Mastodawn

John Siracusa Feb 26, 2023

I have disappeared down a home-theater-speakers rabbit hole these past few days. As usual, my situation is complicated by my extremely inconveniently shaped room and furniture, my existing equipment, and (poor me, I know) my access to deep discounts on a few specific brands.

I keep asking myself which speakers will work well, don’t cost a lot, and will actually fit and sound OK in the insane places I have to put them? Round and round I go…

John Siracusa Feb 26, 2023

Do any knowledgeable folks have an opinion on mixing speakers from different brands or product lines in a multi-channel home theater setup? Everything I’ve seen has warned against it (mismatched timbre, etc.) But having to stay within a single brand/line really makes this puzzle even harder to solve.

John Siracusa Feb 26, 2023

Oh, and if anyone reading this has the inside track on one of those aforementioned “deep discounts” on the SVS brand in particular, I’d love to hear from you…

John Siracusa Feb 26, 2023

Here’s my unfortunate room arrangement (not to scale). It’s already got a (tiny) 5.1 setup in it. (Try and guess where the speakers are!)

@siracusa And I thought my spot was tough!

John Siracusa Feb 26, 2023

@snazzyq New England, man. None of the houses have anywhere to out a TV. Windows, radiators, fireplaces make it impossible.

Casey Liss Feb 26, 2023

@siracusa @snazzyq This is 1000% where I’d snark and say “come to Virginia”, but in my case, you’d have your TV in the sky.

John Siracusa Feb 26, 2023

@caseyliss @snazzyq The worst sin is “new construction” (meaning after 1950, in New England parlance) that *still* doesn’t have a decent place for the TV.

Alex Cash Feb 26, 2023

@siracusa @caseyliss @snazzyq where the tv would go was unironically a primary concern for me when house shopping.

wild how many brand new houses had put HDMI and power or conduit in the wall for TV in the most awful places.

Adam Feb 26, 2023

@siracusa i hate how TV over the fireplace was a necessity in some older homes but then became common even in new builds. /r/tvtoohigh

Kaveh Feb 26, 2023

@siracusa @caseyliss @snazzyq maybe your best solution is to just use the AirPods Max/Pro with spatial audio…at least that bypasses the room problem 😂

Karl Baron Feb 26, 2023

@siracusa @caseyliss @snazzyq After following /r/TVTooHigh for a while, it seems even in new construction, architects assume people don’t have TVs and instead spend every evening staring at a fireplace

Andrew Kerr Feb 26, 2023

@siracusa As much as you wouldn’t want to admit that @caseyliss is right, Sonos just works. We have the Beam, One SL pair and Sub Mini combo (in black, though white could just happen to you) and it’s worth listening to in-person if you haven’t. Sonosnet and eARC obviates a lot of cables and Trueplay will send some mix to the Ones for more stereo separation than just the Beam (which fit better than an Arc for us too).

Michael Goc Feb 26, 2023

@siracusa Do you really have no way of getting rid of that fireplace? It would make things so much easier. 🙁

Dragos Ristache Mar 1, 2023

@siracusa @caseyliss @snazzyq first thing after i bought my house in (boston) west roxbury was panic super hard that there wasn't a good place for the tv and couch. managed to find one but no optimal solutions for my 77" oled :/

Juan Villela Feb 26, 2023

@caseyliss @siracusa @snazzyq Don't lie to him. Only place to put TVs here is over the fireplace like an animal 🤦🏽‍♂️

Mike Taffet Feb 26, 2023

@caseyliss @siracusa @snazzyq he just needs to embrace the projector lifestyle and install a screen that can go in front of the fireplace

ʎllnɔs Feb 26, 2023

@siracusa @snazzyq yep. I live in Vermont. All windows and radiators in our house. My wife is an audio engineer and we never found a good way to set up a home theater. I’d recommend HomePods to be honest. They have worked well for us. Good luck!

T.G. Cid Feb 26, 2023

@siracusa @snazzyq the house I grew up in was built in Lexington MA, in 18somethingorother. We had to build an addition to fit a TV more than 27 inches.

(So we bought a rear projection Sony when the addition was done. God that thing was terrible.)

@siracusa @snazzyq my house is from 1904 and I feel your pain. It’s impossible!

vince propane Feb 26, 2023

@siracusa @snazzyq imagine old England 🙄

Paul Feb 26, 2023

@siracusa there’s no problem overengineering can’t fix. Lower the tv when you’re watching it, stow it above the mantle when you’re not watching. You can even mount the center channel under the TV!

https://a.co/d/4ukjaFw