1st Post Intro & Ramblings


Hi all, I have been a member for about 10 years and never posted anything although I do read a lot. Figured at some point I would, 10+ years later......

 Profession, Audio Visual Tech 22 years. I mostly work in house corporate, conventions and trade shows. Spent some time building clubs, worked a few concerts and home audio has been more of a hobby for a very long time and I have designed and built a few very high end setups years ago. I always hated working professionally on home audio, the customers and sales people are either to cheap or knee deep in marketing and cannot take advice from professionals. My experience has led me to be more aware of the budget, a vast majority cannot spend $10-20k on a stereo and yet some of us spend that on a just 1 component. 
I think that will suffice as an introduction, next I will post some of what I have learned along the way. Keep in mind, most of my recommendations come with a budget mindset instead of $$$ all out performance $$$.
kreapin
I have read thru some of your posts and I have come to the conclusion that you have not heard a properly tuned stereo. My present stereo is nothing fancy and the center image is rock solid. The reason I say stereo would sound better for film is because of how objects move through space across your front stage. But that concept would be lost if you have never experienced it on a properly tuned stereo
That's okay I have come to the conclusion you don't know how we locate sounds. Stereo speakers will never replace a center channel no matter how perfect. For one, it is only perfect for a very narrow spot. For two even turning your head moves the image. A center channel is immune to these real world issues.  A home theater guy should know this.  He should also know the importance of listener and speaker position for bass nodes and how to quickly made a good first pass and the balancing act with perfect imaging, creating ambience, etc.
Like I stated in an earlier post, you have offered up nothing to help anyone that just so happens upon this thread, you try really hard to sound smart but have provided no substance. Anyone sitting at home with a decent receiver and decent speakers can take what I have posted and see positive results. You??????

The issue with theater sound is the mono channels. That rock solid center you speak of is a mono channel. We have 2 ears and we hear in stereo ;-)

You have not helped anyone, you have provided 1/2 of the basic instructions that can be found on literally thousands of websites, blog posts, etc. Most of the good ones will start with a discussion of bass nodes and listener placement, before getting into speaker placement. That move them out from the wall, then make a triangle is not "audiophile" grade help, it is Crutchfield level (though if I remember they had a good guide at one point).  There are so many half - decent to good articles on the web that writing a few things in a forum post that are not even complete, on an audiophile website is not "helping"

Real sounds don’t come from two places at the same time, then come from one place. When you recreate them coming from two places, those locations you perceive sounds to be are artificial and hence subject to things like where you are sitting, are did you turn your head, etc. Again, the center channel locks the vocals to the screen, where the majority of dialog in a movie happens. It also focuses the sound in the center, where again, the majority of action actually occurs in movies. Real sounds come from one spot in space, which a center channel defines for the center of the screen (approximately) and that make it immune to listener position, head rotation, etc. You cannot replicate that with two speakers .... and we are not even getting into the rear channels which again, two fronts cannot recreate.
If you read my post completely, I did mention that sweet spot is limited for 1 or 2 people. If you read my posts completely I am giving the most basic advice for the masses, why? Because in all my years doing this I have seen a lot of systems that were not tuned properly. Anyone who reads what I have posted can get results. Crutchfield and the speaker manufacturers themselves all say the same thing, it is the basics. But you have still provided nothing but noise.