Surround Sound without subwoofer?

[RoldGold]

I've never noticed that before, I'll take a look next time I'm watching TV. Most of my games, in fact nearly all of them, are pro logic II surround. So there really isn't surround sound in the games, it is derived from the 2 channel track they give out.

 

[Tube Radio]

Check this sub out http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-764

 

[RoldGold]

Jeez, only $750?!?! Thats a lot of money!

 

[whoaru99]

Yeah, good subs aren't inexpensive.

There is always used, but unless you find one local the shipping can be a hassle.

 

[Tube Radio]

Sure it may be expensive, but when a 12" 200 watt Klipsch sub is nearly the same price you quickly see which is the bettet deal. I have yet to use the Dayton sub, but when I build my home theatre system I will be using it.

Also if you decide to upgrade your surround sound receiver get a Yamaha. Their receivers have a mic that you place where you will normally sit. You then leave the room, press a button on the remote and the receiver adjusts the signals going to each speaker automatically based on where the mic is set. I set up one for a co-worker and it sounds amazing.

 

[whoaru99]

For the record, most (perhaps all) mainstream brands of HT receivers have built-in calibration and room correction/EQ these days.

 

[Tube Radio]

I didn't know that.

 

[RoldGold]

I'll keep the auto calibration in mind next time I buy a receiver.

 

[michiganpat]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I figure, if I know how good other surround sound systems sound, then Ill never be happy with mine.

I am thinking about experimenting, maybe switching the Sansui's to the rears and the Advents to the fronts. Mainly because everyone believes the Advents sound better. Any ideas? I am also planning on buying a good center channel. I was using an old no brand one I had laying around, but I had more success just not using one at all, because the center sounded so bad.

Unfortunately I have a lot of things I'd like to buy right now. Subwoofer, center, 750GB laptop 7200rpm HDD, among others. So I'll have to get my priorities straight.

do you have a CRT TV so you need a shielded center channel, or a plasma/LED/LCD where you don't need a shielded center channel? if you don't need a shielded center channel, try find a pair of baby advents and use 1 for the center, or wire them up in parallel, putting them on their sides with the woofer out for your center channel. should tonally match the legacy's pretty decently. if you need a shielded one, I guess I'd watch the used market for a similar era advent, AR, or caimbridge soundworks center.

 

[RoldGold]

I have a CRT TV and so need a shielded center. Maybe I'll look around on ebay for some baby advents, that is a good idea.

 

[Blackstone]

I'll keep the auto calibration in mind next time I buy a receiver.

Auto calibration is nice. Especially if your speakers aren't all equal distance from the listening spot. I have a Pioneer 7.1 from 2005 I think. Got it off Craigslist. The auto calibration is pretty much spot on. Speaker distance measures right up to the .5 inch. The only thing I usually change is the speaker setting from "large" to "small".

 

[michiganpat]

I have a CRT TV and so need a shielded center. Maybe I'll look around on ebay for some baby advents, that is a good idea.

mini advents (5 1/4" woofer) might work better from a space allocation standpoint. neither them or the baby's are shielded, AFAIK

 

[Henners]

I was not aware the PS2 can do 5.1. How is that? Mine only has RCA connectors.

Whoareu99: I'm selling a couple old hard drives to cover the cost of the HDD, and plan to sell an HTIB soon to cover the cost of a subwoofer.

the big thick version has a optical port on it.

right to the left of the AV cable

 

[RoldGold]

If the advents aren't shielded then they wouldn't be a very smart choice for a center.

And I never knew that about my PS2. Interesting.

 

[enitsugua]

From my understanding, .1 is discreet with True HD Audio. Which means the sound engineer designed certain sounds to come out particularly from the sub or just particularly from each surround as opposed to having the AVR or HT processor intelligently decode to designate. Which means without the sub, you will be losing out on some details.

If the AVR is able to simulate (with speakers set to large), then my guess is that the portion that a sub is to play will be shared with all the speakers, or the front L and R, or all the surround.

The discreet channels are one of the differences between the EX (6.1 capable) and the True HD (5.1-7.2).

Thanks.
enit.

 

[enitsugua]

By the way, I heard a high-end active system without sub (meant to be without sub) and it doesn't deliver the way a high-end system with a sub or two should sound like.

Unless you have limitations in your room, do consider a sub.

 

[whoaru99]

Not exactly.

.1 is discrete LFE track in "plain old" Dolby Digital and DTS as well as the newer formats like Dolby True HD you mentioned.

I often see use of .1 in descriptions of stereo/2-ch systems with subwoofer as 2.1, but that's not correct because the stereo/2-ch material doesn't have a discrete LFE track. It's just 2-ch with sub or 2.0 with sub, I suppose.

Also, doesn't matter how many subs are used, it's still .1 because there is, afaik, only one discrete LFE track present in today's material.

 

[Tube Radio]

Since the LFE output is a channel why don't they say 6 channel or 8 channel instead of 6.1 and 7.1?

 

[tx_polkhead]

why don't they say 6 channel or 8 channel instead of 6.1 and 7.1?

because the point one is not full range audio...

 

[gkimeng]

A lot of X.1 receivers and even pre/power separates sets are designed to work with powered subwoofers and don't include power amplification for the .1 channel.