My super budget 5.1 livingroom setup

[marticus]

Hi guys, i've been following the Audioholics youtube channel and related content for a long while now, but figured i should finally join the forum in an effort to improve my setup where possible.

This setup has been evolving for the last 10 years i guess though it is still not objectively great but it walks the fine line between budget with acceptable WAF.

Speakers: Jamo 6xx series (i don't think you got these in the US) they're a predecessor to the 800 series i guess and are not bad for the money, though they share many of the same issues as other low end Jamo / Klipsch models.
Subwoofer: Magnat monitor supreme 303a which was recommended as the cheapest worthwhile sub in my country (though that's debatable i guess)
Amplifier: Denon x1600h
Projector: Benq w1070
Screen: cheap 120" Grey pulldown

All in i think i've paid around $1500 for this whole setup, but theres a lot of improvements to be found, next upgrades include, well..everything, i'm undecided yet where to focus my efforts.

 

[Pogre]

I think you have a pretty decent budget system and it looks great.

Generally speaking any upgrade path leading major improvements will usually be found through speakers and subs, followed closely by optimizing room acoustics. Where are you located? Are there any particular shortcomings you'd like to address first, or are you just looking for some general improvement across the board? Got a budget to work with?

 

[Pogre]

That subwoofer, is it a 303A or 302A? I can find the latter but not the former. I ask because I suspect you might benefit upgrading your subwoofage.

*Edit:

?

 

[marticus]

I think you have a pretty decent budget system and it looks great.

Generally speaking any upgrade path leading major improvements will usually be found through speakers and subs, followed closely by optimizing room acoustics. Where are you located? Are there any particular shortcomings you'd like to address first, or are you just looking for some general improvement across the board? Got a budget to work with?

Thanks a lot for the feedback I appreciate that!

In terms of upgrades there are a few areas I want to focus on, but budget is tight as always so it will be a longer term project going forwards.

Next steps would probably be focused on the subwoofer, the one I have did a lot to give me a taste of what I'm missing, but it's not enough for this space I have I think. I actually posted another thread today with some frequency response measurements I took, because I'm trying to decide if I should look at a second sub first or an upgrade.

Next would be the speakers I guess, as I mentioned in my original post, I think they suffer from the same budget klipsh issues namely anaemic midrange and a hot treble. It's not an issue for movies, but when listening to music, when you push the volume up things start getting harsh.

In other areas, I think some absorption in the room will help, especially on that back wall behind the surround speakers,

And my cheap PJ screen has waves, so I'm looking at some tab tensioned screens and wondering if ALR screens will do anything in a light controlled room with white walls.

And of course I don't expect the projector to last beyond a couple of years lol it never ends!

But one step at a time I think subs first!

 

[marticus]

That subwoofer, is it a 303A or 302A? I can find the latter but not the former. I ask because I suspect you might benefit upgrading your subwoofage.

*Edit:
View attachment 50724

?

Oh My bad! Yes 302a is the one, and an upgrade will help for sure.

I'm actually considering DIY Right now I have a 12" driver from sb acoustics and a 300w plate amp on my shopping list, which should get flat to 19hz for about half the price of a pb1000 here

 

[Pogre]

Thanks a lot for the feedback I appreciate that!

In terms of upgrades there are a few areas I want to focus on, but budget is tight as always so it will be a longer term project going forwards.

Next steps would probably be focused on the subwoofer, the one I have did a lot to give me a taste of what I'm missing, but it's not enough for this space I have I think. I actually posted another thread today with some frequency response measurements I took, because I'm trying to decide if I should look at a second sub first or an upgrade.

Next would be the speakers I guess, as I mentioned in my original post, I think they suffer from the same budget klipsh issues namely anaemic midrange and a hot treble. It's not an issue for movies, but when listening to music, when you push the volume up things start getting harsh.

In other areas, I think some absorption in the room will help, especially on that back wall behind the surround speakers,

And my cheap PJ screen has waves, so I'm looking at some tab tensioned screens and wondering if ALR screens will do anything in a light controlled room with white walls.

