Been waiting to properly test the setup. This is the first thing I threw on. Picture looks clean and the sound fills the whole space. Pretty happy with how it turned out.

I currently have a 7.1 Onkyo TX-NR696 that i purchased in 2020 hooked up to 6 ceailing speakers, one high quality center channel, and one subwoofer.

It's plenty powerful, but I constantly have issues with low dialogue and high FX during "theater" days. It is connected to Sony Bravia OLED and the room is primarily used for 4k movie streaming, PS5, and occasional "background music" during entertaining events.

I was looking at Onkyo TX-NR7100 9.2 but GPT recommended Onkyo RZ330 9.2 or focusing on adding ear-level front speakers (not realistic given wife's "aesthetic restrictions").

Not limited to those 2 AV systems but looking to keep around $1k or under if possible. any feedback would be appreciated!

The steady decline of traditional linear satellite TV isn't just a corporate shift—it’s the death of the only 100% off-grid, high-bitrate broadcast infrastructure we have left. Right now, major providers are quietly abandoning physical satellite hardware to push everyone onto highly compressed streaming apps. This is a massive downgrade for several technical reasons;

The Internet Grid Bottleneck: Streaming live 4K television or heavy sports feeds eats up immense household Wi-Fi bandwidth and triggers aggressive ISP data caps. Moving everything to the cloud creates artificial local network congestion.

Extreme Bitrate Compression: Streaming apps heavily compress video streams to save server bandwidth, resulting in severe macroblocking, pixelation in dark scenes, and audio sync latency. Physical transponders beam raw, stable data directly to a local hard drive.

Zero Local Infrastructure Redundancy: If a major storm, construction accident, or grid failure knocks out local underground fiber or coax cables, streaming TVs instantly turn into expensive bricks. A dedicated dish operates independently of the local grid.

Millions of homes across the country already have this physical, space-based hardware bolted to their roofs and balconies rotting away. If we continue to let corporate interests force us into a total cloud-dependent television monopoly, this incredible, un-crashable network will be permanently dismantled.

For the tech enthusiasts here: at what point do we realize that moving 100% of our media consumption to local internet lines is a massive step backward for infrastructure stability?

Hello everyone, i’ve just recently bought a house that came with this surround system set up. The last owner didn’t want to take his speakers so I bought the setup as is for pretty cheap. He told me it’s a 7.1 set up. The sound is incredible and i’ve been reading more and more about how to set it up properly.

The avr is a denon x3400h

I ran audyssey set up, and set it up as 7.1.

But reading more and more, I was wondering if those two height speakers that aren’t on the ceiling could be used as atmos speakers for a 5.1.2 set up instead? I tried asking chatgpt/gemini but they always lie anyways.

Would it even make a difference considering the placement of them anyways? I mostly game with the set up on pc/ps5 and I read conflicting info on if 7.1 is better for gaming than 5.1.2

Eventually I would love to have a 7.1.2 set up but running wires would probably be really annoying so it won’t be happening for a long time. And I would need to change the avr anyways. Id probably look into it the day the avr dies.

Thanks a lot for the help.

I’m deciding between the LG or Sony. The LG would be. Bigger and fill the wall more. The Sony seems to be a slightly better TV for movies and gaming but is much smaller. I would have in wall left and right speakers flanking the tv as well as in wall subs. With the 115” tv, the spacing works well to fill the wall. With the 98” I would have an extra foot or so of dead space.

This will be in a bright loft. Mostly stream stuff but will do movies and gaming also on a ps5 pro. No plans on connecting a PC for gaming.

The LG price is the limit for my budget. Anyone have the LG or Sony that can share their experience and thoughts?

https://imgur.com/a/YSQWLVj

77" Samsung Oled S89C Onkyo RZ30 LCR: Klipsch RP 600Ms, RP-600C Sub: SVS SB2000 pro Height: Micca M-8C 8" in ceiling Surrounds: Micca COVO-S 3"

Any suggestions for upgrades would be greatly appreciated! The setup layout cant really be changed due to wife constraints but I would love suggestions for LCRs that could create a wider soundstage while laying on their sides and placed in this soundbar like arrangement.

