Any Sonodyne Avant /Sonus users in this group --- Suggestion Needed

[edjamesx]

First look on speakers Received..

Received speakers yesterday and excited to check the speakers... Build quality is good & speakers are looking elegant..

Since carpenter work is going on still in my HT room .. I have to wait till it completes before proceed to complete audio setup.
I just connected only tower speakers for now ,

I just played some music and checked ... Sound stage is Good. But "Wow" factor is missing as i heard in the demo setup.
In the demo setup better amp is used than mine. (Good that i did not go with Avant speaker..which we need to feed more power )

How ever I still need to experiment ..and i think i can achieve similar or better setup as in demo.. and need to connect all components and wait for complete setup.

Tower closure to wall have reflection issue. How ever keeping 1.5 feet far from wall reduced the reflection. Do i also need to keep tower speaker far away from wall all sides ?.. ( in that case i will have less space , as i have only 10 feet for LCR speakers)

After Removing the Speaker cover , it sounds even better... i think still its blocking some tweeter / midbass driver( keeping it uncovered sound better)

i am keeping the Cross over frequency setting to "80 hz" as THS standard.. Let me know if have to keep up or down. i tried different setting..
In 80 hz it seems to sound better.

Speaker size i set to Large for now as no sub is connected. Will post more pictures once the setup is ready.

 

[tuff]

@edjamesx WHy use crossover cutoff if you have no sub-woofer connected? The speakers are rated to go down to 40hz, so in essence you are not hearing any output below 80 hz. Leave it off and see if the 'wow' factor is still there. All speakers (unless designed so) should be away from the wall. there is no thumb rule as such but keeping it 1.5 feet should yield better performance. And if possible, keep the side walls distance same.

 

[edjamesx]

@edjamesx WHy use crossover cutoff if you have no sub-woofer connected? The speakers are rated to go down to 40hz, so in essence you are not hearing any output below 80 hz. Leave it off and see if the 'wow' factor is still there. All speakers (unless designed so) should be away from the wall. there is no thumb rule as such but keeping it 1.5 feet should yield better performance. And if possible, keep the side walls distance same.

@tuff : I tried setting crossover to 40hz , but it seems to sound better in 80 hz , @80hz it sounds more strong & brighter. Will try again ..

 

[edjamesx]

one more suggestion needed...

Usually FS will have four sets of ports bridged with gold plate..., Whats the best way to connect ...

Right now i connected to top ports +,- to amp with Gold plates bridged down .

Cross wiring ?
Some forums they are saying we can cross wire ..,
Connect top (+) port speaker to amp + , and connect bottom port (-) t speaker to (-) amp. Will there be any difference ?

Biwiring ?.
And did bi wiring help anyways to improve performance ? ( Instead of bridged mode , connect with two sets of wires with amp ).


Bi amping helps ?
My amp does not seem to have biamp mode. My amp is 7.1 AVR . I am not using surround back speaker .. Some AVR allows to do bi amping ( connecting with two terminals from AVR port to one FS).

In my amp there's no option to set bi amp mode. IS there by default amp outputs front channels to surround back when its set to none ?.

 

[tuff]

Personally I don't think there are big benefits in bi-wiring or bi-amping. Leave the plates there till you really start tweaking the setup.

 

[elangoas]

Speaker size i set to Large for now as no sub is connected.

Yes.. If you don't have a sub, then the fronts are treated as fullrange by default..

i am keeping the Cross over frequency setting to "80 hz" as THS standard.. Let me know if have to keep up or down. i tried different setting..
In 80 hz it seems to sound better.

So this 80Hz crossover is for center & surrounds.. right?..

as i have only 10 feet for LCR speakers

If 10 feet is all is you have between L-C-R, then keep the left tower at 2.5 feet from the left wall & the right tower at 2.5 feet from the right wall and Center at 5feet, middle of the room width.. This will help you to partially minimise room modes since the FS will be producing full range in absence of subwoofer..

