# Newbie questions



## audiopyro (Feb 9, 2013)

First let me start by saying this is a great forum, that I'm sure will end up costing me money and wife issues lol.
Now for a little background for years I have wanted a dedicated home theater room but for one reason or another it just hasn't worked out until now. I think I have the equipment I need or most of it, I did buy it all about 8 years ago, I will list everything below and see if you guys think it will keep up with the technology today.

Surround processor Rotel SPS-1066
All Rotel amps
B&W speakers 2 front 2 mid 2 rear 1 center 1 sub
Sharp Aquas 80" HD 3D TV the 240 (new)

Now to my questions:

Acoustic wall treatments do I need them?
I know for long speaker runs you want larger gauge wire, any benefit to using large gauge wire regardless of distance of run.
Wall color I was thinking black for the front wall (with the TV) with a dark grey on the side and back walls, sound good?
Why do I need to run my video thru the processor?
I have an older Yamaha receiver that was very good about 12 years ago, any way to work this into my current setup?
I am think of getting some under seat mounted subs, any recommendations?
What do you guys think of the TV choice, I know you can get better but I can't pay 10k for just the TV
As you can see I'm trying to avoid shelling out another 3K for a receiver or processor if I don't need to.


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## JQueen (Jan 11, 2012)

First off welcome to the Shack! Acoustic panel you can always DIY them if you wanted just start a thread in that section of the forum otherwise GIK Acoustics is great and there's a link at the top of the website main page. Depending on how long your running wire 16awg should be sufficient. Do you have a price range for new receiver?


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## audiopyro (Feb 9, 2013)

JQueen said:


> Do you have a price range for new receiver?


I would rather not need to purchase a new receiver at least not in the short term. Is the Rotel SPS-1066 totaly obsolete?


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## JQueen (Jan 11, 2012)

Well you just bought a 3d tv and I'm sure your receiver probably is not 3d ready


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## mvision7m (Feb 9, 2013)

Hi. I think some folks over do it with the room treatments and its hard to say whether or not you'd need them without having seen/heard the room. Even some art/movie pictures etc. hung along the sidewalls will help break up sound traveling along those hard, flat surfaces. Whether or not the room is carpeted or has a large area rug will increase/decrease the need for further treatment. If after setting up and calibrating your system it sounds harsh or fatiguing then you may need more treatment. If the sound is dull and lifeless then you've over damped the room. It's about balance and there are people that go a little (and a lot) overboard with room treatments. Only you'll really be able to know once everything is set up and calibrated and you can hear how it sounds in the space i.e. harsh, neutral, flat or somewhere in between either of them. 

You have a surround processor and I'm not familiar with the specs of the one you have but given its age I doubt it supports all the newest formats. With 4K on its way (years yet but still) you may want to invest in something that will allow you to take full advantage of your new TV's 1080P/3D capabilities as well and play the HD audio formats for the best possible home theater experience. 

Painting the theater, that's the hardest one as you're the one living with the space and who is going to be enjoying the theater along with your wife/family/friends etc. so it's more about your and your wife's tastes. Obviously whatever color you choose should be flat/non-reflective and dark but I wonder if black is going too far. Black really makes a room appear smaller and lifeless and unless you've got a lot of natural light coming in (that will be blocked with heavy drapes or what have you when watching movies) the room will be very heavy feeling and not much fun to spend time in unless you're watching movies every waking minute you're in the room. Some people do that and are fine with black walls. Also, will the room ever be used for any other purpose than "dark room/theater movie viewing". If so, I doubt many people will want to be in a black or nearly black room for very long. 

Best of luck with your choices and the final result. Let us know how it turns out.


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