Summertime JBL refurbishment the whole sound system!

[darien87]

Phase is also been adjusted to compensate for the three-screen when bass is sent to all channels, so I played a few openings from a few films “Catwoman” during the first few moments of the opening titles there’s a nice deep bass note that’s sent to LCR and LFE.1 as well, but I was the centre channel that needed some attention because now it was out of phase with the rest of the three-screen.

OK, before I thought you were just a kooky eccentric. But now that I know you own Catwoman, I know that you're certifiably insane!!!

 

[alexsound]

Dolby CP-200

How big is your electrical service ? How many amps is it rated for ?

 

[Wafflesomd]

So why do you still have those empty cabinets? Why not put something in them.

 

[mazersteven]

So why do you still have those empty cabinets? Why not put something in them.

You haven't figured out what is empty with nothing inside?

 

[Dolby CP-200]

Did you know the original (Thomas Edison) light bulb is still working today, well that’s what was told a few nights back while I was over at a friends house. And adding top the fact that “Thomas Edison” is a thief who stole from (Georges Méliès) “A Trip To The Moon” Edison bribed the cinema owner to hand over the film and Edison made print after print after print and all the proceeds went into this thieves pocket and poor “Georges Méliès” didn’t see a penny of it, within a few years he was broke. So “Edison” is no hero of mine, the thief!

 

[obscbyclouds]

Did you know the original (Thomas Edison) light bulb is still working today, well that’s what was told a few nights back while I was over at a friends house.

This is not actually true. "The Centennial Light is the world's longest lasting light bulb. It is located at 4550 East Avenue, Livermore, California and maintained by the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department." -Wikipedia. It was originally hung in 1901 and has only been turned off a couple of times....

 

[Dolby CP-200]

obscbyclouds

Well I guess my friend was watching the (History channel) then and got muddled up with the story a little bit, as he mentioned about industrial type light bulbs. Oh well thanks for clarifying that.

 

[Audioholics]

A light builb could easily last forever if they didn't plan them to go out so you'd have to buy more.

 

[alexsound]

Dolby CP-200

How big is your electrical service ? How many amps is it rated for ?

Still waiting for an answer on this. Did you have to have the service
modified or upgraded to power all that equipment you have ? Also, I didn't really see you describe a display in any of you postings. What kind of display are you using ?

 

[Dolby CP-200]

A light builb could easily last forever if they didn't plan them to go out so you'd have to buy more.

LOL, Too bad they can’t do this for video projectors or even cinema xenon types but there’s the good ole carbon arc.

 

[Dolby CP-200]

Still waiting for an answer on this. Did you have to have the service
modified or upgraded to power all that equipment you have ? Also, I didn't really see you describe a display in any of you postings. What kind of display are you using ?

As to you’re question I was 1 pound for the power and its good enough for me for a 1day a bit, that’s a heck of lot of JBL THX movie viewing.

 

[avliner]

A light builb could easily last forever if they didn't plan them to go out so you'd have to buy more.

Pretty much true Clint,

a bit off topic, but let me tell you that this reminds me a while back (early 80's), when I was in SF for couple days and saw something really weird that draw my attention; i.e, an AC / DC converter device (just about the size and thickness of a quarter), to be used between the socket and the bulb. The guy at the shop said that those "little coins" would make any 120W bulb lasts forever... whether or not this is true, I still regret that I didn't buy some for me. Never heard and saw those devices again... Just for the records though.

 

[alexsound]

As to you’re question I was 1 pound for the power and its good enough for me for a 1day a bit, that’s a heck of lot of JBL THX movie viewing.

If you have 56kw of power, then you would probably have to have about
a 400amp service at least, is this correct ? So you understand what I am asking you ? The big panel/box on the side of your house where the electricity comes in ? What are the outlets your're using rated for ? the reason I'm asking is you may be sitting on a MAJOR fire hazard with the way you have all your equipment wired up. I'm not criticizing you, just giving you some advice that may save your life, or at the very least, your equipment.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

A light builb could easily last forever if they didn't plan them to go out so you'd have to buy more.

LOL.... I was just going to type a very similar sentiment


PS.... to get back on topic......You've gotta give Ashley props for his dedication!!

 

[Dolby CP-200]

If you have 56kw of power, then you would probably have to have about
a 400amp service at least, is this correct ? So you understand what I am asking you ? The big panel/box on the side of your house where the electricity comes in ? What are the outlets your're using rated for ? the reason I'm asking is you may be sitting on a MAJOR fire hazard with the way you have all your equipment wired up. I'm not criticizing you, just giving you some advice that may save your life, or at the very least, your equipment.

