purpose built HT for newbie

[jpphun]

HI all,
I am looking to build a purpose built room in my basement but have not really paid any attention to HT so this is all new. I have mainly been two channel. I had an old 5.1 system with Dayton audio bookshelves, center, and 15 sub paired with a Pioneer VSX-821.

In the new room which is 15 wide by 20 deep i plan to have two rows of four seats.

i am looking to have 2 fronts, 1 center (forgot in the picture), 2 sides (not sure if needed or used), 2 rears, 2 in the ceiling (i think these would be the Atmos), and then 2 subs.

i am looking for receiver recommendation, top would be Anthem MRX 1120 but am open to anything this price range or less. I am interested i DIY speakers. I have built the In-Khan_Neatos once (in wall) and they worked out well. Do i just use that family for the whole project? Is there something else i might want to think about? I am in contact with DIYSG but they are in transition now. Also would the neato be for the side, atmos, and rear?

Any tips or recommendations would be helpful. I am open to the studs so can do inwall and run wire now.

[rick844]

I live my anthology towers for music and home theater. I wanted something that was great at both, and they deliver. There may be some larger more expensive options though. Hopefully Jim will jump in with ideas. He is full of knowledge and extremely helpful.

[Jim Holtz]

HI all,
I am looking to build a purpose built room in my basement but have not really paid any attention to HT so this is all new. I have mainly been two channel. I had an old 5.1 system with Dayton audio bookshelves, center, and 15 sub paired with a Pioneer VSX-821.

In the new room which is 15 wide by 20 deep i plan to have two rows of four seats.

i am looking to have 2 fronts, 1 center (forgot in the picture), 2 sides (not sure if needed or used), 2 rears, 2 in the ceiling (i think these would be the Atmos), and then 2 subs.

i am looking for receiver recommendation, top would be Anthem MRX 1120 but am open to anything this price range or less. I am interested i DIY speakers. I have built the In-Khan_Neatos once (in wall) and they worked out well. Do i just use that family for the whole project? Is there something else i might want to think about? I am in contact with DIYSG but they are in transition now. Also would the neato be for the side, atmos, and rear?

Any tips or recommendations would be helpful. I am open to the studs so can do inwall and run wire now.[ATTACH=CONFIG]30350[/ATTACH]

I appreciate the kind things Rick said but I'm not sure I can comment to much further than about the speakers Curt and I've developed over the years. The Anthology's are a great all around speaker that is very dynamic for home theater with excellent and very clear mids yet they are forgiving of less than stellar recordings that you enjoy listening to and are very capable when you listen to audiophile quality recordings. The Statements II and Bordeaux would also work really well with a greater emphasis on 2-channel listening and significantly more money.

I'm a 5.1 HT guy so I can't offer any thoughts beyond to recommend out Micro Statements or Finalist Monitors for side/rear duty. Both are really excellent small speakers that were designed for exactly this use.

I've had separates for over 30 years so I'm not into receivers but I've found Marantz to be one of the few consumer electronics receivers to actually have stout power supplies which I find critical. They also sound good.

BTW, my listening/HT room is 15'x20' also. It works great!

Good luck!

Jim

[oneplustwo]

I would recommend building something in wall regardless of which design you choose. Since you have the walls open, it will be so much cleaner and if you choose the design and build carefully, the sound quality shouldn't give up anything to stand alone speakers. zaphaudio has an in wall version with his driver along with detailed notes about how to build into the wall. Im sure the other designs would be just fine too.

As to receivers, I've had Emotiva and various amps as separates for a while now. But honestly, I'm considering going back to a receiver. So many channels with Atmos these days! My thought is to use the receiver for all the surround channels but use the pre-outs for the mains and center since that's where most of the sound comes from anyway. I've been looking at the higher end Denon models with Audyssey XT32.

Since you're in construction mode, have you considered infinite baffle subs?

[Jim Holtz]

I've got to disagree with the previous poster regarding sound quality of in wall vs conventional placement. The number one question is how important is accurate music recreation to you? If its important and you truly enjoy sitting down and becoming absorbed in the music and the presentation, in-walls won't do it. The sound stage is flat and lacks the depth of the original performance. The sound is there, just not the performance. It's the reason Curt and I have designed speakers with open back mids for the last 13 years. They take you to the performance.

I'll get beat up for this comment but IMHO, HT systems are easy, music systems are hard to create. The center channel is the most important speaker in a HT system. Up to 70% of the sound comes from the center and it anchors the sound and voices to the screen. All the rest of the speakers are effects channels and broad dispersion is key to recreating the movie mix which is also very dependent on the quality of the processor selected. So, IMHO a well designed 5.1 system with well designed speakers will easily recreate the movie mix without having speakers on every wall in the normal sized family room.

You may not agree but that is my experience. Consider the music 1st and then design to meet your goals from there.

HTH

Jim

[oneplustwo]

I would like to clarify. My comment was regarding the surround speakers. The benefits of in wall for all but the mains and center outweigh the benefits of standalone speakers to me practically speaking. Unless you have a large room with space for everything, I would take the in wall stuff all day. To Jim’s point most of the sound comes from fronts and center so those should be prioritized for sound quality vs practicality. Another thought is that the ceiling speakers will almost definitely be in wall so there’s something to be said about matching those with in wall for the Other surrounds.

