You’ve ordered the latest Hollywood blockbuster, stocked the cupboard with popcorn, and invited the neighbors over for ‘the big demo’: what’s left to do before debuting your new home theater system? In a word, configuration. Setting it up properly can make all the difference between a polite “Isn’t that a lot of speakers?” and “Wow – honey you need to get us one of these for our house!” So what exactly do you need to do?
Step 1: Get The Seating Plan Together Log in
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What are the differences and the similarities between home surround sound and movie surround sound systems?
In the way both systems work, the goals of each are essentially identical—to provide a big stereo soundstage at the front, with a dedicated center channel speaker in the middle that anchors the actors’ dialogue at the movie screen or video display, and at least two or more surround speakers at the sides of the theater (or your room at home), with the option of two additional surrounds on the back wall. In both systems, an almighty subwoofer or two deliver the deep bass sounds of music and movie special effects. Log in
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Axiom's best surround speakers for medium to large rooms, the QS8s, in Maple with a Nutmeg stain.
Wherever you are, just stop and listen for a moment. Be alert to all the sounds you’re hearing. If you’re outside in a city, or in the country, there’ll likely be a multitude of sounds impinging on your ears from every direction. Even if you’re in an office, you’ll notice the familiar ambient sounds—the background whir of the air-circulation system, the tapping of keys on computer keyboards, distant muffled city sounds (unless the windows are open), and so on. Log in
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Q. I have two QS8s in the rear corners of my room. I’m confused by the speaker setup menu in my Yammi RXV 1300 receiver. When it asks how many feet away for the QS8 surround speakers, is it asking the distance from the mains, or how many feet away from my listening position? I believe this deals with speaker delay? How is this done? — Dan
A. The Yamaha speaker setup menu is asking you the distance in feet between your listening position and the QS8 surrounds. The reason you must set this correctly involves compensation for a peculiarity of human hearing–our tendency to locate a close-up sound before one that’s a little farther away. Log in
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