LOL,; na mate that part of my signature is referring to the EMPIRE Leicester square in London, dear god man if I was running 56KW here I’d have to feed the power meter every 1 hour or so.

 

[Dolby CP-200]

A simple but yet effective sub bass improvement!

Take a few simple (breezeblocks) and with some plastic of other placed underneath them prevent them from making a mess then place the sub bass on them. If the sub has feet its okay as this will not scratch the surface. If it doesn’t have feet place some carpet on them followed by the sub bass.

This was one of the things I tired out since late of last week and thou it was kinder successful at reducing vibrations it wasn’t near enough when I got around to playing Return of the Jedi yesterday afternoon.

Chapter 13 The Emperors Arrival all the deep tympani bass was kinder lost due to the placement as I had only played a few films since and I guess some of them didn’t have bass between 20 and 40Hz that was deep enough. So after use the SW-Re-mix function on the Kenwood KR-F9050D THX select and sent the screen channel bass to the JBL 4645 where it sounded outstanding with lots of drama in chapter 13 when the Emperor arrives at the new Death Star.

Now all I had to do was re-position it which took around 8 minutes played the same scene over again and wow that was better and no vibration that is originally within 2” from the floor surface this produced enormous rattling problems with the floorboards where I forced to reduce the volume be many db, and as you guessed it this would reduce the impact emotional drama of the mix.

When Han Solo gets punched after carelessly steeping on a twig SNAP! The stormtrooper gives him one heck of smack that felt better than before yes a few (breezeblocks) can make a bit of difference.

 

[Dolby CP-200]

I like it now that all three screen channels are in (active cross over mode) it’s a problematic issue to loose most of the EQ filter bands due to the X over function but after listening to some of my favourite films late of last night and this even with some extracts from, The Bourne Identity films with clearer wider frequency response on the ole JBL Control 5.

The harsh brittle sound in the mid bass has been greatly reduced with warmer sounding tones HF is free from that cross talk which resulted in shrillness that was too much too bare.

The cross over is set for Linkwitz-Riley 24db LF 50Hz to 1KHz – HF 24db 1KHz to 16.1 KHz 80Hz +7.0db Q 1.0 for the LF LCR channels.

Audio limiter
-16.6db LF LCR
-20.0db HF LCR

The dynamic EQ needs a little more experimentation at the time being but it does sound way better than before only wished I had larger JBL monitors matching LCR for the fronts but I’m pleased never the less very pleased.

I noted how clear STAR TREK the motion picture sounded when Sulu was pressed a button right channel just before Enterprise departed wow now that’s how I remember it in the Empire Leicester square back in 1989.

Going back to the Jason Bourne adventures with the wild car chase in “The Bourne Supremacy” toward the end was cracking tire screeching and metical hits glass and gunshots shined surprisingly over the three-screen.

 

[Dolby CP-200]

Note some of the settings on the DCX2496 have been changed since the first night I’ll post the details on them when I power the home JBL cinema later in the day.

These pictures where taken a few nights back while I was modifying each of the three JBL Control 5 monitors.

Here I have installed two extra cables into screw socket holes that hold the passive crossover. With the passive crossover HF disconnected and with the new cables connected power the HF tweeter via an electronic frequency dividing network system.
The crossover is set for Linkwitz-Riley 24db LF 50Hz to 1KHz – HF 24db 1KHz to 16.1 KHz 80Hz +7.0db Q 1.0 for the LF LCR channels.

A closer view of my little JBL Control 5 and for the first time they sound a lot better this way without the harshness of brittle sound thou they have been quite beneficial for the past 16 years, but now its time for active crossover active is the way to go its cleaner and its got far more potential.

Catwomen was the first film to be tested with the Behringer DCX2496 loudspeaker management system. I was astonished at how the hash sound disappeared into the JBL Control 5 thus leaving it with cleaner more dynamic lower and higher range, meow.

 

[Dolby CP-200]

Sound moments of interest with picture guide. HEAT

Here’s something that might be of sound interest, we always read too much from members about favourite scenes in the movies so I thought I’d add picture stills and text to describe that particular scene.

One of my favourite listening subjects is complex Dolby film mixers where the discrete soundtrack offers a few sequences that might go unheard to most of users, for example HEAT 1995.

There’s a moment at the airport where Neil is running across a busy runway with a DC-10 panning from left to right screen channels only! While presented in the centre channel we hear nothing but the Foley work of footsteps panting and breathing that on most home cinema systems this would be severely masked by the aircrafts noisy jet engines!

