Vintage Audio Gear - AV Home Theatre

[J_F]

here's a really good deal for an MA package

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[J_F]

anyone mess with bass crossover?

my little mains don't push much low end unless turned up quite loud
messing around with the sub settings and have it sounding good at lower levels

done some reading and THX recommends rolling off to the sub @ 80 hz
that seems kind of low to me for speakers with a 5 in. woofer

rec has options between 80 and 160 hz
happy medium for me and this setup/room seems to be 120 hz - music
for AV content I prefer to let the mains take most of the bass

looks like a center channel may be required for dialog
all the background noise these days in movies/TV is a nuisance

 

[Rick CH]

done some reading and THX recommends rolling off to the sub @ 80 hz
that seems kind of low to me for speakers with a 5 in. woofer

rec has options between 80 and 160 hz
happy medium for me and this setup/room seems to be 120 hz - music
for AV content I prefer to let the mains take most of the bass

looks like a center channel may be required for dialog
all the background noise these days in movies/TV is a nuisance

Nothing really wrong with the 120hz crossover, it's just that the frequencies above 80hz are progressively more directional (you can hear where it originates) to your ears, so it's best to keep the sub up front so that those low frequencies sound like they're coming from the right place.

One friend has two channel set up for video and music and was complaining about the difficulty in hearing some of the dialogue in sound effects heavy movies. Tested same movies on my HT and the centre channel speaker made things noticeably better.

 

[backmarkerducati]

Like Rick CH said. Around 80 to 100 Hz the sound will start to become directional to your ears. The crossovers are also not brick walls so set at 80 Hz the sub is producing sound above this (likely above 100...), how much will depend on the order of the crossover (how steep it is). Same as the mains, if set at 80 they will also be asked to go a little lower as the crossover is not a dead stop, it rolls down/off...

It is not a complete change on directional sound though so you do have some flexibility, what is important is how it sounds to you and not some general rule... (it is not like 99 Hz is totally non-directional but 101 Hz is totally directional....). If 120 Hz is working out well, go with it. I would still put the sub where it works best in the room acoustics wise and not worry at all about centring it unless you are going way higher.

As for a centre channel, I would not bother until you have a full surround system (all speakers).

As a tip, I cheat a little with mine in my HT, I set all the channels to equal loudness/volume (with my dB meter, but you can do it by ear...) then I bump the centre channel up 2 to 3 dB. When set to all the same volume (all channels) it can sometimes be hard to find a happy medium for action movies, you can hear the low dialogue clearly but then the explosions are blowing your hair back, or the explosions are reasonable (but still loud enough), but now it is hard to hear the low dialogue... The little bump on the centre takes care of this without the need to run compression but keeping it below 3 dB it is not noticeably disruptive to panning sounds. Regardless to some it would be totally blasphemous. Of course if you love your hair being blown back, have at it...

Don't cheap out on the centre and try to find one that matches the mains tonally. If it sounds different than the mains it can be very noticeable. I cheeped out first (cheapest one in the product line as my mains) and just ended up buying the better one (in the same line) soon after as the cheap one sucked...

 

[crankcall]

I just picked up a Sony DH190 reciever, several audio sites consider it a real deal and great product for a 100w per channel 2.1 set for under $200.
Im looking forward to getting it setup, I really wanted the bluetooth option (spotify) and i've moved into 2012!! tech.

Of course several audio sites also claim its a piece of crap so.......

 

[J_F]

I looked at that unit on amazon
they have a comparable Yamaha for similar $$ too
decided against them as I wanted optical digital audio input

you should be happy with that as a 2.1 unit for music

 

[crankcall]

We stay about 5-7yrs behind the tech curve (ok maybe 10-12) , I was looking for a bluetooth input and a 3.5 jack so when people are over and "need" to play DJ they can plug in and have at it.
I'd asked ealier in the thread about a product to send a signal wirelessly to a second set of speakers, amazon had a $129 setup that was considered 'ok' . I did a lot of homework and have decided on the Rocketfish system, BestBuy for $99. several folks told me it was just more reliable than the Amazon brand.

Now comes the outdoor system, do I put an unpurposed reciever in a weatherproof cabinet? Put a reciever inside house and wire up outdoor speakers? The new amp will be running A/B speakers inside so cant really add a C channel, but I have extra recievers, I've heard extreme cold is bad for amps so leaving it out all winter , in a weatherproof cabinet may not be the cleverist idea.
Thoughts folks??

 

[GreyGhost]

We stay about 5-7yrs behind the tech curve (ok maybe 10-12) , I was looking for a bluetooth input and a 3.5 jack so when people are over and "need" to play DJ they can plug in and have at it.
I'd asked ealier in the thread about a product to send a signal wirelessly to a second set of speakers, amazon had a $129 setup that was considered 'ok' . I did a lot of homework and have decided on the Rocketfish system, BestBuy for $99. several folks told me it was just more reliable than the Amazon brand.

Now comes the outdoor system, do I put an unpurposed reciever in a weatherproof cabinet? Put a reciever inside house and wire up outdoor speakers? The new amp will be running A/B speakers inside so cant really add a C channel, but I have extra recievers, I've heard extreme cold is bad for amps so leaving it out all winter , in a weatherproof cabinet may not be the cleverist idea.
Thoughts folks??

Ventilation gets tricky if it is outdoors. Many amps have a large metal heat sink. That is just asking for condensation issues in a well-ventilated enclosure with large temperature/humidity swings. I might leave it out may to october but then either bring it in or make sure the enclosure is mostly sealed.so temp and humidity changes happen gradually.

FWIW my current house obviously had a receiver installed in a shed in the past. Not sure if it had any issues or if the air volume of the building was sufficient to slow transients and prevent condensation

 

[jc100]

We stay about 5-7yrs behind the tech curve (ok maybe 10-12) , I was looking for a bluetooth input and a 3.5 jack so when people are over and "need" to play DJ they can plug in and have at it.
I'd asked ealier in the thread about a product to send a signal wirelessly to a second set of speakers, amazon had a $129 setup that was considered 'ok' . I did a lot of homework and have decided on the Rocketfish system, BestBuy for $99. several folks told me it was just more reliable than the Amazon brand.

Now comes the outdoor system, do I put an unpurposed reciever in a weatherproof cabinet? Put a reciever inside house and wire up outdoor speakers? The new amp will be running A/B speakers inside so cant really add a C channel, but I have extra recievers, I've heard extreme cold is bad for amps so leaving it out all winter , in a weatherproof cabinet may not be the cleverist idea.
Thoughts folks??

I have weatherproof Yamaha outdoor speakers fed through two unused channels of a 7.1 system amp, the amp is capable of dual zone delivery and this works very well. Just drilled some holes for the cables to outside and the amp is controlled via an app from a phone or ipad. No weather issues for the amp as it's inside. Honestly, if you haven't already bought the other receiver this is what I'd do.

 

[Robbo]

We stay about 5-7yrs behind the tech curve (ok maybe 10-12) , I was looking for a bluetooth input and a 3.5 jack so when people are over and "need" to play DJ they can plug in and have at it.
I'd asked ealier in the thread about a product to send a signal wirelessly to a second set of speakers, amazon had a $129 setup that was considered 'ok' . I did a lot of homework and have decided on the Rocketfish system, BestBuy for $99. several folks told me it was just more reliable than the Amazon brand.

Now comes the outdoor system, do I put an unpurposed reciever in a weatherproof cabinet? Put a reciever inside house and wire up outdoor speakers? The new amp will be running A/B speakers inside so cant really add a C channel, but I have extra recievers, I've heard extreme cold is bad for amps so leaving it out all winter , in a weatherproof cabinet may not be the cleverist idea.
Thoughts folks??

Here’s an idea that might be worth looking into further. You could run wired outdoor speakers to the new amp inside the house with a speaker distribution switch like this one...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GreyGhost]

Here’s an idea that might be worth looking into further. You could run wired outdoor speakers to the new amp inside the house with a speaker distribution switch like this one...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not a bad idea. Some weird stuff with that particular example.

"Manual protection switch maintains a stable 5-ohm impedance load to ensure amplifier stability "
"140 Watts RMS/CH without Impedance Protection70 Watts RMS/CH with Impedance Protection"
"When protection is turned on you get 5.333 ohms on the input. " - user submitted answer

It has no power, so it can't be active. You could switch all four zones on at once (plus the passthrough) which could conceivably show the amp 0.8 ohms (5-4 ohm loads in parallel). My guess is that protection switch inserts a 4 ohm resistor in series with the outputs. Pumping 70 watts through a resistor in a small 2.6 lb metal box with no fans seems unwise. Even more unwise when you have two on them in the same small box.

