub seemed kind of localizable at typical crossover settings. If someone were to only run one and can't put it in the middle up front, I would say stuff it out of the way, turn down the crossover to a level that is pretty low, and don't get crazy on the volume. It was the high volume 60-80 hz stuff that made it localizable. Avoid that and you may have better results.

Edited November 12, 2015 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters

[Nismo]

(clip).....

 

What do people do without two subs?

For years I only had one sub in place & was perfectly fine... until about 5 years ago when I added a second. LFE is omni-directional, but most spaces are not perfect & can benefit from 2 (or more) subs.  For my home theater experience, just one sub is no longer an option (& my space is only 16' x 13').

[Gentle Ben]

 

Both are at the the full LFE setting.

Almost sounds like you would be well served by some room correction software and some quality calibration time. Have you messed with the Audessey-like "YPAO" on your Yamaha? That kind of sounds like your gain is maxed out which typically isn't a good thing but maybe you mean the LFE output in the receiver. Still, that's usually not normal.

 

should my subwoofer arrangement on my Yamaha setup be set to "left and right" or to "monoaural" for both?

Seems like there's a bunch of guys just running mono nowadays even though they paid good money to have the top-tier Audessey with SubEQ which is supposed to help smooth things out with two subs. So, different people will likely give you different answers here.

 

 

Finding good, used RF-7iis is pretty damn difficult.

You're in luck, I've probably got some demos laying around. 270-556-8427

 

Thank you for answering my questions and taking care of things.