Wow many different brands. Won't the sound mismatch

nice setup!!

^Don't mind me asking, but having the LS50 so near to the side and backwall... doesn't that bloat the mid-bass a bit too much? More so since you're sitting near field.

A clean uncluttered look with a great home theatre system that I am sure you have many many hours of HT and HiFi enjoyment.

That SVS sub is a GODZILLA not only for size, its a giant for bass that can actually create rumbles that closely imitate an earthquake!! I know... because my bro-in-law recently bought a used unit that really can rumble and shake everything in the room!



I did not notice any source (media, bluray or DVD) player for your home theatre system. What I can see is that you have a Logitach wireless keyboard and mouse with an Intel I7 computer and a 6TB HDD so I assume you use this computer as the HTPC feed to your system. If I assumed correctly, which software do you use to bitstream bluray videos via HDMI to your Denon AVR? WinDVD Pro, PowerDVD Ultra, TotalMedia Theatre 6 or DVDFab Media Player. I do use genuine purchased TotalMedia Theatre 6 for my Windows 8 pc but unfortunately they have terminated it. When I upgraded to Windows 10 Pro, TotalMedia Theatre 6 is not compatible so I had to purchase DVDFab Media Player. Is that your computer (white and black) placed next to your SVS sub? I was using such HTPC setup previously but I found that the audio and video quality is somehow much better through my Oppo BDP-105D so now I only use my pc to play other videos (4K YouTube, Netflix) on my 27 inch Dell 4K Monitor.

Oh.. almost forgot. I do use a separate mini Intel NUC computer specifically to just play DSD64 audio files to my DAC.

Since you have the Atmos speakers, I do wish to know your opinion on the overall effects of the speakers placed on top of the front main speakers? Such type of Atmos speakers fires to the ceiling and which reflects the top audio effects downwards. Are the Atmos/DTSX effects as good as you wish? I read many comments and reviews that says the Atmos effects is not good, can create cross-talk interference with other speakers and the effects can sound muddy. The good thing of placing on top of the main speakers is obviously no additional messy installation and not many people wants to touch a ceiling that already looks good and clean. Many times its also not possible to install Atmos ceiling speaker which directly fires downwards.

I intend to add a pair of Atmos speakers (ELAC A4) which can be used to place on top of the main speakers but I intend to hang it on my ceiling pointing the drivers directly downwards but this require more work to install them.

Mmm... LG 60" FHD Plasma as "backup"? Wouldn't it be better to watch from a much bigger screen size?

Atmos enable speaker is really a gimmick. Is like a soundbar doing 5.1

Like you said depend on your environment which is very subjective. Any speakers will be subject to sound different because environment. Ask yourself why not use sound bar instead of actual setup of 5.1, sound are meant to be bounce

My personal 2 cents is:

- Having tried all 3 Atmos/DTSX configurations of upfiring speakers, height presence speakers and in-ceiling speakers, my consensus is that upfiring speakers really only can work in a completely flat, reflective and low ceiling. Even then, the height effects will really only have ONE sweetspot, anyone off axis hears almost nothing.
- My config is being an all-rounder, having height presence speakers mounted as close to the ceiling as possible and tilted towards the MLP. With this I get almost as good of height effects as in-ceiling downward firing speakers. The only major difference is that the in-ceiling speakers covers an even wider space of listening positions. This method is also much easier and cheaper to implement and would be the only method I can suggest if one cannot do in-ceiling/on-ceiling speakers.
But well, everyone has their own subjective opinions. If one likes upfiring speakers, then I guess... more power to them. If it works for them then that's all that matters at the end of the day.

I seem to have created some pollution here and I want to clear the air first before I continue.

It is a FACT that the audio sent out by both the Oppo and HTPC is bitstream which is raw and untouched without any processing. All things being equal, when the same receiving AV amp processed the bitstream audio, the quality WILL always be exactly the same regardless of whether we use HTPC, Oppo 105D, Popcornhour, Dune Max, ACRyan or any media player. YES, I totally agree with your statement about this and do not dispute it. With that being said, I shall continue with my own personal opinion about the bitstream audio.

