| Author | Message | ||
     Sl33py |
Just can't win. Found a "smaller" 7.1 speaker setup and wanted to finally get some surrounds (3.1 currently)... but surprise surprise they sounded like crap compared to my old Athena speakers (just the bookshelfs - floor standers are in the garage as they are "too big"). Years back i got a 5.1 setup with Athena Audition F2's. IMO great sounding speakers, but not small. After the new house we got some limited space for speakers and downsized to just the surrounds/bookshelfs. So my frustration is this - the house is hers (colors/paint/decorating) with just the garage and my office being 100% my space. BUT the audio has always been mine (i'm not an audiophile, but am a geek and like audio). She doesn't pay for it (new 7.2 receiver today i paid for 100%), and griped at me for not including her in discussion. And she didn't want a "bachelor pad" setup. I want a nice audio setup (both movies surround and music), but if i'm the only one paying for it... it's my F'ing system to pick!?! help me out here. Tell me i'm stupid or tell me she's being unreasonable. Just looking to hear from my buds on how they balance the "better half" and audio. Before me she thought her crappy corolla audio sounded good... Now she has a sub and nicer non-components in her doors... Audio is another one of those sicknesses... just takes $ to fix! Thoughts? | ||
| D_adams |
Man cave. I have my setup in the basement, all leather furniture, same flat panel tv as is upstairs, but mine has a Polk subwoofer and surround sound setup. It will EASILY drown out any noise from upstairs. Watching LOTR or the Hobbit on it is awesome, not to mention ANY action flick. House shaking audio is a beautiful thing. However, I don't have time to watch much tv, so it sits unused the vast majority of the time. As I recall, mine was only 5.1 audio though. | ||
| Court |
My tv still has the plastic bag over the coiled power cord ..... I should plug it in someday to see if it works. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Are you two married?... edit: I just noticed the thread has "GF" in the title. It's her house, you just live there. Sorry man, can't help with that situation. (Message edited by pwnzor on September 10, 2014) | ||
| Reepicheep |
If mamma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. It's a perfect data point. It feels important to you, but it isn't really in the grand scope of things. There are three possible outcomes... 1) The two of you will find some compromise you are both comfortable with. 2) It's not that big a deal in the first place and you will just give up and move on without being that bothered because it's clearly important to her (maybe get a set of good headphones for when you want full immersion) 3) This is a symptom of control and unwillingness to compromise by one or both parties and it's a good flag for an important underlying issue that could later have profound consequences on your life. Who knows which category you are in. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Small speakers from a known brand. I run 5.1 with JBL all around, and a Klipsch powered sub. My satellites are 2" wide by 4" tall; center is 2" tall by 6" wide; sub is a powered 10". No bookshelf speakers. No floors. Four tiny satellites, one tiny center, one compact sub. They won't interfere with "her" decor...and you get your audio fix. Avoid Bose. Bose sound OK at low SPL's (sound pressure levels), but if you like to crank it...they lose accuracy and get some popping/distortion, unless you re-EQ them for the higher volumes. When I did concerts for a living we referred to Bose as "Buy Other Sound Equipment - B.O.S.E.". You can get much better bang for your buck out of JBL, Infinity, Klipsch, etc. | ||
| Aesquire |
Wapsi Square is a great online comic... and you have to start at the beginning or it's hard to understand... but some stuff stands alone. Show these to the better half. http://wapsisquare.com/comic/gentle-crinkle/ http://wapsisquare.com/comic/never-guess/ http://wapsisquare.com/comic/and-that-too/ http://wapsisquare.com/comic/geeking-out/ http://wapsisquare.com/comic/from-the-source/ http://wapsisquare.com/comic/spoiled-now/ | ||
| 86129squids |
Fun thread topic- IMHO the ability to listen to genuine high-fidelity audio is one of the greatest pleasures in life. Too many kids nowadays have NO idea what this is about, earbuds with cel phone input is all they know- so sad. "Hearing, the ear, is the truest of the senses." Kierkgaard My components are a bunch of mutts- got an old Kenwood receiver pushing 200W on both A and B channels, shooting through an ancient Teac 10 band per channel passive EQ, and just two pair of decent bookshelf speakers- one is Boston Acoustics, the other Polk Audio- out in the garage, I've held onto a pair of Infinitys that I'd blown some time ago, one day I'll have them rebuilt. My "secret weapon" is my 1980's era Cerwin Vega 12" cabinet sub with inline crossovers, pulling off the A channel- to me, as long as you have high-quality mid and high range frequencies covered with bookshelf speakers, the sub will put the "meat on the bones" in a big way- plus, generally speaking, the low sub frequencies are omnidirectional, so you have more freedom in placement. Acoustic Research (AR) makes some fine stuff too... Disclaimer: I have little knowledge of any of the later gen "surround sound" products, what with center channel stuff and whatnot, most that are designed around TV, yadda yadda. My system takes audio input from my non-smart TV, and it sounds pretty good. Austin City Limits in particular is a good one. All I care about is the highest quality sound reproduction, and enough volume at times to shake stuff a bit. My next purchase will be a set of Polk Atrium outdoor weatherproof speakers, for jams on the back deck... BTW, that sub I've mentioned has been rebuilt/refurbished a couple of times- get to know an old fella or 2 who can do that kind of work. Recently had that done yet again, and a guy next door to the speaker guy cleaned up my EQ, which was very badly needed. | ||
