Topic: Newbie and Not-so Noob Thread: Questions (FAQ) on Setting up

[H a n $]

Ken,

if you plan to place your center speaker below you tv better tilt the speaker upward and align to your ears so that the sound will not be lower and para clear din..

[BuLLeT]

You can try auditioning booksheslves from MIssion,Monitor Audio,AE, Wharfedale, MS or any other brand that you can listen to.

Discern what sounds pleases you most and then you can begin to hunt for the amp. (SS or Tube) to match with your speakers.

As mentioned above, you can try the buy & sell section for quality used gears.

[H a n $]

bluestreak,

BTW do you already have a TV, and DVD player o yun 35K budget eh wla pa??

Kung meron ka na.. try to look at the buy and sell section for your AVR meron dun 10k to 19k, I suggest HK brand meron pa atang 2550 and 1550 models, for speaker you can get 13 to 14K speaker package kay Nirvblakr i think they have a 5.1 setup speakers na or go for Wharfdale diamond series.. 8.3, or the ( WH-1 set center / surround )..

[KEN]

Thanks Hans&France,Cousin skeeter youre maybe both right I need the  speaker to give sometime to break in and tilting it upward is really a good idea....


thanks again...

[kane]

thank for your replies.  yung 30-35K (if thats enough) is for stereo setup lang.  tama ba?  not gonna watch movies w/ it, separate pa yung HT.  thanks!

[Archangel]

thank for your replies.  yung 30-35K (if thats enough) is for stereo setup lang.  tama ba?  not gonna watch movies w/ it, separate pa yung HT.  thanks!

From one newbie to another, I would really suggest that you save up more.  Don't be in too much of a hurry since hasty purchases could mean short and costly upgrade cycles. In the meantime you can research and audition to your heart's content.  

If you really must spend now, get good quality speakers that you can use in the meantime in your HT setup, assuming there is one.

[downtown]

If you're lokking for a simple setup, the Denon DM-31 is available here for around 23K, i think. It's a highly rated micro system that uses Missions speakers, and includes a CD player, a MD player can be added.

[Archangel]

This would be my system if I were starting from scratch:

NAD cd player 521BEE~15K
Tono preamp-12.8 bnew  
Hafler power amp~15K used
Monitor Audio B2~11.7K bnew
Analysis Plus cables~15K (2 ICs, 1 8-foot pair Clear Ovals)]
Mang Jun speaker stands~4K
Yaden AVR~2.K
Component rack~3K for a ACE hardware rack

Total~78.5

The cables are expensive but keepers that should last several upgrades.  There are alternatives that should save you at least a few thousand.  The tono and Hafler combo offer the flexibility of tubes and power for the B2s.  Alternatively you can get for roughly the same price an all tube WS setup using the 2A3 amp.  Or if you want to simplify things even further a NAD C370 for 30K would be a good solid state amp to get you feet wet with enough power for the B2s. The B2s are still the best buy speakers under 20K for me especially since positioning is crucial for the AE Aegis 1.  

If you go the integrated amp route, then you save the cost of an interconnect (2-5K). If you can wait for the Wiredstate integrated amp then that should save you another 15K.  The estimated cost then would just be a shade over 58K.

The major considerations behind these choices are my room which is small and my listening preferences which run the length of the spectrum from heavy metal to jazz vocals and the occasional classical music.

Other people here are more experienced and could perhaps offer cheaper alternatives such buying used equipment.  Somebody is having a moving out sale at the wiredstate.com's marketplace and there are several combos at the buy and sell section.  That NAD C350 is especially tempting even if you use the power amp section only with the tono.  

[BuLLeT]

If you want to start with a minimalist set up, you can begin with :

An integrated amp
  - tube (Wired State DIY project/AMX) 15K or less
  - SS - NAD or ROTEL (Check the buy & sell Section)

CD Player
  - Your choice if second hand or brand new

A pair of speakers
  - bookshelf/standmount
  - floorstander

IC
- from DIY to exotic

And Good softwares hehehe

Then enjoy the music and the experience.

