TV soundbars

[charles]

Mics need to have a piece of intellegent software inside them for the times when amateurs are using them. The software would then say "Don't hit me, I haven't done anything wrong!"

[Tim Lamb]

In message , tony sayer writes

OK chaps. I've got it:-)

Despite starting out in the electrical/electronic industry (germanium just giving way to silicon) I have been farming full time since 1983!

[Huge]

[23 lines snipped]

Hope so (Arcam Alpha 10 amp, Alpha 9 CD player, Thorens TD160C, Shure V15III)

Yes, I've been doing research (hankering after them on eBay and reading reviews) for a couple of years.

Since I can already tell that, hopefully it means that the rest of the kit is up to it.

[Dave Liquorice]

there's

resonance.

The factory default for my Onkyo speaker system is very boomy. Sounds impressive on movies but is damn annoying two rooms away...

Ran a frequency sweep whilst monitoring the sound level with a phone app, huge great peak between about 50 Hz and 150 Hz. The speakers have a number of settings for the bass with a bit of adjustment and repeated squeak tests I managed to get a fairly flat response from something under 50 Hz to > 10 kHz. Still sounds good but much reduced rumbling 2 rooms away.

My frequency sweep came from a Denon Test CD, but you should be able to find one on the net to download(*), the hard bit might be getting the telly to play it. The app I used is AudioTool by jjbunn, not a freebie I'm afraid and £6 so not a cheapy either. Excellent app though and does time v level chart facilty. Android, donno if there is a fruity version.

(*) Be aware of levels, a download might be 0 dBFS ie FING LOUD, have the volume up a bit and play that you could be catching the cones or letting the magic smoke out of the tweeters. B-)

[Dave Liquorice]

That's not likely to happen as that is where the "engineer" has put it...

[Dave Liquorice]

recorded in

Surround?, Naw, most orgination is either mono or stereo. Those few programmes that are in 5.1 have that element produced in Post Production aka dubbing. A few programmes do orginate in surround, mostly sport.

I think you'd be hard pushed to tell. The higher 1.7 an 18 Mbps Blu-ray rates are optional only the 640 kbps rate has to be there.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Quite. The art of EQing a personal mic seems to have been lost with many.

And many seem to prefer a lack of top end anyway, it would seem.

[Dave Liquorice]

But doing 5.1 properly in a normal living room is not that easy. Most domestic 5.1 systems do not impliment 5.1 properly. The tiny speakers have naff all LF response and thus the controling amp mixes down any LF from the 5 main, full bandwith, channels to the bass unit. This mixdown and crossover can really mess things up.

Done properly the 5 main channels L, C, R, LS, RS should all be identical full range jobbies but even small, decent quality, bookshelf speakers are not likely to go down well with "The Managment". The .1 (LFE, Low Frequency Effects) may also be quite a large box and carries *only* the LFE, this is a band limited channel not going much above 100 Hz. The LFE should not have anything in it apart from the LF sounds (also in the 5 main channels) that need the additional omph of the LFE speaker.

[Martin Brown]

Not any more they don't. Your choice is optical or digital these days.

Not necessarily if the set has a USB socket and you choose wisely you can power the toslink DAC converter to RCA from the set itself. That is the solution I adopted. The previous set had RCA line out...

Only minor problem is that switching on the set with the hifi already set to TV and powered produces an audible clunk as the TV powers up.

I have been impressed with Bose for big sounds out of smallish boxes.

Obviously you do have yet another remote to lose as a result.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If you can, borrow a pair and make sure they work well in your room. Because of their DP, can be more sensitive to 'rooms' than box speakers.

If they do work ok in your room, arguably the cleanest sounding speaker ever made.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Theory is that low frequencies are not directional so there is no need for the surround speakers to handle those.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yes - I suppose it saves on the toslink to RCA PS.

However, I decided to run a fibre cable to the amp and site the convertor there. Despite already having coax cables from the older setup. The beauty of having a cellar.

Perhaps that's why my Panasonic has the toslink laser running even when in standby.

FWIW the 5v toslink to RCA convertor I have produced a rather low analogue signal. So I've binned it.

Bose. Shudder. ;-)

My PVR allows you to adjust the volume and mute things while being fed to the TV via HDMI, so it's obviously possible.

[tony sayer]

And some decent capable cables!.

[Huge]

Yep. Those too.

[Dave Liquorice]

channel

That's the theory for the LF mix down from the five main full bandwidth channels to the single bass speaker in systems that don't have full range speakers for those channels.

The LFE is for added omph only. My last sentance above isn't very clear. The LFE (the .1) and thus the bass speaker in a proper 5.1 system only carries the added omph. The five main channels carry the normal LF sounds of the soundtrack, reproduced by their full range speakers.

[News]

In message , tony sayer writes

Indeed. I've got to go to the local surgery for a blood test next month, and will mention it then. Doubtless they'll just refer me to the local (45 miles away!) hospital, but be good to get my hearing checked properly.

Funnily enough, I have been to the audio dept with son, some years ago. When he was young, he could not stand loud noises. Hated fireworks, loved trains but could not stand on a platform as a diesel arrived. Many hospital checks, much testing, but nothing found. He grew out of it eventually.

[RJH]

I had some a while back, and they worked well, but needed to be about 2m from the wall. That was one reason I sold them.

Agreed, quite stunning. But I found them incredibly directional - slightest move of the head and the sound changed. That was the other reason.

I've got some mid-range stand mount Dynaudio speakers now - a very similar tonal balance without the hassle. But nothing like the sense of scale or space (soundstage?) the Quads managed.

[Dave Liquorice]

Aye they have figure of eight polar diagram so you can't really shove 'em up against a wall. They need space behind.

Yep, clean, good bass but they don't go all that loud before they flash over.

[pamela]

There's such a lot more treble both on the original music recording and on music player replay settings these days that I find they overcompensate for any hearing loss and end up making the music sound shrill.

And don't talk to me about the amounts of bass. Boom. Boom. Boom.

[tony sayer]

In article , Dave Liquorice scribeth thus

Yep or something well absorbent behind.

;)..

No, they won't do that. They have a protection crowbar system that uses an "aerial" that runs around the unit that when it detects the slightest sign of corona discharge it fires off the crowbar and mutes the speaker.

I can trigger of mine with a mobile phone close to it!.