Thought it might be nice to have a general home / auto Audio Thread handy. Hopefully comes in handy for those sharing an interest, or maybe in need of advice, tips, or looking at getting new gear.

Personally, I've developed a bit of a home theater hobby the past 5 years or so. My car audio days are a bit behind me, I think, but the home theater arena is sure plenty of fun.

I'll kick things off with sharing an appreciation for the Internet Direct model for many products. Wires, connectors, speakers, amps, subwoofers - all sure seem to have some popular internet direct companies that offer phenominal performance:cost ratios.

www.monoprice.com is great for HDMI, wires, just about any connectors, TV mounts, and plenty else.

www.partsexpress.com is a great site for general audio gear - DIY projects, and their Omnimic measurement system is a favorite.

A couple sub/speakers companies worthy of mention:
JTR www.jtrspeakers.com
Seaton Sound (so good, they just about only operate a forum, don't even need a commercial web site!)
SVS www.svsound.com

There are plenty of other popular ID companies, including Power Sound Audio, Aperion, Salk, HSU, Emotiva, GIK Acoustics. There are a good number of ID subwoofer companies, and many more ID speaker companies. Some offer acoustic treatments, amplifiers, and so on. As it stands now, there are fewer and fewer audio products I would seek out a big-box commercial offering for.

I can definitely remember back to when not much of it made much sense, what all those AV Receiver settings were for, what a crossover was, LFE, frequency response, etc etc. Not completely unlike Oakley, the more you learn and start making some purchases, the more entrenched you seem to become in learning more and upgrade-itis kicking in.

Anyhow, just thought bringing a little home theater and general audio discussions could be a bit of fun. Or I may just randomly toss out random bits of stuff to amuse myself!

Paul, it's like you read my mind. I was thinking about such things yesterday, only thoughts were on installation. Here's a setup I like, only I would have the centre over the TV and the sub under (or to the right side of) the TV:


My question: how would you minimize the visibility of the wiring to the two surround sound speakers if you don't want to drill into your hardwood floors?

I don't have much experience myself with finer points of installation, various means of hiding wiring in particular. Below is a quick link I found at one of my primary forums. Also, if Mike decides to talk shop on his off hours, he may provide some insight.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1274911/diy-how-to-hide-wires-and-cables

Seems like the primary options is through walls / behind drywall, or behind your baseboards/moldings.

I have seen a number of center channels mounted above a TV. The most common recommendation when going that route seems to be to make an effort to angle it slightly down towards the listening position.

The subwoofer placement is a hot and common topic. Largely due to the wavelengths of the frequencies coming from the subs being large (meters/feet instead of cm/inches) - sub placement can be very room dependent. There is a famous 'sub crawl' approach where you end up evaluating as many locations as you could possibly stand to have the sub located, and see which provides you the best response. And it's a slippery slope from there, where the best approach is to have multiple subs!

A had a 7.1 system with Infinity speakers. The wife thought them too large, so now it's a 7.1 Mirage OS3 with Velodyne Microvee sub (2KW. With that I use a Harman Kardon AVR 460.
The speakers are hanging up by the roof, a very subtle and nice looking way to have a great sound but no large speakers standing around!
Recommended!

The mirage OS3 also have a very wide "sweet spot", so you have a lot of freedom in placing them.

Thanks for the tips, Paul. Yeah, the sub crawl is a definite must activity.

It's late and I find this thread from Paul.... damn you! I'll try and throw some insight in shortly but i'm off to bed now.

Though i will leave you with this... i'm currently working on a Theatre with a store i sub-contract to .... total cost $170,000.... should have some impact for sure. Well the 4 JL Subs will have impact if the rest doesn't!

And i start another $30,000 theatre in the next few weeks once the cabinet is built. On average i would install 2-3 HomeTheatre Set ups per week from around $5000 upwards

here's my facebook page with some installs I've done:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Connect-AV/239040956223950

Oak: It depends how far the rears will be from a wall... if close enough then up an over is the option. Cutting floors especially hardwood is a no no!

