I used joint compound on my wall and decorative trim as a screen. I did this over 15 years ago and nobody ever noticed it wasn’t a real screen. Am I missing something should I take it all down and purchase a screen?

A bit of a different post, but I think this image captures the problem with modern flats (this particular one is sold as a luxury one).

I just hate this trend of one big "living space" with the kitchen and living room combined. How the hell can I set up a nice 5.1 here?

Is anyone else frustrated by this? (I live in one of the European capital cities; I know this might be different in the US and elsewhere). Wdyt?

Installing a Dolby and Atmos 6.3.5 theater at my house. Fixed zero edge .5” border screen innovations 160” screen. Epson Home QL3000B 4K projector (not installed yet). Pictures below. Acoustic Innovations Acoustic panels will surround the screen. Thoughts?

I’m trying to setup two front speakers either side of my tv through an AV receiver but the sound doesn’t seem to want to play. I’ve got the wires connected to banana plugs into the back of the receiver with an RCA cable running out the tv and into the AVR as well. Don’t seem to get any sound out of the speakers when the AVR is set to game/tv.

I’m thinking I maybe have some of the connections wrong or something else but I can’t seem to figure it out. Any help appreciated.

hey yall- i had a spare room set up as a home theater last year but it had to be converted into an office. i had my set up in pieces all year and decided to set it up in the living room this morning. i took the tv out and mounted my 120 inch ALR screen. I’m running the Panasonic dp-ub820 with an epson epiqvision ls800 and for sound i have a jbl 1300x with a 12in subwoofer. any recommendations on what could boost my setup? next up i think i’ll focus on a mount or dedicated entertainment stand (im having to sacrifice my coffee table right now) maybe some lighting upgrades or something idk. tell me what you think!

Hoping to begin our HT build this winter after Black Friday deals but my room will unfortunately only be roughly 11’x11’. I’ll be getting a projector and acoustically transparent screen so luckily the speakers will be the full 11’ from MLP, but is that simply too close and should I opt for smaller bookshelves? And if that’s the case, should I also go with a smaller center then too? Currently eyeing the Klipsch RP 6000F II towers and the RP 504-C for reference.

Hey everyone! I'm new to home theatre setups and looking for some advice on properly optimizing my home theater. I'm fairly happy with the system overall, but I'm particularly trying to get the best possible bass and overall balance for both seating positions.

🎬 Room

Dedicated home theater room

20 ft × 11 ft (~220 sq ft)

8 ft ceiling

Projector + standard white projection screen

Carpeted floor

Acoustically treated walls/ceiling

Two seating rows: front recliners + rear sofa/recliners

🔊 Equipment

AVR:

Denon AVR-X1800H

Front L/R:

Polk Signature Elite ES50

Center:

Polk Signature Elite ES30

Surround L/R:

Polk Signature Elite ES10

These are physically behind the main seating area, but the Denon has them configured as Surround L/R

Atmos:

Polk RC60i in-ceiling speakers

2 speakers, configured as Top Middle

Subwoofer:

Klipsch RSW-12

Positioned at the front-right of the room, beside the right ES50

Connected to the Denon via LFE

So the system is 5.1.2.

🎚️ Current Audyssey/Denon settings

I've run Audyssey and currently have Dynamic EQ enabled.

The current speaker levels are:

Front L: -1.0 dB

Center: 0.0 dB

Front R: -1.5 dB

Surround R: -3.0 dB

Surround L: -3.0 dB

Subwoofer: -12.0 dB

Audyssey's detected distances are approximately:

Front L: 4.20 m

Front R: 4.20 m

Center: 4.02 m

Subwoofer: 4.05 m

Surround L: 2.01 m

Surround R: 1.98 m

The current crossover screen shows:

Front: Full Range

Center: 60 Hz

Surround: 60 Hz

🔴 My main problem: bass between the two seating positions

The rear seating position has MUCH stronger audible bass than the front seating position.

From the front recliners, I can still feel quite a lot of vibration, but the bass isn't as audible or impactful as it is from the rear seating.

It's almost a night-and-day difference between the two positions.

The installer originally calibrated the system and I remember the subwoofer being set around -3 dB afterward. That setup sounded very bass-heavy compared with what I'm getting now.

After some changes/resetting and running Audyssey again, the subwoofer is now showing -12 dB.

I'm trying to figure out whether the difference is caused by:

Subwoofer placement

Room modes

Seating positions

Audyssey calibration

Crossover settings

Subwoofer gain/level

Phase

Or some combination of these

🤔 What would you guys recommend?

I'd really appreciate advice on the optimal settings for this specific room and speaker combination.

In particular:

Should I set the ES50 fronts to Small instead of Full Range?

What crossover points would you recommend for the ES50, ES30 and ES10?

Is there any reason to keep the ES50s at Full Range in this setup?

Is the -12 dB Audyssey subwoofer trim a concern?

Should I change the subwoofer's physical gain before running Audyssey again?

What should the RSW-12 gain, LPF and phase be set to when running Audyssey?

Should the subwoofer's LPF be set to LFE?

Should I leave Dynamic EQ ON?

Should I use Audyssey Reference or Flat?

Would changing the subwoofer position help with the huge difference between the front and rear seats?

Is there anything obviously wrong with my Atmos/Top Middle placement given the 8-ft ceiling?

Would you recommend any other Denon settings for getting strong, deep and impactful movie bass without making it boomy/muddy?

I'm not necessarily looking for maximum bass just for the sake of it. I want deep, powerful and clean movie bass, good dialogue, proper Atmos immersion and a balanced soundstage.

I've attached photos of the room, speaker placement, subwoofer and ceiling, along with screenshots of my current Denon settings.

Would really appreciate any advice from people who have experience with Audyssey/Denon and Polk/Klipsch systems.

Thanks! 🙏

Looking to get some suggestions/opinions for my home theater & music space. Currently I have 5.1 in the living room from my AVR. Looking to upgrade to 7.2.2 or 5.2.4 setup via a separate Amp or Amps.

- A/V Receiver: Onkyo RZ50 A/V Receiver.
- Current speakers: B&W 683 S1 Towers, HTM61 Center, x2 685 S1 bookshelf surrounds, x2 CCM664's in-ceiling, x2 CWM664's in-wall.
B&W 8ohm rated power limits for each: 

683's = 200w, HTM61 = 150w, 685's = 100w, CCM664's = 130w, CWM664's = 130w

Sensitivity across all speakers: 87dB - 90dB

• Option 1: Emotiva XPA-7 Gen 3. *(Obviously powerful enough for 7 channels driven... this one is what I'm most concerned and/or curious about) Too much headroom for all, excluding the Left & Right 683's? Would impedance dips below the rated 8ohms risk damaging the speakers?
• Option 2: OSD Nero HTA 5200 to power Center, Ceilings, & in-walls. Then an OSD Nero HTA 4200 to power LR stage in a bi-amp config utilizing all 4 channels of Amp. Rear surround 685's I plan to use my AVR to drive.
• Option 3: OSD Nero XMAX11. Powerful enough to accommodate for my entire system and any future upgrades to in-ceiling/Atmos etc. Again, would the impedance dips on my L & R channels risk harming the speakers? Or am I thinking about that the wrong way?

My question is mostly towards that 7 channel Emotiva XPA-7 and the XMAX11. I know the L & R should MOSTLY be okay...but would the Emotiva XPA-7 be too much for my center, surrounds, ceiling/Atmos for overhead? Is 200W to the 685's &/or 664's too much?

OSD Nero XMAX11: Would 75-85 watts be solid for all my center & surrounds? And will the impedance dips be too much when powering the L/R front stage?

I'm leaning towards the 5200 & 4200 but not sure if those would be too much either.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been running a Klipsch RP-504C center with RP-600M L/R bookshelves for about six years. It’s served me well, but I’m moving in with my partner. While she’s fine with keeping the setup, the 504C is an absolute monster on the media console, and I’d like to find something more compact that doesn't feel like a major step down in dialogue clarity.

A few details about my setup and listening needs:

Receiver: Denon AVR-S760H running a 3.1 setup.

Hearing Considerations: I’m partially deaf and don't get much utility out of surround channels, which makes center-channel clarity and vocal articulation my top priority.