| Indybuell |
Klipsch is the best speaker IMHO. | ||
| Court |
He won't admit it here but one of my neighbor Badwebbers past about the most impressive collection of Macintosh tube amps I've ever seen .... The sound is absolutely amazing. I have had great luck with Bose headphones. I'm using acoustic noise canceling headphones to dictate this as I drive. I am also looking at replacing my David Clark aviation headset with a Bose to see how it stacks up. | ||
| Buellish |
Klipsch and Polk rock my world.And make it blue when I want it that way. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Maybe the problem isn't that gf wasn't consulted, just that you picked the wrong week to not consult. I've long since given up trying to listen to music that nobody else in the house likes when I'm at home. These days I use a rechargeable Bluetooth headset and rack up the miles in happiness. | ||
| Sl33py |
Dean - Yeah, more and more the garage is becoming the man cave. Moved my floor standing speakers in a few weeks back and loving the tunes now... Which made it more apparent the TV in living room needs some attention. 3.1 works and sounds OK... but can definitely use better placement (up higher next to TV), and really want to get some surrounds setup. Also - the opening scene of LOTR where the ring gets cut off and then Sauron blows up... EPIC and absolutely why i want some better sub(s)! That is one of my benchmark scenes to adjust the sub. Court - yeah i get that and somewhat jealous. We got rid of cable and try to do more projects or just read... BUT also have netflix... so sometimes you just need to sit down and binge a season of house of cards or something else entertaining. I have a set of Denon and Beats Noise cancelling - not quite as nice as the QC15's, but they work well for travel/flying. If i had the $ for macintosh we'd have a nicer setup to start with... good audio on a budget can be tough. pwnzor - our house actually. bought it together 6'ish years back and just haven't made an honest woman of her. Living in sin is fun.  Reepi - thanks man. True on "happy wife happy life". And i agree on the 3 points - need to chat a bit more and let her know how much i want a better system. It just means she needs to pitch in if she also wants it to be "subtle" or less man-cave like. I'll get over it most likely and will slowly get it squared away. Adding some surrounds would help and probably satisfy most of my want. Ratbuell - great info man! I don't need a 7.1 system, but definitely looking forward to squeezing an extra sub in somewhere and getting .2! I'll look at the small JBL's, and never planned on getting the small Bose (i know they are way too $ for what you get). Luckily i am pretty positive i can squeeze another sub in somewhere int eh room and she won't mind (since i removed the old tower speakers that weren't connected and just "shelves" - there's some room). Now they live in the garage and sound AWESOME. Dual 8" on each speaker and can really HIT. Which model little JBL's are you using? Aesquire - LOL. great comic. She's definitely getting to the point where she notices a difference and wants the nicer speakers/setup. squids - true that. It's only when you have some nicer headphones or speakers (good source too), and HEAR the difference that you start to realize what crap you had before. So the small 7.1 setup i brought home last night really was disappointing. Onkyo 7.1 speaker system (sub sounded OK), but the fronts were muddy and lacking clarity in the mid-range especially. I swapped speakers while listening to some different genres - going from the bookshelf Athena speaker to the Onkyos was really apparent. And much less efficient - the athenas were noticeably louder without touching the volume. Not by a huge amount, but noticeable. Appreciate the responses and feedback! Good to vent a bit and get it off my chest. It's not a huge deal, and i'll figure out an alternative she's happy with. In the meantime i'm going to re-purpose the speakers i just got for my brother's new tattoo shop. Called him yesterday and let him know he is getting my old receiver and some speakers. He just opened a couple weeks ago and has a big empty space currently. Using a small/crappy ipod dock thingie to listen to music... He will be happy with the upgrade and at least they will get used. I'm off to research some of the small JBL's! rob | ||
| Sl33py |
squids - forgot to mention one thing. The outdoor/deck speakers is on my list. We have a zone 2 option on the new receiver (which doesn't steal 2 speakers from 7.1 which is nice). I looked at the atrium speakers and also found a model/brand i've not heard of before - OSD Audio AP670:  Found them on Amazon and one review mentioned a shootout... so here's the one i found: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-outdoor- speakers/ I am thinking of hanging them up under an eave which should keep them pretty dry and hopefully help with longevity. I know i shouldn't expect too much bass from a 6'ish speaker, but will take what i can. As long as it's not bloated w/ muddy mid-range, which these seem to do OK says some folks who know better than I. In a couple months maybe i'll grab a set. Would be great to have some tunes as zone 2 while on the deck relaxing. |
