[urethanebushings]

Hey All! I'm a big movie buff and recently picked up my first set of high end (for my budget at least) speakers, Klipsch RF7 IIIs and the matching RC-64 III. I'm eager to see what tips and tricks this community might have for getting the most out of my setup.

Mostly interested to hear peoples thoughts on room treatment / correction and mixing and matching surrounds.

[Phil A]

Welcome to AC!

[Mag]

Hey All! I'm a big movie buff and recently picked up my first set of high end (for my budget at least) speakers, Klipsch RF7 IIIs and the matching RC-64 III. I'm eager to see what tips and tricks this community might have for getting the most out of my setup.

Mostly interested to hear peoples thoughts on room treatment / correction and mixing and matching surrounds.

The RF7 were one the speaker Brands I was considering at the time. I'm not an expert but a few things I learned in my less than ideal audio room. Depending on your front speakers, you maybe better off going without a Center Channel. This depends on whether your Fronts can fill the entire void with imaging and clear vocals. This is because the way your AV Receiver manages the power output when you have a Center channel. If you go with a Center channel, if you perceive holes in the Front Soundfield. You can Mask these holes by using Presence speakers. You must perceive the Front Soundfield as seemless.

As for Surrounds I'm not sure that matching them is that important because some AV Receivers allow you to adjust these speakers. Ideally though you want matching Brands.

[Jon L]

Maybe it's just me, but after getting super excited about "home theater" multiple times including uber home theater speaker systems, subs, surrounds, center, etc, I've come the conclusion that the best home theater audio system for me is one that does not make itself so persistently noticeable all the time, in both sound and appearance.. 

[WGH]

Welcome to AC!

In my experience surround speakers can be different from the L,C,R speakers. Surround sound is usually ambient noises to add atmosphere and for the occasional jet and helicopter. An exception is when the goal is to listen to surround music, then all the speakers should be as identical as possible. 2L - the Nordic Sound catalog includes a complete selection of surround music available in 2.0 LPCM 192/24, 5.1 DTS HDMA 192/24, 7.1.4 Auro-3D 96kHz, and 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos 48kHz.

Klipsch speakers have a certain sound characteristic. I used Klipsch Quartet speakers in my wood shop for years. I bought them new in 1991 and they rocked out everyday without fail. I tried them at home but the sound was just too much for my space. Listen for the same sound characteristic when shopping for surround speakers.

Trust your friends ears. You may like the "in your face" sound but your friends may like a more natural presentation. Over time you could find yourself spending more time watching movies alone, that's OK too. I watch some pretty weird stuff.

If your room feels is has to many echos there are plenty of places to learn about acoustics and DIY sound absorption, which after all the flowery language and technical write-ups is just a wood frame stuffed with fiberglass covered with fabric.

I prefer a subdued home theater appearance like Jon L because my living room is a living space, not a dedicated home theater that might have big speakers stuck on every surface.

I have a 7.1.4 home theater. The photo below has 8 individual speakers that have a total of 26 drivers. The Atmos ceiling and surround (hidden behind the modified ATC sound absorbing hanging panels) are made by Triad, the height speakers above the panels are homemade.

[urethanebushings]

The RF7 were one the speaker Brands I was considering at the time. I'm not an expert but a few things I learned in my less than ideal audio room. Depending on your front speakers, you maybe better off going without a Center Channel.

As for Surrounds I'm not sure that matching them is that important because some AV Receivers allow you to adjust these speakers. Ideally though you want matching Brands.

After rocking a 2-channel setup for a decade I pulled the trigger on the center and find that it pretty dramatically improved dialog in movies. Interestingly, the are it seems to have made the most difference is with older movies with surround mixes. Not sure if surround sound mixing practices have changed dramatically since the late 90s / early 2000s but there were many movies from that era that required constant fiddling with the volume to balance loud scenes and quiet dialog. The center channel seems to have resolved that!

I'm planning on trying to use some vintage Boston Acoustics HD-7s as side channels and HD-5s as rears. Hopefully jumping brands and several decades isn't to jarring! If it sounds alright I'll be pretty excited to get new use out of some speakers I've just been using in my garage for the past few years.