And of course I don't expect the projector to last beyond a couple of years lol it never ends!

But one step at a time I think subs first!

I think you're on the right track, looking at subs first. Clean, effortless bass is almost always underestimated and has a way of cleaning up the entire range. A second one may indeed help smooth out any room modes and give you a little bit more headroom. Your total room volume will dictate how much is enough so some dimensions would help, including any openings to other areas as a sub "sees" the total volume of the space. You don't necessarily have to pressurize the entire space, but it does factor into it.

Oh My bad! Yes 302a is the one, and an upgrade will help for sure.

I'm actually considering DIY Right now I have a 12" driver from sb acoustics and a 300w plate amp on my shopping list, which should get flat to 19hz for about half the price of a pb1000 here

DIY is a great way to go to save a few bucks for sure, and it gets even better when you build multiples, using the same amp for both. We'd need a whole lot more info on your driver and amp choice to really offer any meaningful feedback tho, along with your room volume.

 

[Pogre]

And where are you located?? SVS is indeed a great manufacturer but they're in the process of pricing themselves out of a lot of budgets. A decently priced euro brand I see recommended often is XTZ, but we have no clue what's available to you...

Award winning subwoofers. For movies and music.

High-end subwoofers for both movies and music. Best in test and award winning subwoofers. Extreme performance and quality at an affordable price.

www.xtzsound.eu

 

[Pogre]

I'd add too that prices are going up, by a lot, for electronics and speakers across the board. If you have the budget available now you're better off buying sooner than later, but of course we want to make sure you buy smart too, so more info would be helpful (room volume, listening habits, distances, etc.).

 

[marticus]

And where are you located?? SVS is indeed a great manufacturer but they're in the process of pricing themselves out of a lot of budgets. A decently priced euro brand I see recommended often is XTZ, but we have no clue what's available to you...

Award winning subwoofers. For movies and music.

High-end subwoofers for both movies and music. Best in test and award winning subwoofers. Extreme performance and quality at an affordable price.

www.xtzsound.eu

Thanks again for the help, I'm based in Poland.

at the moment prices on the svs products are already inflated in Europe, as with most US products and after the price hike I can't see them being a viable option here.

from a quick guestimation and bit of math I figure the entire space (open plan downstairs) is around 160 - 185 cubic meter (5500 - 6500 cubic feet) So I'm guessing I will need a decent amount of sub to work in that lol.

The issues is that like a lot of us I'm contending with WAF, I figure I can get away with a couple of 12" ported subs, but beyond that is going to cause issue.

If I go the DIY route, I've been eyeing the SB Acoustics SB34SWPL76-4 datasheet here

My hope is that a couple of those in ported enclosures should get me somewhere close to where I need to be.

I modeled them in winisd and got a more or less flat response down to 19hz I. 60liters. But I'm no expert so..

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

One of the toughest parts of this whole setup is being stuffed into that little cubby. Unfortunately I don’t know any easy way to deal with that. I think I would move it all to the front even with the mains. Then use some absorption/traps/duffusion etc behind it all. It saying to NOT upgrade. But that room is not helping at all. And if possible, some kind of positional help would go a long ways.

 

[Pogre]

One of the toughest parts of this whole setup is being stuffed into that little cubby. Unfortunately I don’t know any easy way to deal with that. I think I would move it all to the front even with the mains. Then use some absorption/traps/duffusion etc behind it all. It saying to NOT upgrade. But that room is not helping at all. And if possible, some kind of positional help would go a long ways.

I was thinking the same, but I give Opie props for pulling the mains forward and not stuffing them in the cubby too. It looks like at least a little effort and consideration went into placement.

You're right tho, those cubbies are not very speaker friendly at all.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I was thinking the same, but I give Opie props for pulling the mains forward and not stuffing them in the cubby too. It looks like at least a little effort and consideration went into placement.

You're right tho, those cubbies are not very speaker friendly at all.

