New setup

[john.odonnell01]

I know this forum is mostly electrostatic, but not in my budget.
I am piecing together a new system, I had a 5.1 in my old house. VSX-57TX, Miller and Kriesel studio monitor and LCR 750 center with a Velodyne 15 inch sub. I gave it all to my son when we moved into the new house. Blank canvas now, not even studs in basement.
Here is what I am piecing together. 5.2.4 system. Left/Right Motion 60XTs, center Motion 50XT. Surrounds FX2s. In ceilings 4 EM-ICs. Sub Rythmik FV18. Receiver Marantz SR7013.
Thoughts?

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[twich54]

Sounds nice John, I'm not much of a HT guy (there are plenty here to guide you though) so let me ask a couple questions.

Room size / set-up - since you're starting fresh, room size, separate 20 amp outlets, acoustic treatments, etc ?

source for music - CD / SACD, stream, analog (TT or tape) ?

 

[john.odonnell01]

Room size will be approximately 16 x 36 x 8. Half to be a pool table room. So 16 x 18 area.

TV 65" Vizio to be replaced by 65" AF9 Sony. 1080 to 4k

Everything else will run through Xbox 1x, until swapped.

Looking for CD, 4K BD, & phono suggestions. For future.

I knew I wanted sound enhancement/dampening. Just no idea where to start. All bare walls and concrete floors, I expect will ring. No plan to carpet. Probably large throws.

All to be 20 amp circuits. 5000u, 12/2 shielded for speakers, rg6 quad in 4 positions for sub placement and to add 2nd as needed.



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[twich54]

bare concert floors ? if so........YUCK ! yes you will need acoustic help ! corner bass trapping, first point of reflection, ceiling treatment. How about windows ?

as for the 16 x 18 audio area I assume speakers (L/R) will be along 16' wall and pool table area behind your seating area, should work out well.

Have you thought of a budget for CD ? pick up a Oppo 205 if you can, a great do-all player IMO. How about your budget for the analog side ?

 

[john.odonnell01]

bare concert floors ? if so........YUCK ! yes you will need acoustic help ! corner bass trapping, first point of reflection, ceiling treatment. How about windows ?

as for the 16 x 18 audio area I assume speakers (L/R) will be along 16' wall and pool table area behind your seating area, should work out well.

Have you thought of a budget for CD ? pick up a Oppo 205 if you can, a great do-all player IMO. How about your budget for the analog side ?

I was actually looking at that oppo. Probably first thing after system is up to pick up. Or acoustic treatments. That's what I will need to get more information on

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[JonFo]

Nice initial gear selection, only one suggestion: go for Motion 15's for the rears, as the FX is a dipole, and for Atmos, that is a no-no.

Or, if pressed for space (atmos rears/sides must be at ear level, so lower on the wall), then consider some ElectroMotion IW's in-walls.

Is your seating one row, or two? If two, then consider a 7.2.4 setup.

You will absolutely want to invest in room treatments, that room will ring and boom. Throw rugs (lots of them, and thick too) is a start, but you'll want some absorption at the side-wall first reflection points. Are you good at DIY, or does stuff need to be commercial?

As for subs, for a room that long, you will likely need two subs. One placed in the middle of the front wall, under the center. One placed behind the seats, again in the middle. That should balance out the fact that your seats are likely near the middle of the length of the room, which is usually a big null in bass frequencies. The 7013 has Audyssey Sub EQ HT so that it will compensate for the distance between the two at setup. Just try and get the levels and phase as right as possible before starting the Audyssey run.

Room color scheme, make sure the theater end has the ceiling painted matte-black, better for video, and hides the overheads better.
Likewise, side-walls, use a dark color, or my favorite 18% gray.

 

[JonFo]

Also, do plan the speaker locations carefully following the guidelines Dolby has posted.
See page 20 of this guide for locations for a 5.1.4 config
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technol...tmos-home-theater-installation-guidelines.pdf

Something folks often get wrong on rears/sides for Atmos is they mount them too high. I know, as my rears are 6' tall Sequeluell II electrostats and the height difference between them and the rear overheads barely squeaks into the 30 to 55-degree delta between overhead and rears/sides. Good thing my ceiling is 10' in the HT.

 

[JonFo]

I was actually looking at that oppo. Probably first thing after system is up to pick up. Or acoustic treatments. That's what I will need to get more information on

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I'm a big fan of Oppo (I have a 103), but the 205 is unobtainium for now, ridiculous prices once they stopped making them, plus for your setup, no real gain over a 203. Or alternatively, a used 103 for all audio formats, plus a dedicated 4K player.
I'm getting a Panasonic UB820 next week, as I have a 1080p + faux-K SDR projector setup (JVC 4810), and this player has very good tone mapping that takes the HDR info and lets us old-school SDR display users (man, hard to believe my $5K PJ from 2013 is 'old-school') gain some video advantage from HDR content.

As for where to invest first, acoustic treatments is it. It makes a way bigger difference than most anything else. I'd live with a cheap player in order to have more bucks for room treatments.

 

[twich54]

as usual, all good advice from Jonathan !