2. home-theater
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What can the average enthusiest do to get A+ HT?

I've read enogh posts over the years, and seen, heard, read about, installed, designed, sold, built, and experienced enough home theaters(including bassic surround systems, dedicated theaters, etc) to want to put the question out to the masses/fellow enthusiests out there. I'm currious to hear some of the more informed/experienced HT junkie's(like myself) input on to what they think they can pass on the the rest of the AV world at large would be, to help everyone truely maximize the Ht experience at home!
I've come to the conclussion from my years of experience around this stuff, that most(better than 99%) don't have a clue as to what they're dealing with, when aspiring to get even remotely approaching world class HT from their set up! Especially people experiencing this for the first, even going at it the second/third times!!!
Is it the gear? Is it the set up?..the acoustics?..the tweeks?...the calibration?...what? And if it's any and all of these things put together, can someone help spell it all out/break it all down in a realateively straight foreward manner, considering the variables people are likely dealing with/encountering (perhaps including budget/space), what options they should thus be considering, and specifics that need to be attacked/approached!?
I'm just currious if people who are serious about getting the best HT possible with-in their means/budgets(even at the ultra expensive and ambitious end) truelly want to know what it takes, and what they can do to get something truely special in their life time in respect to AV!..and that's assuming they want to mostly "go it alone", as opposed to hiring professinoals to do the job. We're talking about "home projects" and set up's here!...just to be clear.
Thanks for any input, commments, info, perspectives, etc.
exertfluffer
unsound
7,329 posts
 
Brainwater, I agree that the future may permit the promise multichannel. Perhaps it will be better media, production/engineering, electronics, room correction, omni directional speakers, cabling, cost reductions or all of the above? Let me know when we get there. As of now, I think it's too expensive, fraught with challanges and ultimately dissapointing. It's worse yet for those who try doing it on the cheap with little effort. More often than not (always?) one ends up with a room filled with junk, wasted time and money all to achieve terrible sound. Let me know when we get there.
Sean, are you saying that movie sound engineers are doing a better job than music engineers? Or is it, that when watching video, one is so emersed in the visual presentation that one is less in tune with the audio, and there fore the audio is less critcal?
sean
6,231 posts
 
Unsound: Yes, i do believe that those doing the mixing for multi-channel video typically provide better results than what we get out of multi-channel music recordings. The primary reason for this is that movies have sounds from every direction whereas music is typically experienced with the band spread out in front of you. This is probably why Paul Klipsch wanted us to go to a 3 channel system rather than two.

As a side note, some of the worst multi-channel music recordings are those that are "antiques" that are getting re-mixed. Some of these engineers are going berserk twisting knobs and playing games with spatial info. The presentation becomes completely un-natural. Sean
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slappy
903 posts
 
Something you all might want remember,

This thread was origionally asking about anA+ HT setup, as in HOME THEATER.

Personally i think multichannel music is way too finiky to do, i find the surround speakers annoying. Give me nmusic in 2ch, leave the surrounds for theater.

Building an A+ HOME THEATER is one thing, however, creating a satisfying MULTICHANNEL MUSIC system is an entirely different beast.

Personally, MY HT will be built with Theater in mind from the ground up, with no consideration for Multichannel music, that is alot more headache than i think it is worth.

My MUSIC system will be built for Music only. 2 channels, thats all.

Its kinda like those new cell phones. You CAN put a camera in a phone, but you will suffer performance on both aspects.

HT, MTA (multi channel audio) and 2CH all use the same basic elements. Speakers, Amplifiers, Source, Etc. But that is where the similarity ends.

Think of it like a car. a HUM-V costs about as much as a Dodge Viper. Two very high performance vehicals, but the performance and intended use of each design was vastly different.

Keep it all seperate, unless you dont mind blowing a crapload of cash, pulling out your hair, and have years of free time to get a system that can do all three equally as well

M2C
unsound
7,329 posts
 
Slappy, I can understand the reality that both you and Sean bring to point about video soundtrack vs. music playback, but, I don't understand the philosphy. If the recording engineers don't do their job, there is little we can do, to do it for them. If the recording engineers do their job, then our job would still be the same, whether there is video accompaniment or not. The medium is the same, the vehicle is the same, the load is the same and the desired speed is the same. The only difference I can think of is that in HT we now have the additonal challange of coordinating the sonic imaging and soundstage to placement and scale of a constant reference, the videoscape. Or visa versa, either way it seems daunting to me.
brainwater
520 posts
 
Multichannel music systems and home theatre are the same beast if you can eleminate the screens effects on the center imaging. I have an eighty two inch firehawk on a hindge that folds back to the ceiling and when retracted , I have what ammounts to a dedicated multichannel dvd a sacd system . Drop the screen and its a home theatre. They can and do coexist quite comfortably .
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