Home Theatre Reciever + Subwoofer

[JD]

Originally Posted by enaberif

My sub is in a corner and it front fires and even turned down on the amp its still extremely deep.

But does it face you? See mine would either be parallel to where I sit or perpendicular to a cabinet...

I'm sure it would still be audible though, just might not have the same effect.

[cadaveca]

A sub transmits audio from all channels, so it's actually best to have it in a corner, behind a chair, or something, and rather than depending on direct sound, have the waves it creates bolster the audio from the other channels...

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

A sub transmits audio from all channels, so it's actually best to have it in a corner, behind a chair, or something, and rather than depending on direct sound, have the waves it creates bolster the audio from the other channels...

Actually that only happens in analog mode because it doesn't know how to properly separate all the channels.

When its a digital or 5.1 source it should do this VERY minimally or at all if you have a receiver that can properly decode the channels and does proper cross over

[cadaveca]

And we are dealing with which price range? Like C'mon now. This is budget-conscious sound planning, here.


But anyway, let's get practical, and point out where exactly you are wrong. Fortunately, someone has already explained what the LFE channel does, in this link:


Feature Article

Dolby Digital's LFE channel carries additional bass information from 120 Hz on down. This is not a roll-off but a digital brick wall (i.e., no 121 Hz info), so the content is usually rolled off by the sound engineer starting around 80 Hz for a smoother blend. During both soundtrack production and in the movie theaters, the LFE channel, with that same level (-20dB) pink noise (but band limited to the subwoofers range), is calibrated to 95 dB on the RTA within the sub’s bandwidth (Figures 2 and 3). This is done so that it can play 10 dB higher than any one of the screen channels. Because of this 10 dB offset, the LFE channel can achieve a balanced output of bass as compared with the total output of bass from the three screen channels (in other words it can single handedly compete with the screen channels in terms of level). The only down side is that we lose a little S/N (signal to noise) performance on that track. Because our hearing is less sensitive to bass to begin with, the system gets away with it just fine.

DTS's LFE channel is a little different. In fact, in the cinema, DTS is actually 5.0 (as oppose to 5.1) in that there is no discrete LFE channel. The LFE channel from the mixing sessions gets low-passed at 80 Hz and added to the surround channels. In the theater, the surround channels are high-passed at 80 Hz with the reciprocal becoming the LFE channel. The reasons for this multiplexing is one of space. DTS's original encoder only handles full-bandwidth channels so a discrete LFE channel would require a full 20% more space on the medium (the disc) as if it were another full range channel.

DTS's LFE channel in consumer applications, unlike its cinema counterpart, is discrete but still has a few 'special' considerations. In the early days of mixing 5.1 for DTS CDs, the studios were not being calibrated correctly, with the end result of the LFE channel being set too low. When the material is played back on a correctly calibrated system, the LFE channel is way too high. THX was forced to introduce DTS Music and DTS Movie playback modes which distinguish between a correct LFE setting and a -10 dB setting to compensate for material assembled under mis-calibrated circumstances (though not all THX processors offer this convenience).

The purpose of the LFE remains one of headroom (going back to our water faucet example). By supplying deep bass information on a segregated track, the system effectively permits a higher output level of deep bass information while not imposing on the performance or levels of the rest of the system. This whole system is optimized for a theater’s configuration, but thanks to the flexibility of our home processors, we don’t need to match that configuration to get good results.

Young guys.

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

And we are dealing with which price range? Like C'mon now. This is budget-conscious sound planning, here.


But anyway, let's get practical, and point out where exactly you are wrong. Fortunately, someone has already explained what the LFE channel does, in this link:


Feature Article



Young guys.

Young guys?

I said minimal to none.

I know what the LFE does and it has little to do with LFE than it does with cross over ranges. You may never completely eliminate it but what you can do with the proper setup is minimize it.

[cadaveca]

Yeesh, a bit touchy there, sry mate! If I out a smilie, I am not serious!


NOtice the lack of smilies!

Anyway, the whole point of a subwoffer..I like, that, woffer, even when tracks are encoded, is exponential bass.

Yes, you are completely right, in ideals, each speaker should have a full range, but that's near impossible to buy, and only useful in STEREO!!!

Also, everything else I agree wholeheartedly with.

Speaker in the show room, aren't speakers in your living room, and as such, you really need to consider the size of the room before buying speakers. that said though, the difference in 700-1000 dollars in a budget is HUGE, sonically.

If you can bear, hold off for better savings, or brave the boxing day masses!

[JD]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

the difference in 700-1000 dollars in a budget is HUGE, sonically.

If you can bear, hold off for better savings, or brave the boxing day masses!

I understand that money, even "minimal" increases results in large differences but I'm no audiophile so I don't need high-end stuff. All I need is a decent sounding setup.

As per boxing day, I'm considering it but I don't know if it's worth the hassle. It'll just be pure madness and my dad hates crowds (due to line-ups and all the horrible drivers).

I've been emailing this guy at Kromer Radio and he seems like a nice guy. Said he might be able to work out some deals, so hopefully I can get something decent.

[JD]

Decided to look up the model of my center channel and this is what it is:
CSi30 Product Page : Center Channel Loudspeaker : Polk Audio

[cadaveca]

well, i'd say that if possible, finding the RTi bookshelfs to match your center would be most prudent.

[encorp]

Optical is the way to go. Always and forever. Unless you want to get serious and run XLR! hahaha