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seating

The closest seat to the screen should be at least 1 times the screen width away, and most prefer 1.5 times the screen width. (e.g., 96" wide screen >=12' for first row).

Acoustics experts recommend a minimum volume of at least 2500 cubic feet for any room in which high quality music reproduction is intended. For more info on room size and shape re acoustics, see Acoustics section below.

chairs

With 12 feet width, can barely squeeze in 4 seats in a row. But some of the larger seats in a curved configuration will be too wide for even a 15ft width.

24" is about minimum for an aisle -- 27" is better. Even with one aisle, generally don't want seat up against wall. So generally need a total of at least 50" for aisle and other room off the wall.

Example: typical HT room is 14'4" wide = 172". Minus 50" for a tight aisle and room off the wall leaves 122" for seating.

Options are:

  • 13175: The IOIOOIOI configuration is 118"; The IOVOOVOI configuration is 124.5"

The 13175 are comfort rest recliners. This means that the footrest is a separate plate, and when you recline there is another plate comes up to close the gap between the seat and the footrest.

  • 12000: The IOIOOIOI configuration is 126"; The IOVOOVOI configuration is 138"

rsh likes the 12000 group better, and if you can fit it recommends it over 13175: The 12000s are chases. Many people prefer chase design where the footrest is a continuation of the seat. 12000s also have a wider armrest allowing to easily share it with the person seating next to you (6” wide vs. 4.75” on the 13175).

  • 45003: very popular. the EXACT same chair as the 90s except for the back cushioning "pillow; two bonuses – storage compartments (on the wedged armrests only) and silver aluminum cup holder inserts. The 090 has a flatter back and when you recline and rest you head on the cushion your will be looking at the top of the screen if not ceiling especially if your screen is low mounted (many folks including myself have this space constraint because the theaters are build in the basements with relatively low ceilings). The shape of the 45003 back in the reclining position will provide additional head support, so you will be looking at the screen (similar to putting a pillow in between your head and the back cushion). (rtheaters.com and carolina furniture carries these)
  • 45004: narrower than 45003. (like old 088s?)
  • fully reclined needs 69" (5.75) plus 1-2 feet infront of reclined seat to get out.

taller people: 090 based chairs: 073, 078, 090, 45003, etc... These are 41" tall.

shorter people: The 088s, 086s and 096 are narrower for tighter spaces and fit well for folks who are 5'8" or smaller although many at 6' find them fine.

Berkline from Roman @ www.rtheaters.com

http://www.salamanderdesigns.com/seating/index.jsp

http://www.pullmanfurnituremfg.com/

http://fortresseating.com/products/theater/index.html

http://sofasplus.com/

riser

not attached to the wall or floor

usually at least 7' deep to hold the chair and have room in front to recline, plus at least 1-3 feet behind the chair so it isn't against the back wall.

riser to act as a Bass trap: http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/do-it-yourself-diy-topics/multifunction-theater-seat-riser

height of riser:

First, take the following measurements in the same increment (e.g. inches):

S=Floor to screen bottom

H1=Height of seated front row viewers top of head (consider that they may often be reclined)

E1=Height of seated rear row viewers eyes (no riser)

D1=Screen to front row viewers eyes

D2=Screen to back row viewers eyes

Then, plug them into these calculations:

H1-S=V1

V1/D1=R

R*D2=V2

V2+S=E2

E2-E1=Riser height

V1=Vertical 1, V2=Vertical 2, E2=Back row eye level (with riser).

This formula uses a single height viewer in both rows. If you think you'll have taller people in front and shorter people in back, you might want to adjust the numbers slightly to compensate. You will probably come up with a number that seems too high. It is not. This number is the minimum riser height that will allow a person seated in the back row to see the entire screen, over the head of a person seated directly in front of them. Anything less, and some of the screen will be blocked.

construction

wiring

vendors

http://www.Laner.com

whole house surge protector

http://www.smarthome.com/4870.html, http://www.panamax.com/products.cfm?group=25&sec=detail&id=16&ly=v

wiring soundproof

cover all electrical boxes with acoustical caulk

Never put outlets back to back, always put them in separate stud cavities 2. Seal the outlets well. Seal quality around the outlet is critical. 3. If you like, you can add mass to the outlet in the form of a layer of some common material, such as caulking. 4. Use insulation in the wall (something you should do if you care about sound isolation anyway). Insulation helps absorb sound as it travels from one outlet box to another.

For a very comprehensive study on the effect of outlet boxes, see http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/fulltext/ir772/ir772.pdf, one of myriad reports offered by Canada’s prolific and superb NRC.

low volt

use pass through wall plates instead of binding posts. With the use of a pass through plate, you only have two termination points per speaker, one at the binding posts of the receiver or amplifier and one at the binding posts of the speaker.

conduit

get 3" conduit from local electronics warehouse supply -- cheaper than smarthome.

run at least a four inch PVC pipe from your equipment rack to the location of the video projector. Video cables are large. This will allow you to pull as many wires as you need to your projector.

run at least 3/4 conduit pipe (prefer plastic over metal -- what's a good one?) to any location where you might need audio, video, Ethernet or other low voltage cable in the future.

Carlon 1 1/2" or 2" Resigard.

star ceiling

http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/Ceiling.htm


other

After you have pulled all of your wire, make sure you place wire metal protector plates (see picture below) when ever your wire is less than 1 1/4 inches from the edge of the stud. This will prevent you from accidentally piercing a cable.

use high quality dimmer. Cheap dimmers can introduce hum and buzz into the system.

place of a 15 amp outlet in the floor at the position of the chairs for motorized chairs.

If you use a double drywall system, make sure you use adjustable depth outlet boxes that you can get from Menards. These boxes will screw out about three inches. Note that they only make single and double gang adjustable depth boxes.

If you need to place a outlet box in the corner wall of a room with double drywall, you must make sure you set the outlet box out from the side wall so it will not be in the way of the drywall.

drywall

bag and tape your pre-wire before sheet rocking and finishing


Glue 1/4" thick 1" wide felt to the floor for the drywall to rest upon around the perimeter of the room (see next two pictures). You cannot leave a gap like normal, or sound will escape under the walls.

sound isolation/sound proofing

double drywall + Green Glue

avsforum consensus is that using green glue between two sheets of drywall is the best isolation method in terms of ease of installation, relatively reasonable cost and effectiveness. There may be some benefit to using different thicknesses of DD. See detailed instructions are on the green glue website.

Downside is that many contractors don't understand DD+GG and it adds to wall thickness, taking away room width and ceiling height.


Older method was to use 1/2" Sound Deadening Board (Celotex) as a dampening agent between layers of sheetrock, many now specify Green Glue. Also, Quiet Solution's products, such as QuietRock 525 and 545, although relatively expensive, are good for when the highest order of soundproofing is required.

framing, structural

  • steel studs a little better than wood
  • PAC-Intl RSIC Clips (http://www.pac-intl.com/rsic.htm better than isomax)
  • various products from Zero International
  • RotoFast connectors. Very secure.

doors

  • exterior door with weatherstripping (compression seals on three sides)
  • Zero International automatic door bottom.

floors

Acoustik mat (or stall mats, commonly used in horse stall barns, as an alternative to acoustic mat. A 3/4" 4'X6' piece is priced at $39.90 at Tractor Supply Company (TSC) stores)

Pink fiberglass, Mineral wool (Roxul), or recycled blue jeans for insulation in framing/soffits/joists

  • ultratouch recycled jean insulation may be even better and safer
  • Mineral wool may be ever so slightly better than fiberglass (for sound isolation or for sound absorption) but probably not noticeable and certainly not worth the extra cost and hassle. Just use typical pink fiberglass in walls and in joists. Look to drywall and green glue for sound isolation.
  • although mineral wool is good as a fire stop.
  • ROXUL SAFE AND SOUND IS THE SAME AS FLEXBATT BUT COSTS MORE!!! This info came direct from a Roxul employee. The difference is some kind of fire insurance plan that Safe and Sound carries when used on an ENTIRE house.
  • Sources for Roxul:
    • http://sensiblesoundsolutions.com/
    • (Capitol Bldg. Sup.(Vienna) 431 Mill St NE (703)281-5151 8429 Euclid AveMANASSAS PARK (703)631-6633 Carlos 16" x 3" bag of 64 sq feet = 28.48/bag

or

    • Global Building Supply (703) 779-2030 (USG Thermafiber: 1 1/2x24" 11/2x16" (84sqft = 25.50) ; Roxul SAB: 2"x24" 4"x24" (24sq ft = 20.40 bg). Also has Quietrock

drywall T-square to get a straight square edge and a utility knife electric carving knife table saw or a skillsaw will cut the stuff and give you nice clean edges. You can even clamp a straight-edge to the 6 lb. (705) Depending on the throat depth BAND SAWS work GREAT!

stanley jet saw (or sharptooth saw) is best to cut insulation

drywall

  • thicker is better
  • seal every seam and crack (btw sheets, wall and floor/ceiling, elec boxes) with flexible/acoustic/50 year caulk.
  • The QR545 THX product is a drywall alternative. It is very heavy and cannot be cut with the standard score and break method ... a saw is required. The downside (other than weight) is the care you must take in its installation. Since you will not be using multiple layers, staggering the seams, you must fit each sheet very closely, make certain to butter the edges with QR's sealant, and then seal any remaining gaps in seams, joints, and corners. Quiet rock 1/2 = $48, 5/8 = $92?
  • Glue 1/4" thick 1" wide felt to the floor for the drywall to rest upon around the perimeter of the room. You cannot leave a gap like normal, or sound will escape under the walls.
  • for elec boxes: caulk for an air tight seal, keep boxes out of common cavities, and have insulation in the cavities.
  • Install perimeter gasket (looks and smells like sidewalk rubber expansion joints) to the wall and ceiling perimeters. You will need to apply panel adhesive to the back of the gasket and nail it up with paneling nails.

ceiling

The preferred ceiling resilient mounts are

1. Spring ceiling hangers (e.g. Kinetics ICW @ $35/each!, Robert Bost Associates )

2. Modern sound clips like ISOMAX or RSIC

3. Resilient Channel (considerably less recommended)

  • put GG and drywall (or whatever) up against the existing floor. Just rought-cut/score some strips, GG/screw them in, and caulk the edges. This damps the floor and that will help alot (hardwood floors often have nails/staples that come through the subfloor that make this not possible).
  • layers of 3" Roxul Safe'N'Sound in the ceiling joists
  • A gap of around 3/16" at the ceiling perimeter of drywall is filled with OSI SC-175 acoustical sealant.
  • install soffits on top of main drywall for room.
  • skip recessed lights in ceiling and use in the soffits instead or sconces on walls


tests of methods

http://www.bobgolds.com/AbsorptionCoefficients.htm

http://www.conservaenergia.com/empresas/roxul/fire_and_noise.htm (use of Roxul in various applications)

http://www.greengluecompany.com/transmissionLossTests.php

http://www.greengluecompany.com/understandingTripleLeaf.php

http://www.greengluecompany.com/insulationCommonWall.php

http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/pages/STC%20Chart.htm

Other products

  • Acoustik Mat for floors

Vendors

http://www.acousticalsolutions.com (source for green glue and other stuff)

http://www.professionalacousticsco.com/

http://www.acousticalsurfaces.com/


misc isolation info

naima.org/pages/resources/library/index/acu.html

Home Depot sells 2 by 4 foot ceiling tiles made from rigid fiberglass. Peel off the white plastic facing and you have 5/8 inch thick rigid fiberglass. Buy four of them (< $20) and you can stack them adjacent to be a few inches thick.

Floor

Tile, concrete and hardwood floors are strong reflectors. concrete can be covered with at least 3/4 inch OSB board with an 3/8 inch Owens Corning dampening sheet placed beneath it.

Absorb some direct floor reflection with thick, plush pile carpet with high wool content (not nylon with a rubber backing) and a thick 100 ounce felt padding. This will increase the low frequency absorption over nylon rubber backed carpet. This is especially good for downward firing subwoofers.

If you want to build theater seating make sure you isolate the frame from the existing floor with isolation blocks or neoprene pads. Use MDF, because it resonates better than plywood.

?a thick pad called Healthier Choice?

Delta subfloor system is well recommended. Dricore also (more expensive, thicker)

stairs

building codes for stairs

HVAC

soundproofing ducts

lined duct board is better than alternatives.

1. Use lined/insulated ductwork. Lined ductwork contains sound absorbing material inside the duct to help destroy sound as it bounces it ways down the “tunnel” created by the duct. Also consider "flex duct" which is flexible and insulated. INSULATION MUST BE INSIDE THE DUCT TO BE EFFECTIVE IN THIS MANNER.

2. Long, complex paths are ideal. Ideally the duct path from where you will be making some noise to where you need it to be quiet would contain bends and be as long as possible. This creates a more complex path for the sound to travel, gives the duct liner more distance/time to do its work. 90 or 180 degree bends in lined duct can be helpful as they force airborne sound to interact with the duct liner more extensively. Flex ducts within a joist cavity should at least have a serpentine "S" shape.