 

[Archangel]

thanks archangel!

dami pala components.    pero ok lang.  but wala bang medyo minimalist ang dating?

I would really go after that NAD C350 in the buy and sell section and then pair it with a Harman Kardon HD 750 cd player if one is still available.  The cost of this pair is only 23K!

[arthurallanj]

bro Ken,
nabasa ko kasi sa librong How To Build Your Own Home Theater, that it's best to place your center speakers below your tv, as long of course that your tv is also placed on an ideal height. The base of your tv being 2-3ft above the floor. Although, manufacturers recommend them being placed on top, it's just for convenience and it would, of course, be easier to place them on top of the tv than to build a shelf for the center speaker below the tv. But never forget that it would be most ideal if the center speaker is placed on the same level of your front speakers, meaning the tweeter of your center speaker should be on the same level of your front speakers' tweeters, if that's imposibble to achieve, they should not a exceed a difference of 60 cms. between them. You could learn more of this at www.dolby.com. TC.

[KEN]

Thanks Arthurallanj I Think I really need to read/research tungkol dito sa bisyo natin...bigat na sa bulsa aral kapa he...he...he  

[Jayem Ares]

hi newbie din ako.

gusto ko rin sana mag set ng audio system for movies in my room.

pwede po ba paunti-unti ang bili/dagdag ng speakers para sa receivers like, front speakers lang muna then saka na ang para sa rear.

... ano po ba ibig sabihin ng tube amp?

[darkwing]

hi newbie din ako.

gusto ko rin sana mag set ng audio system for movies in my room.

pwede po ba paunti-unti ang bili/dagdag ng speakers para sa receivers like, front speakers lang muna then saka na ang para sa rear.

Yup, that is what I'm planning to do, buy a good pair of front speakers and a receiver first..

[av_phile1]

... ano po ba ibig sabihin ng tube amp?

These are amps that use vaccum tubes as opposed to solid state amps that use transistors as active parts in the amplification process.  Tube or valve amos were the percussors of solid state amps, reaching their peak production sometime in the 50s and early 60s when transistors became the fashion and gradually assumed the roles of vacumm tubes in sound amplifcation.  All receivers and amps you find in many consumer electronic shops these days are solid state devices.  If you happen to find a tube amp, they're mostly antiques or preowned ones with a few newly produced units from speciality manufacturers and priced heftily.  

[BuLLeT]

hi newbie din ako.

gusto ko rin sana mag set ng audio system for movies in my room.

pwede po ba paunti-unti ang bili/dagdag ng speakers para sa receivers like, front speakers lang muna then saka na ang para sa rear.

... ano po ba ibig sabihin ng tube amp?

Of course pwedeng pwede. You can start by setting a budget for yourself and then audition as many gears as you can.

Then narrow your choices to what you prefer and what your budget can achieve.

An AVR, a pair of speakers and a DVD player can get you started.

Good Luck!

[berniebau]

Question: How about the length of your speaker cables? Lalo na yung Fronts and Center, I heard dapat daw magkasing haba. Malaki ba ang epekto kapag malaki ang difference? Maapektohan ba nya yung DELAY settings sa receiver?  Eto mas simpleng tanong.. Yung Left and Right Channel ba dapat parehas ang length ng speakers? Kasi paano kapag nasa isang side yung AVR mo at wala sa gitna. tska yung surrounds sa isang side lang naman ng pader nakalatag ang cable. makalat kasi at mahal kung sobra sobra ang speaker wire.   Naisip ko lang kung ano anu ang iba't iba nating paniniwala.

[alfred]

berniebau:::Although equal LR peaker cable would be ideal, having uneven length to some "extent" is acceptable. Delay adjustments depends upon the distance of your speakers, usually the center and the rear from the listener.

