Again.....more awsomeness!!

AB,
 
There are several things I think you could do to massively improve your movie and musical experience with your setup.  First, I know you just put your center channel speaker up above the TV and seem to like it, but have you considered that when watching a movie, some of the sound effects and dialogue can end up sounding disjointed?  Think of a movie sequence when say a car or motorcycle crosses from left to right through the center speaker.  The sound will start out at ear level because of the placement of your towers, but as it begins tracking over to the right, it will suddenly jump up to your ceiling and then back down to ear level on the right side.  Ideal placement for all speakers is at ear level keeping the tweeters especially as close as possible to the same horizontal plane.  This will give you better continuity of sound.  Just a thought.
 
Second, the placement of your towers is a little too close together.  For towers that large, you need a little more throw distance for the woofers, mids and tweets to sound as one instead of individuals.  Basically you want an equilateral triangle.  Equal distance between the speakers as there is distance between your listening spot and each speaker.   At my last house, the wall I had my entertainment center on only allowed me to separate my speakers by about 6 ft or so.  My house now, allows me to separate them by nearly double that distance or more, and the difference is absolutely incredible.    The same spacing principle should ideally be followed for rear and side channel speakers as well.  However it is more often than not very difficult to do this because most houses are not built with home theaters in mind.  Also, you may want to read Polk’s documentation and determine if they recommend towing the speakers in or not.  My B&W’s recommend a slight tow in to help focus the center stage, but my Dali’s recommend perpendicular to the wall because they have a different design and sound dispersion field.
 
My new job has me working a lot with the type of technology that you guys are talking about with the Crestron remote.  We use mostly AMX which basically does the same thing, but AMX is the bigger brother.  AMX has recently released an iphone/ipad app that allows you to use your divice exactly the same as a dedicated touch panel.  So basically all you need is an AMX master controller and program and you can use your ipad to control all your electronics in your house to include environmental controls, lighting, and when each of these items is turned on, for how long.  You set all the parameters.  It’s all really cool.
 

as a rule i keep my speakers 4-6 feet from any AV equipment and my center at ear level along with all other full range surrounds .

Good points fellas... Just an FYI... I did mention this was not finalized. I simply just plopped the towers there. They are bout two feet away from the screen now... Even moved the sub out farther...
 
I am having issues as the way our room is and how it is forcing us to have a limited set of options for placement... For example... I have a wall right on the right speaker... And the ceiling is only 8'. Not to mention the room is 28' long and 14' deep...
 
As far as the center... It is designed for both... Eye sight level or high up and angled down. Having the sound hit in the same area. Notice one of the pics early on showing the angle... The owners manual of the polk center actually shows the preferred placement to be above the TV and aiming down to the "Sweet spot". That said... We actually noticed a broader flooding of the sound with it mounted like it is vs. ears/eyes height...
 
As for the surrounds... We cannot place them at ear level. This would shrink the room another three feet. As it is the Chairs come out 2' and the front theater comes out 18"... So of the 14' depth we are all ready at 10'6". Taking another 2-3' is not an option. So we are mounting them up on the ceiling and aiming them towards the sweet spot.
 
We do have plans in a few years of adding another 600 sqft on top of our garage and making one more bedroom and a massive HT room... But until them this is what we have to work with...
 
Greatly appreciate all the input as I am learning all of this as I go

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no im sorry law says you must burn that room down and remake it to suit your speakers better.I will donate the matches and a gallon of gas :)

Tweaked


AB,

There are several things I think you could do to massively improve your movie and musical experience with your setup.  First, I know you just put your center channel speaker up above the TV and seem to like it, but have you considered that when watching a movie, some of the sound effects and dialogue can end up sounding disjointed?  Think of a movie sequence when say a car or motorcycle crosses from left to right through the center speaker.  The sound will start out at ear level because of the placement of your towers, but as it begins tracking over to the right, it will suddenly jump up to your ceiling and then back down to ear level on the right side.  Ideal placement for all speakers is at ear level keeping the tweeters especially as close as possible to the same horizontal plane.  This will give you better continuity of sound.  Just a thought.