[rick844]

Something else to add to Jim's point, movies have a lot of score and music as well. I. Noticed a very dramatic pull into movies with my anthology's when the score is well produced. I'm a huge believer in large enclosure speakers. I hate the thin sounding of some speakers that have focus only on mids and highs. That is what intrigued me about the Anthologys as they have exceptional bass response as well.

Center is also very important. I dont have the room for a large center, so I had to modify one I had with a conversion kit from selah audio.

[oneplustwo]

I realize it’s not uncommon for folks to recommend what they themselves have done so I’ll caveat with that first. But I was wondering if you’ve considered a something similar to a Murphy corner loaded array. It seems like your room could be a good candidate for it. So I just offer it as something to consider.

[Jim Holtz]

Just a quick follow up. In-walls would be fine for surrounds, just make sure their off axis response is good to provide an encompassing sound field.

So, I'll toss out another idea from the distant past if HT is your primary goal. I worked with Rick Craig at Selah audio to come up with a line array design I used for a few years that I still recommend for hard core HT use. The near field will extend out to your seating position in a 15x20 room and engulf you in the movie sound. I found that I preferred conventional design speakers with open back mids for music and that they offered the best of both worlds minus near field listening which became the Statements.

If you love HT you'll love line arrays. :W

Jim

[rick844]

Those look sick. I would love to make those, but my wife would make me move out for sure. Lol

[oneplustwo]

If they’re wall integrated, maybe not as bad?



Main build thread here:

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/290677-wall-integrated-corner-loaded-line-array-vifa-tc9-drivers-post5312487.html

[rick844]

Oh, very nice.

[Scareurpasenger]

I will add the Denon seems to be the choice these days. Some testing lately shows the x3600h as having some of the best sound even when compared to just some AV preprocessors. It has RCA out as well but also seems to be out of stock most places due to the recent upgrade to the x3700h. Testing still needs to vlaidate that the new mdel is an audio improvement since the new x4700h doesn't seem to be as nice.

I am waiting it out for now to see what the new one measures in at and in the meantime am working on rs180 mtm mains, rs150 mt rears and the neod cc. My chalange is that the TV is above the fireplace and I need to integrate the center in somehow. A reason to upgrade the mantle but also I will need to modify the dimensions a bit to make it have the correct volume since the depth is a bit much for the area.

[oneplustwo]

I will add the Denon seems to be the choice these days. Some testing lately shows the x3600h as having some of the best sound even when compared to just some AV preprocessors. It has RCA out as well but also seems to be out of stock most places due to the recent upgrade to the x3700h. Testing still needs to vlaidate that the new mdel is an audio improvement since the new x4700h doesn't seem to be as nice.

I am waiting it out for now to see what the new one measures in at and in the meantime am working on rs180 mtm mains, rs150 mt rears and the neod cc. My chalange is that the TV is above the fireplace and I need to integrate the center in somehow. A reason to upgrade the mantle but also I will need to modify the dimensions a bit to make it have the correct volume since the depth is a bit much for the area.

I was considering the same receiver. My Emotiva XMC-1 is fine, but I'm now setup for 11.2 and have yet to take advantage. My plan is to wait until 4K projectors get a bit cheaper and then go towards a hybrid of integrated/separates. I'll just use the amps I have now with the pre-outs for basically 5.2 and then use the receiver amps for everything else. I may upgrade to the 11.2 version, but we'll see what the landscape is like in another year or two.

[theSven]

I upgraded from the Emotiva UMC-1 to the RMC-1 last fall when Emotiva offered a $1000 trade in for your old device. I would be very interested to know who has an Anthem or something else in the class of 4k with ATMOS and what your thoughts are on that device. Perhaps I should start a new thread on this. From the last 11 months I can say that the Emotiva RMC-1 has been nothing but problematic. The NIC intermittently works, and the negotiation over HDMI does not play nice sometimes. When the RMC-1 does work it sounds great, but having usability problems is very frustrating.

[Steve Manning]

I upgraded from the Emotiva UMC-1 to the RMC-1 last fall when Emotiva offered a $1000 trade in for your old device. I would be very interested to know who has an Anthem or something else in the class of 4k with ATMOS and what your thoughts are on that device. Perhaps I should start a new thread on this. From the last 11 months I can say that the Emotiva RMC-1 has been nothing but problematic. The NIC intermittently works, and the negotiation over HDMI does not play nice sometimes. When the RMC-1 does work it sounds great, but having usability problems is very frustrating.

Hey Sven, I've watched a few of this guys reviews, https://www.youtube.com/c/AndrewRobinsonphoto

I bought a Sony receiver off of his review. He was bang on with the review. Might be worth a look?

[theSven]

Hey Sven, I've watched a few of this guys reviews, https://www.youtube.com/c/AndrewRobinsonphoto

I bought a Sony receiver off of his review. He was bang on with the review. Might be worth a look?

Thanks I will take a look. Last night was more woes with the Emotiva watching Lord of the Rings 2 Towers the emotiva decided to have a hard time with the audio and kept switching to PCM. Watching the movie in 4K was amazing though.