# Budget Home Theatre



## blarchitect (Apr 29, 2010)

Putting together a system, based around Infinty SM-155 fronts that I got for a song last month. Understand that fronts and center should match ie. have the same 1" polycell tweeter. So looking for closest to this which is a SM Video center (has the 3/4" though!)
I have some questions:
1. Forgive me for asking what is the diff. between a center and a sub-woofer?
2. Do I really need either of the above? as the fronts are pretty bassy (new tech term)
3. Is it important to match the rears too?

Thanking you all in anticipation


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

blarchitect said:


> Putting together a system, based around Infinty SM-155 fronts that I got for a song last month. Understand that fronts and center should match ie. have the same 1" polycell tweeter. So looking for closest to this which is a SM Video center (has the 3/4" though!)
> I have some questions:
> 1. Forgive me for asking what is the diff. between a center and a sub-woofer?
> 2. Do I really need either of the above? as the fronts are pretty bassy (new tech term)
> ...


Hello,
The Center Channel handles the dialog in the vast majority of 5.1 Soundtracks. To many Home Theater enthusiasts, the Center Channel is the lynchpin to a great HT experience.

A Subwoofer is a Speaker which is specifically tasked with handling low frequency playback. That is low bass. In Dolby Digital, DTS, etc, the Subwoofer has a dedicated Channel in the Soundtrack. (.1 LFE Channel)
Matching the Surrounds or rears is nice , but not absolutely essential.

As to whether you need it or not, it really depends on how important Home Theater is to you. If you are happy with using your SM-155's then rock on. However, adding Surrounds, Center Channel, and a Subwoofer really gives you the Home Theater experience and each of these Speakers is specifically encoded on 99.9999% of DVD and Blu Ray's.
Cheers,
JJ


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## mdrake (Jan 31, 2008)

blarchitect said:


> Putting together a system, based around Infinty SM-155 fronts that I got for a song last month. Understand that fronts and center should match ie. have the same 1" polycell tweeter. So looking for closest to this which is a SM Video center (has the 3/4" though!)
> I have some questions:
> 1. Forgive me for asking what is the diff. between a center and a sub-woofer?
> 2. Do I really need either of the above? as the fronts are pretty bassy (new tech term)
> ...


Welcome to the shack!! :T Looks like, jack beat me to the punch but I will go ahead and post anyway since I already typed it all.  

The left front, right front and center center speaker is where the majority of your sound comes from during movies. The majority of the dialog comes from the center speaker, which is why the center should match as close as possible to the left and right front speakers and the SM video center is a good candidate. The center channel speaker is very important. 

The subwoofer is what the LFE (bass) channel plays through. 

The surround is where most of the ambient sound comes from in movies, like birds chirping in the background or flying overhead. 

Most new movies encoded in any of the sound formats require at a minimum the 5.1 speaker setup to hear all the sound recorded in the movie, so yes you need all the speakers. :R

Here is an image that shows all the speakers and their positions.


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## blarchitect (Apr 29, 2010)

Thank you so much for the insight. 
Think I will pursue a center channel meantime and sub-woofer therafter. 
I think i'm right in saying that the SM Video is only one available from Infinity that would match the 155's? If this is the case, other than e-Bay is there another source for obtaining one?


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## blarchitect (Apr 29, 2010)

mdrake said:


> Here is an image that shows all the speakers and their positions.


Cheers for that. Placement of the sub-woofer is Interesting


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## jackfish (Dec 27, 2006)

blarchitect, what are you going to use for your HT receiver?


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## blarchitect (Apr 29, 2010)

jackfish said:


> blarchitect, what are you going to use for your HT receiver?


I was worried someone was going to ask that!!
Remember I did say "Budget" in heading. I have an Aiwa AV-NW30 which is as old as the hills.

If anyone is interested here are the specs:
Power output 
Front
100 W + 100 W (1 kHz, T.H.D. less than
0.9%, 8 ohms)
120 W + 120 W (1 kHz, T.H.D. less than
10%, 8 ohms)
75 W + 75W (20 Hz – 20 kHz, T.H.D. less
than 0.9%, 8 ohms)

Rear (surround)
100 W + 100 W (1 kHz, T.H.D. less than
0.9%, 8 ohms)
120 W + 120 W (1 kHz, T.H.D. less than
10%, 8 ohms)
75 W + 75W (20 Hz – 20 kHz, T.H.D. less
than 0.9%, 8 ohms)

Center
100 W (1 kHz, T.H.D. less than 0.9%,
8 ohms)
120 W (1 kHz, T.H.D. less than 10 %,
8 ohms)
75 W (20 Hz – 20 kHz, T.H.D. less than
0.9%, 8 ohms)

Outputs 
AUDIO OUT
VIDEO 1/MD: 350 mV (1 kohm)
TAPE: 350 mV (1 kohm)
VIDEO OUT
VIDEO 1/MD: 1 Vp-p (75 ohm)
MONITOR: 1 Vp-p (75 ohm)
SUB WOOFER: 4.0 V
FRONT SPEAKERS: accept speakers of
8 ohms or more.
SURROUND SPEAKERS: accept
speakers of 8 ohms or more.
CENTER SPEAKER: accept speaker of
8 ohms or more.
PHONES (stereo jack): accepts
headphones of 32 ohms or more

It will be replaced in the future but I guesss whatever I hook up at this stage must be compatible?
Sorry for all the questions. noob smilie :-D


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## kujomujo (Apr 24, 2010)

Hey, most of us started where you are right now... I remember having the biggest pair of RCA front speakers you can imagine with my first system. They were about 4 feet tall and under the front grill was a small speaker and an airhole. Looked impressive, sounded impressive at the time, but now I have Def Techs and it was along time coming before I could afford those.

Stick with it and enjoy the ride.

KM
www.myhometheatersecrets.com


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## blarchitect (Apr 29, 2010)

kujomujo said:


> Hey, most of us started where you are right now... I remember having the biggest pair of RCA front speakers you can imagine with my first system. They were about 4 feet tall and under the front grill was a small speaker and an airhole. Looked impressive, sounded impressive at the time, but now I have Def Techs and it was along time coming before I could afford those.
> 
> Stick with it and enjoy the ride.


Thanks for the encouragement. It's a quest for knowledge..........then money!


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## jackfish (Dec 27, 2006)

The Infinity SM series were fairly efficient so the Aiwa's spec for 75 wpc into 8 Ohms at 20 Hz – 20 kHz and less than 0.9% THD indicates adequate power. The thing you are probably lacking with that older receiver is some of the most current signal processing. Good luck in your quest to round out your speaker implementation.


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