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Home Theater Done Right: Millercarbon's System

Dual use, should probably be the title. Oh well. Finally posted my system. Someone’s always asking about how to do a dual use system. Well, here’s how its done.
Cinephile or audiophile, movies and music are the two things I have loved for as long as I can remember. I want my music to sound as good as possible, and I want my movies to look and sound as good as possible. Everything is a compromise and yet when it comes to these two the compromises are remarkably few. If any. At least that is what my system shows. Because it is a first-rate audiophile sound system, AND a top level home theater.
Whether music or movies an immersive experience is the goal. To lose yourself in the experience. To be carried away.
Studies show viewers consistently rate video quality higher when sound quality is high. Unfortunately the Home Theater industry has chosen to pursue quantity over quality. Which cannot ever work. No amount of surround speakers will ever make up for poor quality. Everyone knows this perfectly well. Being able to convince anyone otherwise is a testament to marketing.
But that’s not my main point here. Rather it is that everything matters. Seemingly minor little things like cryogenic treatment, HFT, ECT, Total Contact, fuses, cable elevators, etc when added together actually make so much difference it is almost impossible to build a truly good system without them.

Removing those tweaks from my system would lower it down to merely average.

Anyway, the system is posted. Enjoy the pics. I am not that good a photographer but Steve Clarke was busy. Tried to get the tubes go glow- how’d I do?

The system evolves. Here for reference are some pics from 16 years ago. https://www.theanalogdept.com/c_miller.htm
Comments welcome. Enjoy!


128x128millercarbon
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Dang, front row seats for once.
Pass the popcorn!
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I can certainly understand why your butt is so sore. Ouch! Have you tried sitting on ice packs? 🤗
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa
4,867 posts
 
Millercarbon ...

You are exactly correct in your statement that a center channel is not necessary. In fact, we found that a center channel actually screws up the imaging.

I learned this at an ultra-high-end store I worked at for a few years. We had a dedicated A/V room with the best projector available at the time. The electronics were all manufactured by Goldmund as were the speakers. Totally a mega-buck audio/video system. We never used a center channel, nor would we sell one. We sold the customer on the idea of saving some money and enjoying better sound by eliminating the center channel. The system was glorious.

Frank
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon OP
12,531 posts
 
Right. There are in fact some very good technical reasons why this is so. 
The reasoning behind the center channel is its for dialog which is supposed to be coming from the screen which is assumed to be centered between the speakers. But, as anyone who has ever watched a movie would know, the characters aren't always dead center in the middle of the frame. Dialog can be coming from anywhere and in fact may not even be on the screen at all. 

With stereo this is no problem at all. Everyone with a properly set up stereo knows perfectly well there is no problem whatsoever with sounds coming from anywhere in 3D space, which sometimes if the system is really good seems to extend even well off to the sides beyond the speakers. This happens naturally without any need for special processing effects.

With multichannel HT on the other hand and especially with a center channel this cannot happen without putting a processor in the signal path. The processor has to pan and scan and shift the sound around trying to emulate what is happening on screen. Even if it works, its still an extra component in the signal path. Putting unnecessary circuits in the signal path is never a good idea.
fleschler
1,997 posts
 
@millercarbon  I want to comment on the use of HFTs.  I installed 32 on walls and speakers.  I found the basic set up to Level 5 on walls excellent.  However, on my speakers, no matter which HFT was placed near my dome tweeter and ribbon supertweeter, the sound became too bright and/or hard.  So, I eliminated that one.  The other extremely important HFT were the HFT 2.0s on the sides of the speakers.  They had to be adjusted to within 1/8" up or down to balance bass/fullness and the upper frequencies.  That was a trial and error which took a while in my new room as it did in my prior room.  Overall, the use of the HFTs eliminated my need for a full out quadradic diffusion system set up on the front and rear walls, quoted at $25,000+ by my audio room designer's company.  I already have built-in wall/floor/ceiling bass control and ample side wall and suspended ceiling absorption panels.  My friends also prefer the use of SR HFTs for their more difficult to adjust rooms.
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