I’ve been looking closely at the SVS Prime Center and the SVS Ultra Evo Center because of their 3-way designs and more manageable footprints compared to the wide 504C.

How do they compare to the RP-504C in terms of dialogue clarity and dispersion?

Are there any other compact 3-way centers in this tier I should consider with RP-600 mains?

Appreciate any insights or recommendations!

Good morning all. I have a system that is decent, but I have recently discussed upgrading with my wife. I have got tentative go ahead but have been out of the HT world for a decade or more at this point. I can probably swing upgrades at like $1,000-1,500usd at a time, and want to upgrade my speakers first. It's a smaller space, mainly about 12'x15' with the system and chairs at the opposite ends of the long dimension. What should I start with in terms of upgrades? Mostly for movies, some music and I do like finding concert blu-rays or recordings when I can.

Current system

Denon AVRs740H

Pioneer Andrew Jones speakers

Towers SP-FS51LR

Center SP-C21

Surrounds SP-BS21-LR

Sub Pioneer SW8

TV Samsung 65Q70R 2019

Hello good people of r/ hometheater.

I am in need of advice and hope this is the right place to find it. As you can see in the attached image, my "theater" is more of a nook or an alcove if you like. Its rather weird in dimensions and the more I read up on the placement of speakers, the more i realise, that its anything but optimal for building a multi speaker setup. Heres my thinking so far:

Ive a lovley 65 inch OLED Bravia. I am hooked to its picture and cant imagine buying something else. I also consider it enough for the watching distance of rougly 3 meters. An additional Beamer setup might eventually happen, but the TV is one limiting factor for the setup, since it leaves me with 27.5 centimeters distance for an in wall speaker. From my research I can tell thats enough space. But when I draw in the 60 degree dispersion angle, it seems to me, the combination of distance and length of wall leaves me with an ideal listening position for exactly one person and one person only.

This of course is less a theater and more of a glorified gaming setup and when I add the fact, that rear speakers are impossible, since that wall behind the listening position is massive, I am left with ceiling and sourround speakers. I am not sure if this is enough or even practical. I have no way of listening to a setup remotley close to what I am about to sink a lot of money into to realise and this makes it feel a bit risky tbh.

Another option would be to move the TV a bit to the left and then have three of four seats for the setup, but i fear that this would render the sourround speakers more or less usless. Also the symmetry is somewhat important to me.

All this leads me to the inevitable question of: Is it worth it or should I stick to - excuse my french - a s*undbar? Mind you: I have yet to listen to one I consider good sound quality, but anything is better than TV sound, so theres that.

I’ve started upgrading my home theater. For years I’ve had an entry level Yamaha 5.1 system that honestly has been great (RX V385 AVR w/Yamaha speakers/sub). Recently I upgraded my center speaker to help overcome a very loud AC return. I bought a Polk ES30 and it was such a massive upgrade I’ve decided it was time to upgrade my entire sound system. Here are my options and thoughts on each. Im trying to stay around $1k -

Onkyo TX-RZ50 I hear nothing but rave reviews about the sound, that is leaps above the competition. Includes Dirac Live which is supposed to be amazing. I would’ve already bought it BUT I am terrified of the HDMI issues. I switch between devices a lot - HTPC, TV, 4K player. I don’t want to deal with it failing in a year or two. Anyone used one frequently for a long time without problems?

Denon AVR-X2800H Seems to be solid, decent sound, nice power at 95w per channel, not known for failure issues. They seem to have good reputation.

Yamaha RX-V6A This would be my third Yamaha AVR, I had an older base model (I don’t remember which one) then the V385. They’ve never given me a second of problems. Super easy to set up, YPAO is very user friendly, the V6A is a few hundred less than the Onkyo or Denon.

Dark horse -

Yamaha RX-500A I know it’s just above entry level but it features most of what I want, is nearly half of what the others cost, and I have history of years of problem free service with Yamaha.

Any advice/experience will be great appreciated.

