AV Rant #492: Like How You Say Dome
Our Listeners of the Week are Jerry D. for his donation, and anyone else we might have missed while Tom is away! Lee Overstreet joins Rob H. for an extra long episode! And we hope our AV Rant Listeners can help Lee find a new sound card/audio interface; Rob suggested the Behringer UCA-222.
In the news, the Epson Home Cinema 5040UB projector with HDR10, DCI-P3 color, motorized zoom, and “wobble-K” resolution will be available in August for $2,999. Amazon has begun streaming some Dolby Vision content. And SVS introduced their new SVS SoundPath Pivoting Wall/Ceiling Bracket for small speakers up to 7.7 lbs.
Our good friend, Herb, from Cross-Spectrum Labs explains why their calibrated measurement microphones are on backorder. Ray Coronado helps us out with the Lion AV Tech list of THX Certified Video Calibrators. Tyler F. showed us the hilarious “Vinylfied” website. Kris I. is interested in HDTV Test’s comparison of HDR10 to Dolby Vision. Samsung demonstrated their HDR10 Evaluation Disc. And Ted thanks us for getting him to switch out of “Native” color mode on his plasma TV!
Matt G. wants a “fuller” sound from his speakers. We mention the Pioneer Andrew Jones Speakers, ELAC Debut Series, Ascend Acousitcs CMT-340SE, and EMP Tek Impression Series. We suggest the MiniDSP 2×4 for subwoofer EQ. And we try to sort out Dish vs. DirecTV image quality. Mark O. similarly wants “fuller” sound, and he specifically asks about the Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1 and Aperion Audio Verus Grand Bookshelf speakers.
Jason S. fixed his hum! But he still has HDMI handshake issues. Jerry D. sorts through compatible formats using PLEX on Xbox One, and he winds up with our recommendations for using Handbrake Video Transcoder. Infinite Gary wants us to discuss the broadcast equipment used for the 4K MLB Network on DirecTV, and also why his video calibrator said to wait 200 hours before calibrating Gary’s OLED. And Will T. wants the lowdown on 7.2.4 AV Receiver options, the new 2016 Receiver models from Denon and Marantz, and good setup discs such as Disney WOW or Spears and Munsil HD Benchmark.
Eric S. asks all about Front Height speakers and whether 5.1.2 is really Atmos or not. Josh A. has four subwoofers in a small room and apparently wants even more by asking about Rythmik F25 and SVS PC13-Ultra subs. Jonathan F. gets our thoughts on the Murphy Corner-Line-Array speakers. And Moanis wants to know if he should buy a 2015 LG OLED TV.
Nick B. is nailing down his theater build plans, but has concerns. We explain why the Seymour AV Center Stage UF screen fabric and Millibel AT Masking Panels should work for him. We go over Anthony Grimani’s seating placement suggestions. And we clarify a graph and table about distortion from Audioholics’ Status Acoustics Titus 8T speaker review. Martin B. gets our recommendation for the Denon AVR-X2200W AV Receiver. And John M. wants neutral gray paint, so we suggest the Sherwin Williams 235 “Gray Screen” paint options.
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Hey Tom, Austin and Rob,
Thanks for your stellar work in the field and informing the uneducated.
My question is about the sub crawl. It’s explanation has been simplified to the point of the obvious. Having given it my first attempt, I, as I’m sure others have, have run into the simple yet effective brick wall of “what to listen for” and not knowing the difference. I, myself am limited to very few positions of placement. I’m in a quandary as to which is best as I’m sure most are. The general explanation is to listen for “tightness, depth, level” unboomy baisicly with a linear response. For me personally, am having boomy peaks, that seem to resonate at unknown frequencies. Like a hum. If I’ve exsaserbated the problem by a positional shift. Would it be wise to move it back to its original position or move it about incrementally and observe for tonal shifts.
Currently after the subs first move it seems to be digging deeper into sub sonics, but also bloating somewhere between the 30-80hz range. I have no measurement equipment to validate this. It’s just a feeling and personal judgment. But that’s where I am having trouble with the crawl. My head placement is near a boundary wall and leaning forward and backward produce to me a very different response. I don’t know if I’ve been Clear with my question but I hope it warrants a response.