Opie. :wink:

Yeah I agree. I can see some thought definitely went to to that. And was really surprised to see those mains way out there. Probably the best thing to have done so far. It’s really really tough with those spaces. Some spaces can only give so much…

 

[Alex2507]

As mentioned, you must rearrange the whole room. Luckily we are also experts on women, at least me, so WAF only has to concern you when she wants like half your speakers.

Nice room!

 

[marticus]

One of the toughest parts of this whole setup is being stuffed into that little cubby. Unfortunately I don’t know any easy way to deal with that. I think I would move it all to the front even with the mains. Then use some absorption/traps/duffusion etc behind it all. It saying to NOT upgrade. But that room is not helping at all. And if possible, some kind of positional help would go a long ways.

Thanks for the feedback and yeah I agree entirely, initially I had bookshelves all the way on that front wall, but when I upgraded to towers I took the opportunity to pull them out to where the screen sits. I still get some dirty looks from the wife about that lol.

What's worst and is hard to see from the pics is that there is about 8 meters between the back and front wall, so before I pulled the mains out there was literally no soundstage separation between left and right.

The one option I broached was to flip the room and have the sofa in the cubby (or half in), but that would involve a lot of work and throw out the projector and screen distances so is off the board for the time being.

I think the best middle ground I can hope for will be to get some sound treatment into the cubby on the walls. I'm already halfway through swapping the sub to the left side, which should help a bit (judging from some initial measurements I've made)

Edit: Or if manage to get the sub(s) out and by the sofa (or elsewhere depending on testing) that should leave only the center back there, which will be an improvement right?

Thanks again!

 

[marticus]

As mentioned, you must rearrange the whole room. Luckily we are also experts on women, at least me, so WAF only has to concern you when she wants like half your speakers.

Nice room!

Thanks! I just mentioned to the wife how nice the room would look with the sofa one the other side in the cubby a bit lmao

 

[Pogre]

Thanks! I just mentioned to the wife how nice the room would look with the sofa one the other side in the cubby a bit lmao

That's really what it comes down to. How bad do you want good sound? Lol. My wife is pretty easy going about it so I'd have no issue rearranging the room, and I'd definitely do it for better sound. My system is optimized for music playback first and foremost. I stepped away from it for a while, but I've always been into good audio and these placement tweaks make a real difference without having to spend a bunch of money for marginal improvements and upgrades.

 

[marticus]

That's really what it comes down to. How bad do you want good sound? Lol. My wife is pretty easy going about it so I'd have no issue rearranging the room, and I'd definitely do it for better sound. My system is optimized for music playback first and foremost. I stepped away from it for a while, but I've always been into good audio and these placement tweaks make a real difference without having to spend a bunch of money for marginal improvements and upgrades.

Yeah I count myself lucky as she's not as bad as a lot of partners I've seen, but rearranging the entire room will be a step to far I think.... At least for now

 

[Pogre]

Yeah I count myself lucky as she's not as bad as a lot of partners I've seen, but rearranging the entire room will be a step to far I think.... At least for now

Do it when she's not home. Then when she does get home and sees it you tell her you're not sure what happened.

"All I know is when I went to the store I forgot to lock the door behind me. When I got back it looked like someone stole all of our stuff, replaced it with exact duplicates and rearranged everything! Oh well, it is what it is. Sure would be a lot of work putting everything back tho, dont'cha think..?"

 

[Alex2507]

I flat out lied to my girl. I said the subs would only be temporary TO SEE IF we liked it. She said that once they were in place that would be it. I said no, the same way we move them in, we can move them out. I am nothing but flexible. All bullsh!t of course. Those things are heavy. I'm old. It took me 10 years to get them where I wanted. They're staying. I have spoken.

 

[marticus]

I flat out lied to my girl. I said the subs would only be temporary TO SEE IF we liked it. She said that once they were in place that would be it. I said no, the same way we move them in, we can move them out. I am nothing but flexible. All bullsh!t of course. Those things are heavy. I'm old. It took me 10 years to get them where I wanted. They're staying. I have spoken.

Lol, I'm also getting old and have back issues, it's going to be interesting dragging a larger sub around the room when I do upgrade.