Living Room System

[Funnychap]

My living room system pulls duty for "fill the house with music" and more casual/lazy HT viewing, or if I just want to watch something on the QD-OLED instead. It's just gone through a round of up upgrades in the last few weeks as well.

Current Equipment:

Television: 65" Samsung S95C QD-OLED
Receiver: Anthem MRX 540 8k
Power Amp (fronts): Musical Fidelity A308 Integrated (HT passthrough)
Sources: PC, Apple TV 4k Gen 3, Panasonic BD-85 bluray player
Fronts: Paradigm Studio Reference 100 v2
Surrounds: Kanto Yu Passive
Sub: REL s/510

The room is 25' x 13' and open on both sides of the central section where the system is set up. The floors are hardwood with an area rug and stippled ceiling. It is not treated and has a slightly higher RT60 of 350-500. I have been toying with the idea of something like a large 8' x 6' hanging aborber for the center of the ceiling but it probably wouldn't do all that much on it's own for the price it would likely be (I might try DYI though).

Recent changes:

-The MRX 540 8k replaced an Anthem AVM 50v. I wanted something to do centralized 4k 120Hz switching and the Anthem x40s have pretty good digital front ends. Being 15-20 years newer, I didn't think I'd be giving up anything from the 50v and I didn't feel like spending over double for another AVM 70 8k separate. This also gives me ARC Genesis and network control which is much easier and more convenient to tweak and upload than the old serial based ARC on the AVM 50v.

-The REL s/510 replaced an old Energy 12" EPS-150. The Energy was going on 25 years old or more and would occassionally hum for no apparent reason. I put a little REL T/Zero MkIII in my office/bedroom system using a high level connection and I have been enjoying the results up there with that integration. I decided to give a larger REL a shot in this system since sub 20 Hz bass wasn't really a concern in this room. It's running high-level on the mains and LFE input for the surrounds.

-The surrounds were added because the MRX 540 gave me extra channels of amplification and I had the Kanto's in storage already. I picked them up 60% when the modest local shop closed out in the fall. They roll off a lot more than the mains but I'm not noticing any major tonal mismatch so I'm quite happy with the results - expectially for what was essentially a $100 CAD pair of speakers.

The placement of the sub isn't ideal but I don't really like the other options I have considered. There's a fairly nasty drop-out around 25-27 Hz in the room (at the MLP measurment position at least), but the fronts and the sub working together do a pretty good job of filling each others dips in. ARC tames the peaks where the additives go up a bit high and REW reports decent output down to about 17 - 20 Hz (although I only measured at a 75db reference). I'm pretty happy with the bass sound overall. I'm still trying to tweak the LFE side of things but any issues remaining there aren't really apparent while watching so far.

View attachment 65124

View attachment 65125

Things are tuned for an MLP at the center of the couch, but I almost never actually do critical listening from there. It's more of a lay down and enjoy kind of room for me.

Probably not the usual type of set up among users here, but that's the tour.

There should not be any objects between your L and R speakers (or keep those objects low below the height of your mids/tweeters), otherwise you won't get a phantom center vocalist or 3D imaging.
You should also try different speaker distances 1'-3' away from the front wall.
And use a lossless music source like Apple Music, don't cripple your music quality with compressed Spotify.

 

[dolynick]

There should not be any objects between your L and R speakers (or keep those objects low below the height of your mids/tweeters), otherwise you won't get a phantom center vocalist or 3D imaging.
You should also try different speaker distances 1'-3' away from the front wall.
And use a lossless music source like Apple Music, don't cripple your music quality with compressed Spotify.

This must be a bot or something. Not a thing thing in the post is connected to the reality of the setup or what is shown in the system pics.

 

[Funnychap]

This must be a bot or something. Not a thing thing in the post is connected to the reality of the setup or what is shown in the system pics.

Whatever

 

[isolar8001]

Whatever

Oh God....not another day with you....

 

[Mikado463]

Oh God....not another day with you....

I know what you mean, but I must say, I do agree with 'nothing' in the 'Bermuda Triangle' as I like to call it. The area between you and your L/R speakers.

 

[dolynick]

I know what you mean, but I must say, I do agree with 'nothing' in the 'Bermuda Triangle' as I like to call it. The area between you and your L/R speakers.

Sure, but there is nothing between the midrange and tweeters of the mains. All the equipment is well below that level and down at the woofer level - which is clear to see from the pic.

As for the rest...

The speakers are out 1' from the wall and within his recommended range already. I'm sure there's another placement that might be better but there are practical considerations as this is an actively used living space. I've also been pretty clear that I'm quite happy with the sound I'm getting from the system already. So... Offering a solution without a problem?

And the bit about Apple Music is just headscratching as A) It wouldn't likely be my choice for lossless streaming, B) I don't stream music anyways and C) I never discussed what I'm playing from where so it's just a massive assumption from them in the first place.

