home theatre advice

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › home theatre advice

cameron999

17 posts

Geek

#181266 8-Oct-2015 14:28

hello all,
i need some advice
i currently have a pioneer vsx-521 amp
Yamaha ns-555 main floor standing speakers
Yamaha ns-333 book shelf speakers ( for surround)
and a wharf dale power cube 12+

i have a friend who has some infinty home theater speakers
(Front: Infinity Reference 61 MkII,
Centre Infinity Reference 100 MkII
Rears are Infinity Delta 30 ) and can lend them to me long term.

as these have a centre speaker (and my Yamaha's don't) i am tempted. will these be an upgrade on my speakers? or purchase a Yamaha ns-c444 center speaker?

also is it worth looking at upgrading the power cube as i have heard these arnt very good. recomendations (sub $500) or any other recomendations

cheers for any help.

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#1402668 8-Oct-2015 20:13

Change for change sake most likely.
I'd suggest buying a matching centre.
Then to increase performance, ensure that placement is optimised for the room.
Next up, the room calibration of the amp / design of the room (acoustics wise) will have a big effect on your listening pleasure... as will the sub.

ilovemusic

1439 posts

Uber Geek

#1403861 11-Oct-2015 14:43

i suggest optimising what you already have before spending money.

;)

Batman

Mad Scientist
29760 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1403902 11-Oct-2015 15:37

Re OP

Q1 will it be an upgrade - i have no idea, but they will sound different (each speaker range has its own sound signature/timbre, and has its own strengths and weakness). whether it is "better" only your ears can tell. if it's free and you like a bit of change as spice of life, go for it.

Q2 a matching centre will also improve things a bit

Q3 good subs are expensive ... there's nothing under $500 that is any good as far as I know, but I haven't been in the HT business for a while :)

Masterpiece

247 posts

Master Geek

#1404014 11-Oct-2015 21:28

I agree with the other sentiments, sound and systems are never the same, just different. Preference by perception really dominates choice in this area. Your room will play a large part in outcome.

If you have the chance to compare, why not, you might prefer them, or find little difference.
However I'd compare without the centre channel running, because the centre carries most of the weight in video when it comes to speech. For music, not much unless it is mixed for multi channel.
But do try the centre for the filling effect it will bring, some even advise using series spec higher for centre channel, although I believe the yamaha's are limited to the NS 444.

Matching the system is really important, except maybe the sub as this is largely non directional, although they usually match subs with series.

Me:"I'm not a robot!"

ET: "Maybe; you have some freewill, but you chose your path by arrangement"

Me "That sounds like a program with no freewill?"

ET: "We will catch up when you end this cycle"

Me: "Sounds like a 'KPI'!"

ET: "Did you read the terms and conditions?"

Me: .....

Batman

Mad Scientist
29760 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1404018 11-Oct-2015 21:35

I'm not saying one can not be better than the other, because I have never tested them. One could well be better than the other.

I have been to an audio shop (no sound treatment that I can see, just a standard shop) testing a 20k Sonus Faber Cremona M setup. I could find no fault with the sound that came out. Completely blown away.

But I find it impossible to drag 6 x 2 speakers worth $1000 into my house for testing and deciding which one. $100k yeah I guess the shop would allow, but $1k, not in NZ.

richms

28168 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1404022 11-Oct-2015 21:50

I always sit in the middle anyway, and find the imaging of the 2 mains to give a more convincing centered dialog than the center speaker does. Tonal change even with the "matched" center speaker going to the mains when people are talking off axis is more annoying I find than the issues when not sitting in the center. Dont go thinking you are missing heaps without a center channel speaker just because you dont have one. 2 decent mains should make any dialog sound centered if they are working properly, and you dont have to worry about a small center speaker being different.

Richard rich.ms

Masterpiece

247 posts

Master Geek

#1404025 11-Oct-2015 21:57

Actually very few shops in NZ would bring in test units just so you can test them as they typically have to purchase them to on sell them. It would typically be they are shop demos already and you get a chance to demo them at home before purchase.

I know someone who purchased 2 fronts for 100k un-heard at home. Although they had to build a larger room to allow them to breath.

I purchased a 7.1 set of Paradigms un heard, but in the price range I concluded that the tweeter design tends to dominate, and I prefer the softer sound of domes than horn designs. Been happy with the paradigms (yam AX3040 amp).

So if the op has an opportunity to compare different systems, why not! I can think of worse things to do on a Sunday!

PS, I up-speced my centre to the next series up(cc490 with Series 7 monitor 9's) . This really worked out quite well, and then setting up distances to the listening with the amp is crucial for balancing the package.

Me:"I'm not a robot!"

ET: "Maybe; you have some freewill, but you chose your path by arrangement"

Me "That sounds like a program with no freewill?"

ET: "We will catch up when you end this cycle"

Me: "Sounds like a 'KPI'!"

ET: "Did you read the terms and conditions?"

Me: .....

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

jonathan18

7413 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1404135 12-Oct-2015 09:58

richms: I always sit in the middle anyway, and find the imaging of the 2 mains to give a more convincing centered dialog than the center speaker does. Tonal change even with the "matched" center speaker going to the mains when people are talking off axis is more annoying I find than the issues when not sitting in the center. Dont go thinking you are missing heaps without a center channel speaker just because you dont have one. 2 decent mains should make any dialog sound centered if they are working properly, and you dont have to worry about a small center speaker being different.

Sitting in the middle works well... for that one person - not much of a solution for additional viewers!

In my case, unless the centre is really rubbish, I'll put up with different timbre between the centre and fronts rather than cope with off-axis dialogue (of course, I'd rather have them tonally similar). I can't think of many things with HT that annoy me more than this, so clearly a matter of personal preferences/priorities...

So if the OP prefers the sound from using of a centre, then it would make sense to try one of the same brand as his fronts... (or give the Infinitys a listen - you never know, you may prefer them!).

Masterpiece

247 posts

Master Geek

#1404659 12-Oct-2015 21:15

Speakers/Monitors are generally not that directional.
Putting on my old audio engineering hat for a moment, it really doesn't matter if it is 2 or 3 or 6 speakers up front, as long as the distance for delay timing and levels are set for equal loudness from each so that the listener does not perceive anything but the sound field that is mixed.

The problem with video sound field mixes(5.1 and beyond) is that center channel information mixed into the left and right channels is that it can get lost, or seems like the audio is low. Arguably higher quality more precise fronts could indeed cope with this, but having a matched center or even slightly better center improves the sound field positioning in video even with 100k fronts. What anyone actually uses for their setup is personal and their choice, but it doesn't change the facts.

If one was to place percentages upon 5.1/7.1 speakers, I'd weight percentages of importance as follows, Others may disagree.

L(20)_____C(25)_____R(20)

sub(10)

LS(7.5)____________RS(7.5)

____LRS(5)___RRS(5)___

Me:"I'm not a robot!"

ET: "Maybe; you have some freewill, but you chose your path by arrangement"

Me "That sounds like a program with no freewill?"

ET: "We will catch up when you end this cycle"

Me: "Sounds like a 'KPI'!"

ET: "Did you read the terms and conditions?"

Me: .....

cameron999

17 posts

Geek

#1408791 18-Oct-2015 20:06

turns out the infinity speakers rubber surrounds were completly stuffed. so i bought some replacment speakers as seen in the pic and sound even better.

cameron999

17 posts

Geek

#1408792 18-Oct-2015 20:07