3. Flex duct can be useful. Use flexible duct, but only in areas where the duct will not be exposed to direct sound. Flexible duct over some part of the path will break the structural path that the duct provides. Ducts can radiate sound traveling through the air they contain, but they can also radiate sound that they carry in their thin metal shells.

4. Use soffits to cover ductwork exposed to sound. If ductwork has to be exposed to sound, it is very preferable to cover it with a soffit. If there is no way to avoid having ductwork exposed to direct sound, round duct will perform better than rectangular duct, and coating the duct with a viscoelastic material can also help. Thin metal ducts are little barrier to airborne sound, and therefore they should be exposed as little as possible

5. coat metal ducts with QuietCoat damping compound

also consider: http://www.b-quiet.com/ultimate.html (on the inside? or outside of ducts?)

misc

size the volume of the air (cfm) supplied according to the room size and heat generated, but size the system so that the velocity of air is less than 250 feet per minute (fpm) at the register.

get Nashua 2" silver foil duct tape labeled "UL-181" from Home Depot. Lowes didn't have it. That tape is code approved for metal duct and flex duct. Most of the other rolls of tape you find at the home center aren't allowed per code.


insulated/acoustical flex-duct and "snaked" them down inside the stud cavity - i.e., multiple turns.

Return 1: The high return at the back of the theater I used 8" insulated flex-duct and, again, snaked it. The 8" duct goes into a 6" collar/adapter on the main return. This was designed to reduce the "whooshing" sound.

Return 2: I built a custom MDF "muffler" that fit inside the stud cavity. The "muffler" runs from the bottom of the stud cavity to the top and is 5" deep. Along the front face and back faces of the MDF I alternated 2" horizontal strips of MDF. So the air / sound has to go through that obstacle course to get out of / into the theater. Hopefully the lame ASCII diagram below illustrates what I mean.

| |--> out to return |- | | -| |- | | -| |- |


  • furnace etc. far away. Isolate if nearby.
  • Use dedicated sends and returns if possible.
  • intake and outtake vents away from the listeners and speakers.
  • Use duct liner board, or round metal ducts lined with glass fiber.
  • Use plenum silencer (near the fan discharge) a duct-lined box that's larger than the duct that feeds it. It's like a car muffler, only bigger. It has a vent supplying air at one end and an output, which then feeds the room, at the other.
  • Add right-angle bends
  • Use isolation hangers to suspend ductwork.
  • Use large, non-tympanic air-terminal diffusers. Avoid multilouvered vents.
  • Apply liberal amounts of acoustic caulking to seal penetrations made to the structure.
  • more ducts move more air more slowly) will create less noise in the system. We used ducts that consistently got larger or broke off into multiple outputs so that more air could travel through them with less velocity.
  • use an Acoustical flex duct (not just your HD flex duct) give it some bends

use lined ducts and have at least 4 90 degree turns in the ducts between the room and the air handler (with NO other trunks).

also, have the HVAC contractor properly figure the load for the room (both sensible and latent heat) ... you'll be surprised at numbers reaching a ton to a ton and a half ... , oversize the ducts and diffusors (supply and return). The contractor should calculate the CFM and then size the diffusors so the velocity at the diffusor is not more than 250 FPM. The room must have both supplies and returns.

If the front of your equipment rack is open, or ventilated, draw the return air through the rear or build in a false top in the rack. That keeps the return grille (the source of most return air noise, because the air velocity is highest there) out of the room. It may even help in cooling your equipment. Might add some heat load to the system, but shouldn't be anything it can't handle, or give your guy the wattage rating of all of your equipment. do this where we have a closet with a ventilated door. Keeps the ugly return air grilles out of site, and lowers air noise.


add the ducting for the basement off of the main trunkline and install Arzel e-z slide dampers into each run. Then you run all tubing back to control board and zone however you want.

paint the A/C boots a flat black

8 people throw off about 3.6k btus. typical HT equipment throws off another 3-5k btus.

Return(s) should be located high and in the rear - ideally, close to the projector heat discharge. A low return will extract the coldest air in the room, not the hot air that accumulates at the ceiling.

Diffusors should be Lenticular, slotted or bar type (www.nailor.com) and located in such a manner as to avoid drafts directly into seating locations. We typically will use the soffit as a duct chase to avoid direct penetration of the drywall barrier.

I created a passive return lined with ductboard and a sound baffle in my riser. This in turn empties into an equipment room where there is a return air feed for the AC/Heat unit.

put returns high, near heat source (projector, equip rack)

Air flow should be measured using an airflow meter/hood. Any HVAC contractor worth a damn will have one and will use it as part of their job. Unfortunately, there's tons of hacks out there which don't... Demand that it be part of the WRITTEN contract. No airflow & balancing in the contract = find another contractor.

products, other links

duct muffler: http://www.espenergy.com/duct_muffler.htm

EWC Controls: http://www.ewccontrols.com/

Zone controller: http://acforsale.com/online/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=ncm-300

http://www.audubonsupply.com/

http://www.casco-flex.com/Commercial/ProductSilentflex.htm (recommended)

http://www.flexmasterusa.com/pg/fdpp.php

Here is a piece of software that will enable you to do the load calc. on your own. http://www.qualityplans.com/hvaccalc.htm

http://www.jplflex.com/products/products.asp?CategoryID=1 acoustical louvers?

ceiling

Architectural Inspirations wall paper on his theater room and with the uplighting in the soffits, had to be the most impressive ceiling I have ever seen in a home theater. paintable vinyl wallcovering. Its like 12 bucks a roll at lowes

drilling in joists

Holes should be made in the middle 3rd of the SPAN and they should be located in (or near) the centre of the joist's HEIGHT. In the middle of the span, the top and bottom of the joist are carrying compression and tension with the middle of the height carrying next to nothing. As you approach the ends of the span, the top and bottom of the joist carry less compression and tension, but the middle (height) of the joist carries more shear force.

acoustic treatment

General

  • add sound absorbing material (at least 3-4" thick) to front wall.
  • add sound absorbing material or diffusers to center portion of rear wall
  • "use reflecting or scattering surfaces on walls opposite surround speakers to enhance envelopment" and help avoid flutter echoes.
  • but, no need to absorb side wall first reflection points (yes, contrary to conventional wisdom - people actually prefer side wall reflections: See Toole, Sound Reproduction).


  • The pad beneath a carpet contributes to its sound-absorbing ability. While your first considerations should be durability and comfort, an "open-cell" pad such as foam rubber will absorb more sound than a "closed-cell" pad.

"broadband" = effective down to 250 Hz or even lower, which requires using materials at least three, usually four, inches thick

bass trap basics: http://www.readyacoustics.com/index.php?go=acoustics-advice.what-is-a-bass-trap

room size/shape

Not worth the effort trying to worry about room modes or theoretical sweet spots (e.g., that the worst shape is a cube having all three dimensions the same; next worst is rectangle with sides that are multiples (e.g., 7x14x21) that the center of the room is an acoustic null) because the effective room size and sweet spots are often a function of how the walls are built and what is behind the walls and whether there are openings in the room. Much effort spent modeling will be for naught as the room will have various low bass issues anyway and the main way to deal with those are by moving the sub(s) around, adding additional sub(s), or adding bass traps.

speaker placement

  • front speakers are best with tweeter at ear level (~20" seat height + ~25-30" to ears = total 45-50" from the floor) (tweeter of the center channel should not be more than 2' higher or lower than the height of the tweeters for the L/R channels -- ideally behind a acoustically transparent screen).
  • surround speakers at the best height—about two feet above the listening position (63-80" from floor), with the null zone of bipolar speakers pointed at the ears of the listeners.

Any time you put a speaker into a wall or cabinet that wasn't designed to be used that way, you'll seriously impact the frequency response.

angles, separation

  • dolby digital: L-R Speakers are at 60 degree angle from each other, centre channel in the middle

and surround speakers are at 110 degrees on either side of listening position.

  • In blind listening tests the preferred angle of separation, with listener at the apex, turns out to be 72°. http://www.immediasound.com/Speaker_set-up.htm This means, if you are sitting 10' away from the plane of the LR speakers, the LR speakers should be 14 feet apart. !

center channel

Acoustically transparent screen is much better as allows center channel behind screen and vertical placement of center channel. (but confirm tweeter is designed for vertical placement?) http://www.audioholics.com/education/loudspeaker-basics/vertical-vs-horizontal-speaker-designs

rear placement

traditional Dolby placement is far apart.

But "prime recommendation for consumers using components with THX Ultra2 Certification and looking for a single speaker arrangement for cinema and music is the following: two dipole speakers to the side and two direct radiators in the back touching side by side with the ASA circuit engaged at a distance less than one foot. (Figure 2). The ASA circuit takes the single back channel signal and using the two speakers makes it sound like one timbrally correct wall-to-wall sound. In THX cinema mode, the balance is as recorded. In THX Music mode, the sound is biased toward the back to mimic the ITU recommendations for 5.1 speaker placement in music recording situations."

sub placement

wire in subs at a minimum 4 points. That way you have some options in placing 1 or 2 or more subs in the room.

Toole, Sound Reproduction has lots of info on sub positions. Two subs are best and usually half way down the side walls works well, although it varies depending on the room and listening positions.

Two subwoofers are easier to place and result in a flatter frequency response in almost all situations. If you have two subwoofers, corner placement behind the main speakers is most frequently the best placement if you use the subwoofers in stereo. If the subwoofers are only used in mono and for HT then placing the subwoofers mid way along opposite walls will result in the flattest frequency response. In odd shaped rooms nonsymmetrical placement is usually best, but this may not be practical for other reasons. When we evaluate rooms with odd shapes we will note where theoretically the second subwoofer should be placed if it is not in the corners behind the main speakers.

When placing two subwoofers in adjacent corners they should be placed slightly differently. In other words, there should be a difference in their distance from the rear to side wall for each subwoofer, and their should be a difference in these dimensions and the other subwoofer. The reason for this is to avoid exciting one particular mode with both subwoofers. Also the subwoofers should be angled and again not symmetrically. If you can afford a second matching subwoofer, this is generally preferred to a single more expensive subwoofer. You will almost always achieve a flatter frequency response and a more realistic overall integration with the main system.

Two subs are best; usually not in corners or cabinets. centered on opposite walls (either front and back or the side walls) usually works well.

The second aspect of setting up a subwoofer is getting the phase correct. Getting the subwoofer in phase can be a little tricky for a novice. The best way is to use a test tone at the crossover frequency of the subwoofer. Play this tone and adjust the phase so that the tone is the loudest at the listening position. Using an SPL meter can be a great help here. When it is at the loudest the subwoofer is in phase at that frequency at the listening position. It is only in phase for that frequency and at the listening position, but this is subjectively the most critical area.

first reflections

While the consensus is that there should be some absorption in a room, there are two schools of thought on whether one should try to absorb first reflections:

1) Don't treat first reflections: See Toole, Sound Reproduction for info that you don't need to treat first reflections. Toole's chapters 6 and 7 and in many places throughout the whole book, explain that when tested and asked in controlled experiments, people prefer early reflections for music and early reflections help speech intelligibilty. having the first reflections give the benefit of a sense of envelopment and broader spatial imaging (and low IACC) that listeners in Toole's experiments prefer from first lateral reflections.

Of course, you do still want absorption in the room primarily to avoid flutter echoes. But so long as reflections are not so delayed that they start to resemble echoes, people prefer them.

2) The old conventional wisdom, but on the wane (especially among those who have read Toole's book), is that you should treat first reflections.

Possible good reasons to absorb first reflections are:

  • speakers with poor off-axis repsonse may benefit from first reflection absorption. That is, if your front speakers send out the equivalent of acoustic flatulence to the side to be reflected off the walls, then you probably don't want that acoustic flatulence to be bounced back to you, so you might as well absorb it.
  • if you are a sound engineer and want to hear only the direct sound, including the direct sound from the surround speakers and don't want to be distracted by the ambiance and envelopment created by the reflections, then you should absorb them.

Apart from those good reasons to absorb first reflections, some people maintain that absorbing first reflections helps imaging. This is inconsistent with Toole's experiments, however.

If you do want to absorb first reflections, keep in mind that the traditional method of using 2" absorbers covered with GOM are actually reflecting and diffusing quite a bit rather than acting as good broadband absorbers. Because they are only 2" thick, the lower frequencies are mostly being reflected; and while GOM is often thought of as acoustically transparent, Toole has tests that show that GOM FR701 it is actually quite reflective of higher frequencies, especially at the grazing angles that would be present on side wall first reflections (p. 483, showing that uncovered fiberglass attenuates 6k-20k Hz about 25-40db while fiberglass covered with GOM FR701 only attenuates that same range ~12-20db.)

So 2" side wall "absorbers" are actually reflecting much of the low and high frequencies and absorbing mostly in the midrange.

If you want to do so, this program is helpful for modeling the first reflections: http://www.kulkarnicorp.com/frv1.02.zip

(If you get an error about missing dlls, you can resolve that issue here: http://www.toymaker.info/Games/html/d3dx_dlls.html

Also see generally: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=822273&highlight=calculate+first+order

OR, have a friend slide a mirror along the walls around the home theater while you sit in the listening position. Mark the point on the walls where you see each speaker's reflection. These are the primary (first) reflection areas. If the distance between you, the mark on the wall, and the speaker is less than 40 feet, there's a good chance you'll want some form of acoustic treatment at that mark.

Front Wall/Acoustically transparent screen

use 3-4" thick instead of 1-2" thick absorption for the front wall. In-wall front speakers won't create any early reflections from the front wall, but absorbing anything which might bounce around behind your AT screen is a good idea, as is a pretty "dead" front wall in general.

If you are using an "acoustically transparent" microperforated projection screen in front of speakers, this can bounce significant high frequency energy toward the front wall, which will reverberate between screen and front wall if not absorbed. In this case, front wall treatment is mandatory, IMHO.

If the screen is not micro-perforated, then it's not worth putting fiberglass behind. The solid screen would reflect frequencies above a few hundred hertz. But below this frequency, the absorption ability of even 3 inches of fiberglass falls off significantly.

sound absorbers

bottom of soffits is a good place to have absorption.

the way in which it is mounted which makes a huge difference in bass absorption. If absorbers are spaced away from the wall, the extra depth provides a very effective way to absorb the longer, low-frequency wavelengths. Ditto for corner mounting, which gives a continuous range of depths.

if mounted against a wall: 1” acoustical panels only work down to 1000Hz which is above most of the primary vocal frequencies and thus just about useless in affecting vocal intelligibility. Two inch material gets down to 500Hz or so and 4” down to 250Hz.

some use 705 everywhere even though it's a tiny bit less absorbent at the highest frequencies. His reason is because 705 is easier to work with and looks better (corners better defined, etc.) and is easier to spray-glue fabric to. But in theory you are correct that 703 has a small advantage over 705 when the goal is to absorb first reflections.

Mineral wool functions pretty much the same as rigid fiberglass and may be cheaper in some areas. See http://www.bobgolds.com/AbsorptionCoefficients.htm (e.g., 64 sq feet of 3" batts of mineral wool = 28.48/bag at a local building supply) Might want to just get which ever is cheaper, or which ever comes in the right sizes so as to minimize cutting.

A thick enough layer of spray glue could create some high frequency reflection. I'd avoid glue if possible, or confine it to the edges.

references: www.ethanwiner.com/articles.html

sub treatment/bass traps

EQ treatment of bass problems

All subs are the same with respect to room mode problems, except that some (more expensive ones) come with built-in equalizers to correct room mode problems. They have a microphone which "listens" to the sub from your seating position.

You can also buy a $100 Behringer Feedback Destroyer which accomplishes the same thing, but you have to also buy a $50 microphone, external sound card (~$80), and microphone preamp (~$60) to connect to your notebook computer. You then use the free program Room EQ Wizard.


bass traps

  • Try buying two bags of fiberglass batts, and put the bags (unopened) in the back corners of your room. That'll run you all of $70, and will let you listen to the effect of some simple bass traps. If you notice improvement, you can start working a real treatment plan. (Thanks to Ethan from RealTraps for that idea!)
  • Use 6lb per cubic foot compressed fiber glass boards between floor joists to provide a large bass trap. ?!?!?!
  • RealTraps is @ 45 degrees across a corner or at a tri-corner. They can be mounted other places but will not yield the bass absorbtion in that confiburation.
  • Standard 703 will also yield good bass trapping when placed @ 45 degrees across a corner.
  • http://www.averagejoeavreviews.com/reviews/traps/0001gikacoustics/review.htm
  • How much/many bass traps: do an RT60 calc: Buy and read How to Build A Small Budget Recording Studio From Scratch : With 12 Tested Designs by Michael Shea and Alton Everest. It's 350 pages, but 300 of those pages are very very similar to 25 of them (i.e. plans 2 through 12 are a lot like plan 1). It's 12 great examples of how to do RT60 calcs -- there's no easier way to learn RT60 calcs I've ever read.

Then use the values at http://www.bobgolds.com/AbsorptionCoefficients.htm and http://www.bobgolds.com/Sabin.htm to plug into your spreadsheet.

more info: http://forum.studiotips.com/viewtopic.php?t=1414 http://forum.studiotips.com/viewforum.php?f=27 http://forum.studiotips.com/viewtopic.php?t=2391

  • be real careful about bass traps. Most of them do nothing in the 80Hz and below range ... the first three or four (and most audible) axial modes in the typical room are below 80Hz. Most bass traps are also serious absorbers at all frequencies above 120Hz and can result in over absorption, reduction of room reverberation way below what you'd want, and you can find yourself needing to get more powerful amps and then speakers that can handle the addition power.
  • Big sofas make great bass traps -- esp. along a wall or corner.

retail bass traps

2x4 panels across a corner:

  • ATS 4" 120/pr
  • GIK 242 2" 110/pr (somes in 3s)
  • GIK 244 4" 130/pr
  • GIK Monster 6" 240/pr
  • Real Minitraps 3 1/4" 400/pair
  • Real mondo Traps 4" (4'9" tall): 600-700/pair (!)
  • Ready Bass 4" : 259/three
  • Ready subbass 6" : 249/pair
  • Acoustimac 4" 170/pair

Super chunk style:


Triangles/bikinis:

  • Real Tri-Corners (32x32x32x?) : 249/each
  • 8th nerve triangle (14x14x14x2 : 175/each

Unique:

  • GIK Pillar Bass Trap (12"x12"?) 290/each
  • Acoustic science SubTrap 438/each
  • Acoustic Science Tube traps 9"x4' 400/each and up for bigger
  • Acoustic Science tower Trap 14"x78" 832!/each

RealTraps recommends

For most rooms, four MiniTraps mounted straddling wall-wall corners is a reasonable minimum to make a meaningful improvement. As you add more MiniTraps, or instead use MondoTraps, the low end becomes progressively flatter and tighter sounding. For small rooms - say, up to 10 by 16 feet - eight MiniTraps or MondoTraps will give excellent results. Larger rooms benefit from even more. When an accurate low frequency response is more important than cost, even 16 or more MiniTraps or MondoTraps is not too many.

The very best results are achieved with a mix of MondoTraps, MiniTraps, Tri-Corners, and RFZ panels. In this arrangement:

  • each wall-wall corner has one MondoTrap, with a Tri-Corner above and below so the entire height of the corner is treated.
  • MiniTraps are used in the ceiling corners because they're slightly smaller and lighter than MondoTraps, and are more easily installed by one person.
  • RFZ panels are then placed on the side wall and ceiling first reflection points to give a larger coverage area than MicroTraps or HF MiniTraps. This lets you move freely side to side, or forward and back, while remaining in the Reflection Free Zone

So buying four MiniTraps - with one in each wall-wall corner - offers more value and does a better job overall than only two MondoTraps. However, if your goal is to purchase treatment over time and eventually have a state of the art room, we suggest MondoTraps. MondoTraps are also preferred when spouse or space considerations limit the total number of traps and panels you're able to install. In that case you want each trap to be as effective as possible, and MondoTraps are the better choice

diffusion

some say more diffusion and less absorption. -- all absorption is too "dead".

latest research by Toole, Olive, et. al. strongly suggests that diffusion is very much under used and absorption is very much over utilized, especially on first reflection points which are beneficial.

bookshelves filled with books as diffussers -- especially good for the back wall

fluted columns, ornate millwork, coffered ceilings

http://picasaweb.google.com/LeaderCinema/MiscImagesVariousProjects/photo#5060955051387285522


Bent sheet diffusion

A larger arc will diffuse down to lower frequencies. To a first approximation, a radius of curvature r will be effective at diffusing frequencies whose wavelengths are less than 2 pi r. This is not a sharp boundary -- you approach the maximum diffusion at maybe 3 or 4 times this frequency. To get the frequency for a particular wavelength in feet, just divide it into 1130 feet per second, the speed of sound. How much of a circular arc you use will depend on how much depth you are willing to allow. Varying the spacing and radius of curvature for multiple diffusers is a good idea. One nice thing about polycylindrical diffusers is that, unlike the now-common discrete varying depth type of diffuser, they have no high frequency limit on the sounds they will effectively diffuse. As for orientation, it depends on the specific purpose of the diffusion. If it is to maintain a broad sound stage, then vertical orientation is often preferable. On the other hand, horizontal orientation will improve the uniformity of reverberation decay if you have a very uneven balance of horizontal and vertical absorption -- "dead" walls and "live" ceiling and floor, for example.

larger arc will diffuse down to lower frequencies. To a first approximation, a radius of curvature r will be effective at diffusing frequencies whose wavelengths are less than 2 pi r. This is not a sharp boundary -- you approach the maximum diffusion at maybe 3 or 4 times this frequency. To get the frequency for a particular wavelength in feet, just divide it into 1130 feet per second, the speed of sound. How much of a circular arc you use will depend on how much depth you are willing to allow. Varying the spacing and radius of curvature for multiple diffusers is a good idea.

One nice thing about polycylindrical diffusers is that, unlike the now-common discrete varying depth type of diffuser, they have no high frequency limit on the sounds they will effectively diffuse. As for orientation, it depends on the specific purpose of the diffusion. If it is to maintain a broad sound stage, then vertical orientation is often preferable. On the other hand, horizontal orientation will improve the uniformity of reverberation decay if you have a very uneven balance of horizontal and vertical absorption -- "dead" walls and "live" ceiling and floor, for example.

examples:

QRD diffusion

main advantage of QRD diffusors is they actually diffuse, versus curved plywood that merely deflects. There is a difference, and that difference affects how well each device reduces comb filtering

QRD vs curved

"Overall there seems to be little difference in the relative performances of the curved panel and the QRD. Below about 3.5 kHz the QRD did produce more scattering to large angles, but at the expense of having large minima at some receiver positions. Above 3.5 kHz the amount of scattering away from the normal direction was similar for both panels. Again the QRD had many more, well defined minima and maxima. As illustrated in Fig. 6(a), a particular problem for the QRD at high frequencies was that the central maximum was large and similar to the central lobe for the plane panel. Consequently, there seems to be a risk of strong specular reflections and echoes from this QRD. The QRD and curved panel were constructed so that the maximum 'depth' of the curved panel (28 cm) was of similar size to the maximum depth of the QRD wells (35 cm). So for the same overall size in all dimensions, and for on-axis incidence, it was possible to achieve as good if not better diffusion with the curved panel. Curved panels are generally cheaper to construct. So, if near normal incidence can be guaranteed, as would be the case for reflectors over the stage area in auditoria, the curved panel is to be preferred."


T J Cox and Y W Lam. The Performance of Realisable Quadratic Residue Diffusers (QRDs). Applied Acoustics. 41. 237-246. (1994).

The scattering performances of realisable quadratic residue diffusers (QRDs) have been tested. The scattering has been compared to (i) the original design theory of the QRD; (ii) optimum diffusion; and (iii) the performance of plane and curved reflectors. The QRDs do produce similar diffusion to that predicted by the original design theory. Only at low frequencies, however, is this close to optimum diffusion. For oblique incidence the QRD produced greater diffusion than the curved and plane panels. At normal incidence, however, the curved panel was as good as the QRD.


some have the opinion that:

  • diffusion is always better when the round trip distance from head to diffusing boundary is at least 20 milliseconds, and 30 ms or more is even better. (about 8 feet)
  • There should be sufficient vertical diffusion so that the sound hitting the walls will scatter towards the ceiling. Otherwise, the reverberation may be uneven and long, with a slower decay horizontally (between wall surfaces) than vertically (between ceiling and floor).


windows

Some recommend Hunter Douglas Duet Honeycomb window treatments

reverb

RT-60 as benchmark; it's not 'reverberation time' but rather reflection time required to see a 60dB attenuation. Some say "something between 35-40ms is ideal. Close to the 40ms time line creates more ambiance and nicer imaging at the expensive of some pinpoint accuracy. Other listeners prefer shorter reverberation times for a slightly drier sound that will unveil more inner detail. below 35ms, things start to become very dry and sterile."

install tips

to attach linacoustic to wall: spray adhesive, or some even better is just a few drywall screws and NO WASHERS is all it takes to hold the linacoustic in place until it is secured by the fabric

pro assistance

make schematic floor plans and send them to:


raw materials

- ROXUL Rockboard, RHT or RHF or is more rigid for when you need that.

Comparison of Roxul and OC703 (Roxul is better bass absorber): http://www.atsacoustics.com/page--Selecting-the-Right-Acoustic-Material--ac.html

Johns Manville 814 2" insulation. This has just about the same specs as OC703 at cheaper price.


sources

  • sensiblesoundsolutions.com (best prices and service on: insulation (including cotton), fabric, etc.)

ask local HVAC dealers for ductboard or ductliner...it has VERY similar properties as 703 and Linacoustic and is MUCH easier to find. I was able to get 2 boxs (10 2'x4' sheets per box) for $65. Works great!

Acoustics First Corporation 2247 Tomlyn Street, Richmond, Virginia 23230-3334 Phone: 888-765-2900, 804-342-2900; Fax: 804-342-1107 Website: www.acousticsfirst.com

Linacoustic in va: McCormick's - (703) 551-3239

You can get your 16 oz Poly Batting from here http://www.batt-mart.com

common cheaper alternative to GOM is the dazian lines: celtic (white or black only); exposure (has a slight texture); or janus (no texture). These three lines are considered to be AT (relative scale) and are all fire rated. See dazian.com

GOM is available at fabricmate.com, along with fabric track installation hardware.

ready made acoustic product vendors

http://www.clearwaterinternationalinc.com/

Best corner bass traps: http://www.gikacoustics.com/gik_tri_trap.html , http://www.acousticalsolutions.com/products/traps/rpg_procorner.asp


RPG has lots of diffusion products

  • a common diffusor is the RPG BAD panel (aka Flatffusor --they are the same product except Flatffusor comes in few standard sizes/finishes and the BAD Panel can be custom (and is more expensive). Often used on the walls, ceiling (mounted a few inches off) and in corners. (RPG sells special corner mounts) RPG recommends to cover 60% of the rear wall at ear level with the panels and the side walls between the speakers and the listener as well.

http://www.realtraps.com/diffusor.htm ("a high performance bass trap with a genuine QRD "well" diffusor that's effective down to the low midrange. The device transitions from diffusion to absorption over the range between 400 to 800 Hz" $500)

http://www.gikacoustics.com/gik_d1_diffusor.html 2x2 panel for $100/each

http://www.auralex.com/ has good wood diffusion products (and other stuff)

http://www.silentsource.com/diffusors.html

http://www.studiooutfitters.com/roundffusor.html

for more info see:

paint

use acoustical ceiling paint from HyTech called acousticoat. Acousticoat insulates and deadens sound. It is made of of ceramic microspheres that act as sound absorbers.

system

calibration

audio

Measurement/calibration sequence.

1. With all equipment (and the HVAC on) and no sound from the speakers, produce a 1/3rd octave full range RTA. This will give you the background noise floor in the room. This will provide a boundary between what your speakers are doing and what is ambient in the room.

2. Two near field measurements of each speaker. The microphone should be placed approximately 1' meter from the face of the speaker with the microphone aimed directly at the speaker. You may need to increase the distance beween the speaker and microphone slightly if you have multiple, widely spaced drivers. The measurement should be taken using pink noise first with bass management off (no crossovers active) and secondly with bass management and cross overs active. (We like to do a series of off axis measurements as well.) The subwoofer(s) should be measured as well. The purpose of these measurements are to: (1) establish that all drivers in the speaker are working correctly; (2) to give you a baseline measurement of what the speaker is producing so during calibration you can tell room/treatment impacts from the speakers' response; and, (3) determine if bass management is working correctly (correct slopes, 3 dB down at crossover frequency, etc.).

3. With the microphone (or array) set up for the primary listening position, disconnect all but one speaker at a time, and, using full range pink noise, measure the RTA of each individual speaker. You can, at this time level match the speakers as well. Bass management should be on. These plots can be overlaid against the nearfield to provide a rather obvious display of what the room is doing to response at the seating location. Large peaks and dips above 500Hz are most likely as a result of SBIR and point to a need for treatment (diffusion and/or absorption). Typically, you use 1/12 octave, C weighted pink noise. (1/12th isnt how we hear but provides the granularity needed to see problems). At this time, run an ETG (bass management on) for each speaker. This will show you SBIR and early reflections which are problematic. Based upon the later RT60 you plot for the room, you can determine whether absorption, diffusion or a combination thereof is most appropriate (over absorption of early reflection points is a common mistake). The biggest common cause of SBIR is from the front wall (behind the speakers) and the side wall immediately adjacent to the speakers. You can avoid most SBIR problems by keeping your main speakers at least 3.5' away from any surface (assuming a crossover of 80Hz). Subs should be placed closer than 3.5' from a wall (again assuming an 80 Hz crossover).

4. Turn off all speakers but the subs (bass management on) and position the microphone in a right tricorner of the room. The peaks in this plot will show you the actual modes in the room (real, not calculated) and their relative intensity. (Again, pink noise, full range). Run measurements at the primary seating location as well as other seating locations in the room. These latter measurements will provide the modal peaks and nulls which occur at individual seating locations. You might want to look for a null which is NOT a modal frequency.

5. You now want to position your various subs to reduce, moderate or eliminate nulls at primary listening positions. This measurement is best done using spatial averaging in each individual seating location....forget about seats within about 3.5' of a wall. Various types of tuned, or broadband absorption can be used to reduce both peaks and nulls.

6. Parametric EQ can be used to terminate peaks (won't help on the nulls).

7. Run another RTA of the subs, together (1/3 octave) and bring the average SPL level of the plot up to, or down to, the same average level of your center channel (L/C/R are already level matched).

It's very difficult to determine a treatment strategy until you actually measure what is happening the room. The various prediction models are not 100% accurate but certainly can provide a heads up with respect to what you might need. During calilbration and set up process, once you change something, do your measurements all over again to see what impact the change had. Also, most important...don't forget to LISTEN to your reference materials between changes.

[thanks to Dennis Erskine for the above: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15406068#post15406068 ]

for integra dtr 8.8

http://www.sencore.com/newsletter/Nov03/AudioCalpart2.htm

video

  • HCFR free calibration software; details in the avsforum calibration forum.

You can buy a SpyderII Express sensor and the GetGrey DVD for about $100 and calibrate everything in your house! You'll be surprised how much better an image you can get doing a calibration yourself than using anothers settings.

  • with spectroradiometer is best
  • VW-60 tips:
    • I had to increase my contrast settings. Mine looks best with contrast between 95 to max. I used the [http://www.projectorreviews.com/sony...rformance.php# calibration gamma setting to get great grayscale. I bumped up color to 53, brightness to 46, IRIS off, etc.;
    • check the convergence using the new "Panel Alignment" feature;
    • The combination of a high lamp and high contrast just might be washing your image out a bit (too much white, not enough black). Try low lamp with a high contrast ratio and be sure to recalibrate your brightness for appropriate black levels after. Your image will have less pop in bright daylight scenes, but you may see an improvement in night time scenes.
    • Lamp: Low

Auto Iris: Auto 1, Recommend Mode Color Space: Wide Contrast: 80 Brightness: 49 Color: 49 Hue: 50 Color Temp: Middle Sharpness: Min (off, I suppose) Black Level Adjust: Off Gamma Correction: Gamma 3 (with A/VSpec Mark's service menu gamma tweak) RCP: -6 on Red Color intensity; I found that lowering the Brightness to the factory default of 80 eliminates white crush in Auto 1 while giving me great black levels (it may also have to do with why I don't notice the iris focusing too often now--maybe only once or twice in a movie), and that lowering the Color to 49 and the RCP of -6 on Red gives pleasing color saturation without over-pushing red. According to the test patterns on DVE I could have the Brightness as high as 51, but there is a noticeable difference in the richness of black when going with 49. Turning Sharpness on seems to my eyes to cause a slight motion blur in the image, though that may just be my imagination, but I've found I don't need it anyway and so have turned it off for HD material. With upconverted SD material I think it may still be helpful to have a bit of Sharpness added, +3 to +7 depending on taste. And yeah, my screen's pretty high gain, 6.0. I also have curtains up all over my room to prevent light reflection, and I've even covered my ceiling with large panels of black cloth to kill reflections off of it onto my screen. I have a pretty light-tight room

htpc

  • vidabox
  • s1 digital
  • jr media center for jukebocx software

dvd

ps3

  • For blu-ray: Sony Playstation 3 is best? To get TrueHD tracks out of the PS3, you must set it to LPCM because as of now the PS3 cannot output lossless TrueHD out of bitstream. The PS3 decodes it internally and sends it out as uncompressed PCM.

Telling my Harmony software to send the DirectionLeft 8x, DirectionUp 3x, X Button, 200ms delay, and X Button upon exiting my activity succeeds in turning off the PS3 when I exit the activity.

The way most PS3's are configured, all soundtracks will be sent as multichannel PCM. For multichannel PCM, the Multichannel listening mode is the best for a 5.1 setup and PLIIx is the best for a 7.1 setup. You can press the Display button on your 606 remote to see what kind of signal you're receiving. If you're not receiving 5.1 or 7.1 from your PS3, then redo the PS3 sound setup selecting the HDMI connector and choosing automatic configuration, even if you set it to automatic previously. Also, make sure you selected the best soundtrack available on the disk in the disk's main menu.

projector

  • Panasonic AE2000 is nearly equal (some who have compared directly say better than) to the RS1 and VW60 and is significantly cheaper
  • JVC RS1 is often considered best < $10k
  • Sony VW60, VW100 (to tweak VW60: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=926359 )
  • Mitsu hc5000 is quieter, very bright
  • BenQ PE8720 (720 DLP) (recommended for quiet and no SDE)
  • BenQ W10000

Also see: http://www.consumersearch.com/www/electronics/projectors/index.html

Best CRT PJs: Marquee 9500LC, Sony G90 and Barco Cine9/Reality909.

placement

To fill a 100" diagonal screen, the front of the JVC projector can be as close as 9 feet 10 inches or as far back as 19 feet 11 inches.

re RS1: The nearer the projector is placed to the screen (the larger the zoom), the more light is on the screen, the smaller however the contrast is. If the projector is placed further away, projecting the same picture size (small zoom), the better the Black Level and Contrast, but also less maximum brightness is on the screen.

hush box

?

installation

Mounts:

  • Chief RPA-U mount is best

power supply:

source wiring:

  • run conduit (for hdmi and future) plus (outside of conduit) component and cat5.


screen

1) For a non-acoustically transparent screen, the fabric didn't really matter. In fact, plain drywall was almost as good as most of the expensive materials.

2) For an acoustically transparent screen, the original SMX material was just Phifer SheerWeave 4000. I'm not sure if the SMX material has changed at all since then, but the SheerWeave 4000 is what I would've gone with had I elected to go the AT route. I believe the current SMX screens now promise the highest gain of any AT material, so I don't know if he's found a new material or has done something to the SheerWeave to make it better.


consensus is that:

  • SMX screen is the best quality AT screen, and happens to be the best value.

color

If you have a white or light ceiling, I would go with a gray screen fabric (from SMX or Firehawk G3 from Stewart, High contrast Cinemavision from Da-Lite)

Gray screen will help mitigate the reflections from a white/light ceiling.

White screen (SMX, Stewart StudioTek 130, Da-Lite Cinema Vision) work best with a completely dark room.

Stewart FireHawk Deluxe Fixed Frame Screen 110" (54" x 96") HDTV Format (with firehawk the projector should be mounted as far from the screen as possible to narrow the cone of projected light. Since the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection, a narrow cone of light will cause more light to be reflected back toward the audience rather than scattered to the sides. Firehawk's relatively dark gray fabric was particularly effective at absorbing ambient uncontrolled light and maintaining deeper black levels than other screens in the review. At the same time the screen's proprietary optical coating gives it a special brilliance that surpasses the competition. So despite the screen's medium gray color, whites are beautifully white and color saturation is exceptional. Thus the Firehawk is unique in the world of gray screens in that it has the potential to render bright whites and deep blacks across a dynamic range that competing gray screens have difficulty matching. )

selling point to a firehawk is the allowance for ambient light in the room...still looks fantastic. If I have any light with the CW Carada screen, the image is washed out.

As they slowly raised the lights, the the Firehawk(grey) looked great, but the Studio Tek(1.0 gain white-this is the screen the studios use) washed out quickly. So if you have ambient light problems or like to have some lights on when the guys come over for football, the Firehawk screen excelled. Also with lights down the Firehawk looked very close to the Studiotek. So, the Firehawk was the best all around screen.

flat panels

pioneer elite plasma

samsung a650 lcd


mounts

Peerless SP-850 or PLA-1 (both for 2 two studs 16" apart) are good articulating mounts.

speakers

home theater in a box

fur budget setups: do not bother with 7.1. Focus on the best speakers in a 5.1 system.

recommended:

http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/enthusiast1.html http://www.ascendacoustics.com/

small <=12 inches high

midsize 12"-15" bookshelf

  • RBH Sound TK-5C (discontinued) ($400 range)
  • Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1 ($800 range)(ok without sub)
  • AV123/Onix Reference 1
  • Polk LSI7

freestanding

very top

From Accucal:

  • MBL 101's,
  • Aerial 20T's,
  • Vandersteen Model 5A
  • Von Schweikert VR-11's.
  • Salk's (best for the money)
  • Revel is top major manufacturer (F30's)

misc

  • Atlantic Tech 4200, 6200, 8200
  • Jamo D 7 LCR
  • JBL Synthesis S4 HC/VC/A
  • Klipsch KL-650, KL-525
  • Snell AMC2000, Xa1900THX, XA60, AMC900thx, SR30THX
  • Sonance Cinema ultra II, Cabinet
  • Rockets, Swans, Boston Acoustics VR series, B&M, Revel Concerta series.
  • RBH, tyler, B&W, axiom (but not Axiom vp150)

in walls

(but consider sound isolation issues: you will cut big holes in your drywall unless you use them in a false wall. http://www.dynamat.com/products_architectural_en_wall.html will help with this.