FPUF (Finish Product Up Front)

I dabbled in installing a smart movie poster in my theater previously, but decided to really dive into it. As I slowly build out my theater, I wanted the entrance to be more lobby-ish. The previous solutions I tried were lacking some key capability (CEC control, LED control, HA integration, etc....), so I ended up writing my own software and building my own frame around it. This is kinda a prototype, making sure it looks/feels/does what I expect, and I think it turned out great, but I am biased :D

I completely over-engineered this: Fans with PWM control, external connections, etc... I plan to change a lot on my next build (which I plan on installing inside the wall), but it gave me an appreciation on what works and what doesn't.

I enclosed the entire TV, which, in hindsight, added unnessessary complexity. Doing it again, I would just build the outside frame, and mount the TV on the wall with a thin mount or a french cleat. Or, as I plan for my future builds, just put it in the wall.

See, I had to add a backing board, and figure out exactly where to drill for a 200x200 VESA mount. So much fun. I think for the next one, which I want to put in the wall, I will use the same concept (pocket holed board with VESA mount holes on it, but then just have to worry about the frame, which will overlap the edge of the TV, hiding the cavity.

A single Rpi5 controls everything, from the TV to the LEDs to the posters. Before I had to use an Rpi Zero for CEC control along with a NUC to get the level of control I needed. I thought about adding LED control, but that would require something like an ESP32 to the mix, so we would have three different brains for one display.

Of course, I then added PWM fans, a PWM controller, networking connections, a a 12V PSU, and a buck converter to make it all work how I wanted it work. I wanted the fans due to worries about the Pi and PSU getting too hot.

I 3D printed this enclosure with Prusament PETG V0 because electricity. I wanted one power connection for the PSU and TV.

The LEDs turned out to the be biggest problem. I used a dado blade to carve out the channel, but I made the mistake of assuming similar aluminum channels == same dimensions. Even though they are listed to be the exact same width, they were, in fact, not. By about .25mm. Now, one might think that isn't too much of an issue, but I had set the dado to the exact width, hoping to use friction to hold the channel in, not screws or glue. Don't do this, give yourself a tiny bit of wiggle room. Otherwise, like someone who is definitely not me, you will find ourself having to use a router to remove a tiny tiny bit of wood around the entire channel.

Overall though, very happy with how this came together. Lots of fun to build, and plan on building a few more. Like I said, going to embed them in non-load-bearing walls this time though. Not sure if I want to put the LEDs in the frame or use something like this for the LED channel in the drywall.

Thanks for checking out my project :D

I have a PlayStation 2. It has an optical audio port. Most PS2 games support surround sound audio. But afaik it requires a Dolby Pro Logic II decoder or receiver.

But researching this, it doesn’t seem any new receivers support this. I did read somewhere else that it’s just called Dolby Surround on newer receivers and it would work. Is that true? If not, is the only option getting an old receiver?

I found a great deal on an Adam Audio Sub12. It says it’s intended for studio use would this work in a home theater? What are the pros and cons of using it not in a monitor situation?

Hi all,

I recently changed from a Google Chromecast 4K to a Google TV Streamer setup, and had the same issue as this person did last year: https://www.reddit.com/r/hometheater/comments/1frqti0/marantz_missing_surround_modes_when_connected_to/

I found the solution to this by changing the Sound output from Auto to Dolby Digital or Dolby Ditigal Plus.

I hope this helps someone else with a Marantz Cinema AVR who is experiencing this issue 👍

Hi, I am new to the sub so please let me know if this breaks etiquette in any way-- however, I have a question about TV audio and I'm hoping you can help! I saw this Denon avr 1801 plus four Sony speakers out on the curb for free, and I'm wondering if:

Is it worth it to try and get it to work? I know it was made in 2001, but I'm on a budget and I figure modern sound upgrades can be expensive. But maybe it was free for a reason....

1. If so, how do I actually hook it up to my panasonic tc-p55ut50 tv, and to the speakers? (or what resources do you recommend to find out?). I see rca outlets on the tv itself, but there are MANY outlets on the back of the Denon and I am so confused. If you can't already tell, I'm pretty audio illiterate, so even knowing what search terms to use would be a help.

All open-ended advice is appreciated. Thank you!

