The systems always sound “Great”. A vast improvement from the past. But occasionally, they seem magical! Better than the sum of their parts! You turn it on for the first time and the clients light up. It’s not always a six figure Theater that blows people away. Sometimes it’s just a simple surround sound system.
Hidden Equipment
We removed a cabinet that was beneath the old flat screen. It was used to house several devices but with the new system it wasn’t needed anymore. The Surround Sound AVR is now located in the basement out of sight.
5.1 or 7.1
The decision was made to stick with 5.1! After the first floor is finished this client will be finishing their basement and adding at least a media area if not a dedicated theater room.
Big Subwoofer
Everyone wants huge output from their subwoofer. There are several ways to achieve this: (lighthearted explanation)
1. A huge budget. Which allows one to buy a subwoofer that is small but has size defying output! This is usually achieved with an extremely powerful amplifier and very capable long excursion driver. The problem I’ve seen throughout the years with these is that they hop. There not heavy enough to keep themselves stable. I’m not saying they don’t work but frequently need to be weighed down with external ballast like dumbbells (no one is using to work out with 😂).
2. A huge box! (Car guys know there’s no replacement for displacement)(except turbo, see “huge budget” above) Not 100% true but the bigger the enclosure the better. Obviously most folks don’t want an obtrusive refrigerator sized box in their family room so this option is usually off the table.
3. A reasonably sized enclosure that is ported. Porting increases the efficiency of a subwoofer generally speaking allowing any given size device have more output. But weight (wait?) there’s more to that. As a way to wow people into thinking more is better a lot of subwoofers have several drivers (woofers). Usually only 1 driver is active and the second or second and third drivers are passive. These are nothing more than ports. And in most cases are less efficient than a good old fashioned hole in the box. Not saying they’re bad but it’s something to consider.
Control
We used to need complicated remote controls and control systems to locate equipment remotely if not to just turn the system on. Not anymore!
Scenario 1: just turning the tv on and watching Netflix doesn’t require anything more than the remote control that came with the tv. The tv tells the AVR in the basement to turn on and controls its volume. The tv knows not to use its own speakers and this all happens almost by default when you plug them into one another. Awesome!
Scenario 2: using appleTV. Not Apple TV the app. But AppleTV the device. It’s a small black box that apps live on. AppleTV makes a great source for streaming movies. Frequently better than most other consumer grade streaming devices. But. To utilize this it needs to be plugged directly into the Yamaha AVR in the basement. Why? Because every device likes to “effect “ the signals connected to them. So if we run the AppleTV through the tv and then down to the Yamaha through the ARC output, we might not get the best sound quality. With all that said: some extra adjusting is frequently required that only the Yamaha remote control can accommodate. So I installed an IR repeating system to allow control over the Yamaha receiver as if it were right in front of you.
In closing
New and bigger tv! New surround sound system! Clean new look! So much family fun!