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Thread: Am I crazy?

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
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    Default Re: Am I crazy?

    I didn't see that until after, I'm going to look into the midnight type settings and try that out! I'll also be trying more videos, I really started this thread to make sure I wasn't missing something obvious - so maybe that'll do the trick or it could just be a poorly mixed soundtrack!

    1) My source for music is vinyl records, I've got a Shure SC35C cartridge with N35X stylus, on a Pioneer PLX-1000, using a cork mat. I'm using Blue Jeans Cables and a Bugle2 phono preamp. With my other speakers it sounds great... I'm also using blue jeans speaker cables with their sonically welded banana plugs.

    2) I'm running all speakers as large. I've tried with MCACC but it didn't really sound better to me, I prefer running in "pure direct" mode which according to the manual adds the least amount of signal processing.

    3) I'm sitting roughly 10" back, the speakers are as far apart as possible for my room without being against the walls, which is anout 8-9" apart.

  2. #12
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    Jan 2017
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    Default Re: Am I crazy?

    I've got a small pile of DVD-Audios (Steely Dan, Donald Fagan, Chicago, and a few others!) but I can't test them out until I get my Xbox back from repairs!

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
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    USA
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    5,538

    Default Re: Am I crazy?

    Quote Originally Posted by kingcrowing View Post
    I didn't see that until after, I'm going to look into the midnight type settings and try that out! I'll also be trying more videos, I really started this thread to make sure I wasn't missing something obvious - so maybe that'll do the trick or it could just be a poorly mixed soundtrack!

    1) My source for music is vinyl records, I've got a Shure SC35C cartridge with N35X stylus, on a Pioneer PLX-1000, using a cork mat. I'm using Blue Jeans Cables and a Bugle2 phono preamp. With my other speakers it sounds great... I'm also using blue jeans speaker cables with their sonically welded banana plugs.

    2) I'm running all speakers as large. I've tried with MCACC but it didn't really sound better to me, I prefer running in "pure direct" mode which according to the manual adds the least amount of signal processing.

    3) I'm sitting roughly 10" back, the speakers are as far apart as possible for my room without being against the walls, which is anout 8-9" apart.
    I would recommend picking up an spl meter and properly calibrating the speaker and subwoofer levels. You should also be setting the speakers to "small" - with an 80Hz crossover setting. You can also try setting the crossover lower, to whatever setting sounds best to you. You do not want your subwoofer and the speakers to reproducing the same frequencies.

    You can use MCACC to set the speaker levels, and then turn off the eq functions and manually set the speaker size and crossover. This way you get the benefits of proper level calibration, without using room EQ.

    - Are you also using pure direct mode with movies? I believe this would fully defeat the center channel and subwoofer but it really depends on the receiver.
    Last edited by davef; 06-14-2017 at 05:24 PM.
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    Good Sound To You!

    David Fabrikant
    www.ascendacoustics.com

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
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    360

    Default Re: Am I crazy?

    Regarding dialogue volume vs special effects volume, that is fairly common. What you are experiencing is dynamic range and it is not necessarily a bad thing. A movie or CD is supposed to accurately recreate the sounds and visuals of the real thing. A grenade exploding would obviously be many times louder than a typical conversation. It wouldn't be very realistic if an explosion was only a little louder than the dialog. The lack of dynamic range is actually a pretty common problem in a lot of music these days. Wide dynamic range is a good thing.

    Now that being said, if you have neighbors or people sleeping in your house, then I can understand how this could be a problem. In that case, you can look into your receiver, as already mentioned, for the dynamic range compression options like "midnight mode."

    Also, as already mentioned, some movies just have poorly recorded dialog and sometimes actors will mumble their lines. Even turning up the volume doesn't help in these cases.

  5. #15
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    Jan 2017
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    93

    Default Re: Am I crazy?

    Dave, with pure direct for my receiver if plays what it's sent - so with a record it's stereo, with a 5.1 track on Netflix or a DVD/blu Ray it plays 5.1, with a CD or stereo movie/Netflix track it plays stereo.

    I'm definelty going to look into midnight mode tomorrow when I've got some free time. I do live in an apartment so while at times I can be loud I like to be somewhat reasonable! As I said - when I had it loud enough to hear the dialogue clearly the soundscapes and effects were BY FAR the best I've ever heard in a home theater setup, it almost sounded better than real life if that's possible (honestly check out Dr. Strange just for the Trippy soundscapes), it just way too loud for normal listening levels, and I sadly don't think I'll have a home theater room where I can play at that level any time soon.

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
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    15

    Default Re: Am I crazy?

    Quote Originally Posted by kingcrowing View Post
    I didn't see that until after, I'm going to look into the midnight type settings and try that out! I'll also be trying more videos, I really started this thread to make sure I wasn't missing something obvious - so maybe that'll do the trick or it could just be a poorly mixed soundtrack!
    This is the big problem with stepping up to really nice speakers. Your eyes (ears) are opened to just how poorly mixed and mastered so much of the content out there really is.

  7. #17
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    Jan 2017
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    93

    Default Re: Am I crazy?

    I guess the reality is I'm going to listen to old records, live recordings, sitcoms, YouTube videos etc. so while I love really well recorded stuff that's by far not all I'm listening too - could it be that these are just too revealing for much of the stuff I'll be listening to?? I never thought this could be an issue!

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
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    360

    Default Re: Am I crazy?

    Quote Originally Posted by kingcrowing View Post
    I guess the reality is I'm going to listen to old records, live recordings, sitcoms, YouTube videos etc. so while I love really well recorded stuff that's by far not all I'm listening too - could it be that these are just too revealing for much of the stuff I'll be listening to?? I never thought this could be an issue!
    I watch a lot of Youtube and Netflix on my Sierra-2's and although you can tell the quality is not great, overall it still sounds pretty good. It sounds to me like your room is causing some issues. You said the bass is overwhelming and you ears were getting fatigued. I'd recommend playing with the bass and treble controls on your receiver to see if it helps. How far are the speakers from the walls? If you bring them further into the room, that may help tame the bass.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
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    93

    Default Re: Am I crazy?

    "Still sounds pretty good" isn't what I want from $2000 speakers! Maybe I'm just over analyzing this but I feel like playing with bass and treble shouldn't need to be done on high end speakers, I feel like you should only need to do that to compensate for bad speakers, which these aren't!

    They're about 6-8" away from the walls which is about all I can do.

  10. #20
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    Jan 2017
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    93

    Default Re: Am I crazy?

    Here is my setup, as you can see I don't have much room for placement options, I can't really move it to the right at all, and can't pull it forward that much because there needs to be room to get in from the door. The armchair on the left is about 10' from the setup for reference. http://i.imgur.com/h0j67Qu.jpg

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