Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Jerrys Theater Pictures

Jerry:

SImply phenomenal work.

My ask how did your theater? If you say "I did"; can I contract you to help me out with mine for a few days?

Jerry, I keep coming back to the thread just to look at the pictures. They didn't look like compact snaps :-)

You said "the first row of seating elevated from the main speakers is IMHO a mistake. It hurts vertical imaging with music." ...Interesting to read that as I was beginning to wonder what your music vs music split was? Therefore, how was the setup for music ? How and what do you listen to ? Whats the image like? Using Trifield ?

Cheers

Thanks again guys.

Actually I was thinking more on this and I think youre on to something. Sadly most of my music listening is in the car in the traffic after dropping my daughter off at school- I get a good 35 minutes to just sit and rock out/ or the gym on my little iPod- not exactly audiophile settings- been listening to the new Foo Fighters album btw- its AWESOME- if you are into their music which I think everyone should be of course

My listening in the room is probably 90% movies. When I go in there its really for a movie. And as such the sight line to the screen is correct at the first row. I will say that sitting in the second row makes the screen occupy less of ones field of vision but the extra distance adds to a cinematic feel. Given that you want your eyes to hit about 1/3 up from the bottom of the screen when you are seated you have to elevate the seats if one is going with floor standing speakers. Which brings me to another thought- if I were doing this from scratch- I would certainly be investigating the new in wall speakers from Meridian and seeing if it made sense to do them behind the screen along with an acoustically transparent screen. While it was relatively easy for me to redo the projector and screen, the room itself, being mostly sonically isolated from the house, means if I start opening up walls, there are several layers of stuff that I would have to make substantial changes to- and I wouldn't want to live through that.

When I listen to music, I use Trifield.

So as it turns out I think I have the exact right setup for video but for audio I think there are some compromises. Also, the music I like: studio recorded guitar rock music and progressive rock, does not really lend itself that well to a high end system- it often sounds more cohesive on a less high end system or even an iPod. Its simply the nature of the beast. Movie soundtracks on this system sound incredible. Nearly every movie theater Ive been to since I put this system in my house sounds flat by comparison.

John,
I really did design it. My installer helped me to know what the right sight lines for my eyes would be and I communicated that to my architect and I worked with an electrical engineer to do the electric isolation and a lady who has a PhD in acoustics from Harvard- basically I brought together people who knew what they were doing but I said I want to have XYZ equipment and I don't believe in subs if one avoid them- this is partly because of my own experience in that I seem to be able to pick out where the sub is in most systems- and also that I read Bob Stuart's comments to the effect that he thinks full range sources at each location is preferable. My experience only confirms this- the sound of the system is really incredible. Its engulfing. A good friend who is not an audiophile but has always appreciated good sound and has heard some very good systems in other peoples homes came over a few months ago and we watched the Casino Royale BR. He remarked to me that he was blown away by the video and what he could not believe is that the audio was even better than the video- he could not get over the sound. Neither can I- at the risk of sounding like an advertisement- the 8000s can do it all IMHO. They can thump and move air, be delicate and detailed, whatever you want and they can do it all at the same time too.

So anyway, I really did say "this is my vision" and got the people together to help execute it. I actually did the initial setup and calibration of the speakers and the video system. Meridian sent some people to install the V4 upgrade on the spot and help me calibrate the system a few weeks in and they gave me some more knowledge and worthwhile tweaks. They will remain nameless to protect their innocence unless they want me to divulge their identities. Originally, my setup was all 8000s to large- all 7000s to small with a xover I think around 65hz. I didnt know the speakers had boundary or corner modes... and of course I did not have the MRC because they brought that with them. They suggested I put the 7000s to large. I was worried if they could handle it and they told me the speakers have very advanced protection circuits. So we went all large and then we ran the MRC and I was impressed but they thought the bass was still to much out of control so they showed me that the speakers could be put into boundary or corner mode- they chose boundary. I think I impressed them with my logical thinking when I said we should re-run the MRC since the boundary will affect it. So we did- WHAT A DIFFERENCE- the sound was so much clearer and more detailed and the bass was still there but not over powering. We listened to some DSOTM. It was a great day. I learned a lot from them. Then I learned here that you can set up each speaker independently if you do them one at a time while making sure the other speakers are disconnected or powered off. So I decided to run MRC with all speakers set to boundary and then to corner and then again to free and I compared the MRC charts to discover that my corner speakers are best off as corners and my center and sides are best off at boundary. I made those changes and ran MRC again.

I'm very happy with the results and clearly I cannot take credit for all of it but in terms of the overall vision and what I wanted- I think in a way I was a combination nightmare and dream client for the people I worked with. On the one hand I would really challenge and push them- on the other, I knew what I wanted and understood what it would take to get there and understood them when they talked with me. My theater is really that of an enthusiast who just happened to be a lucky guy to have the budget to do it- hence no fancy ornate this and that on the theater. Thats not my style. John, I can't believe you would be serious, just saying a nice compliment which I really appreciate, but if you ever want to just bounce things off someone, Im always around for a fellow Hitchhiker.

best regards,
Jerry

I just wanted to add my $0.02. It's already been said by many others, but it is SO refreshing to see a theatre that has been tastefully decorated in such a soothing and elegant manner. Great job!

Jerry:

Frankly; I'm most envious of your superneat wiring Do you contract for work in data centers too

Smashing; simply smashing.