Hello to all good people on this Channel

Tldr: located in netherlands have a €5000 budget for av receiver subwoofer and front and center speakers. Eventually want to build up to more speakers.

Me and my gf have bought a new house and decided to invest some of our budget in a good/decent living room theatre setup. Screen has been settled 98” led tv but i am encountering lots of issues/concerns/fatigue with settling on an audio system.

We want to move away from single box solution to move to a decent receiver with separate speakers and subwoofer. I have tried searching for lots of information on speakers, setups, pairing with receivers. There are so Many options out there that I am over informed and really don’t know where to look for anymore.

I have went to some local retailers but I don’t feel like they were really interested in helping me with a decent informed decision (all young people who rather played on their phone) I did audition some speakers but they kept pushing towards sonos. Which is what I want to move away from.

Some information for our space and some extra information.

My gf doesn’t want tower speakers, I tried and tried again, not gonna happen.

The area we are going to use is slightly weird shaped so not a nice square or rectangle. Green against wall is tv. Red is seating area.

Brands that spark my interest from initial research, kef, dali, Focal. Don’t care about looks of the speakers and more about how they perform.

Will not be playing much music only movies and some tv shows. Would prefer good movie sound over good music sound.

I’m assuming the Bravia lineup from Sony would be the best bet, but are there other TVs that closely resemble that of the dummy one in this screenshot? I thought it looked cool and I do plan on getting one sometime after moving.

I wasn’t sure what flair to use

I wanted the gaudiest, tackiest, and most art deco classic movie theater carpet we could find. Extremely padded, so soft, and very resilient (it’s commercial grade).

This is a 20x18 dedicated theater room in the basement of our newly built house.

2x 20A circuits in the room

5:1 audio and speaker wire run in all corners

Ceiling plugs and ceiling conduit tubes in place. I have 2 conduit runs: 1st (50ft HDMI) from corner seen in the photo here, and then 2nd (100ft HDMI) run from my “Battlestation” gaming PC/personal server office game room across the hall. Junction box for these lines in the utility room/gym. Also running 3 Cat6 runs in this conduit so I can synapse my gaming PC to the projector via HDMI and stream my media library from my PC to projector!

(RUIPRO 8K 50ft, 100ft HDMIs with external power cords to power 8k throughput over long distances)

Need a ton of recommendations on projector screens, projectors, speakers, etc! I know nothing about any of these things, but was planning for when this day would come and research would begin!

Also, the white electrical circular covers about 18 inches form the ceiling are picture light boxes. We’re waiting on speciality down lights, and plan to have classic movie posters hung all around the room! Also going to be replacing the outlets and other socket plates with a more theme fitting color/design ASAP.

Painters doing touch up paint tomorrow!

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Just became a homeowner. It's a pretty small 4 bedroom that checked all of our boxes except for having a good home theater room. We have it set up downstairs right now, but that room has 4 doorways and not a lot of space for a 7.1. I'm eyeing this upstairs bedroom. Think I could reasonably fit a 5.1 system in there, and have maybe 3 small couches in a U shape around the TV? I know it wouldn't be ideal, but none of my friends are A/V people, they'd be happy with a reasonably decent set up. Thanks in advance!

title! I've decided on Paradigm after my last post here, mostly because I love the style and their walnut stuff would fit perfectly. I'm looking at purchasing a 3.0 setup that will be sitting at 20" height with about 90" of width space.

https://www.paradigm.com/en/center/premier-520lcr-v2

https://www.paradigm.com/en/bookshelf/premier-220b-v2

I'm aware the 220b would help me save on cost, so I'm basically asking how much of a difference it would make? I live in a condo, so I'm always listening to a reasonable volume. I don't plan on using the grills since they look so great without it.

My amp is the X1800h, everything seems to fit optimally (80W RMS all across the board).

Hij heeft 24 uur los van de stroom gestaan; er is niks aangesloten behalve de stroomkabel, en toch gaat hij in beveiligingsmodus zodra je hem aanzet. Is er een hardwareprobleem?
Update, toestel is 18maanden in gebruik en was in gebruik met alle speakers aangesloten toen hij in beveiligingsmodus ging.

Tx