I've played around, over the years since its inception, with a lot of the usual variables in optimizing home theater (HT) sound (and I'm not talking about cables). Here are what have made fundamental differences in the sound of my system, listed in order of their appearance:
1) INFINITE BAFFLE SUBWOOFERS (IBS). If you haven't listened to IBS, but like tuneful and deep bass, loud and satisfying beyond anything you have heard in a movie theater, or from in-room subwoofers, think about this format for your 80-10 (yes this is realistic, with IBS) htz frequencies. This web site (and others) have some coverage... http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/ib-infinite-baffle-subwoofer-build-projects/
2) MULTIPLE SURROUND SOUND SPEAKERS. The pros mix sound for multiple (left and right) surround speakers (have a look next time you are in a movie theater), and, if you can fit them into your HT room, two or three (monopole) pairs, rather than just one pair right and left, will make a big difference. Bipolar/dipolar are not what they mix with, and don't replicate the intended experience, as I've learned from experience. The surround sound from multiple sides will at once be more precise, and more enveloping. Here's one resource... http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...-two-side-surround-pairs-rather-than-one.html
3) SOUND TRANSPARENT SCREEN. Oh my, this last one is the best of all. Suddenly, after listening to a center channel speaker below and/or above, and two speakers on either side (l/r), all blocked in a key center plane by a monstrosity (my conventional projector screen), I now have open and transparent sound. Last night after setting up my sound transparent screen, for the first time, my dog responded to another, recorded dog barking! I'm now hearing classical and acoustic music that seems magical: live, palpable, within the room. With the center, and the left and right speakers, behind the screen, the imaging in 3-D space is now striking, the clarity (in all aspects, including dialogue) remarkable and the the audible image as it pans across the screen is now convincingly coherent (cars blow across like they were on the second floor, of my house!), all for the first time. OK, it's much better!. Now, I truthfully could not now tell whether the cell phone ringing in a movie is mine or someone else's! This improvement in sound is perhaps the biggest of them all, for me.
None of these improvements are heavily marketed.
At least one is more of a cult (http://ibsubwoofers.proboards.com/index.cgi), since it can't be sold 'out of a box'.
Multiple surrounds may also fall into this category: manufacturers want to sell you a simple dipole/biipole solution.
And sound transparent screens are still a fringe item on the fringe, and are not easy to implement.
But, in my opinion, if you want quantum rather than incremental improvements in your HT sound, these are the three ways to go.
I'd love to hear from others.
Am I wrong, or, even better, what have I missed?
1) INFINITE BAFFLE SUBWOOFERS (IBS). If you haven't listened to IBS, but like tuneful and deep bass, loud and satisfying beyond anything you have heard in a movie theater, or from in-room subwoofers, think about this format for your 80-10 (yes this is realistic, with IBS) htz frequencies. This web site (and others) have some coverage... http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/ib-infinite-baffle-subwoofer-build-projects/
2) MULTIPLE SURROUND SOUND SPEAKERS. The pros mix sound for multiple (left and right) surround speakers (have a look next time you are in a movie theater), and, if you can fit them into your HT room, two or three (monopole) pairs, rather than just one pair right and left, will make a big difference. Bipolar/dipolar are not what they mix with, and don't replicate the intended experience, as I've learned from experience. The surround sound from multiple sides will at once be more precise, and more enveloping. Here's one resource... http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...-two-side-surround-pairs-rather-than-one.html
3) SOUND TRANSPARENT SCREEN. Oh my, this last one is the best of all. Suddenly, after listening to a center channel speaker below and/or above, and two speakers on either side (l/r), all blocked in a key center plane by a monstrosity (my conventional projector screen), I now have open and transparent sound. Last night after setting up my sound transparent screen, for the first time, my dog responded to another, recorded dog barking! I'm now hearing classical and acoustic music that seems magical: live, palpable, within the room. With the center, and the left and right speakers, behind the screen, the imaging in 3-D space is now striking, the clarity (in all aspects, including dialogue) remarkable and the the audible image as it pans across the screen is now convincingly coherent (cars blow across like they were on the second floor, of my house!), all for the first time. OK, it's much better!. Now, I truthfully could not now tell whether the cell phone ringing in a movie is mine or someone else's! This improvement in sound is perhaps the biggest of them all, for me.
None of these improvements are heavily marketed.
At least one is more of a cult (http://ibsubwoofers.proboards.com/index.cgi), since it can't be sold 'out of a box'.
Multiple surrounds may also fall into this category: manufacturers want to sell you a simple dipole/biipole solution.
And sound transparent screens are still a fringe item on the fringe, and are not easy to implement.
But, in my opinion, if you want quantum rather than incremental improvements in your HT sound, these are the three ways to go.
I'd love to hear from others.
Am I wrong, or, even better, what have I missed?