Jerry
Agree with everything that`s already been said about your Theatre. Great Job and Congrats!!!

Just wondering if you and Meridian experimented with positioning of the Speakers, the D8k`s in particular?? The reason I ask is that the front D8k`s and in particular, the Centre 7K and Rear 8k`s seem quite close to the walls and possibly reflective metal radiators.

Having gone thru a similar iterative procedure (Free, Boundary and Corner, with and without MRC) that you indicate in your most recent post, I found that I achieved the most pleasing sound to my ears when the speakers were positioned about 4.5ft from any side walls and about 6ft from any corners. When set to Free and various MRC`s performed, I found that this resulted in the best overall sound balance and performance and indeed this was confirmed by the MRC Waterfall Plots

Just curious if you and the Meridian people tried this and what the results were (particularly if moving the Front Speaker Trio)???

In a similar vein, did you experiment with Toeing-In the Rear Speakers towards the Viewing Position, as they currently run “North-South”??

Again, congrats on the terrific room


Cheers
Ronnie

John,
thanks- Im envious of the wiring too. Thats not my work, thats just the result I desired. My installer did this, in particular one of his guys: Ken. Ken is a true artist as you can see. They do work all over the US............

Ronnie,
Interesting, what do you mean by metal radiators? I have no such radiators in my room. All the HVAC is in the floor- so we could really limit the openings in the side walls and ceiling. As such, there are no metal radiators any where near by the fronts. In terms of placement, its largely dictated by the screen. I did try experimenting with the available positions and I cannot get it any better than I have it. I would agree that more distance from the side walls would be preferable.

How big is your room? You must have a lot of space because with the 8000s set to free the bass was so tremendous that at moderate volume levels I thought my heart would cease beating!

Interesting about the toe in for the rears. I ruled this out as the rears are supposed to produce a more diffuse sound and I feel toe in for them would likely ruin the surround field for the rear seats in the theater.

Btw- on the toe in on the fronts- thats a suggestion I adopted from fellow Hitchhiker Gages.

So like anything else that theater is the culmination of years of living and learning from all sources especially fellow Hitchhikers.

best regards,
Jerry

Yes, unfortunately ornate usually wins more of these kind of awards than tasteful and usable... Looks comfortable too

Very nice!

Apologies Jerry
I hope you don't take any of my comments as being negative feedback regarding your fantastic theatre

I mistook the “ribbed” panelling at the front and rear of the room to be central heating radiators. When I zoomed in closer, I can see that I mistook the photos. Apologies

The room size is 46.5ft by 24ft with 12ft ceilings. The primary seating position is 22ft back from the screen which is 120in wide. The mix would be 70% music in my case

I`m not sure about the Rears being “diffuse” any more. I think that certainly applied in the earlier stages but I think that more sound engineers are beginning to mix very discrete and Full Range sounds into the rears. From what I`ve read, this applies even more so with the newer HD Movie Soundtracks, especially the “blockbusters”

In any case, my question was about “experimenting” and it certainly sounds like you`ve done that with the fronts. It might be worth a try with the rears. From the pictures, it looks like you still have the 8k`s on their glides, so they should be relatively easy to toe-in. I would certainly recommend it, but it may not work for you


Cheers
Ronnie

When I asked earlier about setting large, I meant were they set "Free" (not large). But you answered anyway. I agree with Ronnies comments. Ideally you want all speakers set as close to free as possible. By using positioning and MRC. But if they are that powerful and required to be near walls you may not have any choice but to go with more conservative boundary settings. You may also have way more bass ability than the room requires. I wish I had those kind of problems.

Curious though, as Ronnie suggested, did you try with other Boundary settings (Wall and Free) and try to let MRC clean it up? Not an easy task I know.

In the most simplest terms it's better to turn broad boundary filters off and narrow MRC filters on because it's more selective.

8000 envy
Can't imagine when I would ever say this again but:
I want MY heart to cease beating....


ken

My apologies if I seemed like I was taking your suggestions the wrong way- it was just early in the morning and I was trying to jot the reply down before I ran to get my daughter and get her some breakfast and then bring her downstairs with me so I could hit the gym and she could play with her toys. Its hard to get a good work out in when you have to split your focus but its better than nothing. Got a few minutes now to check in here.

I think its good to challenge your assumptions. Like I said I learned much from my fellow Hitchhikers. These are good suggestions. In terms of the distance from the walls- I just checked and due to the toe in- part of the speaker is closer and the front is further away. The tweeter is about 34" away and the woofers are closer to 30" away. I really can't move the speakers much closer in because they will get too close to the screen and I worry about reflections off the pretty, but shiny Meridian speaker enclosures. I might be able to get a few inches but thats it- probably not worth it. Whats interesting to me is the people from Meridian felt that its best to use the location modes. Btw- I don't have "wall" but boundary/free/sub/center boundary. Is wall a new mode?

On the rears, I think there is merit to the toe in. I was concerned about the rear seats but I think it will not matter and I agree that diffuse was really from the days of DPL. Given that our hearing is not nearly as accurate in terms of locating sounds when discerning sounds coming from behind one's head, it makes sense to get some extra directional help. When I have some more time I'll be sure to give that a try and report back.

Ronnie, I can't wait to see your pictures!!!

gotta run
best regards,
Jerry