Please regard what I say after this as my fairy tale story which are based on nonsense so you will be right if you disagree with me... I will not make any rebuttals. Just continue to read and give it some thought.

[attachmentid=7089577]

Look at my drawn diagram above. As I mentioned earlier, when the AV Amp received the Bitstream Audio, it will be the same when "all things being equal". Unfortunately it is not equal in my own assessment after various tests done by me. Don't misunderstand me... I don't refute anything about the Bitstream Audio itself. Its about the "pollution" affecting the delivery of the same Bitstream Audio before it reaches the AV Amp to be processed.

There will always be the neverending discussions about the reasons for using an expensive HDMI Version 2.0 cable (RM 200++) when a cheapo one selling at RM 50 can do the job equally well because the digital signal will still be the same in 0's and 1's. I belong to the "cheapo" HDMI camp previously because I do agree that its a fact that the digital audio and video will not change no matter what cable we used except for the loss of signal when extremely long HDMI cable is used. One day, a friend of mine brought an HDMI 2.0 cable costing around RM 380 (2 metres) for me to test and compare with my no brand cheapo RM 55 one. I was a disbeliever but I was caught totally surprised when the audio and video quality did actually improve based on my own observation. I was wondering... what the hell is going on? Then I was told that a good quality HDMI cable with proper electromagnetic shielding and gold-plated contact with silver strand in the cable can "ease" and "speed up" the transfer of the signal to the receiving amp with less pollution, less resistance and interference. Its just like water (bitstream audio/video) flowing through 2 pipes where one is a clean pipe and the other is a dirty pipe... the water is the same but its quality drops when the delivery has problems.

Ok... lets return to the HTPC versus the Oppo player. The computer is notorious for ground loop noise which are generated from various internal parts which can possibly pollute bitstream audio before it is sent out. PC Bluray drives can be very noisy without any effort done to dampen its internal mechanism and its build quality just cannot be compared to the drive in a good quality player such as the Oppo, Marantz, Primare.



About 1 to 2 years ago, I tested using a bluray disc on these 4 different "players" using my previous Denon 4520 AV Receiver (sold recently)...
1) My Oppo BDP-105D media player.
2) My Intel NUC i5 mini PC.
3) My MSI 17 inch i7 Notebook.
4) My Desktop i7 PC with 3 bluray drives.

... where the result was (1) has the best audio and (4) is the worst.

Eventhough my Desktop PC is water cooled, it can be quite noisy with its 5 large internal casing fans and an NVidia graphics card that has 2 fans. Somehow I believe that my Desktop PC should have "polluted" the audio from the time that its read from the disc, goes to the PC RAM memory, travels along the motherboard to the graphics card and then out to the HDMI cable. Probably the path that the audio travels is more complicated when compared to the path used by the Oppo player. I believe why the Intel NUC is the second best is because there is no moving parts inside with M2 SSD harddisk and the power supply is external.



I even used a low noise power supply unit from Jay's Audio to power my harddisk dock to reduce the current noise affecting the reading of the data in the harddisk!! Very small improvement but an improvement nonetheless.

I also played DSD audio from my Intel NUC mini PC to my DAC and found out that the sound quality from a SSD harddisk is slightly better than a 3.5 inch harddisk connected the same USB harddisk dock!



However, the audio from playing an actual bluray disc is better than from any harddisk. The bluray concert sounds much more lively and detailed.

And ALL using the same Bitstream Audio output! Anyone can call me stupid, call me crazy, say that I am talking rubbish and what I can reply is... I deserve the criticisms! Hehehe... no problem.

Video and Audio is both objective and subjective so its up to each person to choose what he/she thinks provides the best quality for the money spent. If anyone says that HTPC video quality with MadVR is much better than Oppo BDP-105D, then you are right not to buy Oppo. If anyone says Oppo is better, then that is also right too.

Sorry for my extremely long reply.