Solved! Separate Amp For Speaker Home Theater

[ljcool_17]

First foray into proper home theater setup. Planning on a 5.1.4 system. My question is it okay to run different amplifiers to different speakers? Say a Stereo for the front, Multichannel for the surround and center?

 

[ljcool_17]

The living room, wall to wall, is about 12ft. and has windows on left side. The distance from the entertainment center and the natural sitting position on the main sofa is around 10ft. There are two solo sofas on the sides of the main sofa.

We hardly have parties around but when we do it's usually viewing parties for games. Hints at Superbowl coming in a couple of weeks

That seems to be a great feature. Takes away the problem of calibrating manually. Have to check the Yamaha unit I like if it has it.

 

[ien2222]

It's called YPAO (auto calibration) for Yamaha kit and that AVR does have it.

Still need a bit more info on the space, height of ceiling, how wide it is and if you have open spaces connecting to it. As you go down in frequency, the volume of a room has more an effect on sound which in turn determines what you want to do as far as subs go.

 

[ljcool_17]

Ceiling's 9ft. high and around 15ft. wide with an open space to the right and windows to the left. Yeah definitely want some good subs. For the speakers I think I'm gonna settle for the debut series from Elac. They seem to sound well enough for me.

 

[jsmithepa]

I have noticed, last time I moved, and changed from carpeting to laminated flooring, the sound changed, sounds brighter than I would like. FYI. Room's decors have effect.

 

[ien2222]

If you like the Elac's I'd say go for it, the Debut is a good line for the price.

As far as subs go, some companies to look at (or no particular order):

Hsu Research
Rythmik Audio
PSA
JTR Audio
SVS

How big is the open space to the right? Also, since you mentioned about $800/per speaker, with the Elac's you'll be saving some money there, are you open to dual subs? And is there a size limit to the subs?

 

[ljcool_17]

Sorry for the late reply. The space to the right is a bit wide. It leads to the dining and kitchen. If the receiver supports 5.2.4 then why not go for two subs?

 

[madmatt30]

^ better with one really good sub than 2 average ones mate.
I dont think your room size demands 2 at all.
The low frequency is non directional, I don't think you'd benefit & from someone who has a 7.2 amp & has tried 2 sub's they can be an absolute pain to setup & get in phase with each other properly.

 

[ien2222]

Having two subs is about balancing the bass response throughout the room (or at least the listening area) and not necessarily about more head room. This is because though it becomes more omni-directional as you get into the mid to lower bass, how it interacts with a room becomes more and more prevalent. Sub placement is far more critical than speaker placement, it takes some work but once you get it dialed in it's definitely better with two or more even with a smaller space.

However, his space is probably not that small either. Just the room itself is 1700 cubic ft which is approaching a middle sized room. If the kitchen/dining room is about the same size it's actually getting to be a larger room as far as subs go. Besides, with an intial budget of around $800/speaker and then going with the Elac's, he can get 2 really good subs.

As far as suggestions, it depends on budget and size of sub that you can accommodate:

Not any really size limitation going towards the top end of the budget with 2 subs:
2x Hsu VTF-15H Mk2's or 2x VTF3-MK5's
2x Rythmik FVX15's
2x PSA 15s's
2x SVS PB-2000's

Same but with one sub:
JTR Captivator 118HT
Rythmik FV15HP
PSA V1801

If size is a concern, you'd be looking for the the (sort of) sealed version of the first list.

 

[ljcool_17]

Having two subs is about balancing the bass response throughout the room (or at least the listening area) and not necessarily about more head room. This is because though it becomes more omni-directional as you get into the mid to lower bass, how it interacts with a room becomes more and more prevalent. Sub placement is far more critical than speaker placement, it takes some work but once you get it dialed in it's definitely better with two or more even with a smaller space.

However, his space is probably not that small either. Just the room itself is 1700 cubic ft which is approaching a middle sized room. If the kitchen/dining room is about the same size it's actually getting to be a larger room as far as subs go. Besides, with an intial budget of around $800/speaker and then going with the Elac's, he can get 2 really good subs.

As far as suggestions, it depends on budget and size of sub that you can accommodate:

Not any really size limitation going towards the top end of the budget with 2 subs:
2x Hsu VTF-15H Mk2's or 2x VTF3-MK5's
2x Rythmik FVX15's
2x PSA 15s's
2x SVS PB-2000's

Same but with one sub:
JTR Captivator 118HT
Rythmik FV15HP
PSA V1801

If size is a concern, you'd be looking for the the (sort of) sealed version of the first list.

I think I understand what you mean. My old man back in our old home had 2 12" subs on his stereo system and the overall sound felt balance no matter where you place yourself in the room. You don't get that feeling where the bass is only coming from one direction, but instead it follows you. Will be taking a look at your subwoofer suggestions later today.