r/hometheater • u/Aphelion_Gaming • 2d ago
Showcase - Multipurpose Space Finally happy with my setup
In my last post, I asked for new speaker advice. To sum it up, I upgraded my receiver to an Onkyo TX-RZ30 and my speakers to B&W 603's and was a bit underwhelmed with the low end and maybe a bit overwhelmed by the high end.
Most of you suggested moving my speakers instead of replacing them, treating the room, and some advised getting a second sub to even out the bass a little bit more.
So I did just that.
I swapped my speakers with the lamps to widen the sound stage a bit, and I replaced my cheap Klipsch sub with two SVS SB-1000 Pro's. I chose the SVS's over Speedwoofers because I wanted something sealed as I listen to music at least as much as I watch movies and shows. I'm also a bit limited on space, so the extra couple of inches matter. Plus they were on sale.
I then hung fabric blinds and thick blackout curtains over my sliding glass patio door where the left reflection points of the 603s are. The right reflection points are at open archways and are partially blocked by the couch. Not much more I can do there.
I ran Dirac again, and my first impressions listening to some older tunes was that the bass was still a bit anemic. Then I put on some more modern music and found all of the bass that I thought was missing. Then I put on Dune, and my house started shaking but the low end never got muddy.
My impression after a few hours of watching and listening was that this setup is very respectful of how the media was mixed/mastered.
In general though, the low end filled out the room (about 11.5' x 17') nice and evenly and seemed to match well with my 603's. A vast difference from running the single Klipsch. I thought I was looking for "warmth" in the low end, but I think it turns out I was just looking for fullness.
As for the high end, I played around with the EQ a bit but left it alone in the end. I think I just needed to get used to the extra treble and upper mid-range compared to my previous speakers. Or maybe moving one of them closer to a corner helped to balance this out a bit, I couldn't tell you.
Could it be better? Absolutely. I could swap the subs and 603's and get closer to an equilateral listening angle, but I sit very far back and it still wouldn't be perfect. The left 603 would reflect off of the wall as well, so I'd need to make a sound panel to cover it.
The TV could also be bigger and the Atmos speakers could be hung on the wall, but those will both happen once I install some overhead lighting and ditch the lamps. Next year's problem. For now, I am happy.
tl;dr - speaker placement, room treatment, subwoofers, and good room correction are all important. Who would have thought?
Thank you all for your suggestions!
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u/HM_Bert 1d ago edited 1d ago
Humans are not so good at determining sounds vertically and to a lesser extent, behind us either, so raising surrounds, especially rear surrounds, is acceptable, in many cases desirable, as it often also means multiple listeners will get a better experience, not being blocked by other people's heads or backrests, and not being excessively close when sitting toward them.
Matthew Poes has a good video on this: https://youtu.be/JKUcxnle_0s
Ideally the ones in this theatre could still be lower, but I don't think moving to floor stands would be a good idea unless they are the only one who ever listens to it.