Triad and James confirm that false wall installation is fine with no need to install flush with drywall. Although any speaker is likely to be effected by where it is mounted and proximity to walls and other hard surfaces.


  • MTX models (budget)
    • ( HT2625W ) Dual 6 1/2" 2-Way In-Wall Video Shielded Center Channel
    • ( HT520BDP ) 5 1/2" 2-Way In-Wall BI-POLE/DI-POLE Surround Speaker
    • ( HT825W ) 8" 2—Way Rectangular Pair
    • ( HT8253W ) 8" 3—Way Video Shielded Rectangular


in ceiling

  • NHT ic4
  • Niles CM(2 speaker) and CSi (single speaker)
  • Monitor Audio Radius In-ceiling come with an integral back box for $300.00.

surrounds

in blind tests listeners preferred dipole (out of phase bipole) surround speakers to monopole, especially for rear surrounds: http://www.hometheatermag.com/bootcamp/25/index.html

If the seating area is wide and/or the room is dead, direct-radiating surrounds will hot-spot, and a listener in a corner will have a distracting amount of surround in one ear. Dipoles are a compromise, but a good one,

The smaller the room the more improvement dipoles will provide.

such as:

Klipsch KS-7800, KS-525, RS-42, RS-52, RS-62,

subs

Two (or better, four: one in each corner) are often much better than one.

Consensus is that good value subs are:

  • Elemental Designs A2-300 ($350, 18x18x21.5 value leader, but ugly; better than a3-250 which was built for those who have less space and need a smaller sub)
  • Elemental Designs A5-350 ($650, 21x23x25)
  • av123 MFW-15 ($699)
  • Epic Knight

good value small subs are:

  • Hsu STF-1 ($299, 19x11x16)
  • Mirage Omni s8 ($369, 12x15x15)
  • av123 x-sub (although discontinued? to be replaced?)
  • ED a2-250 ($325, 14x14x24.5, but ugly)
  • Velodyne SPL 1200R ($900 14x14x16.5)
  • substage 100 ??
  • Yamaha yst series ??

Other recommended subs:

  • Hsu stf-2 ($349, 19x14x18)
  • SVS PB10-NSD ($429, 15x19x21)
  • EPIK Valor
  • SVS PB12-NSD ($599, 18x21x25)
  • EPIK Caliber
  • SVS SB12-Plus ($699 15x14x14)
  • Revel B15

??? (less certain about below subs)

Good looking subs:

  • Kef PSW series
  • av123 models


Craigsub rankings

fwiw, (below are last rankings from the avsforum thread with links; now updated at http://www.tweakcityaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11 )


Setting up multiple subs

Originally Posted by Dr. Earl Geddes So first setup the mains and the nearest sub. Set your spectrum analyzer to a very low bandwidth but not less than 200 Hz. and fairly long averaging time. This will yield a very long average of the sound signal. Take your mic and move it through large spatial positions near but arround the prefered listening position. Be carefull as small bumps of the cable can generate large eroneous signals into the mic. The sweeping has to be smooth. When the analyzer has completed its run you will have a plot of the frequency and spatial averaged LF sound field. Try adjusting the sub - never adjust the mains - to see if you can get a better response by changing the gain, the low pass point, the phase and or delay if you have it. The bass should be sagging slightly at this point since you will be adding in two more subs.

Now add in the next closest sub and repeat the entire procedure again. You should be able to improve upon what you had before. If not try turning off the first sub and setting the second one optimal and then add in the first sub. If you still can't get a better response with two subs than with one then you will need to move one of them. You need to get an improvement from the second sub or something is wrong.

Now repeat this process with the third sub. The third sub, when you are close to it should barely be audible. It it is loud, then once again, something is wrong. It should only be filling in holes at this point and not adding any actual level. The level after two subs should be about flat or possibly a slight rise - based on preference. I find a few dB rise at the low end is desirable for best effect.

With the three subs things should be quite smooth when spatially averaged. You can now use any EQ that you have to make a final flattening of the response, but these bands should never be more than a few dB. When you are done, if things go as they usually do for me, your should have a spatial average of about +- 2-3 dB. This can take several hours so don't be impatient. But once you have it you will never change it. Make sure and write down all the settings!!

Two people helps - one to sweep the mic and another to run the analyzer. Sweep the mike vertically as well as horizontally, but in a wide ellipse. Its not necessary to repeat the same pattern, its only necessary to NOT leave the mic in a stationary position. You can try wider sweeps or narrower ones, but the bigger sweep will likely be better.

Calibrating speakers

use the test tones of Avia or the Goldline test disc. They are properly band limited while most test tones on AV processors are not and may not be of the proper level. The RS SPL meter is very directional and will be influenced by speaker placement in relation to the meter. I would verify all of these levels with your ears.

Lower cost products to consider are Phonic PAA3, M30 Microphone, Mobile Pre, TrueRTA...

Preamps/Amps

  • Latest future proof is Integra DTC-9.8/Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 and NAD T 175 (will be necessary for new HD DVD or Blu-ray player with a 1.3 HDMI output that can pass the new audio formats out via bitstream) (Onkyo has a receiver version also).
  • Outlaw 990 PrePro + 7125 Pwr Amp = $1798.00
  • Sherbourn Pt-7010A is Sunfire Cinema Grand amd Emotiva DMC-1 clone

http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/EmotivaDMC-1ProcessorReview01.php The Sherbourn, Emotiva and Sunfire processors mentioned in the comparasion chart in the review all come from the same base Bob Carver design. ATI makes amps for Outlaw, Sherbourne

Receivers/preamps

Listening Modes

The listening modes available vary from Onkyo receiver to receiver. Some support THX, some don't, and those that do support different levels of THX. The listening modes are also dependent on the signal type (DD, DTS, multichannel pcm, TrueHD etc.), and your speaker configuration. That's why it's important to configure your speakers correctly. For instance PLIIx should only be available if you have 7.1. If you have 5.1 and correctly disable the surround back speakers, PLIIx disappears as an available choice.

For ease of understanding, I divide the listening modes up into a few categories. The first category includes all the listening modes with a name the same as the signal type it's intended to support. Call these the standard modes. Each of the following signal types has a standard mode: Dolby Digital, Dolby EX, Dolby Digital+, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS 96/24, DTS ES Discrete, DTS ES Matrix, DTS HD High Resolution, DTS HD MA and multichannel PCM.

You can select a standard listening mode if and only if you're receiving the associated signal type. For instance, you can only select the TrueHD listening mode if you're receiving a TrueHD signal. You can only select the DTS listening mode if you're receiving a DTS signal. If you can't select the TrueHD listening mode, then you're not receiving a TrueHD signal, no matter what you selected on your player. Clearly it's important to know what kind of signal you're receiving when working with listening modes. It's important to know both the encoding such as DD, DTS etc., and also the number of channels present. Is it DD 2.0 or DD 5.1? Is it TrueHD 5.1 or TrueHD 7.1. On Onkyo's, you determine the signal type by pressing the Display button one or more times. Learn how to tell what signal type you're receiving. It will answer a lot of questions for you.

When you select a standard mode, you're not telling your receiver how to decode the signal. It does that automatically as all receivers do. So what does it mean to select the Dolby Digital listening mode when receiving a Dolby Digital signal? It means, do everything in a standard manner according to all the other sound settings you've set. In other words:


Apply bass management Apply tone control settings Apply equalization Don't increase or descrease the number of channels present in the signal

The second category includes all the modes that matrix incoming signals. When you select a matrixing mode, you're implicitly selecting the standard mode for the signal type you're receiving then applying the matrixing on top of that. Matrixing outputs sound to more speakers than the number of channels that were included in the original signal. Typically matrixing modes are used to convert 2 channel input signals to 5 channel or 7 channel output, 5 channel input signals to 7 channel outputs, or 5 channel inputs to 6 channel outputs. The matrixing modes are PLII, PLIIx, Neural THX, DTS Neo:6 and Dolby EX. THX Select 2 and THX Ultra 2 also perform matrixing and are discussed in the THX section.

You should experiment with all the matrixing modes, but the most commonly used and recommended matrixing modes are Dolby Pro Logic II and Dolby Pro Logic IIx - PLII and PLIIx. PLII was invented as an upgrade to Dolby Pro Logic which was the original home theater sound standard. Early home theater systems included multiple speakers, but prior to the invention of Dolby Digital had to make do with 2 channel sources. Dolby invented a way of embedding surround information in a 2 channel source that could be extracted using the Dolby Surround processor in a home theater receiver. Most VHS tapes were encoded with Dolby Surround as were many broadcast television shows. PLII is a more recent and very much improved version of Pro Logic. PLIIx includes everything that PLII does and extends the capabilities to matrix to 7 channels instead of just 5.

PLII/x can synthesize surround information from any source, but you won't get much surround information from movie and television sources that aren't encoded with Dolby Surround technology. Note that PLII and PLIIx have separate modes optimized for movies and music. You can try either mode for either type of material but Dolby optimized each for the intended source.

The third category are the Onkyo DSP modes like TV Logic, Orchestra, Unplugged etc. AFAIK, these are legacy modes that predated the creation of all the digital signals and corresponding standard modes that are now available. You may find that you like them, but they were probably included primarily for users upgrading from older Onkyo receivers. The most popular Onkyo DSP mode is All Ch Stereo which is often used with music sources in a party environment. It provides approximately equal volume from all the speakers. The sound is not realistic, but for a lot of people it's still a guilty pleasure.

The fourth category are the THX modes including THX Cinema, THX Select 2, and THX Ultra2. All of these modes start with standard mode processing then apply a set of THX invented signal processing algorithms that THX claims makes the sound more in line with what the movie producers wanted you to hear. These techniques include Re-EQ, timbre matching and adaptive decorrelation. You can read about what they do on THX's website. THX Select 2 and THX Ultra 2 combine the THX effects with 5 channel to 7 channel matrixing. If the original signal wasn't already 5 channel, the THX modes will use either PLII or Neo:6 to matrix it to 5 channel before applying the other processing.

The fifth category consists of the Direct and Pure Audio listening modes. These modes disable much of the digital processing that occurs when you use one of the standard modes. Bass management is turned off, which means any crossovers you set in the Speaker Config are ignored. The only sound sent to the subwoofer is the LFE (.1) channel. For stereo sources like CD's, your subwoofer will not be used at all. The Direct and Pure Audio modes also disable the equalizer settings set by Audyssey and any tone control settings. There may be other changes as well, but you get the idea. Direct and Pure Audio attempt to play what's on the source with very little processing. These 2 modes are more popular for use with music than with movies. Try these modes with movies, but unless you have full range speakers, especially your front 3, you'll notice a lot less bass than you will with one of the standard or matrixing modes. That is, as long as your front speakers aren't set to Full Range.

The final mode, in a category of its own, is Stereo. Stereo can be thought of as the standard mode for 2 channel sources. However it also has the ability to take any multichannel source and downmix it to 2 channels.


Onkyo/Integra

DTR8.8/TX-NR905

main differences between Integra DTR-8.8 and Onkyo TX-NR905 seem to be that Integra has:

1. 6 assignable speaker outs verses 2

2. 3 programmable 12v triggers verses 1

3. Sub woofer pre-outs for zone 2 and 3 verses none

4. 2 IR in/out verses 1 IR in/out

5. Alledged "hand picked" resistors, capacitors, etc.


A quick summary of what the Onkyo 905 has which the 875 doesn't:

1: Ethernet connection for streaming

2: Weights 24.3 kg opposed to 23.3 kg

3: 1000 Watts of consumption opposed to 870 Watts

4: 2 HDMI outputs opposed to 1

5: Basically 10W/channel more output

6: All gold plated connectors

7: 3 power transformers opposed to 1


you can connect it to your home network and instantly access music stored on your PC(s). I quickly connected the ethernet cable I had run to my rack and ran upstairs to my PC to enable sharing to the receiver. Back downstairs and it immediately puts up all available music files on the on screen display. You use the Integra remote to navigate and select whatever you want, like an iPod menu. Plays cleanly and instantaneously. Just incredible. One of the cooler HT products I have seen in a while.