But, apparently not a bot. So thanks for reading Funnychap and I hope you enjoyed the pics, etc.

 

[dolynick]

So the amplifier in this setup has been changed since the fall. The old Musical Fidelity A308 was starting to have some issues when pushed hard and has been replaced with a new Musical Fidelity M6x PRX power amplifier (230W into 8 ohms, ~360 into 4 ohms).

I retuned things with ARC and I think it sounds better than ever now. I didn't bother posting new charts though, as I didn't really see a point in getting bogged down over room specific and mic position specific quibbles in a graph. I was able to get a tuning that was still measurement base level down to 15 Hz, but felt that that was pushing things a bit too hard (well beyond spec of the sub or the speakers) so I backed off a little bit.

I'm hoping to get the A308 serviced but it's tough finding an actual shop still in operation around here that will do it. Looks like it will require some travel if I want to pursue it.

 

[3db]

My living room system pulls duty for "fill the house with music" and more casual/lazy HT viewing, or if I just want to watch something on the QD-OLED instead. It's just gone through a round of up upgrades in the last few weeks as well.

Current Equipment:

Television: 65" Samsung S95C QD-OLED
Receiver: Anthem MRX 540 8k
Power Amp (fronts): Musical Fidelity A308 Integrated (HT passthrough)
Sources: PC, Apple TV 4k Gen 3, Panasonic BD-85 bluray player
Fronts: Paradigm Studio Reference 100 v2
Surrounds: Kanto Yu Passive
Sub: REL s/510

The room is 25' x 13' and open on both sides of the central section where the system is set up. The floors are hardwood with an area rug and stippled ceiling. It is not treated and has a slightly higher RT60 of 350-500. I have been toying with the idea of something like a large 8' x 6' hanging aborber for the center of the ceiling but it probably wouldn't do all that much on it's own for the price it would likely be (I might try DYI though).

Recent changes:

-The MRX 540 8k replaced an Anthem AVM 50v. I wanted something to do centralized 4k 120Hz switching and the Anthem x40s have pretty good digital front ends. Being 15-20 years newer, I didn't think I'd be giving up anything from the 50v and I didn't feel like spending over double for another AVM 70 8k separate. This also gives me ARC Genesis and network control which is much easier and more convenient to tweak and upload than the old serial based ARC on the AVM 50v.

-The REL s/510 replaced an old Energy 12" EPS-150. The Energy was going on 25 years old or more and would occassionally hum for no apparent reason. I put a little REL T/Zero MkIII in my office/bedroom system using a high level connection and I have been enjoying the results up there with that integration. I decided to give a larger REL a shot in this system since sub 20 Hz bass wasn't really a concern in this room. It's running high-level on the mains and LFE input for the surrounds.

-The surrounds were added because the MRX 540 gave me extra channels of amplification and I had the Kanto's in storage already. I picked them up 60% when the modest local shop closed out in the fall. They roll off a lot more than the mains but I'm not noticing any major tonal mismatch so I'm quite happy with the results - expectially for what was essentially a $100 CAD pair of speakers.

The placement of the sub isn't ideal but I don't really like the other options I have considered. There's a fairly nasty drop-out around 25-27 Hz in the room (at the MLP measurment position at least), but the fronts and the sub working together do a pretty good job of filling each others dips in. ARC tames the peaks where the additives go up a bit high and REW reports decent output down to about 17 - 20 Hz (although I only measured at a 75db reference). I'm pretty happy with the bass sound overall. I'm still trying to tweak the LFE side of things but any issues remaining there aren't really apparent while watching so far.

View attachment 65124

View attachment 65125

Things are tuned for an MLP at the center of the couch, but I almost never actually do critical listening from there. It's more of a lay down and enjoy kind of room for me.

Probably not the usual type of set up among users here, but that's the tour.

Nice room and setup. Looks very cozy and inviting.

 

[dolynick]

Nice room and setup. Looks very cozy and inviting.

Thanks. Actually gets a lot more use than the far more elaborate theatre room downstairs.

 

[3db]

Thanks. Actually gets a lot more use than the far more elaborate theatre room downstairs.

It depends on the season for me. During late spring, summer, and early fall, I tend to use my main floor more for a couple reasons. I want to enjoy the extended daylight hours that are taken from me outside those periods. The AC runs in the summer and it gets cold AF down there and makes it almost impossible to enjoy the space.

 

[Funnychap]

Thanks. Actually gets a lot more use than the far more elaborate theatre room downstairs.

Yep same here. The family members use the 2ndary home theater in the family room with a 75 in TV, but no one uses the primary home theater with the150in screen except me so that's why I'm not going to upgrade to a 4k projector but instead get the Apple Vision Pro goggles (the eye tracking instead of a mouse cursor is amazing, as well as several 300 in virtual screens).

 

[dolynick]

For me it's mostly that I'm feeling lazy and want to flake out, laying down to watch. Downstairs is all upright seating in chairs. I know... First world problems