Help Tan w/ AV: 1-Whole Hse Speakers

[tanstaaf1]

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I'm not sure I agree with you about things not being homerun in the future.
...
I chose to go with home-run seperates. See my cocoon for how I did it (link in my sig). It's not neccessarily right, but it sure sounds good... I tried to write it from a beginner's perspective - hope it gives you some ideas.

One last thing to make it more confusing for you. If you decide to go with a whole-house system - check out HTD's setup....

First of all, that is an *awesome* "cocoon". Thank you so much for sharing it in such meticulous detail! I already learned about some tools I think I'll buy!

What I meant about the future not being "home run" is that as bandwidth goes up it seems to me the payoff of not having to string separate wires, but to share a common high speed path, goes way up while the importance of physical proximity becomes vanishingly small, I would think. Certainly, the cost savings in wiring would be enormous.

I'll check out the whole house audio setup you link.

BTW, is that "Hanover" as in NH? If so, cool state and town. I expect to spend a lot of time in NH this year as I have a few "art" projects underway there and am expecting to move there eventually (FSP).

 

[tanstaaf1]

I'm trying to imagine reasons to mount speakers other than on opposite sides of a room, at approximate ear level. The only one I can come up with is ease of wiring access (e.g., mounting in the ceiling is easy to access if you have an attic). Are there other considerations?

 

[tanstaaf1]

One last thing to make it more confusing for you. If you decide to go with a whole-house system - check out HTD's setup. Their prices are good, and I've been very pleased with their in-wall speakers.

HTD FAQ on Speaker Selection, Installation, etc.

Nice "newbie" FAQ, too! Reading this is probably going to save me from posting a bunch of pesky questions.

 

[bfisher]

thanks for the compliment - I'm pretty proud of my work :unsure: As for Hanover, that's the street I live on (in NC), but I've been to Hanover NH (been quite a while though).

As for your question,

I'm trying to imagine reasons to mount speakers other than on opposite sides of a room, at approximate ear level.

You would NOT want to do this as it would sound very unnatural. Speakers should never point at each other.

Mount your speakers on the same wall, not opposite walls. Generally you would mount them on the longer wall, but that's not a requirement. Ear level is good, but remember some rooms you sit more than stand... I like about 3-4 feet for in-walls in most rooms but it doesn't always look right so you have to go higher at times. Also, don't space them too far apart or you'll lose the stereo imaging. Try to visualize an equilateral triangle between the speakers and your "normal" position in a room.

Hope these tips help. They are not hard rules, but good ideas to help you get the best sound.

 

[TCassio]

I am using the SONOS system. The system can have upto 32 zones that connect together together via a wireless mesh network (Sonosnet). Each zone palyer has a 50 watt per channel amp, line in and lin out, and speaker terminals. Comming soon is a ZP80 which is minus the 50 watt amp but has digital outputs. It has a bueatiful wireless handheld control that allows full control of the entire system There is a desktop controller which is run on any PC which has the same capabilities of the Handheld. I currently have a 3 zone setup. I can play a ripped cd in one zone, Internet radio in another zone, and Sirius sat radio (via line in on one zone player) thru my 3rd zone, all at the same time. At least 1 zoneplay needs to be connected to your ethernet network to access to access internet radio and your ripped music. I also use a NAS to store my music. This allows the system to run without a pc being on. Each zone player is $500, the handheld controller is $400. The sell bundles at a reduced price. 2 zone players and a handheld controller for $1200. The soon to be released ZP80 will sell for $369. All in all, I am very happy with my system.

 

[tanstaaf1]

...As for your question,

I'm trying to imagine reasons to mount speakers other than on opposite sides of a room, at approximate ear level.

You would NOT want to do this as it would sound very unnatural. Speakers should never point at each other.

Mount your speakers on the same wall, not opposite walls....

What about in larger zones...especially larger rooms...where you might put in more than 2 speakers? If you had a really long wall (I do) would you try going left right left right ... I'd think so.

Is there any solid reason to mount in ceilings other than for convenience? I understand you lose the stereo that way, too.