Maybe it's just me, but after getting super excited about "home theater" multiple times including uber home theater speaker systems, subs, surrounds, center, etc, I've come the conclusion that the best home theater audio system for me is one that does not make itself so persistently noticeable all the time, in both sound and appearance.. 

Lol, the RF7IIIs are already well into the 'persistently noticeable' territory on both counts. My setup is in the living room of our house which is basically the entryway to the house too... for that reason, I'm looking for ways to make the surround speakers easy to setup / remove so that I can use them only when sitting down to watch something and store them in a closet when not in use.

[urethanebushings]

In my experience surround speakers can be different from the L,C,R speakers. Surround sound is usually ambient noises to add atmosphere and for the occasional jet and helicopter. An exception is when the goal is to listen to surround music, then all the speakers should be as identical as possible. 2L - the Nordic Sound catalog includes a complete selection of surround music available in 2.0 LPCM 192/24, 5.1 DTS HDMA 192/24, 7.1.4 Auro-3D 96kHz, and 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos 48kHz.

Thanks for the link! I'm definitely eager to check out some multi-channel music! The selection on TIDAL is pretty extensive but at least for newer newer releases their algorithm was feeding me, they mostly seemed to be transcoded from stereo to Atmos instead of actually being mastered in Atmos. Several tracks I listened to didn't actually seem to be using the center channel at all. Didn't have surrounds hooked up so maybe they were using those?

Exceptions were Random Access Memories Drumless Edition, and Beck's Guero which both sounded great in Atmos.

Trust your friends ears. You may like the "in your face" sound but your friends may like a more natural presentation. Over time you could find yourself spending more time watching movies alone, that's OK too. I watch some pretty weird stuff.

I like movies of all kinds... see anything recently that you really enjoyed from your 'weird stuff' category?

I prefer a subdued home theater appearance like Jon L because my living room is a living space, not a dedicated home theater that might have big speakers stuck on every surface.

I have a 7.1.4 home theater. The photo below has 8 individual speakers that have a total of 26 drivers. The Atmos ceiling and surround (hidden behind the modified ATC sound absorbing hanging panels) are made by Triad, the height speakers above the panels are homemade.

Hiding speakers behind the acoustic panels is a very clever idea!

My current thinking is that I'll make cables for my surround channels that will be hidden behind furniture nearest to where the speakers will go with RCA terminations on the ends. Connected to the speaker, I'll have the rest of the cable, also with an RCA connector. When I want to use the surround setup, I'll get my speakers out of the closet, connect them up, switch the mode on my receiver, and be good to go! When the movie or music session is over, quick disconnect and back into the closet.

The RCA connectors are arriving tomorrow so I'll see how easy 'portable surround' actually is over the weekend.

[WGH]

I like movies of all kinds... see anything recently that you really enjoyed from your 'weird stuff' category?

The Primevils (2023)
Strange Way of Life - Pedro Almodóvar
Watchmen: Chapter I
The Taste of Things
The Boys - 4 seasons so far
Poor Things - Yorgos Lanthimos
Kinds of Kindness - Yorgos Lanthimos
The Lighthouse - Robert Eggers
The Northman - Robert Eggers
Sonny - season 1
Dark - 3 seasons - Netflix
Chimp Crazy
To Leslie starring Andrea Riseborough
Possessor: Uncut - Brandon Cronenberg - starring Andrea Riseborough
Titane - directed by Julia Ducournau - winner 2021 Palme d'Or

I have reviews of these films and more in the Cinema Circle
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=9.0

Once you set up and experience surround sound you will discover everything you watch has surround sound and you will never take it down. A lot of Netflix shows also have Dolby Atmos too.

[urethanebushings]

I have reviews of these films and more in the Cinema Circle
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=9.0

Look forward to checking out your reviews! I liked Poor Things a lot and was utterly perplexed by Titane. The Lighthouse and The Taste of Things are on my watchlist but many of the others weren't on my radar at all! Thanks for sharing!

[ArthurDent]

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[FullRangeMan]

Welcome to AC