My moto on all installs.... there are no hard and fast rules - "You work the principals into your environment"

When I built my house, I had all the HDMI run behind the walls. Makes for a nicer looking setup. However existing walls aren't all that bad if you're going straight down from the TV. Get an old construction bracket

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Carlon-1-Gang-Low-Voltage-Old-Work-Bracket-SC100RR/100160916?N=bohnZ1z11eryZ1z11evg#.UfKZyKzpvWM

and it will fit into a hole you saw in the sheetrock. Then drop the cables down to another below, and if the insulation isn't a problem, you should be able to just work within the wall studs.

Yeah, the real reason for this thread was to just bait Mike into talking shop in his free time. Just trying to geek out on the stuff he gets to do every day!

I assume the JL Subs are the Fathom stuff - I always hear a lot of comparisons to the F113 when guys are trying to compare against some top notch subs. Mike, is there much of an internet direct market in Australia? I've heard of some Seaton / JTR / SVS buys shipping over there, but I'm sure it is a drop in the bucket in the market there. Just not sure if there are any Australian audio companies finding success.

I will also share in that there really isn't one product or catch-all that applies to everyone as a perfect theater gear to purchase. Rooms are different, priorities, WAF (wife acceptance factor) restrictions, budget, etc.

So I freely admit my bias towards taking the plunge to large speakers, even larger subs, as big a TV (or better yet, PJ screen) as possible - all in an effort to make the most immersive experience possible. I think it always a bit difficult to not apply your own priorities and experiences when giving an opinion or advice. I can appreciate folks that try to hide or minimize the speakers with in-wall or Mirage sized speakers.

The past 6+ years, I've essentially had to build our theater setup in our main living area. So although my wife has been very accomodating to have large speakers and subs along the walls, there have still been a number of compromises made (like not jumping over to a projector/screen). My dream someday would be to take down a wall in our finished basement, essentially combining a bedroom and small rec room to make a dedicated theater space. Build out a false wall to hide the speakers and subs, 120'+ acoustically transparent screen, projector, dedicated closet for components, theater seating and acoustic room treatments. I would never need to go to the theaters again, and could easily mock them any time I do go out. [/drool]

I like Oak's setup but the TV would have to be double if not triple the size and instead of the leather seat a California king Tempur-Pedic GrandBed. That's all I ask!

A few quick side notes related to calibration/settings of your HT:

1) Many receivers nowadays come with a setup mic that you plug into the receiver and it will take you through a series of pings that help set speaker distances, levels, crossovers, etc. Generally a good idea, but also a good idea is to review and commonly make a few small adjustments.

For example, if the auto setup set your speakers to Full (or full range), you most likely want to adjust that setting to an 80hz crossover. The auto setup may have recognized the speakers as capable full range speakers, but the reality is that you likely want your subwoofer(s) handling the LFE low range frequencies. That's what they are there for, and better have the subs handling that load than your main speakers.

2) Measurments tools are super nifty if you really get into the hobby, things like Omnimic or REW. But I would recommend for just about anyone that you should consider snagging a sound meter - often just a Radio Shack sound meter is fine. That way, you can use your receivers' test tones to balance speaker levels. This may not be as vital for those receivers with an auto-setup mic, but I think it can be super important for any receiver that doesn't have the mic.

You'd be amazed at the difference sometimes. About 10 years ago, I was contemplating buying a new set of speakers. In the end, I picked up a sound meter and went through to balance out the levels of the 5.1 receiver. The difference was satisfying enough that I held off (for the time being) buying a new set of gear.

Worth sharing, if just for my own reference to link back on. One of my perrenial favorite subwoofers (Seaton Submersive) has come out with an updated master/slave approach. 2 subs, only 1 of them with an amp that drives both subs. The combo allows for a pretty nice break on pricing - although what you are willing to pay for a sub is all relative! But considering I see many folks with these subs that have a flat frequency response down to 5hz or below, they are on my wish list!!

http://www.seaton-sound-forum.com/post/SubMersive-HP-amp-F2-masterslave-option-6453864

My real motive is to get Mike to start importing these over to Australia for his clients, so I can contineu to live vicariously through his awesome installs.

Any general thoughts about Curved OLED TVs? Anyone seen it in person yet? All the pics I've seen so far have it sitting on a stand. I'm curious if it can be wall mounted easily.

I don't see why not. Probably have to use special rails to do it though.