# Planning a new HT, could use some feedback



## Guest (Aug 20, 2008)

I could use some help from those with more experience than myself.

My room is about 16X20, dedicated HT. I have total light control and as far as viewing purposes will be using for probably 50/50 movies/HDV (mainly sporting events). I have a blu-ray 350 and a denon avr-988 on their way, planning on going with a 7.1 setup. Now to the questions...

1- I was looking at the Aperion 5's across the front , 4's for surround and thier 8D sub. THey I started checking out the SVS website and like what I saw, plus leaves me money for nicer seating and accessories. Was thing SCS fronts with SBS surround and a 10" sub. Are these systems comparable???

2- Always had planned on the Espon 1080 UB, but does anyone have experience with just the 1080? It it $500-800, will I need the extra lumens to be able to see the game at a superbowl party where i have to keep some of the lights on?

3- Last, has anyone used ScreenGoo for their screen. I am a big DIYer and sounds like you can get a good quality screen out of this stuff if it is done right. 

Thanks for any info, sorry so long.

Derek


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## tenzip (May 4, 2007)

I have no experience with the products you mention in the first 2 questions, so I'll just address the last question, and I'm not going to "answer" it, just point you to more information and more informed folks in the DIY screen forum.
Lots of great ideas there that will be considerably less $$$ than a commercial product.

Good luck with your build, hope it all turns out well.

And welcome to the Shack!


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## DougMac (Jan 24, 2008)

derek1027 said:


> I could use some help from those with more experience than myself.
> 
> My room is about 16X20, dedicated HT. I have total light control and as far as viewing purposes will be using for probably 50/50 movies/HDV (mainly sporting events). I have a blu-ray 350 and a denon avr-988 on their way, planning on going with a 7.1 setup. Now to the questions...
> 
> 1- I was looking at the Aperion 5's across the front , 4's for surround and thier 8D sub. THey I started checking out the SVS website and like what I saw, plus leaves me money for nicer seating and accessories. Was thing SCS fronts with SBS surround and a 10" sub. Are these systems comparable???


You might want to also consider Ascend Acoustic speakers. I have a 7.1 setup using their 340's for front, 170's for side surrounds and 200's for back surrounds. I'm running an SVS PB12-NSD subwoofer. Read post #9 on this thread for a comparison of Ascends and Aperions. It's on the Ascend site so the reveiwer is probably not completely neutral. ;-)
http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showthread.php?t=3638
I'm very pleased with my SVS subwoofer and almost got their speakers. At the time, they didn't offer a MTM speaker, so I went with Ascends. SVS gets good reviews.



derek1027 said:


> 2- Always had planned on the Espon 1080 UB, but does anyone have experience with just the 1080? It it $500-800, will I need the extra lumens to be able to see the game at a superbowl party where i have to keep some of the lights on?


No help here.



derek1027 said:


> 3- Last, has anyone used ScreenGoo for their screen. I am a big DIYer and sounds like you can get a good quality screen out of this stuff if it is done right.
> Derek


I actually bought a sample of ScreenGoo but never tested it after reading over at the DIY screen section. I went from thinking about ScreenGoo to using WilsonArt laminate to using a Seymour AT screen before finally settling on a DIY screen painted directly on the wall. I was very careful framing up the screen wall and worked closely with my drywall guy to get a very flat surface. I then primed with Killz and used a Pratt and Lambert paint which is equivalent in tone to the Sherwin Williams Grey Screen. There are no additives like they use in Black Widow and Cream and Sugar formulations. I figured that only complicates matters and if I didn't like it, I could always apply another coat.

It hasn't been necessary. We've got a great image with no hot spots. We compared the image to one projected on the Killz primer - whites still looked fine and the blacks were noticeably richer and deeper.

You can see photos of the screen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/dougbrucemac/HomeTheater

Sorry there are no screenies, but I agree they are of limited practical use anyway.

Doug


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## Mark Techer (Jan 17, 2008)

Just my $0.02 worth, but when chosing a speaker system for a surround system (5.1 or 7.1), you need to break the speakers into 3 basic types - screen channels or LCRs, surrounds and subwoofers.

The LCRs should be matched, and I belive that means going further then just chossing a "tonally" matched centre speaker. Typically, many "tonally" matched centres simply share the same tweeter, or maybe use the same mids as well, but I personally think you need the SAME speaker for the centre as you use for the Left and Right. This ways sounds DO NOT change as they are panned across the sound stage. 

Surrounds can be either a direct radiator or a diffuse radiator. The idea of identical speakers being used in all channels is novel, but in realality, Head Related Transfer Functions causes us to hear a percievable change in timbre, and why using a different type of loudspeaker for the surrounds still works quite well. The choice of loudspeaker should also be directly related to the type of program you will be playing - ie film sound actually requires diffuse surrounds, where MC music probably requires direct radiators.

Subwoofers are course a specialize speaker in its own right...

Mark


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Mark Techer said:


> The LCRs should be matched, and I belive that means going further then just chossing a "tonally" matched centre speaker. Typically, many "tonally" matched centres simply share the same tweeter, or maybe use the same mids as well, but I personally think you need the SAME speaker for the centre as you use for the Left and Right. This ways sounds DO NOT change as they are panned across the sound stage.


Yes and No, There is and has been alot of debate over this. put simply its is a good idea to get matched speakers of the same brand across the front but to get a center channel that is the identical match to the left and right is usually not an option for many reasons one being space and two being cost as you rarely can buy just one.
There are many forum members on here that dont even have matched center channels and they work just fine as long as placement and speaker quality is adhered to. If you are like me and you like the sound you get from floor standing speakers (towers) then having a tower as a center is not a viable option also there are very few tower speakers that are magnetically shielded so this can also cause issues with some placement by equipment.
I also have an SVS sub (the PB13 Ultra) and can agree its a great sub and is one of the best for the money.


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## muzz (Nov 30, 2006)

I also think MATCHED speakers across the front are better.
I had Ascend CBM 170 SE for L/R , and an Ascend 340SE for a center before I got (3) Sierras for LCR.

While the 340 and 170 share the same tweeter and sounded great, the Sierra front-stage is definitely more seamless.


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