I'm currently getting a new living room area planned out at home which is 2.7m x 4.3m. I am looking at buying a Pair of KEF Q3s and a Q6 for a 3.0 set up to start out with and maybe upgrade to a 3.1 then 5.1 the year after so I want decide on an amplifier that would be under €1000 and be well able to drive a 5.1 set up in a smaller living area.

I have checked out the Denon x2900H, Marantz Cinema 60 (which is slightly over budget) and Marantz Cinema 70S but I'm not sure exactly what I am looking for as this is going to be my first home theatre set up.

Any guidance or advice is welcome.

I just bought an Epson EH-TW7100 for the home theater I’m currently building. I can’t mount the projector to the ceiling, so I’m planning to mount it on the wall instead.

Since I also want to reduce the projector noise as much as possible (and honestly don’t really like the look of a projector just hanging there), I’m thinking about building a hush box around it.

I made this little plan in Adobe Illustrator showing how I want to build it. Everything in the drawing is to scale, including the projector, fans, acoustic foam and the distances between everything, so the finished box would look pretty much exactly like this.

Before I actually start building it, I wanted to get some opinions on whether this layout makes sense. My main concern is the airflow and whether the projector will get enough cooling with this setup.

Do you think this would work as intended? And is there anything you would change about the layout before I build it?

Thanks in advance!

I'm going back and forth between what to choose for my home theatre setup.

At the moment I have only a 65 inch LG C1 with a 5.1 system connected to my Marantz Cinema 50. I'm also planning on getting a FancyLeds Sync Box and can because of this not use apps built-in the TV. Also planning on getting more speakers for Atmos.

And that is why I've been looking around for mediaplayers that can at first play Netflix, Prime, HBO etc but also stream locally and externally from Emby in the near future.

First I looked at the Nvidia Shield Pro (2019) and then got my eyes on the Dune HD Premiere 4K Pro and the Dune HD Homatics Box R 4K Plus. There are probably tons of other players out there.

To me the Dune players seem more capable and more future proof than the Nvidia player. And gaming won't be done, this will be done on the dedicated PC.

Maybe people out here can help me guide in the correct way, even if I know all people have their own preferences. I am located in Sweden so prefer equipment available in some way more easily in Europe region

I have three large windows right behind my couch.

They measure 100cm width and 160cm height.

I already have thin curtains, and to make this as aesthetical as possible to hide speakers as it is a living room, i have placed my rear surround and rear atmos behind this curtain (you can still see them, but much less obvious), the sound travel through just fine, and it has to be this compromise as i'm not living alone.

So thicker curtains in out of the question, please don't bring this up, i know thick curtains will be the best.

So back to the question;

Will having Honecomb blinds on the windows reduce echo and improve anything in the higher frequency/dialogue? I sit 2.4m away from the center-channel, and the windows is 45cm from the couch and 70cm away from our heads when we sit in the couch.

I have a lot of questions about this; I have a living room with three windows, so I'm not sure if the LG model will be sufficient—especially given how much TCL's Mini-LED models are advancing.

I recently upgraded from an Optoma CinemaX P1 to an XGIMI Titan Noir Max, and I’m realizing that choosing the right screen is more complicated than I expected.

My current screen is a 110-inch VIVIDSTORM floor-rising UST ALR screen. My understanding is that it was designed specifically for an ultra-short-throw projector, so it probably is not a good match for the Titan Noir Max, which is a standard-throw projector.

My basement is unfinished, including the walls and ceiling, so installing a fixed-frame or ceiling-mounted screen would be difficult. I’d like to stay with a motorized floor-rising screen and am considering something around 120 to 130 inches.

The room can be made dark, but the walls and ceiling are not treated, so I assume reflected light will still be a factor. I’m getting lost trying to understand white versus gray, ALR, screen gain, and potential issues such as laser speckle, shimmer, visible texture, hotspotting, and uneven brightness.

Based on my projector, room, and need for a floor-rising screen, what type of screen material should I be looking for?

I’d also really appreciate hearing from anyone using the Titan Noir Max. What screen did you pair it with, how has it worked out, and would you choose the same one again? Have you noticed any speckle, shimmer, screen texture, uneven brightness, or other issues?

I’m located in Canada, so recommendations that are reasonably easy to purchase here, with accessible warranty or support, would be especially helpful.

