EQ's in Home Theatre Setups

[RobP]

I have noticed something missing from the home theatre racks, EQ's. Why is this. We use them in large theatres, usually 1/3 octave 30 bands per channel, and also in high end car audio, (I use dual 30 band Audio Control EQTs). Any thoughts?

Robert P.

[David Meek]

Hi Robert,

A good bit of EQ effort is spent on the bass-end of things for HT, look for threads here on the BFD (Behringer Feedback Destroyer) or search on username Sonnie Parker (our resident BFD guru) and you'll hit quite a number of threads. Also, look up the ICBM, it's another EQ device IIRC.

Less is posted about the mid- and upper-end, and why, I'm not sure. Personally, in thinking about it I have a built-in parametric EQ for each channel of my Yamaha RX-V1 but haven't had the time to properly integrate it. Now that you've brought it up, I'm going to have to play a bit - thanks. :T

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

There are at least a few reasons, the first being expense.

Good equalizers suitable for use with the main speakers cost at least a few hundred dollars. Multiply that by five or more channels, and you’re easily hitting well over a grand just to get in the door.

The next reason is connectivity (for lack of a better term). As it is in real theaters, home theater equalizers must be connected between the pre-outputs and amplifier. The most popular home theater front-end is the ubiquitous 5-channel receiver, and models with a full set of pre-out and main-in connections are few and far between. For every channel where there is no access to patch back into the internal amplifier, an outboard amp must be added. Which only serves to ratchet up the price of admission even higher.

The third reason is that sophisticated equalizers are difficult to set up properly, and most people really have no idea how to do it.

The fourth reason is that in the past year or so, manufacturers have introduced receivers with auto calibration systems that include effective digital equalization. I expect these will become more powerful in the coming years and filter down to the lower-end products to the point that outboard equalizers will become virtually obsolete in home theaters.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt