Surround sound system

[grego]

"Clipping" basically means that the amp is sending a bad signal to your subwoofer. It can end up frying your sub if it's bad enough. From what I remember, what actually happens, is that the signal is clipped either at the top or bottom, and that results in your subwoofer staying at a position it shouldnt really be stationary in (say, 6mm excurted). That ends up frying the voice coil and ruining the sub, not fun . It's basically caused from pushing an amp too far, whether its an accident, or the amp sucks, etc.

Your volume is "negative" because it is displayed in dB relative to the max. You could think of it has how far below the max you are.

That's all I got for ya though, gl with that .

 

[ekÆsine]

Grego that was an excellent explanation. Great post!

U-Toast if you have the input correct on your ht900 and you still are not getting surround sound from it than probably the settings on your computer are wrong or the game you are playing is not encoded in surround sound. If you are not getting surround sound from your DVD movie being played from the computer to the ht900 than it must be some setting you have to change. I wish I could see what DVD player software you are using and mess around with it's options. try looking in the preferences or setup and see if there is an option to output surround sound instead of stereo.

Are you wanting to replace the ht900 system for a new one or you just want to get new home audio components? and what is your total budget to work with?

Also I would like to know if getting used audio equipment is okay with you. I buy used speakers and new receivers at discount on Ebay. What you should consider is that speakers will last a VERY long time. The foam rings on the woofer can be repaired. If you know what to shop for used speakers can sound many times better than new and also cost MUCH less than new. The ones I have are Pinnacle Classic Gold Towers (these have been said to sound as good as $2000 pair speakers. Bought em for $300). and the Pioneer HPM100 (these were made in 1979 I think so they are as old as I am).

Another important thing to consider is space, is it okay to have big main channel speakers or will you need something small? A small speaker will not reproduce the low end bass response because of their smaller woofer size. So you would have to get a separate subwoofer to fill in. My opinion is that the main speaker should produce most of the bass and only rely on a sub to fill in the very lowest frequencies. your main speakers should be big and not rely totally on a sub.

 

[U-Toast]

1st, i use windvd 6 platinum. Also How can i exactly tell if it is playing surround, Its hard to tell, cuz sound is comming from all the speakers. As for the size of speakers, it doesnt really matter, I am changing around my room, getting a smaller bed, and all to make more space.

For the used audio equip, that is 100% fine. New or used, as long as it works and reproduces good sound, im happy.

In audioHQ, i have my output set to spdif. in windvd, i have it set to spdif also. In audio devices in the control panel, i got it on 5.1

As of my budget.. Well lets say around 600$. (+/-)

Thankyou, i g2g to ups ship something, lol

With that budget what would you recommend? Buying off ebay isnt a prob

 

[U-Toast]

are theater research 1610 amd 1611 speaker system good? they go for 200-400 on ebay, and said to cost like 2000-3000$. Thats pretty impressive.

 

[ekÆsine]

I would like to warn you right about the famous white van scam with fake theatre research speakers. It's true the REAL theartre research speakers are worth thousands, but these are not the real ones. many scammers are selling these out of their vans, SUVs, ect. They make up some story about having an overstock or they ordered too many speakers and need to get rid of them.

have you heard of the saying you get what you pay for? do you really beleive you are getting $4000 speakers for $300? if that was true they could just sell them for $4000 instead of $300. the scammers started posting this crap on Ebay for a while now. The speakers themselves are okay, but I personally would not buy these. please read this info about the scam from people who have been scammed:

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/5401.html

http://www.kfor.com/Global/story.asp?S=1439359&nav=6uyBHwwQ

http://w3.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff99686.htm

goto google and search for theatre research or white van scam and you will get many hits.

 

[U-Toast]

Interesting, lol. Oh well
How would a pc speaker set as the logitech z680 or the klipsch promedia 5.1 ultra compare my my low end home theater system? I could sell it on ebay, and get a set of z680 or the promedia, or what wuld you recommend? A good receiver and speakers in a pricerang of 500-600$ total.

Maybe sticking with pc speaker system is better idea?

Thankyou

 

[ekÆsine]

As for recommendations I think you should not get too excited about surround sound. Just 2 main front speakers are just as good. I think the reason why you hear so much about dolby digital, DTS, THX, 5.1, 6.1, and now 7.1 surround sound is because it's a way for them to sell you more speakers. Do you know why you need "surround sound"? because I don't. Surround effects are supposed to seamlessly blend in with your listening environment. It's supposed make you feel as if the sound is coming from a specific location or it can be used to simulate echos/delays from a large room like a concert, ect. It sounds cool, but it's a waste of money and takes up too much space. I don't think you should get a center channel or surround channels, just the 2 main front speakers are fine.

When it comes to speakers everybody has different preferences. you can only know this if you listen to many speakers and compare the sound. Don't be afraid of going to the store and just listening to each speaker. By doing that I learned I do not like speakers that sound bright. I like them to sound more natural. The receiver I use is the Onkyo 502. The only recomendation I can give is don't buy blows (BOSE). You should try asking and reading here for speaker recommendations, these guys know their stuff. I would recommend reading many of those threads before you ask your questions. you might get your answer:

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/19.html

 

[U-Toast]

How much better would the quality be with a good receiver and some nice speakers compared to my home theater system in a box?

Also keep in mind that i love games, wouldnt surround be good in that case? What do you think of the logitech z680 and the klipsch?

 

[ekÆsine]

Interesting, lol. Oh well
How would a pc speaker set as the logitech z680 or the klipsch promedia 5.1 ultra compare my my low end home theater system?

Maybe sticking with pc speaker system is better idea?

Thankyou

I've listened to the line of PC speakers at the consumer electronic stores like Best Buy and Circuit City. They all sucked in my opinion. your ht900 blows them all away including the higher end logitech and klipsh PC speakers. Make sure you certain before you buy your next speakers. From my experience I rush and buy speakers without really doing research or listening to them long enough. Just make sure YOU are happy with the way they sound and don't be afraid to go back to the store several times to listen to them again. Some people bring in their own music CD's to the store for testing so they know what the song should sound like.

 

[ekÆsine]

I would say compared to the ht900, if you pick the right receiver and main front speakers for under $600 they will completely blow away the ht900. just a simple comparision between the ht900 ($500) and the classic gold towers ($300) they sound about 2-3 times better even if you used a cheap $100 sony stereo receiver. This is contradictory to what I am saying, but I do not recommend the Classic Gold Towers because they are fiarly bright sounding unless that's your preference. if you need surround for your games what I would do is concentrate most of your budget on the receiver and main front speakers first....than spend as little as possible on cheap used center and surround speakers. The surround speakers are not as important as the main fronts. you should get a matching center channel so they sound the same. it is not as important to voice match the surround speakers to your system. also be aware the receiver can change the sound of a speaker. the receiver is very important for that reason. if you listen to a speaker with 2 different amps/ receivers they sound different