New Synergy system questions! Help Appreciated.

[seattlesound]

Hello all!

I just recently purchased SB-2's and SS.5's. I have been reading a LOT about placement of the surround speakers, but everything is different; from the receiver manual to the Dolby site to the THX site etc, etc. I do not have a place to put my SS.5's on the side walls, so they have to be in the back. So far, I'm not terribly impressed, and I'm not sure what else to do. The Dolby site said that if you HAVE to have them behind you, to put them up as high above the listener as possible. Tried it. Hated it.

So I moved them down some, and it's better, but I am having trouble b/c the front speakers seem so much louder than the surrounds. However, when I check the levels, they all have the same volume output. When I use them with any kind of music or movie with DD, dts, or Pro Logic II, the front speakers pretty much overshadow any sound from the surrounds.

My questions are simple (I think lol):

1. What is the best height for the SS.5's?

2. How far apart should they be?

3. If one wall is 3 ft from my seated position and the other is 8, would it still be better to put them on the side walls and then adjust the output so they sound like they are the same volume?

I have a Yamaha HTR-5640 receiver, and I'm fairly new to the home theater game. I do however, tend to pick up quickly, so hopefully your input will be quickly absorbed and I can help others! =) Thank you for your time and help.

Oh yes! One more thing! I am positive that I have the positives and negatives hooked up correctly in the speaker and the receiver, but I am having a hard time telling from what position a sound is coming from behind. I know it's not mono, so maybe I could get some help with that too? lol

[AUGIE]

Your dissapointed about not enough sound coming from your rears? You can always adjust the volume level through your reciver to get more punch from your rears. Most movies have little sound coming to the rears, they are more of an "effect" speaker to help simulate a surrond sound enviroment. The best placement of the rears I found is slightly to the rear, but on the sides of the viewers. Also they should be placed at least 2 to 3 feet above the listner. Hope this helps.

[seattlesound]

Well, the thing is, I have adjusted the rear speakers so that they are just as loud as the front speakers. However, once I start playing a movie/game/music, they do not seem nearly as loud as when I do the sound test "noise".

Thank you for the advice about speaker placement. I know that they are more "effect" speakers, but if I can't hear anything out of them, they don't "affect" me much hehe.

[AUGIE]

Most games and music are not encoded with surrond sound, Mostly newer music has the full surrond sound encoded on the CD. Also make sure your game system is set to surrond mode, I know my Xbox has multiple setting for diffrent surrond enviroments. I have the same fronts and rears that you do, and When my buddies play Halo it has great surrond effect, also when I play Radiohead or U2 the rears put out tons of sound. Hope this helps, for more info ask the grand master of knowledge "Dougdrake"! He knows EVERYTHING.

[dougdrake]

"for more info ask the grand master of knowledge "Dougdrake"!" Those who know me and have read most of my posts are now choking on their sandwiches, rolling their eyes, and laughing uncontrollably. Obviously, I duped poor Augie...

However, not one to be shy, I'll toss in a thought or two. First, have you used a SPL (level) meter to set your channel volumes, or are you doing it by ear? It is very difficult to do the channel settings by ear. Go invest $35 in a Radio Shack analog SPL meter if you haven't done this.

Assuming you HAVE adjusted them by meter, then it is normal (IMO) that audio playing through your system will be less punchy in the rear than when you run the test signal, because that test signal is just going full bore out each channel. Music/soundtracks are going to be mixed to different volumes and very few of them will be full bore out of the surround channels.

Also, the wide dispersion design of the SS-.5 intends to diffuse the sound, making it more difficult to localize. Some would say it "sprays" the sound around the rears. That is going to sound less loud to you than the direct radiating front speakers.

And, as Augie mentioned, be sure you are playing source material that is actually multi-channel encoded and that your pre-amp/receiver is set to decode that signal.

Doug

[Trooper]

Seatle -

This may or may not apply to your situation by I have found that most people (especially when new to home theater) expect to hear more from the surrounds than was intended. The way I try to describe the setup to people is that you shouldn't realize the surrounds are even there until you turn them off then you'll notice sound missing. I think generally if you have them setup in that fashion it's probably close to "correct". But if you need to turn them up to be happy then by all means do so. In the end what you like is "correct".

[seattlesound]

I will head to Radio Shack and pick up an SPL meter, because yes, I was doing it by ear. I've been playing with my speakers non-stop, and they are sounding better and better. =) My only real complaint left is that I have difficulty, as you say, localizing the sound. I like to tell when the shots are being fired from my front right to behind me and to the left. It is things like this that make surround sound so much fun! lol

I am also getting used to the amount of sound coming from the rear speakers, and you are definitely correct Trooper, that I really notice when they aren't there when I turn them off. My issue is more with movies than with audio cd's and games. I am talking about well done audio in dvds, such as in the new Star Wars (I and II). I have a Promedia 4.1 satellite system that I am used to; maybe my ear is just not used to the "more expensive" sound lol. I know what the movies sound like on them, and since it sounded different with my new system, I wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong.

How far apart should the surround speakers be? As a general rule that is. My front speakers are just shy of 6 ft apart. Thank you all for your help, you have been most beneficial!

[Griffinator]

Take the SS.5's back and get another pair of SB-2's for your rears. That'll make a world of difference.

[Diggs]

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On 6/28/2003 8:38:53 PM Griffinator wrote:

Take the SS.5's back and get another pair of SB-2's for your rears. That'll make a world of difference.

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I agree. Larger sourrounds would definitely help.

[MBM135]

I agree with Griffinator. Get SB-2s for rears.

I have SS-1s. Spent tons of $$ on them and they suck. They work fine they just suck--always have. SPL checks good, etc. I may switch to SB-2s for rears. I hooked up a pair of cheap JBL micro speakers and they sounded better than the hallowed SS-1s. I hear sound behind me in the movie theater downtown but don't in my house! My friends Polk's sound awesome and they were 1/3 the cost of SS-1s.

Things will soon change.

HT Set-up:

Sony 36in Trinitron

SB-2 Mains

SC1 Center

SS-1 Rears

Velodyne Sub (on the way)

[seattlesound]

Thank you all for your responses and for taking the time to give me your advice, suggestions, and opinions. I now have my speakers working the way I feel they were intended to work, and I am MUCH happier with the results. I am actually pretty happy with the SS.5's now that I have it working correctly. I am sure that SB-2's for rears would rock; however room is of the utmost importance, and the SS.5's work very well to maximize space. I really think they sound good as well! They don't have the sonic range that the SB-2's have, but I am still happy with them.

I think that this issue has been resolved, but I will be getting my center channel soon, and then I will probably need advice on setting delay, and what the ideal delay should sound like, if I need any at all! =) So, until then, I will continue to soak up knowledge and try to help others! Thanks again!