8.8 delivered for under 2k from Axxis Audio.

tweaking/updates

What worked for me was turning OFF the DHCP (DINAMIC ADDRESS) feature on my Onkyo, and inputting manually an STATIC IP ADDRESS to the receiver. From there the internet radio stations started to worked flawlessly

Here is the link of compatible radio stations. All you have to copy these links into your receiver. I tried several and all of them worked.

http://yp.shoutcast.com/directory/index.phtml


To bypass the REON processor completely and leave the video signal unaltered, the 9.8's controls must be set to "Through" and the "Immediate Display" set to off. If your source is a 1080p24/60 HD signal, there is probably no reason to use the REON. I REALLY wish the 9.8 allowed for separate settings for each input. That way, the REON could be set to upscale/deinterlace 480i from a player like the OPPO 980, and also let the 1080p signal from my Panny BD30 go through unaltered. Unfortunately, the video controls on the 9.8 are "global."

for update info: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1016297


Version 1.08 has nothing to do with the DSP update that kills the bomb. Two distinctly different issues both in what they do and how they're installed.

If you have the latest DSPs that eleminate the "bomb", they will be:

SR8051/08214A SR8052/07518A SR8053/07820B


The only way to get the DTS HD or Dolby TruHD lights to light up is by sending the receiver those signals in bitstream form. The PS-3 is not capable of doing that and actually decodes those signals internally via software and the Cell processor and sends the resultant signal as PCM. The PCM signal is already a decoded lossless signal so you don't get the lights on the 8.8 since there is no processing being done by the receiver and it shows it as a multi-channel signal which is exactly correct.

to update your f/w, the instructions given for the 905 to enter the "update mode" will not work for the 8.8. Instead of holding down the "enter" button while plugging in your 8.8, you must hold down the "tuning up" button and then plug in your unit.

the PS3 will not bitstream the advanced codecs, only DD and DTS core. The PS3 decodes the advanced codecs and sends via PCM, and your 8.8 should be set to multichannel to receive the PCM w/o having the integra doing anything to the sound. As said above, you can further process the PCM signal for 7.1 systems.

I have it set for THX Ultra2 Cinema when it gets 5.1 and THX Cinema when it gets 6.1 or 7.1.

set the PS3 to PCM mode and don't worry about it with ONE exception. If you are playing a standard DVD with a DTS 6.1 track, you will only get 5.1 because the PS3 can't decode the full track. If you want to hear the full 6.1 DTS track, switch to it bitstream for that movie only. If was hoping they would fix this exception in this last release, but they didn't.


http://www.accucalhd.com/tours.htm


I've spend the last 24 hours testing various firmware update procedures and I think I found a cure for the power failure E2PROM ERROR message on my DTR-8.8. I'm not sure if this will work with other Integra/Onkyo models, I hope others out there can try this out and report back. After the main unit firmware update, you get a COMPLETE message on the display, then CLEAR appears and then the unit goes into standby. I found that this doesn't completely clear the receiver, I found that network settings & internet radio stations remain intact after a firmware update... so the next thing to do is a full factory reset by pressing and holding the "VCR/DVR" button on the front panel down and then pressing the "Standby/On" button. This clears EVERYTHING! Now, before you get too carried away with getting all your settings back to how you like them... do this. On the front panel, press and hold the "Setup" button and press the "Enter" button. "Setup Store ?" will appear on the display. While still holding down the "Setup" button, press the "Enter" button again. You will then see "Setup Storing" on the display. I found this was the magical step that made the dreaded E2PROM ERROR go away. Until I completed the Setup Store, virtually every time I pulled the plug on the receiver, I would get an E2PROM ERROR message upon restoration of power and my settings would vanish. I found this only needed to be done once, right after the full factory reset. Even after changing settings on the receiver, it would still remember what I had changed, even if I didn't do the "Setup Store ?" procedure afterwards. My theory is that the "Setup Store" somehow formats the E2PROM memory to the requirements of the newly flashed firmware.

ps3: audio set to out pcm: integra should show 48k or 96k

Just for clarification - the DSP upgrade wipes the settings, period. Using the 1.08 installer software first saves the settings for restore after doing the DSP.


In the DTC-9.8, ran the Audyssey setup to get the speaker distances and levels set Disabled the Audyssey, set mode to Stereo, set all speakers crossed over at 80Hz, set the LFE Low-Pass-Filter at 80Hz, THX subwoofer set to YES, BGC set to OFF In the Velodyne, turned off the low-pass-filter and cross over, set to preset #4 (JAZZ) with the tightest servo control (set to 8, lowest distortion) With Audyssey still turned OFF, I ran the Velodyne calibration and achieved as flat a curve as possible from 15Hz to 200Hz, note I had to adjust the subwoofer volume and manually set the parametric EQ to achieve the desired curve Reran the Audyssey with the newly calibrated subwoofer settings Audyssey detected my speakers as “FULL”, I changed all the speakers to 80Hz cross over, interestingly, the Audyssey bumped up my Subwoofer level to +2.5db Now with the Audyssey turned ON, I reran the Velodyne setup, the curve remained mostly flat, except the levels of 15-80Hz were a little high due to the Audyssey bumping up the Sub output level, I made small adjustments to volume and EQ to re-flatten the curve DONE! After all that, this is the best my system has ever sounded.

Chris over at Audyssey suggests using the Velo EQ manually and moving the filters to "gang" up on the problem frequencies only and then run the Audyssey over top with the Velo's EQ on. If you've got a big dip, you'd want to bring down the frequencies around it rather than trying to boost it, this method will give the sub more "headroom".

I use PLiix for most things and neo6 for DTS where that sounds better

Press the Display button on your 9.8 to see what kind of signal you're actually receiving.

Avia has phase test signals for FT R&L, LT FT to CTR, LT FT to LT SURR etc.

Bitstreaming codecs from the player means that the codecs are not "touched" by the player

  • 1.04 added Reon controls
  • 1.05 added Audyssy pro calibration
  • 1.07 significantly improved audio delay issues
  • 1.08 wasn't significant for me but allowed Audyssey values to be retained when updating the DSP's
  • DSP update eliminates the "bomb explosion" noise found on a couple of the DTS HD MA disks (e.g., Eagles Farewell, Live from Melbourne)

Make sure any phase controls on the sub are set to ZERO and any crossover/filter control on the sub is set as high as possible - defeated would be better.


Reon problems: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14143243#post14143243

How do I make sure Reon processing is completely disabled?

Set the 9.8 to THROUGH mode in the setup. This disables Reon, and the 9.8 simply outputs whatever is fed into it. You can check this also by pressing DISPLAY on the front panel for a few seconds: this shows the input resolution and frame rate as well as the output resolution and frame rate. You also need to make sure that the On Screen Display (OSD) is "off".

By the way: is there any way to show the bitrate with the 9.8? All it seems to show is the frequency sampling rate of multichannel PCM input (e.g. 44.1 or 88.2 or 96 khz, but not the # bits).


we preferred sending SACD from an Oppo 980 to the 9.8 as PCM instead of the raw DSD.

Media Server

Olive Symphony Wireless Music Center

For music, consider: Dell Axim X51v-624 MHz Handheld with Wi Fi. Use to play back lossless music like an Ipod). Plays, builds playlists, faves etc. Commumicates with htpc via Wi Fi.

Kaleidescape.

cables

Impact Acoustics Rapid Run Digital Modular Cabling System

DVIGear SHR DVI/HDMI Cables

Blue Jeans Belden 7710A Component Cables

General source: Bluejeans.com, Monoprice.com

speaker cables

Impact Acoustics SonicWave Speaker Cables

or

Custom Installation Alternative Canare 4S11 Alternatively if you are running cables behind sheetrock or don't concern yourself with appearances, Blue Jeans Cable offers the virtually identical cable known as Canare 4S11 with a compression plug termination for about 60% cheaper. MSRP: $117 for a 3 meter pair (terminated)

remotes

RTI T3 (new t4 now?)

Universal mx-3000, mx-900, Osiris MX-350 IR/RF

excellent all-in-one remotes from Home Theater Masters or Phillips, etc starting at about $100 or so.

Logitech Harmony 880

programming

get a macro called "Play Movie". all the lights on in the theater; mute the reciever. *stop, stop, play on the dvd player should start the movie directly withoyut the menu. then dim out all the lights on the GrafikEye, and un-mute the reciever.

racks

slim 5 middle atlantic is most popular

placement, organization

  • heat should be exhausted out if the ambient air inside the closet exceeds 75°F.
  • In the case of equipment racks in an air-conditioned room (without a raised computer floor), it is better to have the supply ducts and diffusers in front of the racks, and the return ductwork and registers in the rear of the room.
  • Avoid locating the racks directly under supply ductwork. Cold air falls, and the flow of the hot air that rises from the top of the rack should have no impediments on its way back to the return air (intake) duct.

85ºF is the maximum recommended constant operating temperature for most equipment; it will help provide a long service life for the equipment inside an enclosure. Why 85ºF? Most studies have shown that for every 10ºF rise over 85ºF, digital equipment life is reduced by approximately 40%! However, the Uptime Institute states, “For every 18°F increase above 70°F, long-term reliability is reduced by 50%”. Clearly there is a need to control the temperature inside electronic enclosures. Both the performance reliability and life expectancy of electrical equipment are inversely related to the component temperature of the equipment. Amplifiers on the other hand, can operate at far hotter temperatures; many operate well (with reduced thermal headroom) at 110ºF! At elevated temperatures, computers and networking equipment fail more frequently than A/V equipment.

  • The most common airflow found in higher current draw equipment is that which pulls cooler air in from the front, and exhausts the heated air towards the rear or sides (known in this paper as “front-intake” equipment).
  • Simulations and real-world testing shows that moving air through a cabinet from bottom to top results in the lowest internal cabinet temperatures.
  • If the amplifier is not fan cooled put vents underneath
  • the components that generate the most heat should be placed near the top of the cabinet,
  • Don't Install vented rack panels between front-intake equipment.
  • Leading amplifier manufacturers recommend stacking front intake amplifiers on top of each other with no vent in between.

options

  • lacing bars are useful
  • D2 or larger drawer at the bottom for the manuals, the original remotes, spare batteries, etc. Then D4's with dividers for movies.... When you get rentals and Netflix, you have to have a safe place to store them.
  • slide out shelf is good to hold laptop for firmware updates, PS3 controllers when recharging, the movie box.
  • RSH faces on all components (unless they are rack mounted) and blanks for every unused

opening.

lights

you will often want a small direct light on the rack equipment; you can use a USB light in a USB socket which some equipment has on the front or the rear, or use a dedicated light such as: Middle Atlantic LT-1R Rackmount Light

sources

fans

your best choice for a quiet 12V fan: http://www.jab-tech.com/Nexus-120mm-Real-Silent-case-fan-D12SL-12-Black-and-white-with-Silicon-Fan-mounts-pr-3857.html http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-Case-Fan-D12SL-12-pr-3009.html

http://www.activethermal.com/

wii

projector is ok, but need to use component. need cables for component and sensor cable sensor bar should go above screen

surge protectors, line conditioners, UPSs

Look for:

  • UL 1449 certification
  • three way protection with MOVs across all combinations of H,N & G,
  • coverage for all incoming signal lnes to your system,
  • maximum peak current ratings,
  • lowest voltage let-through, and
  • clear specifications for suppression on all lines.

Much of the snake oil has to do with promoting the need for expensive filtering or regulation systems, and the need for a UPS. For most systems all that is needed is a good surge suppressor and careful checking of the grounding of all lines into the system. You can get at least as good suppresion for about $20 than what you get in a $200 UPS in many cases. On-line regulation without pure sine wave output seems silly to me, as these outputs are usually far noisier than unfiltered a.c. lines.

Don't need a UPS, even for projectors: see http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=12040132#post12040132

Two good values in surge suppression:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812120408

is hard to beat,

or for a company with a longer track record and over/under-voltage cutoff feature,

http://www.panamax.com/products.cfm?group=2&sec=detail&id=249&ly=v

...and verify the grounding is solid and done properly on your system.

