rear ports of speakers

[mike c]

i read on the b&w website (i have infinity's but their website sucks) that if placing the speakers near the wall, that the rear ports be covered by "bungs".

my rear left and right is about 1" off the wall,

should i cover up the ports?
what do i use to cover it up?
whats a bung?
wont this mess with the "tuning" of the speaker?

 

[Sheep]

Don't bother with that. Your rear speakers don't even have bass going to them. The port is not used to its full extent.

I say leave em, and enjoy the music.


Sheepstar

 

[mike c]

thanks sheep!

 

[Sheep]

So, give us an update, hows this system performing? It looked sweet, but hows the sound?


Sheepstar

 

[mike c]

well, i still have them connected to an rx-v 640 (6.1)
i havent had the time to connect the center speaker
so its a 5.1 without the front center (only with a rear center)

when played with DTS demo 9 ...
i thought the rear speakers (surround and back) were worthless (simply not worth the extra dough over my previous satellites)

BUT, i put all the rear speakers in +10db, and thats when they started to shine (what about you guys, at what +?db do you have them set?)

with all channel stereo, the receiver simply doesnt "have enough power captain"

with 2 ch stereo, the front towers doesnt have enough bass (receiver maybe?) i have to turn on my jbl sub just to complete the freq. [ of course i listen to r&b and pop - sub required]

i still havent bought the subwoofer, still concentrating on the tv right now.

to be continued ... work!

 

[jaxvon]

Once you get your center channel up and runnning, I suggest you take a listen to the Porcupine Tree song on that DTS Demo disc. It really fills up the room with sound. When the chorus hits, the soundstage is AMAZING. An absolute WALL of sound. I actually liked it so much that I have the album on order now!

 

[mike c]

Once you get your center channel up and runnning, I suggest you take a listen to the Porcupine Tree song on that DTS Demo disc. It really fills up the room with sound. When the chorus hits, the soundstage is AMAZING. An absolute WALL of sound. I actually liked it so much that I have the album on order now!

do you have your player connected with analog connections or just the optical/coaxial? hmm, maybe i should connect my center tonight.

i reformatted my pc and now im working with half the speed, so most of my time is spent trying to fix it (from 160kbps to 60kbps) something with my lan card not connected properly or something (software, not hardware)

 

[j_garcia]

Whether or not bass is getting to your surrounds depends on what crossover you are using on your receiver. With today's digital formats, there's plenty of bass in the rear channels, though not for sustained periods. You don't need "bungs" either, you can try it out yourself with a rolled up sock to see if it improves anything. Plugging the ports will reduce your speaker's low end extension a bit as well as a small loss in output.

If you really want to see what your system is capable of, get your levels matched correctly with an SPL meter. You'll thank yourself for doing it.

Porcupine Tree is some cool stuff so far...

 

[jaxvon]

do you have your player connected with analog connections or just the optical/coaxial? hmm, maybe i should connect my center tonight.

i reformatted my pc and now im working with half the speed, so most of my time is spent trying to fix it (from 160kbps to 60kbps) something with my lan card not connected properly or something (software, not hardware)

My player is connected via optical to my receiver. In my receiver, all of my speakers are set to "small" with the crossover at 80Hz.

 

[mike c]

thanks jaxvon.

j garcia, i do have all my speakers at small, crossover by the receiver is unknown (old yammy)

now i remember why i dont get to that porcupine tree track! since i dont have a television installed, i dont know how to get to that track using the menu. i can only "hear" the movie clips. so im manuevering the menu "blindfolded"

 

[mike c]

If you really want to see what your system is capable of, get your levels matched correctly with an SPL meter. You'll thank yourself for doing it.

i suppose i can get this where they sell guitar amps and stuff, right? (local radioshack?)

is there a brand im supposed to be looking for?
how much is one gonna set me back?

 

[jaxvon]

The local radio shack is the place to go. They should be $40 US.

 

[mike c]

thanks jaxvon.

sheep,

continued ... with a picture of what i've done since buying ...
note: as you can see, the rear speakers are flush to the wall ...

i DIY'd the speaker brackets (i cant bring myself to spend big moolah on brackets i can make and paint myself) although the left and right surrounds are unique [cant be bought elsewhere] because i hung them a foot from the rear wall so that they'd be perpendicular to the listening position.

im whipping up a listening CD as i type this so i can give my review of the speakers. singers include: (terrible, but i need them to test the high and midrange)
norah jones
josh groban
enya
az yet (acapella)
carl orff (classical)
"now we are free" from gladiator soundtrack
mariah carey
moulin rouge songs
some local songs
AND
metallica - enter sandman ? dont even know why this is here

 

[mike c]

do you guys listen to music ...

2.0?
2.1?
prologic?
prologic II?

what about when "testing" speakers?

 

[MDS]

I tend to use ProLogic II Music mode for music and movies.

 

[eric0531]

<i>do you guys listen to music ...

2.0?
2.1?
prologic?
prologic II?</i>

On the rare occasions that I can actually sit on the couch in the sweet spot and critically listen to music, I'll do so in regular stereo (which will be 2.1 in my case since I have my speakers all set to small). But most of my music listening is when I'm doing stuff, and I use my Yamaha's "6 Channel Stereo" setting just because it fills the room with sound better.

 

[Takeereasy]

I actually use PLII movies for my music. When I lived in my other home I used CS Music as the surround mode, but in the new environment PLII movie sounds the best for some reason. I can't go back to two-channel now, I'm spoiled.

 

[Sheep]

Thanks for the reply mike!

Looks very professional. See if you can get your rears, lower. they seem a little high. I know you ran wire and have brackets already set up, but they seem high. Mine are under a foot above my head. Or maybe point them down a bit?


I listen to music in DTS Neo:6 Music mode, pretty much proloigc, but I like how its DTS


Sheepstar

 

[j_garcia]

I'd point the side surrounds out toward the center of the room. I can't imagine you are getting good separation from that surround setup, the speakers are all too close together, and the room appears quite small. I really would not even have considered 7.1 for a room that size, to be honest.

 

[mike c]

7.1 = hehe, before this setup, i had 5.1 ... then LOTR came out with a 6.1 dvd ... so i wanted a 6.1; then i thought i wanted more dialogue power (therefore a bigger center) ... then i wanted better sound from the speakers (therefore wooden cabinets)... then i thought i would get upgradeitis if i didnt get the best and the most speakers. (therefore front towers and 7.1)

come to think of it, even my front towers are said to be overkill for this room. the salesman said i should stick to the primus 160 (or the equivalent beta 20) for the fronts. this is what i call the vaccine to upgradeitis.

height = the base of the speakers is exactly 2.1 meters (6.89 feet) i tried to bring them lower but figured i didnt want to hit my head or something on them. plus they kind of look ugly at the center (height) of the room

surround toe in = i would certainly try that, if the base of the bracket allows it, i kinda made it exactly (if not smaller) the size of the base of the speaker. only the surrounds and 1 piece of the rear is working right now, so i cant really here the rear LR yet.

pointing lower or to the listener = i thought long and hard before i built my brackets if i would point them to me or down. but most of what i read said that i shouldNT point them to me (thats for HT not music)

takeereasy = whats a cs music?