# How to improve current theater setup



## bmw325is89 (Nov 21, 2016)

Hey Guys-

I wanted to get your opinions on my home theater setup. First I am looking for a setup that really booms during explosions (IE can feel the explosion or gunshots) and of course sounds clear on the non-action scenes. I think I have the clear sound just not the boom. My system is below, and I just updated my Sony 3DAES receiver to a NAD T773. I was really hoping this would give the extra power to my speakers but I surprisingly didn't notice a major difference. While it was definitely cleaner/clearer the sounds during action scenes sounded far off and didn't grab you when explosions/gun shots when off.

I probably sounds like a beginner above and that's probably because I am. Any help is appreciated as I think I have pretty good components, just think I am missing something (maybe setup wise).

*Setup*
*
Scene*
Scene watched: Dark Knight intro scene (bus crashing in wasn't too loud as well as gun shots)

*Receiver*
NAD T773

*Speakers Main*
PSB T65's

*Center*
PSB C60

*Sub*
KLH K-SUB125

*Room*
Room is about 12 x 8 with an open connection to kitchen...

Wanted to note that the audio feed to the receiver is an optical connection from my TV. May try Coax but don't currently suspect this is an issue.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Do you not have a subwoofer? there are very few speakers that will produce enough low end frequency's to satisfy a movie lovers crave for deep sonic bliss


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## bmw325is89 (Nov 21, 2016)

Ahh just realized i left that out! Added it on the top. After more trouble shooting last night i noticed two things.

1. The sub isn't working. (worked fine on my other receiver, so now going to go through setup when i get monitor hooked up to this).
2. Even without the sub, I turned it up to max (didn't realize this) and it was still not as loud as i would expect. Thinking I may need to mess with some setting. Maybe the mains are set to small speakers rather than large..


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I don't have time to read through the manual but you would normally stet the speakers to small and make sure the sub setting is turned on in the user menu. Is there some sort of auto room setup with the NAD using a mic?.
Also the KLH sub is not going to really give you much in the way of output. 120watts on a 10" driver wont move much air.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

A couple of very key pieces of information are missing...



Budget
Size restrictions (if any)
Aesthetic considerations (gloss black finish, wood veneer, must match the wife's drapes, etc)

That will help align recommendations with your specific needs in mind.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Yep. Those psb's could outrun the klh without even a blink. The room is small though... You mentioned old receiver. I'm wondering if it was more capable of driving the psb's and that's why you're feeling like it's not loud enough. Do you have an spl meter, or at least an app that will get an idea of how loud you're talking about?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

I think the problem is the room size (the opening to the kitchen counts it in), and the sub. I recommend a much better sub!


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Tonto said:


> and the sub. I recommend a much better sub!



And this...



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

I agree with Jim... we need a spending budget. And don't be shy about being green... everyone starts out somewhere!


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## bmw325is89 (Nov 21, 2016)

Thanks for the follow up all.

Most recent update-

I got the OSD menu up on the NAD and set the two front speakers to large. This made a pretty big difference. Now it gets much louder at high volume (still not as loud as i would expect but much better). I also got the sub connected right and it's working now as well. It definitely sounds good but could be a bit better (prob what everyone says).

As for these three items

Budget - i would prefer under 400 (preferably closer to 200). Not sure what is reasonable for a good sub though.
Size restrictions (if any) - nope
Aesthetic considerations (gloss black finish, wood veneer, must match the wife's drapes, etc) - would prefer black to match everything else

Now that i have receiver setup right, i definitely think room size and speaker placement are the next big things (probably along with a sub). If anyone has any recommendations, it would be great to hear them! Lastly if there is an app I can use that most of you do to get a rating, that would be awesome as well.


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## thrillcat (Mar 25, 2014)

bmw325is89 said:


> Thanks for the follow up all.
> 
> Budget - i would prefer under 400 (preferably closer to 200). Not sure what is reasonable for a good sub though.
> Size restrictions (if any) - nope
> Aesthetic considerations (gloss black finish, wood veneer, must match the wife's drapes, etc) - would prefer black to match everything else


This would be at the top of your budget, but it would absolutely blow that KLH out of the water. I honestly don't know when you'd find a better option for your situation than this outside of finding something used on craigslist. Black Friday sale going on now.

https://www.svsound.com/products/sb12-nsd


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

Hmmm... if you're running a sub, then you'll want to set your speakers to "small." By doing that you'll activate the crossover component of your AVR (most likely sending 80 Hz and below to your sub...everything else above that to your speakers). Just in looking at the NAD T773 manual, it looks like it has a preset 80 Hz crossover. When you set your speakers to small, you need to make sure that you set the subwoofer to "on."


Small does not relate to the speaker size... it more or less indicates what you want to do the hefty low-end lifting (your speakers or your sub). Since you have a sub, you want the system to know that... so set it to "small."

Next step is to set speaker distances (looks like you need to do that manually using the "Speaker Distance" menu (see page 17 of your menu)

Your next step is to channel match your speakers to 75 decibels. Your receiver has a "Channel Levels" menu that should play a test tone... you'll need an SPL meter (like *this*)...set the meter to "C weight" and "slow"... then sit in your middle listening position and use the dB adjustments in the Channel Levels menu to get the test tone to play exactly at 75 dB. When it comes to your sub, setting at 75 dB might not be enough. You might need to boost your sub... my advice would be to physically set the gain control knob on your sub to roughly halfway (50%)... then play test tones. You don't want to boost your sub too much on your NAD T773... and you don't want to necessarily crank your gain setting on your sub... so it takes a little fine tuning between both. I like to run my subs a little hot as quantified by measurement (set at roughly 82 dB), but that level sounds seamless to my ears.

If you were to integrate a second sub, the benefit is that each sub has to work less hard to achieve the same level of dB. Also, if you place the subs in different areas of your room, then you can smooth out the overall frequency response (eliminating nasty dips in response).


That's my scratch-of-the-surface take, anyhow...


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

By the way... good call by Thrillcat on the SB12-NSD. Hard to beat at $399. If that's tempting, don't wait long...that sale is only going to be active for a few days.


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## bmw325is89 (Nov 21, 2016)

Nice-- Will check on that. I was also looking at a used Velodyne dls-5000r for about the same price. How do those two compare?


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

bmw325is89 said:


> Nice-- Will check on that. I was also looking at a used Velodyne dls-5000r for about the same price. How do those two compare?


That Velodyne, if in good condition, is going to have slightly more robust output. It's ported, 15" driver... more powerful amp. I'd do a quick search and see what kind of reviews you can dig up.


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## bmw325is89 (Nov 21, 2016)

Just picked up the Velodyne for $200. Works great so far and added a lot to the system. Next steps are speaker placement (set the main speakers back to small now that the sub can easily handle everything below 80 hz).


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

Nice... $200 is a great price!

Glad you're happy! ;-)


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