Consider powerbridge to bring power to the projector from surge protector in equip closet.

good whole house surge protection: http://www.smarthome.com/4870.html, http://www.panamax.com/products.cfm?group=25&sec=detail&id=16&ly=v

if you put a rack mount power strip, some of them (Richard Gray Power Company or a Furman) can be mounted on the front and has light and a dimmer to illuminate the front of the gear in the rack.

misc

good article on different connections: http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/howto-av.html

some good combinations: http://www.kmhometheater.com/BuildersPackages.htm

Blacking out a room

misc

  • Gom,
  • Dazian Jansu, Celtic or Expo
  • 100% black muslin. It's used as a backdrop for photo shoots. You can get it all day on eBay for $30 for a big piece. use to blacken the wall and keep the dust down back there. Plus the muslin doesn't reflect sound. GoM would of worked too, but GoM doesn't come wide enough. I was able to get a 12' x 30' piece of black muslin to use in various spaces.

velvet

  • Every other Sunday Jo Ann's has a coupon for 40% off one item which can be applied to an unlimited amount of velvet. Jo Ann's sells JB Martin Fidelio Black Velvet which some folks claim is the blackest fabric on earth. Very plush and can be had for $12.95 a yard - 40% = $7.77 a yard
  • Dazian has a fabric called Symphony Velvet.

black paint

best paints:

  • Behr Mouse Ears,
  • Behr Bear's Dean (dark brown)
  • Crown Diamond "Absolute" black

Black cinemas:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=830526

http://www.whaleys-bradford.ltd.uk/products.cfm?productID=105

Mark's cinema - Bat Cave: http://gallery.avsforum.com/showphoto.php/photo/22318/cat/500/ppuser/14598

screen with velvet like Deluxe Luxus border and it is significantly better at giving that 'black hole' screen floating in the middle effect.

lighting

  • Ardee and Juno recessed fixtures are recommended
  • put light switches for the room/hallway outside your home theater near (inside or just outside) your home theater entrance so that you don't have to walk somewhere else to turn those lights off and then walk back to the theater in the dark.

Light Bulbs Unlimited Address: 2273 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton, FL 33431 Phone: (561) 338-5211

http://www.1000bulbs.com/category.php?category=7

  • Home Depot has halogen 3" recessed lights with a brushed nickel finish for $14 each. 3" 110v halogen can lights from Home Depot. They had a sale on a 6-pack of these for $32.
  • Juno black 4 inch recessed lighting

Phillips Halogena 60W BR30 Lights

http://www.usalight.com/rxtm601s_c_145_p_1_pr_228.html

recessed: Dennis Erskine spec'd out the Ardee DL21 with A35I housing

http://www.sunriselights.com/docs/recessed/

A typical light in a 6" can would be 1000 lumens. Divide the lumens by the illuminated area in square meters for lux. For Bigmouth's spacing, each light is lighting about 36 square feet or 3.34 square meters. 1000/334 = 298 lux.

I'd shoot for a minimum of 250 lux in a basement. 500 is considered "task lighting" and is what most commercial office spaces are spec'ed to.

I think most 50W PAR20's are 5-600 lumens, I believe. So for the same lighting level you would want one every 20 square feet (~2.2 feet from the wall and 4.4 feet from each other).

Remeber - if you have too many lights you can put them on a dimmer or put in lower wattage bulbs. If you don't have enough it's tough to add more.

I feel that 6" cans are too big for a traditional 8' ceiling. In most of my rooms, we went with 5" cans except for the kitchen where we used 4" cans. Also, the type of trim and the bulbs you use will have a great impact. The more recessed the bulb is in the fixture, the less spread out the light will be. On the flip side, a bulb sticking out the bottom of the fixture will spread more light but will not look as nice. You have to find your balance. I really like the combination of the PAR30 bulbs with the Halo baffle trims.

the Halo H99ICT or Ardee (DL21 I think).


the H3 by Halo, www.haloltg.com

Halo H99ICT for 4" cans in soffits

Halo H7ICAT for 6" cans in ceilings

Progress brand IC Air-tights in my basement and I consider them the "sherman tank" of recessed cans http://www.littmanbros.com/pd_progress_4.cfm#

http://www.usalight.com/recessed_lighting_c_6.html

Juno is a better brand than the cheap Halos, and there are significantly higher quality (and expensive) brands than Juno.


Lithonia L3R is a 3" remodel housing

Ardee DL21 with A35I housing

whole house audio

Can use basic impedance matching volume controls and then you do not need to run them parallel / individual home runs from amp to volume controlls. You can run them in series. You can run a 16/4 from amp to the first volume control, then jump to the next volume control from there. You can even come out of the same volume control several times to other nearby volume controls. You still run 16/2 from each of the speakers in the room to the volume control for that room.

If you do run individual home runs, you do have a bit more flexibility. There are Multi Room, Multi Zone systems that can even communicate with their keypads over just the 16/4 "or 14 awg if you wish" going to each volume control location if there is a home run to each.

Best: multizone, multi amp systems like the Russound, Nuvo and others.

In in between option would be an A-Bus based system. This jumps to allowing remote control of the sources via hand held IR remotes from each keypad. For a little bit more, they have A-Bus systems which allow each room to select from any of 4 sources

Here is some basic info: http://www.russound.com/pdf/brochures/A-BUS_brochure.pdf

For basic wiring prices ... this link will give you an idea at what numbers your looking at depending on needed distances. [url]http://www.fourpair.com/item--Sheer-Sound-16-Gauge-Premium-Speaker-Wire-Indoor-Outdoor-15001X--15001X[/url]

No need to spend major bucks on inwall / ceiling speakers if your going with a basic volume control system. Many good choices out there for less than $60 a pair. I have found the Phoenix Gold ATC-6 to be a great speaker for this price

http://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Gold-6-5-inch-Ceiling-Speakers/dp/B0006FK3Y2


demo discs

dvds

  • house of flying daggers: Chp 3
  • Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Some of the ship-to-ship battle scenes can really exercise your subwoofer.
  • Lrd of the Rings: Return of the King. The Battle of the Pelennor Fields scene is sonically very impressive.
  • The Matrix . The lobby combat scene is another good speaker exercise.
  • The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen on Blu-ray. Not a great movie, but it does exercise audio, particularly in the scene where Allan Quatermain fights off an attack in his home. Good use of surround effects.
  • Saving Private Ryan. The beach assault scene is a sonic masterpiece.
  • War of the worlds (first tripod appearance)
  • favorite sub-killers: The Haunting (scene from DTS demo disc), Toy Story (opening sequence), Phantom Menace (pod race), and LOTR. About 4 minutes into LOTR:FOTR, Isildur cuts off Sauron's hand. Moments later, there is a giant shock wave.
  • Something to test brightness with is "Pearl Harbour" at 90 minutes 11 seconds through 18 seconds. The bullets hitting the bridge can be alarmingly sharp on a bright speaker.
  • explosions throughout chapter 22 of Pearl Harbor
  • subwoofer stress test is chapter 3 of disc 2 of Das Boot: Director’s Cut;
  • Eric Clapton's concert DVD sounded absolutely stellar in DTS mode on the PT-7000. Track #2 "Reptile" contained such chillingly deep bass and flamboyant guitar textures
  • A river runs through it: opening babling brook.
  • The THX intro from Star Wars EP III
  • Eagles-Hell Freezes Over dvd in DTS
  • Gladiator DTS:ES...

cds

J.S. Bach, Goldberg Variations; Ito Ema, piano. M•A Recordings MO24 possibly the best audiophile piano recording.

Dave's True Story, Sex without Bodies, Chesky JD164 (CD). Remarkable clarity—a really fun recording.

Peter Gabriel, 3, Classic PG-3 (InterScope 493622). If you want a really great rock album that covers the full range of both macro- and microdynamics, this is it.

Janis Ian, Breaking Silence, Analogue Productions CAPPG 027 (gold CD, CD, Morgan Creek 2959-20023-2). A longtime audiophile favorite. The depth of the lyrics, coupled with one of the best recordings and masterings, is truly stellar.

Ben Webster, At the Renaissance, Analogue Productions AJAZ 7646 (Analogue Productions Gold CD, CAPJG 011; Fantasy Original Jazz Classics LP, AOJC 390; and Fantasy Original Jazz Classics CD, OJCCD-390-2). A live recording with clarity, imaging, and performances that are breathtaking. I treasure this recording as an all-time milestone in jazz. It was a tough call between this and Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus, another breakthrough album.—

Roger Waters-Amused to Death

Dreams-Fleetwood Mac DVD-A (The System of)Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather Alan Parsons Project MFSL LP

Peter Malick Group - New York City featuring Norah Jones, Strange Transmissions

Steely Dan - Everything Must Go

Pleasure Seeker by Paul Taylor, Norah Jones first album, Desert Rose by Sting, Eagle's Hell Freezes Over, Dave Matthews Crash

Mahler 2nd Symphony, 5th movement SF Symphony Orchestra Michael Tlison Thomas conducting

A Touch of Surroud Madness- Telarc DTS

- God Bless the Child (Blood, Sweat and Tears version) - Little Wing (SRV version) - Rach Prelude in C# minor (A Window in Time - Rachmaninoff performing his own works recorded on a piano roll and reproduced in a perfect studio setting)

Andreas Vollenweider "White Winds" (The White Winds)

Blessing "Prince of the Deep Water" (Back From Managua)

Keiko Matsui "Doll" (Eye of the Moon)

Yanni "Live At The Acropolis" (Within Attraction)

Rock/Alt: Crack the Sky: Lighten Up McGraw or Nuclear Apathy

Pop Rock: Boston: More Than a Feelin'

Hard Rock: Deep Purple: Drive My Car

Blues: Buddy Guy: Mustang Sally

Jazz: Chick Corea: My Spanish Heart

Pop: Michael Jackson: Billy Jean

R&B: Earth Wind and Fire: Fantasy or Shining Star

Disco: ABBA: Dancing Queen

Dream Theater - Instrumedly from the Live at Budokan CD

Bryan ferry - Bete Noire.

DTS then The Eagles Hell Freezes Over, cut 14 Get Over It. Cut 16 Seven Bridges Road is fun for surround demos.

DMB - Crash. The first six songs

Peter Gabriel's 'Steam'.

Bjork/Vespertine - Pagan Poetry

The Appleseed Cast/Low Level Owl Vol 1 - First 2 tracks

Brubeck's Time Out

INXS - Kick 'Mystify Me' ' Mediate'

Mark Knopfler - Sailing To Philadelphia

Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms SACD

Hank Crawford - More Soul (Something about those trumpets.....)

Ray Montiford "Shed Your Skin" , One Witness

Diana Krall, The girl in the other Room CD with the "Temptation" cut for two channel. Then switch to "House of Flying Daggers" the ECHO GAME scene for HT.

Allison Krauss, "Ghost in the House"

Muse - Hysteria (very dynamic)

Keane

Chris Isaac - forever blue album

Dire Straits BIA remastered "Latest Trick" and "Ride accross the river"

Allman Brothers band Hittin the note. "Old Friend"

Freddy king Cannon ball DVD-A anything

Talking Heads-True Stories (Track: Papa Legba)

King Crimson-Thrak (Track: Dinosaur)

Jennifer Warnes-Famous Blue Raincoat (Title track)

Anything by Kitaro

Dave Matthews Band-Under the Table and Dreaming

Collective Soul-just about anything they have works

Sarah Maclaughlin- the cd that has Sweet Surrender and Building a Mystery

Eagles Hell freezes Over

James Taylor Live at the Beacon

House of Flying Daggers

Multichannel Music - Steely Dan - Gaucho SACD/ Babylon Sister for Multi channel

2 ch - Peter Gabriel - So / Red Rain

Nickel Creek- self titled

Sara McLachlan-Surfacing

Sara Groves- All Right Here

DTS- Surround Demo 9

Seal- Live in Paris


subs

Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (CD, Dorian DOR-90117); and the stair-step pedal scales of organist E. Power Biggs with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Saint-Saëns' Symphony 3, "Organ Symphony" (LP, Columbia MS 6469).

Track 7 of the Patriot Games soundtrack (CD, RCA 66051-2), "Assault on Ryan's House," is a torture test for subs

CD soundtrack for the film U-571, which is a bass-fest, and U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

For bass mostly: Fifth Element Sndtk. Track 2, Celine Dion- "All by Myself" single.

Vendors

Va

  • Global Building Supply in Leesburg VA has the RC. They also have a much better inventory of drywall (9,10,12 ft lengths of various thicknesses with a lightly printed screwing grid printed on the surface) than HD and Lowes at about the same price and they bring it right to your truck. They also carry the grabber brand of screws which are hands down better at screwing into metal furring than the HD/Lowes brands.
  • Capital Building Supply in Vienna VA has Roxul. I used the 4 inch "safe" batts in my ceiling, A lot more dense than the Safe and Sound.
  • B & J Insulators Of Va - (703) 369-6373 (very nice people) Roxul
  • McCormick's - (703) 551-3239 Linacoustic
  • McCormick's (Manassas) Linacoustic $125 a roll

misc

surround sound formats and processing

There are no discrete 7.1 formats.

THX is a standard of quality, that comes along with features and processing methods, etc. The usefulness of THX is something that can be heavily debated, and the various forms it takes is confusing certainly.

The actual sound formats are DD and DTS, which I don't want to thoroughly explain, but DD EX and DTS ES matrix are "6.1" formats that are expanded from discrete 5.1 tracks. They use the same technology, and DD EX is the exact same thing as THX Surround EX, except as implemented in the home in non-THX receivers. DTS-ES matrix utilizes the same thing.

THX EX and DD EX are not exactly sound formats in particular, but an encode/decode method, a processing method really. IT can be implemented on any 5.1 disc manually as well, not only "EX" labeled discs.

DTS-ES discrete carries that 6th channel discretely.

