# Three Dark Secrets of Great HT Sound



## pmcneil (May 29, 2010)

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?


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## robbo266317 (Sep 22, 2008)

I totally agree about getting the sound stage to blend seamlessly with the images on the screen and using an AT screen would be a great improvement.
I am still using a flat screen tv and get the artefacts that you talk about because of speaker positioning.
As for the IB, not everyone will have an available space to implement one so they will have to make do with more traditional approaches.


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## morevideoplz (Feb 27, 2013)

I'm new to HTS are these thing "new" around here ? I'd like to tell you about something "new"(only 10 plus years old) its called "D Box" google it . Its in big theaters in big cities and some home theaters.


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## The Yeti (Jan 23, 2013)

_Your points are valid for someone building a purpose built HT room, but for the other side of the coin:_

I'm assuming by Infinite Baffle subwoofer, you are referring to in-wall or in-ceiling subwoofers...? I'm sure they're great in a purpose built room, but most folks these days are putting their HTs into an exisiting room and in-walls are usually not a viable option. With their inherent lack of placement flexibility, it's very difficult (or impossible) to integrate multiple in-wall subs into an existing space.

I'm sure multiple surrounds is nice, but my dipole/bipoles have satisfied my ears for over 20 years. Once again, most folks setting up their HTs in their living room don't want 8-12 surround speakers hanging from their walls.

Now for the acoustically transparent screen, the benefits are obvious (although not either new nor that hard to implement). A projector/AT screen setup can be installed into an existing room without much hassle or anti-WAF (can be hidden when not in use) - what I wanna know is...when are they gonna make an acoustically transparent TV!? 


In my opinion, if you want a quantum leap in improvement to your HT sound, the most important 3 elements are:

#1 - Measuring software & equipment + the knowledge of how to interpret the measurements
#2 - Room treatment (based on your in-room response with the above measuring tools)
#3 - Multiple (quality) subwoofers


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

pmcneil said:


> ...my dog responded to another, recorded dog barking!...


Our dog does this all the time. In our case, it says nothing about the sound quality, only that as she is not too smart.:blink:

For me the revelation has been in laser sharp imaging. Especially in my two channel listening. It gets a bit harder with surround, but I'm working on it.


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## robbo266317 (Sep 22, 2008)

AudiocRaver said:


> Our dog does this all the time. In our case, it says nothing about the sound quality, only that as she is not too smart.:blink:


:rofl:


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## fokakis1 (Feb 29, 2012)

> #1 - Measuring software & equipment + the knowledge of how to interpret the measurements
> #2 - Room treatment (based on your in-room response with the above measuring tools)
> #3 - Multiple (quality) subwoofers


#1 - Agreed
#2 - Agreed
#3 - Agreed

All whole-heartedly. These wouldn't fall under "Dark Secrets" though, as they are frequently discussed and implemented. I still haven't figured out how I would rank these 3, as they have all yielded dramatic improvements to my HT in different ways.


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## cxxxv (Jun 13, 2013)

Specifically talking about the screen, this is not usually feasible for non purpose HT rooms. Two quick issues: 

- Cost (condiderably higher)
- Space available behind screen.

For most installation the sound difference is not easily discernable.


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## WRYKER (Jan 23, 2009)

I'm fortunate in that my center is just below my screen and the fronts are to the side of the screen so sound is fine for me. A screen w/audio pass-thru is much more expensive then a traditional screen but hopefully they'll come down in price. I could easily put my fronts, center and 2 subs behind my screen (though the subs are already short enough) since my screen is retractable is a distance from my wall (long story). I've thought about putting more surrounds up (I've noticed them in the theaters) but you need an AVR that supports that many (not likely) or to daisy-chain them (not a fan of doing that) and you need long wall to accommodate them (my sides are on stands (one side the wall has windows and the other wall is WAY far away) and the rears are wall mounted (no room for any other speakers) which leaves me the opportunity to explore 'front height' speakers since I do have room there.....but I'll wait until more content supports it.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

When this thread was first posted I did not notice that prior to the AT screen being added to the mix the speakers were blocked by the screen.
Seems like putting speakers behind a solid screen would be asking for problems to begin with.


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