[av_phile1]

Having equal cable lengths for all your speakers is recommeneded.  I do it just for peace of mind.  Tehnically, distance matters when talking of wire impedances.  But we're talking kilometric here.  So, unless your left and right speakers are separated by the enture length of the US congress building, a few feet of cable inequalities won't matter.  

[slowhand]

In my setup, my left surround speaker's wire is longer by two meters (because the amp is on one side of the room). I thought it wouldn't make much difference. But I found out that I had to increase its level by 1db relative to the right surround.

[berniebau]

Pareho tayo av_phile, for peace of mind.. parehas na lang ang left and right.  Although in my mind, a difference of (kahit siguro) >5m is negligible.  Kaya lang sa experience ni slowhand 2m pa lang iba na.  

Slowhand: Did you hear the diference talaga, o gumamit ka ng SPL meter o something?

[slowhand]

Slowhand: Did you hear the diference talaga, o gumamit ka ng SPL meter o something?

As measured by SPL meter, which confirmed my listening impressions.

Edit to add: That is my specific experience. You'd have to measure your system to find out how different-length cables might sound. Cheers.

Edit to add: Just checked my construction notes and the left surround wire is 4 meters longer, not 2 as earlier reported. And +1db is correct.

[alfred]

slowhand's experience could be due the to room acoustics iregularities, kind of cables used, AVR's outputs (factory calibration) or a combination for the latter.
as what av_phile1 has said, we are talking about kilometers here. I would rather cut the speaker wires to size rather than expose it to other RF which it could pickup.

my two cent.

[Koolkat]

hi guys! I'm kinda new here and I really need some help.  I recently bought a promac 5.1 home theater system in raon. I t was working perfectly the first few uses.  But after my third movie the sound on the front left speaker started to fade out .  I thought that one of the cables just got loose.  But when I checked it out there were no problems with the connection.  When we returned it to raon yesterday my dad said it was working perfectly fine.  But when we tried to set it up again , same result.it still wasnt working.  Sme thing happend to the xenon 2.1 speakers I bought previously.  It was woking perfectly the first few uses and then one of the speakers started to fade out.  When we brought it toa repair shop they said it was fine.  But when we hooked it up again same thing happened.  I'm really getting frustrated.  Is there something wrong with the connections.  I mean I am following the instructions properly so there shouldnt be any problem.  Besides, it wouldnt work in the first place if I wasn't doing correct thing.  I'm not really a techie so I was wondering if any of you have any answers to my questions.

[levi]

It might be your DVD player.

[Koolkat]

Yes.  I already returned the dvd player and they replaced it with a new one.  I'M going to test it out this evening.  Thanks

[Koolkat]

Hey, I have another question.  I just read the difference between dolby surround and dolby digital 5.1.  If a DVD movie doesnt support the dolby digital 5.1, does this mean that it will only play on four speakers even though I have a 5.1 home theater system?  Because I'm thinking that maybe that was the problem I was having when I was watching Tears of the Sun (R3).  The front left speaker wasn't working.

[av_phile1]

Yes and no.  A dolby surround would have a pro-logic encoded material that is just using 4 channels, while a Dolby Digital in 5.1 (some Dolby Digital encoded disc are in mono or stereo depending on the masters used) uses discreet 5 channels plus LFE.

But that doesn't mean the left front speakers may not work.  In either formats, or in any format for that matter, BOTH L and R front speakers should be working. In dolby surround or prologic, the surround channel is in mono.  While in dobly digital 5.1, the surround channels are usually in stereo.  But you should have the complete front channels.  

[Koolkat]

Thanks.  That just confirms na sira talaga yung nabili kung unit.  Kahit ganong higpit ang gawin ko sa mga connections, hindi talaga tumutonog e.

[gren]

I'm not sure if this has been posted, but I've been looking around and found this nice resource in whathifi:

http://www.whathifi.com/soundadvice.asp

dealing with topics ranging from basic, to technical to common sense.  This is probably a good read for a lot of us:

http://www.whathifi.com/newsMainTemplate.asp?storyID=37&newssectionID=3

have fun.