 

[Robbo]

Btw, if anyone wants to add “new tech” functionality to an older receiver, you can simply buy an “aux to rca” cord and plug in a smart device at the aux end.

I have an Echo Input on the aux side plugged into the rca inputs of my older Sony receiver so I can ask Alexa to play my Amazon music/Spotify/etc playlists.

Something like this (there are lots of options for cable length and configurations ie. male/female on the aux side).

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hardwrkr13]

Just put one of your old receivers outside and hook up some outdoor speakers. Bring it back inside before the snow flies and you'll be fine. Punch a hole in the wall to put it inside if you really want but it isn't necessary.
I don't suggest the external zone switch. Receiver will likely be ok running 2 zones at background music levels but is going to shut down (or worse) from heat if you try to run 3 zones at once.

 

[FullMotoJacket]

Dennon receiver, Mission speakers, and DIY T-line sub spending their 18th winter in the garage. No problems so far.

 

[crankcall]

I think the Denon amp will end up in a weatherproof cabinet outside, and come back inside for the winter. The older amp predates remotes so if the unit was indoors somebody is running around to change volume/stations. Wife suggested putting some speakers we already own out there in the cabinet and they could come out/ go away when we head indoors but i think I'd better just get outdoor speakers. I know I'll leave some walnut veneer out in the rain.

 

[J_F]

BTW, I think you will be more than happy with that combo, enjoy the sound.

you were right
with the addition of a sub and some time
I'm very happy with the system

 

[Hardwrkr13]

anyone mess with bass crossover?

my little mains don't push much low end unless turned up quite loud
messing around with the sub settings and have it sounding good at lower levels

done some reading and THX recommends rolling off to the sub @ 80 hz
that seems kind of low to me for speakers with a 5 in. woofer

rec has options between 80 and 160 hz
happy medium for me and this setup/room seems to be 120 hz - music
for AV content I prefer to let the mains take most of the bass

looks like a center channel may be required for dialog
all the background noise these days in movies/TV is a nuisance

Look up the frequency response specs on your front left/right speakers then set the crossover for those speakers 10Hz higher than the lowest frequency they are rated for (or set speaker to "Large" if receiver only has this option instead of a Hz setting). Turn off or unplug all other speakers then play your typical type of preferred music at a level as high as you would ever want to listen to it. If you find they're distorting from the bass and can't handle the material raise the frequency cutoff until you find the speakers are playing cleanly (or set speaker to "small"). Many 5" equipped speakers can handle a 80hz cutoff but it should be checked.
Once you've got that set do the same with the center speaker (if using).
Finally add the sub and when it's level matched and you've set the frequency cutoff for it to the other speakers try reversing the phase on it to see if it sounds better normal or reversed (if you change the subs location you'll have to redo this every time). You may want to play around with sub frequency crossover setting once everything else is done as things may now sound different.

Then when you're bored you can play with speaker width, then toe-in, then change all the settings all over again and so on

 

[GreyGhost]

Look up the frequency response specs on your front left/right speakers then set the crossover for those speakers 10Hz higher than the lowest frequency they are rated for (or set speaker to "Large" if receiver only has this option instead of a Hz setting). Turn off or unplug all other speakers then play your typical type of preferred music at a level as high as you would ever want to listen to it. If you find they're distorting from the bass and can't handle the material raise the frequency cutoff until you find the speakers are playing cleanly (or set speaker to "small"). Many 5" equipped speakers can handle a 80hz cutoff but it should be checked.
Once you've got that set do the same with the center speaker (if using).
Finally add the sub and when it's level matched and you've set the frequency cutoff for it to the other speakers try reversing the phase on it to see if it sounds better normal or reversed (if you change the subs location you'll have to redo this every time). You may want to play around with sub frequency crossover setting once everything else is done as things may now sound different.

Then when you're bored you can play with speaker width, then toe-in, then change all the settings all over again and so on

I would add to check the specs and if you are going with the above procedure make sure you are looking at -3dB frequency response. Many speakers now are rating at -10 dB to look better on paper.

 

[J_F]

what's wrong with this picture?

 

[backmarkerducati]

There is no railing and what looks like a four foot plus drop.... dangerous as I sometimes like a little booze when listening!

Cassette deck and disc player on top of the turntables would make them hard to use, given all the hanging power cords I doubt it is much of a working system anyways. No self respecting audiophile would place the speakers like that...

I would say stager but the cords and everything are a mess so I doubt it.

Nevermind the crappy boom box, likely the only part that works.