This presents very little difficulty here with the help of the Behringer DCX2496 loudspeaker management system and its use of features like dynamic EQ audio limiters crossover filters and basic general EQ and much more, for setting up a perfect or near perfect than what you heard before. The matching fronts in my screen array are JBL control 5 LCR fronts placed up front and have been in use since I brought them back in 1990.

Audio masking is one of those headaches most of hath to deal with and thou there are ways around to a small degree it takes a great deal of patience and careful listening.

As the DC-10 pans from left to right with smooth loudness rather than a shrilly too much for taking sound that would normally be encountered in most home cinema rooms, it presented no trouble with the matching JBL control 5 LCR along with matching Alesis RA300 amplifiers and the brains of the taming all this the affordable Behringer DCX2496 for which none of this would have been possible.

As Neil runs across the runaway breathing and panting along with footsteps that can be easily heard with the settings on the DCX2496 it makes the whole sequence fresh and exciting to listen to rather than struggling with turning the centre channel up which is what most would do but without some to tame the sound when it gets too loud, you simply back at the beginning again.

As Neil gets nearer towards us the breathing gets a little louder but being soft and gentle at the same time as the DC-10 pans off to the right Neil runs towards safety in the airfields back felids. I have to say you can really get into it at this moment and the heals on the shoes really hit that concrete nicely.

With Neil’s luck finely running out Hanna puts Neil, down with several gunshot wounds, with musical background sounds on the left and right and with centre channel carrying breathing exhaling with exhaustion along with a few cricket sound effects.

A bass note accompanies and enhances the centre channel deeply followed with musical high notes that slowly build up in layers while left and right would normally be drowning out the centre channel by the point and without anyone realizing just how good the centre channel can sound with proper care and adjustment.

Barely able to hold on Neil finally fades off with last gasp that cuts over the left and right but not too heavily I made sure to maintain the levels so that good stereo separation can still serve the films story.

As the music reaches a climatic high, with Neil and Hanna in the mist of breathtaking backdrop too what was brilliant cop thriller from the 1990’s and one of many best Dolby stereo digital soundtracks from that era.

(Moby’s) “God moving over the face of the waters” has a nice tranquil feeling a spiritual feeling that suites last moments of the film until (Eliot Goldenthal) score fades in on the closing credits.

I’m not sure if the settings that I made to the DCX2496 would be of any use to someone who owns this fine little unit or if this thread is wetting someone’s appetite to starting over fresh again with there home cinema with matching amplifiers matching fronts LCR and a Behringer DCX2496 loudspeaker management system to make the magic come alive. Or maybe you have matching loudspeakers and amplifiers but haven’t brought the amazing DCX2496 which as been out for several years now.

This is why 9 times out home cinema 10 users always moan why I can’t hear the centre channel but it goes further than a lot further.

 

[Dolby CP-200]

Meanwhile I was looking over another classic from 1979 ALIEN with a few scenes from the film some you may be familiar with well almost I’ve just taken it further with the use of the DCX2496 and thou I have struggled along with this before with other techniques that barely worked but never still they worked. In the past I used basic audio limiters and lot of analyzing of the mix over and over and over again until I solved the problem. But with the DCX2496 it’s so far easier in a simple package with fine technical specifications.

Anyway shall we get on with, the little picture show?


With chapter 13 no blood no Dallas we see an air-lock door opening with clear sound down the centre and bleeping sound emitting from the with Jerry Goldsmiths score on screen left and right as with camera steadily moving back the door seals tightly ready for the capture of unwilling guest to be flushed out into space!

As Dallas proceeds to enter the air duct shafts armed with a flamethrower to flush the beast into the air-lock and zap into outer space his dialogue his clear over the sound of the iris as it closes on screen the left and right with metallic scrapping sound as if it hasn’t grassed in years.

“Okay I’m moving on.” left and right can still be clearly heard while still keeping your attention fixed to dialogue and storyline. One thing should be noted with this scene is that the music with sound effects are played on left and right with occasional music notes being sent to the centre channel.

With chapter 16 and now a scared now but lonely Ripley as she nears a compartment being cautious as she peaks around the doorway carefully and calls out “Parker”?

With no answer she kneels down sniffing, and breathing with plank face while the mechanics of the engines can be heard on screen right and a decompression of oxygen leaking on screen channels left and right or (centre phantom) (more on how to deal with centre phantom monaural channel later).

Ripley’s face turns cold with shuddering shock on her face it’s clearly heard the drama behind it plays well and reacting to her emotions tells us the ALEIN can be anywhere?

Knowing she’s the last one she backs away quickly to get off the doomed Nostromo while Foley can be hard with good accuracy.