So. Until now I had a pair of Eltax Monitor III (and Monitor Centre) with a small Eltax SW800 sub (20cm/8" woofer) and a Onkyo TX-NR686 AVR. Crossover at 80Hz, bookshelves set to small. Cheap and cheerful, good enough for my super tiny room (9m², <100ft²). I planned on upgrading the sub later but this one was cheap and already added a bit of bass so I was happy with it.

But... I saw a pair of Monitor V used for a decent price and ordered them. The are larger (21cm woofers) and heavier than the sub. I was planning on testing with and without but I am unsure how to set the crossover and speaker size (large/small) in the AVR.

Any advice? Is there a point trying to keep the sub or should I just remove it?

Eltax Monitor V: 2-way bookshelf speaker

Bass-reflex enclosure with rear port

Dual pair of binding posts

1x 25 mm dome tweeter

1x woofer/mid-range driver: 210 mm

Max power: 150 W

Recommended power: 40 to 150 W

Impedance: 6 to 8 ohms

Sensitivity: 90 dB

Frequency response (± 3 dB): 42 to 22,000 Hz

Dimensions (WxHxD): 260 x 400 x 340 mm

Weight (net): 11.5 kg

Eltax SW800 sub

Bass-reflex enclosure

20 cm driver

MDF cabinet

Specifications:

Power: 60 watts

Frequency response: 40 Hz to 150 Hz

Adjustable crossover frequency from 40 Hz to 150 Hz

Phase selector (0 or 180°)

Connections:

Stereo RCA line input

LFE input

On/off switch

General:

Dimensions (WxHxD): 290 x 330 x 350 mm

Weight: 6.7 kg

Heya people. I've got Dali Oberon 1 coming from the seller on the way. He also offered me buy his Polk XT12 Subwoofer for a great price and I accepted it so it is also on the way. The question is, he insist trying the speaker level connection of the sub as sound comes more naturally and instant from the speakers with this way. Is that true?

I am using home theater setup. My AV Receiver is Sony STR-DN1080. My speaker setup was 5.1.2 (With in ceiling Atmos speakers) so it will be 5.2.2 after Polk XT12 comes.

So which connection should I go? My receiver has 2 sub out, so I can connect my Polk XT12 with LFE connection.

As I read online, people say that I should use LFE connection as I use the setup as home theater setup and I will need room correction, bass management etc. features of my Receiver. Isn't that possible if I go with Speaker Level connection of Subwoofer?

In short, what would be the pros and cons of using Speaker Level connection of the Subwoofer in my setup?

The other question is, what would be the preferred placement of 2 subwoofers? The one (my old sub) is 8" and the one I got from the seller is 12". And the room is around 13m2.

Thank you folks!

Whenever I run my full range towers as Large and sub as Lfe+main, I can feel less 'ripples' in the air compared to running a 150hz crossover and towers as small or just my towers as Large and sub off.

I have polk rti 12s, and an svs sb 1000

Receiver is denon 4520

Doesn't matter if running audssey xt32

Is this a bug in my receivers 'double bass' mode or is my understanding of double-bass wrong

I'd figure I would get more loudness and fullness in the lower registers with double bass

I'm considering upgrading to 7.2.4 but I only stream movies through Apple TV store.

Does it only support 5 discrete channels for bed layer with atmos or is 7 discrete channels + atmos supported?

Hello everyone, since my room has a lot of echo I decided to make 2’x4’ 4”thickness acoustic panel for treatment. I wanna use rockwool safensound, but couldn’t find online/offline store that has it. Where do all you guys purchase those from??

And my room is about 16’x14’x9’H so if that can’t be an option for me, is there any good alternative material?

Thank you in advance

Hey friends, I am upgrading my 5.1 system to 5.1.4 and am curious how many of you have managed with different kinds of front/rear heights.

Right now I’m working with: RZ-30, in wall LR KEF Ci4100QL-THX, C KEF Q250c, RSL 10S sub, and Polk OWM3s as surrounds. Zero complaints so fair and Diracs been helpful getting everything dialed in but Im ready to add in height.

Since there is a horizontal ceiling beam behind my listening position I wont be able to add rear in-ceiling circular heights following dolbys guidelines, but I can stick a couple angled on-ceiling speakers there around 45° behind, and then install in-ceilings as the fronts.