Second, the placement of your towers is a little too close together.  For towers that large, you need a little more throw distance for the woofers, mids and tweets to sound as one instead of individuals.  Basically you want an equilateral triangle.  Equal distance between the speakers as there is distance between your listening spot and each speaker.   At my last house, the wall I had my entertainment center on only allowed me to separate my speakers by about 6 ft or so.  My house now, allows me to separate them by nearly double that distance or more, and the difference is absolutely incredible.    The same spacing principle should ideally be followed for rear and side channel speakers as well.  However it is more often than not very difficult to do this because most houses are not built with home theaters in mind.  Also, you may want to read Polk’s documentation and determine if they recommend towing the speakers in or not.  My B&W’s recommend a slight tow in to help focus the center stage, but my Dali’s recommend perpendicular to the wall because they have a different design and sound dispersion field.

My new job has me working a lot with the type of technology that you guys are talking about with the Crestron remote.  We use mostly AMX which basically does the same thing, but AMX is the bigger brother.  AMX has recently released an iphone/ipad app that allows you to use your divice exactly the same as a dedicated touch panel.  So basically all you need is an AMX master controller and program and you can use your ipad to control all your electronics in your house to include environmental controls, lighting, and when each of these items is turned on, for how long.  You set all the parameters.  It’s all really cool.

 
 
AMX?!?!
How is AMX the big brother of Crestron?
nothing is the big brother of Crestron. Crestron has had a droid, iphone, & ipad app for years now. they also make custom base stations and in-wall mounts for them.
 

AMX, at least around here and everywhere I have worked, is much more prevalent than Crestron.  I'm not saying they are better, just more prevalent.

Well... Frustrating update... My new Onkyo Receiver has two issues...
 

1. The 12v does not switch!!!
2. The Center Pre-out has no signal...

 
On hold right now waiting for Newegg Customer Support... Already worked with Onkyo, they are the one saying it is defective...
 
*Deep childish sigh*

That sucks dude.  I hope they x-ship you a replacement.

Well if it all goes well and I do not get another dud... They are overnight me a new unit (Should be here on Tuesday) and paying for the other one to be shipped back.... Advanced RMA. Now that is dang good service!

I got a walkman.....

^^^ Noice!! Worth some serious coin now a-days =]
 
Already re-doing the stand...

 
We went to JR Furniture, Macy's, Senseco, Ashley, Pier One, Best Buy and finally Fry's Electronics... Found an amazing amount of options for an Audio Rack, but came home with a simple design that is also the deepest. This allows us all the room we need to keep the Components back 2-3 inches and still have room in the back for all the connections. Well and make us feel safer for the pups and their tails =]... No pics, to pooped out from today and tearing down the setup and re-assembling it on the new stand. But here is an online version of it...

To bad about that trigger.
 
Is the port 12v+ or do you need a power supply inline with it?
Because if its just a trigger relay you will need a small 12v power supply and some crimp caps.
 
Also dont think Onkyo is a bad company now, a lot of stuff gets broken during shipping. Onkyo/Integra gear is alright stuff.

Installed the new stand and the four surrounds... Pics to follow =]

cool beans, im using some cheap pyle stand for my rears and they are kinda nice. I only paid $45 bucks for two of them.

You want speakers like AB's, get it while it last fellas:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290206&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL011012&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL011012-_-EMC-011012-Index-_-HomeAudioSpeakers-_-82290206-L0C
 

seth89


To bad about that trigger.

Is the port 12v+ or do you need a power supply inline with it?
Because if its just a trigger relay you will need a small 12v power supply and some crimp caps.

Also dont think Onkyo is a bad company now, a lot of stuff gets broken during shipping. Onkyo/Integra gear is alright stuff.

The 12v is for Zone 2 and another for Zone 3. It is an actual 12v current. For some reason it is just not working on this receiver.
 
It is my first experience with Onkyo, so I hope you are right. I am rather nervous about this being a manufacturing issue as I am reading more and more folks specifically having the same issue I am with the Center pre-out...

seth89


cool beans, im using some cheap pyle stand for my rears and they are kinda nice. I only paid $45 bucks for two of them.

