Hi newbie here using RX-V679. I need some advice on speakers setup.

1. How significant is a 5.1 vs 7.1 setup? Is it worth it especially considering that I would watch only 3 titles/year.

2. Is there a significant difference between using small surround speakers vs. larger ones?

3. Due to living room design, the most convenient location for my surround speakers is about 40/45 degrees behind listening position at 2.9m/2.5m distance. Is that ok or it would be much better to put it at 2/-2 degrees @ 2.2m/2.2m distance?

Thanks.

Actually I'm not using a subwoofer, so it is really a 5.0 system, right? So far I'm happy with the loudness. I feel that my floor stand works pretty well. Casual listening is at -35db and if I blast it it will be at -25db. YPAO did add 2.5/1.5db to my surround.

Though I did notice that if placed closer, the sound is more distinct and easier to pin point. Not sure if that is a good or bad attribute.

Currently the sound coming from surround sound pretty neutral, as in evenly distributed, so it does not sound overly discrete.

But seriously, how many title comes out in a year that is worth watching where surround matters.
The rest of the time is either mostly listening to music daily or watching TV.

Thanks for having me.

When you say put to the side or rear do you mean physically, change channel (from surround to surround back) or both?

If you just shift the speakers for the surround channel further back, will YPAO/DSP know about it and makes adjustments accordingly? I don't want sound that is meant for the side to come out from the rear because it was placed too further back.

For the speaker size, I was actually referring the small/large size terms used in the AVR setup. Full range (or not full range) speakers, I think. Sorry for that. So the question is really whether full range speakers have a big impact when used for surround. Agree that the physical speaker/enclosure size don't matter when looking at performance rather than the design is more important.

Ya, looking for accurate setup can only be done by actually testing it. I was looking more for a rule-of-thumb/general setup advice based on the experience you guys have on what will or will not work and what matter and does not matters. Otherwise I would not know where to start and what to try. Just like how an experienced wire-man can tell roughly what wire size to use without calculating.

Hold on, you almost lost me with all the 3rd .number. Had to google those ceiling speakers, but I got your point.

Anyway I have my system setup in my living room, about 4.3m width x 5.9m x 3m high plaster ceiling. On my right-top half is solid brick/cement wall and the right-bottom half is open and connects to the dinning room. My listening position is in the center so I have about 3m of space behind me.

Not much in terms of furniture, bare walls and 3+2 sofa distributed on the left and right.

Thanks for all your feedback.

So I guess I'll just stick with 5.0 for now, only thing left to figure out is the surround speaker position.

I think I understand what you are trying to say. When I'm listening to music, setting to straight decode will result in distinct separation between the LR channels leaving a hole in the middle. If set to 2 ch Stereo the LR channels blends smoothly.

Now the burning question is the positioning of the LR surround. The thing is it is kind of difficult to know if I'm putting it to far back. The front is easier to judge since you have visual queues. I remember that when I bought the Creative Live! sound card, it came with a demo with various sound circling your head together with a visual positioning of the sound. Unfortunately no such thing here. Its kind of like trying to tell a color-blind person the color of red. If I haven't heard it before, how do I know if it is right or wrong unless of course it is totally screwed. It would requires watching numerous titles with the right scenes with the right effect, which I don't have for now.

Any pointers there? Any suitable demo that I can download. Also does YPAO takes position into account? I think it would be impossible since it only takes single point reading so it can only figure out the distance.

Last night I tried re-positioning my surround from the back to the sides. It sounded pretty terrible as I become too aware of the sounds coming from the sides. Also the back area seem to be void of sound. Probably because I have a large back space and putting the surround to the sides also reduces/imbalance reflection from the walls since my right-side is an open area for the left surround. Putting the surround to the back and pointing towards the listening position works much better providing a wider 360 experience. Although it is about 40-45 degrees behind, it sounds more like 20 degrees.

I have never used the test tone before. Can you tell me what to listen for? As in if the sound is coming from the left or the back what should I be expecting? I would imagine that when the tone is output from all channels that the tone should be balanced in the center. As for individual tone, I have no idea.

This post has been edited by teop: Mar 22 2016, 12:52 PM

Thanks for the tips. I'll be sure to try it.

My LR speakers is actually toe in from the start as recommended by the speakers manual, although the degree of toe is not mentioned. Currently it is pointing directly to the sides of my ears. How would I know if I'm toeing too much or too little? What do I listen for?

Currently my front and surround distance is pretty equal and balanced. Based on my previous memory, listening to music with all speakers on produces a 360 effect. And when moving around the room, the sound is pretty balanced until I'm really close to one of the speaker before it becomes obvious to its sound output.

Ya, I did run YPAO everytime adjustments are made. But in this case YPAO failed to help.

I'm pretty impressed with YPAO as the measurements are spot on. It was YPAO that initially made me realize that my surround will not be at equal distance!! (I mis-calculated on the floor tiles).

My fronts are at FL 2.6m (0db), C 2.45m (-3.5db), FR 2.6m (0db), SL 2.65 (2.0db), SR 2.2m (1.5db) from listening position. My FLR is 2.0m apart.

With some of the surround test videos from demo.world.eu, I was able to adjust and confirm that my speakers are in proper position. Much easier than watching movies.

Thanks for the advice and photo of your setup. They explained a lot. At least now I know that it is possible to put speakers that close together.

I saw those sticky pads and knew what it would be good for even before I bought my HT setup. Because they are quite thick and soft, it can easily balance uneven floors. Useful stuff.

Ya like all other shops with many outlet, each will stock differently. So I end up browsing at every store to see what they have to offer. Daiso at Mahkota Cheras carries it.

What about the surround? If the front and surround is full range and have different frequency respond how do you set the crossover? Or you only target the front speakers?

If you know what you wanted to buy, you can actually get it cheaper sometimes from 11street or gemfive. You will need to check who (shop) is supplying the goods, they will provide the warranty.

While 11street is middle man, you can actually contact the seller to find out who they are. While many might be individual sellers, there are also plenty of traditional and reputable brick and mortar sellers there too.

Most on-line site provide protection to both buyer and seller. Delays for refund is inevitable as there is a minimum of 2 weeks to one month as the payment chain is long : on-line site -> payment gateway -> credit card -> seller . If you are worried about shipping delays and damages, you can always arrange to self-collect and get refund from shipping (not always possible).

For example, Desa Home sells both on 11Street and GemFive platform though may not always offer the same price. According to them, prices there is the same as retail. There are also plenty of sellers trying to sell at extremely inflated prices as well.

Sometimes there will be promotions offered by these on-line platform that is not provided by the seller. It is possible to get additional discount ranging from 10%-25% that the seller would otherwise not be able to provide. One good example is IT products. We all know most IT products (mainly DIY components) only offer small discount but if you buy them on-line during a promotion, you can actually save quite a bit.

I'm not saying that it is all bed of roses here, but what I'm saying is you just have to be careful just as you would when buying from traditional shops! I bet you won't want to buy from non-reputable shops even if it is cheap.

Ya if you buy branded with local manufacturer support or if the retailer's shop is nearby your place then there is no reason to worry

If its 3-5k then you are no longer in the budget zone... those discount you get don't applies anymore. 1-2k I think its ok

Oh ya forgot many sifu here in advanced stage,

Well if you go on-line hopefully you can get it from them at RM 1199 / RM 2349 for RX-V139 / RX-V679 respectively.

For the price RM3,663.36

New, not display set