Dayton Audio ND65-8 Actual vs Advertised

[KEW]

It's been mentioned in my other threads, but my main goal is to play background music all day long. We very rarely turn on the TV. And I almost never sit down over on the couch.

The general rule here is to look to the source format. If the music was recorded as stereo (and most are) you are best off listening in stereo. To my knowledge, none of the systems for synthesizing additional channels bears scrutiny! However, as background music, it probably would not be a major issue.

What do you use for your source material? Are you streaming from a music service like Pandora or Spotify, etc?

If so, I am very happy with my Amazon Echo based background music solution. In the morning, I just say "Alexa, play Pandora on my everywhere group" and I have music playing in 5 rooms. All you need is a $30 (if you wait for sales, $50 worst case) for each room to distribute the music. Each dot has a 3.5mm mini-headphone jack which feeds into AVR/amp/pro audio monitors/PC speakers.

For effortless all-day music it is hard to beat. "Alexa pause - Alexa resume" or "Alexa mute - Alexa unmute" handles phone calls (my background music is not especially loud, but it is not "corporate office subdued" either). The volume control is specific to whatever room you are in (or, more specifically which ever unit hears you), so, in the case above, "Alexa mute" only mutes the speaker(s) in the room with you, while "Alexa pause" silences the whole house.

 

[Winkleswizard]

The general rule here is to look to the source format. If the music was recorded as stereo (and most are) you are best off listening in stereo. To my knowledge, none of the systems for synthesizing additional channels bears scrutiny! However, as background music, it probably would not be a major issue.

What do you use for your source material? Are you streaming from a music service like Pandora or Spotify, etc?

If so, I am very happy with my Amazon Echo based background music solution. In the morning, I just say "Alexa, play Pandora on my everywhere group" and I have music playing in 5 rooms. All you need is a $30 (if you wait for sales, $50 worst case) for each room to distribute the music. Each dot has a 3.5mm mini-headphone jack which feeds into AVR/amp/pro audio monitors/PC speakers.

For effortless all-day music it is hard to beat. "Alexa pause - Alexa resume" or "Alexa mute - Alexa unmute" handles phone calls (my background music is not especially loud, but it is not "corporate office subdued" either). The volume control is specific to whatever room you are in (or, more specifically which ever unit hears you),so, in the case above, "Alexa mute" only mutes the speaker(s) in the room with you, while "Alexa pause" silences the whole house.

I do something comparable for background listening. My serious listening gets music from a NAS. For the echoes, am using Amazon as I had bought my more recent music from them. Amazon also used to let you upload your other music, but have stopped supporting. Fortunately, they let you keep what you had uploaded prior to discontinuing. Along with the freebie music as part of being a prime member, has been good enough for me.

One dot has the skill for controlling my AVR. It works ok except when the system is really playing loudly, but true for when dot is playig loud too. Hoping they improve! My google home is much better.

Ww

 

[joshk03]

Ok. This helps a bit. It can be challenging (and more expensive) to do a system by starting small and expanding, but think I get the gist of your thinking. Given the size of your room, a 2.1 system using your speakers and a subwoofer is likely going to come up shy. I suggest you should plan for having at least a 5.2 system, maybe 7.2. You are either going to need many of your smaller speakers or larger mains.

Hope this helps!

Ww

Actually I think the 2.1 will sound superior in a room this size because of the massive phasing issues that come with moving out of place with a 7.1 system. The sub won't come up shy, it's probably obscenely over sized. I am regretting choosing a 15" at this point. A 12 would have probably been plenty.
My DIY speakers play much louder than my TV's factory speakers, and that's with only 2 connected.

 

[Winkleswizard]

Actually I think the 2.1 will sound superior in a room this size because of the massive phasing issues that come with moving out of place with a 7.1 system. The sub won't come up shy, it's probably obscenely over sized. I am regretting choosing a 15" at this point. A 12 would have probably been plenty.
My DIY speakers play much louder than my TV's factory speakers, and that's with only 2 connected.

What sort of massive phasing issues do you think there might be? The most likely one is at low frequencies and in that case, you would be better off with two smaller subwoofers if the larger one is overkill.

In the end, if it is working out for you, then enjoy. If you eventually want to do good home theater, then you need some surround speakers (and for more than one or two listeners, you need a center). In you still think you want stereo, then get something with auto-eq. Not only will it help flatten your speakers, but will deal with adapting them to your room.

Ww

 

[joshk03]

The general rule here is to look to the source format. If the music was recorded as stereo (and most are) you are best off listening in stereo. To my knowledge, none of the systems for synthesizing additional channels bears scrutiny! However, as background music, it probably would not be a major issue.

What do you use for your source material? Are you streaming from a music service like Pandora or Spotify, etc?

If so, I am very happy with my Amazon Echo based background music solution. In the morning, I just say "Alexa, play Pandora on my everywhere group" and I have music playing in 5 rooms. All you need is a $30 (if you wait for sales, $50 worst case) for each room to distribute the music. Each dot has a 3.5mm mini-headphone jack which feeds into AVR/amp/pro audio monitors/PC speakers.

For effortless all-day music it is hard to beat. "Alexa pause - Alexa resume" or "Alexa mute - Alexa unmute" handles phone calls (my background music is not especially loud, but it is not "corporate office subdued" either). The volume control is specific to whatever room you are in (or, more specifically which ever unit hears you),so, in the case above, "Alexa mute" only mutes the speaker(s) in the room with you, while "Alexa pause" silences the whole house.

My source is Spotify and casting from my laptop. What you say about matching the source format is solid advise. Thanks.
Edit: Moved my AVR frustration to it's own thread.

 

[Winkleswizard]

Hang in there Josh! Hope you and your family feel better soon.

It was a few decades ago for me, but our first born was colicky and did not sleep more than 3 hours straight for the first several months of his life. Fortunately, my wife and I were able to switch off and get some sleep. Hopefully you can too and get healthy again.

Sounds like you got a Denon dud, but does not matter for now. When you are feeling better, we will still be here to help.

Best wishes,

Ww