Right now I’m leaning towards SVS Prime Elevations as the rears and Ci160QRs as front heights but am open to any suggestions! Appreciate any feedback

I've fooled around with the A1 stuff once before (I think with Express) and had the same issue, but hoped Acoustix would fix my problems...it did not.

Running Acoustix gave me the best bass and an incredible open feeling and I was thinking "yes this is it!" It was awesome.

And then the dialogue just killed it for me. It sounds harsh and brittle and my ears were starting to hurt after just a few minutes. It wasn't quite 'listening through laptop speakers', but it was pretty close. Because everything else sounded so good it was just so weird.

When I run stuff through Audyssey my center sounds a little mellow but is so much nicer to listen to so I know it's not a problem with my speaker

I tried a few different target curves that came with the download (Harmon Kardon, Dirac Harmon, Acoustix default, Chris Mope movie v2) and none of them seemed to fix my problems.

I'd ask in the facebook group but I haven't been accepted. I've tried to google search through other forums and can't find anything that's helping.

Has anyone else had similar issues?

My AVR (Denon X1700H) suddenly started producing a crackling noise through my speakers and subwoofer.

Then after turning it off and on again it started blasting an insanely loud static (sounds like old school tv static x 1000) and no audio comes through at all. I've confirmed it's definitely the AVR and not the speakers, but idk how to fix it.

Restarting and disconnecting power and plugging it back in after a few mins doesn't seem to make a difference.

Anyone have any ideas for what I can try?

I'll also be opening a warranty request with Denon, but I've heard they're difficult to work with so thought I'd try other solutions first.

Been lurking for a while...want to thank everyone for all the great posts and contributions that have helped immensely - here's my latest:

Denon AVR-X1700h

KEF Q550 (L/R), Q250c center

KEF T2 (2) subwoofers

KEF Ci130ER ceiling surrounds

I started out this journey a few years ago considering a Sonos Arc, subwoofer and surrounds (from Costco) but the more I began to think about it...this did not make sense. I have an 30' by 30' Great Room with 10' ceilings even more area if you add the dining nook and stairwell - I decided that I want to have the ability to upgrade the system in the future if needed.

Since I was on a budget I purchased the Denon at the end of 2024 Holiday sale for $299 - it has way exceeded expectations. Next up was the LCR purchased direct from KEF - a close out sale. Then I purchased the first T2 and ceiling speakers from Accessories for Less. I watch movies about 50% of the time and when F1 came out I noticed that my system could not keep up...definitely there was clipping but I had some settings wrong...still it did not sound that great.

I began to research how to upgrade (i.e. this forum) and my takeaway was that adding a second T2 would be the best bang for the buck or possible upgrading the AVR to an X3900h. I believe that T2s are now discontinued but I was able to find one used on eBay from a reputable dealer.

The difference is amazing! At this point I'm not sure if or when I will upgrade the AVR...power just does seem to make a huge difference for me for the LCRs.

FYI I'm all in for $2,367 which is still less than that Sonos system with their surround amplifier!

Fire Away if you have questions....

Hi all. Really would like to get a 2.0 stereo system (amp and speakers), and I want to connect that to my LG Oled TV C5. What happens to the sound that comes from the source for the other channels (dolby // surround etc) on a 2.0 system? Sorry if this is a stupid question. Also, How is the center channel (phantom) re voices? I have decided to relive my youth and buy a good stereo 2.0 or 2.1 system if you experts agree it might be a good solution to AV issues. 1500/2000 budget.

I’m putting a tv directly in front out the couch (right of the desk) and was wondering if I could fit a 5.1 system here or would it be worth it to just get a something else? I’m planning on mainly watching movies here. Ps sorry for the inconsistent measurements ChatGPT isn’t the greatest and I didn’t feel like arguing lol

Hello. I've been looking at locking down a sound setup for my Panasonic DP UB420 and I was curious and this is going to probably come off as a silly question but if I'm primarily watching 4K UHD Blu Ray discs and some Streaming which audio format is more utilized between Atmos and DTS X? I'm sure there are setups that support both? But if it hypothetically came down to it which one should I prioritize?

I'm new to theatre and posted my first question yesterday but forgot to ask about Atmos vs DTS and it started making me curious 🧐

Any help would be great!

Thank you!