THX Ultra 2 comes with it extra processing beyond plain EX, which creates on rear back, and Ultra 2 creates stereo rears, since dolby, THX, DTS, etc all recommend using a 7.1 speakers setup, so why not make those non-mono. Ultra 2 is one way to get a "7.1" soundfield, and other propriatary methods are very prevalent in higher end receivers as mentioned.

With the Ultra 2 certification, along comes the ability to create a 7.1 field in a similar way as PLIIx, or other proprietary DSP modes, Logic 7, etc, on 5.1/6.1 channel sources.

Ultra 2 was developed to be used with 7.1 speaker systems and provides stereo rear backs, not just a single rear back.


other

tubes of acoustic caulk tub Acoustiblock (for sealing HVAC vents, can lights, other rattles)

Speaker Wire - 250' 14 AWG CL3 In-Wall $104.50 Bluejeans Cable 3 HDMI Cables & 50' CL3 Sub Wire $31.72 monoprice.com

??Projector PX100U + Free Mount $1,710.40 ProjectorPeople - plus $400 rebate to send in ??Onkyo-TX-SR605 $399.99 6AVE.com HD-A2 $248.00 buydig.com 106" Screen $675.00 carada.com Tripp Lite SmartPro Digital Home Theater UPS 1000VA $127.89 dell.com

Infinity Beta C250 - L/R/C + JBL Balcony Surrounds $506.90 http://www.bestpriceaudiovideo.com/

Home Depot has halogen 3" recessed lights with a brushed nickel finish for $14 each. 3" 110v halogen can lights from Home Depot. They had a sale on a 6-pack of these for $32.

For cables and interconnects, I would recommend partsexpress.com.

You can also look at bluejeanscable.com.

spi-co

Guilford of Maine FR701

good DIY absorbers: http://thegilpins.org/Projects/Site/Projects/5A5066F2-EBDE-4AE2-B1AC-E1A700A8F17F.html


other articles, info

General

very good: http://www.hometheaterplanning.com/room.htm

http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

http://www.av-outlet.com/en-us/dept_361.html (projector screen size calc)

http://www.audiovideointeriors.com/theaterinspirations/

http://www.bobgolds.com/Mode/RoomModes.htm

Home Theater Explained by Marc J. Rochkind

Dolby Home Theater Equipment

Home Theater Shacks' Glossary

Audioholics - Glossary of Electronics Terms

Home Theater Talks' Glossary of Home Theater Terms

The Dolby Guide to Home Theater Sound

Home Theater HiFi's - How a Hole-in-the-Box Works - A Big Dig into Bass Reflex

CePro's - Setting Up a Multi room A/V System

Aperion Audio's University

HGTV on HT

Receiver, Amplifier, DVD Player - General Setup

Audioholics - Receiver Setup and Connections

Audioholics - Basic Audio & Video Set-Up Guide

Audioholics - Heat Buildup and Your AV Components

Audioholics - DVD Player Setup

Audioholics - DVD Audio Setup Tip

Audioholics - Home Theater Set-up Basics

Home Theater HiFi's - Using the Auto Set-up and EQ Features in an SSP or Receiver

Home Theater HiFi's - DVD Player Benchmarks

Crown's - How Much Amplifier Power Do I Need?

Audio Formats & Technology

Dolby Technology Overview

DTS FAQ

THX Technologies

Audioholics - What is Dolby Digital Surround?

Audioholics - Dolby Digital vs. DTS: A Guide to the Strengths of the Formats

Audioholics - THX Select and THX Ultra2 Certification - General Questions

Home Theater HiFi's - THX-Certification: What It Means and How to Use It

Home Theater HiFi's - Pro Logic IIx: What it Is, How it Works, and a Comparison with Other Formats

Interconnects, Cables and Connections

Audioholics - Audio & Video Connections Guide

Audioholics - Connection Tips 101 - Cabling Your System

Audioholics - Home Theater Prewire Basics - Introduction

Audioholics - Signal and Connector Types

Audioholics - Whole House HT Wiring Basics, Part 1

Audioholics - Whole House HT Wiring Basics, Part 2

Audioholics - Whole House HT Wiring Basics, Part 3

Audioholics - Whole House HT Wiring Basics, Part 4

Audioholics - Understanding In-wall Speaker, Video and Audio Cable Ratings

Audioholics - The Truth About Interconnects and Cables

Audioholics - Connecting a Cable TV or Satellite System

Audioholics - HDMI 1.3 Q&A

Audioholics - Understanding HDMI Ver 1.3

Audioholics - HDMI Interface - A Beginner's Guide

Home Theater HiFi's - DVI and HDMI Connections and HDCP Explained

Home Theater Mag's - Speaker Wire Installation & Wiring

Blue Jeans Cables - Cables FAQ

Ram Electronics - How to connect your Home Theater

Roger Russell: Speaker Wire - A History

Roger Russell: What Speaker Gauge Should I Use

Bi Amping - Bi Wiring

Audioholics - Bi Wiring: From Amplifier To Loudspeaker, Part 1

Audioholics - Bi Wiring: The Cable Conundrum, Part 2

Audioholics - The Difference Between Bi Amping vs. Bi Wiring

Ground Loops and Hum

Audioholics - Thinking in Isolation – A Primer on Ground Loops

Audioholics - Ground Loops - Eliminating System Hum and Buzz

HUM FAQ by Bill Lummus

Home Tech - RF Attenuators, Filters, & DC Blockers

Impact Acoustics - Isolation Transformers

Speaker Layout

Dolby Speaker and Room Setup

THX 5.1 Speaker Layout

THX 7.1 Speaker Layout

Loudspeakers and Rooms for Multichannel Audio Reproduction, Part 1 by Floyd E. Toole from Harmon

Loudspeakers and Rooms for Multichannel Audio Reproduction, Part 2 by Floyd E. Toole from Harmon

Loudspeakers and Rooms for Multichannel Audio Reproduction, Part 3 by Floyd E. Toole from Harmon

Audioholics - Speaker Placement: Setup Tips for Upgraded Home Theater Systems

Audioholics - Loudspeaker Placement Guide

Audioholics - Home Theater Speaker Layout - An Essential Guide

Bob Golds, Sanjay Durani - Dipole Surround Placement

Speaker Setup, Using SPL Meter

Techlore - How To Calibrate Your Surround System Using an SPL Meter

Audiophilia - Essential Accessories: The Radio Shack Sound Pressure Level Meter

Audioholics - Setting Speaker Levels & Distance in a Surround Sound System

Subwoofer Setup and Placement

Audioholics - Crawling for Bass - Subwoofer Placement

Audioholics - Subwoofer Placement Tips for Cabinetry Installations

Audioholics - An Easy Solution To Subwoofer Calibration

Audioholics - Bass Management Basics – Settings Made Simple

Audioholics - Subwoofer Placement Guidelines

Audioholics - Subwoofer Placement - The Place for Bass

Audioholics - Connecting a Subwoofer to a Receiver

Audioholics - Connecting a Subwoofer to a Receiver with No Subwoofer Output

Audioholics - Subwoofer Calibration Using Rives Audio Test CD 2

Audioholics - Setting the Subwoofer / LFE Crossover for Best Performance

Axiom - How to Find the Best Place for Your Subwoofer

Home Theater HiFi's - The Misunderstood 0.1 LFE Channel in 5.1 by Brian Florian

Sub Placement & Setup by Tom Nousaine, Chu Gai

AVIA: Subwoofer Calibration by Guy Kuo

Common Subwoofer Set-Up Errors by Edward J M

SVS - Ed Mullen's Subwoofer Setup Tips

SVS - How do I use a sound level meter to calibrate my Subwoofer

Subwoofer Setup Guide by Bossobass

What's the Big Deal About Crossovers?

LFE, Subwoofers and Interconnects Explained

Home Theater HiFi's - Bass Management Woes: Trouble on the Slopes

Sound Isolation

Audioholics - A Guide to Sound Isolation and Noise Control

Audioholics - Room Acoustics: Isolation & Noise Control

Audioholics - Reducing HVAC Noise in Theater Rooms

Quiet Rock - THX Certified Drywall

Green Glue

http://www.pac-intl.com/pdf/Installation_Guide.pdf

Acoustic Treatments

Not concise, but has good info: Acoustic Treatment and Design for Recording Studios and Listening Rooms by Ethan Winer


Audioholics - Introduction to Acoustics

Audioholics - DIY Absorbers for the Less-than-Handy Man

Audioholics - Acoustical Measurements - What are They?

Audioholics - Early Reflections in Home Theaters: A Different Perspective

Audioholics - Building Great Bass Response In Your Home Theater

Audioholics - Audyssey Labs' MultEQ

Audioholics - The Perfect Room?

Audioholics - Room Acoustics: Acoustic Treatments

Audioholics - Acoustics 101 Course by John Dahl of THX

Audioholics - Acoustics Facts and Fiction by Ethan Winer

Audioholics - Bass Traps - Not Just for Fisherman! by Ethan Winer

Home Theater HiFi's - Acoustical Room Treatment: A Survey of Methods and Materials

Loudspeakers and Rooms - Working Together by Floyd E. Toole from Harmon

Maximizing Loudspeaker Performance In Rooms by Floyd E. Toole from Harmon

Audio – Science in the Service of Art by Floyd E. Toole from Harmon

Acoustical Concepts of Contemporary Home Theaters by Ryan O. Allen

Jon Risch's DIY Acoustic Treatments

Cutting Rigid Fiberglass for Bass Traps

Bob Gold's Absorption Coefficients


Real Traps - Acoustic Treatment Overview

ATS Acoustics - Sound Absorption and Acoustical Panel FAQ's

GIK Acoustics - Acoustics Primer - Some Basics On Acoustics

Ready Acoustics - Acoustical Primer

Sensible Sound Solutions

Sonopan Acoustics

Auralex SubDude

Owens Corning Rigid Fiberglas 700 Series Insulation

Equipment

Behringer Feedback Destroyer Pro DSP1124P

Home Theater Shack: BFD Guide

Home Theatre Shack: BFD Links

Audioholics - Active Room Correction: A Primer to Audyssey MultEQ Pro

Sound Pressure Level (SPL) Meters

Radio Shack Digital-Display Sound-Level Meter

Radio Shack Analog Display Sound Level Meter

Radio Shack SPL Meter Correction Tables

SVS's Radio Shack SPL Meter Compensation Chart

Galaxy Audio SPL Meter

Software

Ovation Multimedia - Avia: Guide To Home Theater DVD

Video Essentials: Get The Most Out Of Your Home Entertainment System DVD

Room EQ Wizard Help Thread

Home Theater Shack: Room EQ Wizard

Home Theater Shack: BFD Guide

Home Theater Shack: BFD Links

SPL Calculator by C.M.Collins

Harmo Kardon - Waves & Modes-A Room Resonances Locater (XLS spreadsheet)

TrueRTA Audio Spectrum Analyzer

TrueRTA For Dummies

Audio Spectrum Analyzer - Spectrum Lab (Waterfall Chart)

Test Tones

Realm Of Excursion (Download Section)

RealTraps - Test Tone CD

Bink Audio Test CD

Rives Audio Test CD 2

Stay in Tune with PentaTone


long lost avsforum posts!

Irony doesn't always come through as intended. I had no idea what a "decorrelation facility" was; and since google finds the phrase existing on only four web pages in the world, this one being one of them, I suspect I'm not alone. It seemed an odd bit of jargon to drop without explanation, and I was merely trying to elicit more of an explanation -- without success apparently.


But it did prompt me to look into the merits and demerits of monopole speakers vs alternatives, and I did find this interesting comparison at: http://www.hometheatermag.com/bootcamp/25/

conclusion seems to be that in blind tests most listeners preferred dipole surround speakers to monopole -- at least of the models tested there. (They didn't indicate whether they used a "decorrelation facility" with the monopole speakers -- I suspect not!)

I also further discovered that if I had to bet on what a "decorrelation facility" could be, and if it wasn't something that Scotty used to fix the warpdrive, then I would have to guess that it is a type of signal processing that is implemented in some fashion by THX listening modes (which equipment spec seems to indicate monopole rear speakers): http://www.thx.com/technologies/decorrel.html and http://www.thx.com/home/setup/speakers/back.html

So in plain english, I'd bet that if you were going with a THX system, and were going to use THX listening modes, then monopole rear surrounds may be just the ticket. But who knows?!

More relevantly to the thread, there is a thread on the SMX forum which discussed placing speakers close to the SMX screen. Calv1n and others reported good results with placement as close as 2".

And the SMX website measurements page ( http://www.smxscreen.com/audio-measurements.html ) shows that SMX material has very different characteristics from normal perforated material. So the traditional generalizations about traditional perforated AT screens may not be applicable (to the same degree at least) to SMX screens.

I don't recall reading Dennis report on his experience with SMX screens (or similar woven material) and would be interested to know his (or anyone else's) experience on this issue -- it seems many people are hanging AT screens over in wall mounted speakers.

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