Re: the htd.com speakers... You bought, what? In wall? The prices on the complete home theatre systems seem too good to believe if those speakers are really comparable to, say, paradigm speakers (I don't know much about speakers except I like my ancient Bose (but not suitable for HT) and I liked the Paradigm setup I used to have (except the subwoofer...which was always either too loud or too quiet) -- I think they were "Reference" series. If anyone can speak really highly of these HTD larger speakers, I'm sorely tempted to buy a set at 1999.

Evaluating HT systems in person was tough enough. Buying something I've never heard, without even a published review, seems a little scary ... but that is a sweet price if they are actually pretty good. I note the 30 day return policy.

 

[bfisher]

What about in larger zones...especially larger rooms...where you might put in more than 2 speakers? If you had a really long wall (I do) would you try going left right left right ... I'd think so.

Great question, and I'm not sure the answer. My concern of LRLR would be what happens when you are between the RL combo... might sound funny. Then again, for music, most people couldn't tell the difference between RL and LR.

Is there any solid reason to mount in ceilings other than for convenience? I understand you lose the stereo that way, too.

Convenience... no other reason that I know of.

Re: the htd.com speakers... You bought, what? In wall? The prices on the complete home theatre systems seem too good to believe if those speakers are really comparable to... If anyone can speak really highly of these HTD larger speakers, I'm sorely tempted to buy a set at 1999.

I heard them when I visited their facility in Dallas, but I wasn't really considering buying them so I didn't put them through a good workout. It's been too long to remember anything specific about them - but I remember that they sounded impressive.

I purchased in-walls and outside speakers from them. I have been very pleased with these speakers... no regrets. Their 30 day return policy is quite good - includes return shipping (or at least most of it) too if I remember right! If I was building a theater now (I already have one using Definitive Tech speakers), I would seriously consider these.

 

[pkoslow]

What about in larger zones...especially larger rooms...where you might put in more than 2 speakers? If you had a really long wall (I do) would you try going left right left right ... I'd think so.

For large rooms you may consider running all the speakers in mono and spacing them evenly throughout the room as required for sound coverage (wall or ceiling mount).

There are also single speakers that can provide stereo. These are produced by several manufacturers and have a dual voice coil woofer and two separate tweeters for left and right audio signal. A single speaker can't produce good stereo separation, but might be something worth looking at.

If this large room will be used for casual listening (background music), I'd recommend installing ceiling speakers spaced on a grid for good coverage run either in mono (or the stereo speakers mentioned above). Ceiling mount speakers will be less obtrusive visually and tend to work better in a large room or open floor plan than in-wall speakers which may point at each other. The human ear can pick up delay in a large room if you're between two wall mount speakers and you're closer to one than the other.

Be aware that you don't have to use all ceiling or all in-wall, or all floor standing speakers. Mix them up and use where best suited. Free standing or high quality in-wall speakers work best for your media room(s). Stereo in-wall speakers (left & right) for enclosed rooms that are small enough to only require one pair of speakers. For large rooms or open floor plans requiring more than one pair of speakers, multiple ceiling speakers spaced around evenly for good coverage work well.

Large "zones" can be run in mono and most distributed audio systems like the Russound stuff will allow you to connect more than one keypad to a single zone. This works well if you have an open floor plan with for example: Kitchen, Dining Room, Family Room. Each room can contain a keypad for control, but making changes to source or volume in one room will affect the other two rooms too.

Paul

 

[jwilson56]

Well for my 5 zone system I kinda took the 'sit and listen' approach to my music. I rarely use it for background music per say. So I have each zone setup more conventional. For the den I used some nice bookshelf speakers to get as good of quality as I could afford (as I am in there a lot). For my bedroom I placed the speakers for best listening while laying in bed (where I use my Axim X5 to control and select tracks). For the kitchen they are placed on opposite walls (not much choice for me in there) but at an ideal spot while washing dishes (yes we share that chore... well sometimes I do it.. lol). The home theatre in the living room is where I have my best speakers (Polk Audio) and I usually recline on my Lazyboy couch and turn the lights down and just sit and relax while I listen to some Enigma, Kitaro or Pink Floyd.

So its really up to individual taste and wallet on how you want to do it. All I can say is that in each zone (even the patio) I like to think that I didn't sacrafice quality and can drive 200 watts RMS so there is plenty of 'headroom' for a dynamic listening experience.

John

 

[jay]

Speakers-only reply.
I have 18 of these around the vacation home. Great sound!
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/tc265i/