Those are perfect stands... We have been using ones like in one of the earlier pics in this thread for years... Problem is our labs like to play and they hit the chairs like they are ramps... In other words.. I wanted the speakers up and safe

atfrico


You want speakers like AB's, get it while it last fellas:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290206&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL011012&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL011012-_-EMC-011012-Index-_-HomeAudioSpeakers-_-82290206-L0C

These are really nice speakers. Great for nearly any music and movie type.
 
However... These are ours, just the face is black vs. ours are platinum...
 
http://www.newegg.com/Pro...x?Item=N82E16882290158
 

 
 
And four of these...
 
 
 
And one of these...
 

^^ Nice  I bet those speakers are taller than Blizzie....lol

OK... New receiver showed up today... We must have gotten a reject receiver first. Because this new one has stickers on it the other did not (Advertizing what it does) and WORKS!!!

Woooo Whooooo!!!

Now just waiting for the new shelf for the Center and we plan to veg out watching movies this weekend!!!

Afterburner


OK... New receiver showed up today... We must have gotten a reject receiver first. Because this new one has stickers on it the other did not (Advertizing what it does) and WORKS!!!

Woooo Whooooo!!!

Now just waiting for the new shelf for the Center and we plan to veg out watching movies this weekend!!!

 
 
Awesome, glad the new receiver works with no problems you mounting the center under the TV now?

Thinking about adding this sub...
 
 
http://www.svsound.com/vi....tpl&product_id=14
 

You should also consider this.
 
http://emotiva.com/xref_sub12.shtm

Tweaked


You should also consider this.

http://emotiva.com/xref_sub12.shtm

Definitely Also considering one of these...
 
http://www.edesignaudio.c...41&products_id=618
 

Finished Front setup before Center tweaking and what ever sub we end up with...





Now the "Color" conversation for the walls and Trim begins.... yah...

Nice setup. 
 
Love the Emotiva amp. :)
 
I run Emotiva speakers and a XPA-5 in my media room. 
 
Those subs you linked to are nice also. 

How bout an update on this?  How does it sound before and after hooking up the emotiva amp?  Did the amp really make that big of a difference?  How do the new speakers sound compared to your old ones?  I want a full review here AB.  I feel you're slacking here :P.

I really hate you guys....more and more....i think I need to stop reading this thread :P

OK..........
 
Small update... I got to have some quality time with our new system the past few weeks and hard core music pounding today. One word can only describe it...
 
EPIK
 
Without a doubt we are hearing music like we have never heard it before. For example... At one point we (Off of the iPod) rewound (Yes the Onkyo actually has a FF and RW for the iPod!!! Love it!!) because we thought we heard what could only be described as another instrument we have had either drowned out with the others or what have you... Only to have it happen again and again. We are hearing more details and greater depth instead of say the middle of all the sounds. We now hear them all. Quite an eye opener.
 
We had no idea that we missed enough to now want to see all our movies and listen to all our music like they are new hits!
 
And yes Tweaked. While the Onkyo model we have is quite superior to our HK it replaced... Hands down we can "Hear" acoustically the difference between not having the EMO Amp and having it.
 
Lastly... The Audyssey MultEQ®XT in this Onkyo is simply amazing. It took our odd shaped room and nearly makes it sound like a properly setup room. My wife is so impressed she actually got a little emotional about it.  It has placed us "Inside" the movies and music we enjoy...
 
One other thing. If anyone plans on buying a new HT Receiver. Please please please make sure it is the Marvell Qdeo video chip HDMI version of the high-quality HQV Vida processor and independent ISF calibration for each source. It truly makes all our video look better. We have played with this extensively and compared it with the Bluray and DirectTv and DVD's being plugged in to the TV directly or through the Onkyo. Hands down the Onkyo is the preferred choice. We are used to losing a bit when going through the Receivers. This is the first receiver we have ever owned where everything goes through the receiver now. Even the Wii and Logitech Revue...