 

[edjamesx]

Yes.. If you don't have a sub, then the fronts are treated as fullrange by default..
So this 80Hz crossover is for center & surrounds.. right?..

unfortunately.. My amp have only single cross over setting. I need to focus more on front sound stage.. and leave the surrounds as its.

I hope setting crossover for "Sub" doesnt matter as woofer filters out lower frequency .. (still higher end amps allows setting crossover for woofer as well).

My next plan in within a year or two to upgrade my AVR.

Yes.. If you don't have a sub, then the fronts are treated as full range by default..
If 10 feet is all is you have between L-C-R, then keep the left tower at 2.5 feet from the left wall & the right tower at 2.5 feet from the right wall and Center at 5feet, middle of the room width.. This will help you to partially minimise room modes since the FS will be producing full range in absence of subwoofer..

Is 2.5 feet gap is required ? I can accomodat maximum 1 to 1.5 feet
I also need to keep the sub as well .. may be i need to try keeping the sub under/or 1 ft for from Center speaker.

My FS speaker width is almost 0.75 feet , ..there should also be some gap to be considered between center and Fronts (little bit consjusted.. i think manageable )

| | FL | | Center speaker | | FR | |
Wall |<----------------->| <-------->|<----------------------->|<------------------>|<------------------------->|<----------->|<-------------->| Wall
| 1.5 ft | 0.75 ft | 2 ft | 1.5 ft | 2ft | 0.75ft | 1.5 ft |

 

[elangoas]

unfortunately.. My amp have only single cross over setting. I need to focus more on front sound stage.. and leave the surrounds as its.

If you have set sub as "NO" in AVR, then front is treated as fullrange.. You should be able to set a crossover of 80Hz for center & surrounds, that should send the bass to FS..

I hope setting crossover for "Sub" doesnt matter as woofer filters out lower frequency .. (still higher end amps allows setting crossover for woofer as well).

Didn't get you..

Is 2.5 feet gap is required ? I can accomodat maximum 1 to 1.5 feet

Approx place the FS where it is 2.5 feet from the side walls.. Do you have a TV cabinet / stand hindering the placement?..

My FS speaker width is almost 0.75 feet , ..there should also be some gap to be considered between center and Fronts (little bit consjusted.. i think manageable )

Oh yeah understand that the center channel width would be more.. then place the FS with even spacing..

I also need to keep the sub as well .. may be i need to try keeping the sub under/or 1 ft for from Center speaker.

OK.. Wasn't aware that you had a sub.. if it is dedicated room & if you have the liberty to place it, then pull the sub towards the middle of the room..

 

[edjamesx]

If you have set sub as "NO" in AVR, then front is treated as fullrange.. You should be able to set a crossover of 80Hz for center & surrounds, that should send the bass to FS..

My AVR have only single cross over setting for all speakers.. no individual cross over settings available.

Didn't get you..

I meant , there's not much to do from AVR cross over settings for Sub over (SUB meant to filter frequency below 80 hz.. though some AVR still allows to set crossover for Sub as well).

OK.. Wasn't aware that you had a sub.. if it is dedicated room & if you have the liberty to place it, then pull the sub towards the middle of the room..

Its semi dedicated HT room .. (since i converted my master bed room to HT room.. still my cot is lying in HT room) . I can try placing sub at the back wall. or 2-3 feet front of Front speaker.

 

[elangoas]

My AVR have only single cross over setting for all speakers.. no individual cross over settings available.

I meant , there's not much to do from AVR cross over settings for Sub over (SUB meant to filter frequency below 80 hz.. though some AVR still allows to set crossover for Sub as well).

I was hoping that individual channel crossover will be still aval.. Anyways, you have global crossover for all channels..

Its semi dedicated HT room .. (since i converted my master bed room to HT room.. still my cot is lying in HT room) . I can try placing sub at the back wall. or 2-3 feet front of Front speaker.

Ok.. Try to position it close to the center of the room as much as possible (or) whichever position works for you in the room..

 

[edjamesx]

It took sometime for me to setup my HT completely as i was engaged with some other stuff...

Posting pictures


For Screen , I just Fixed plywood and added white primer matt finish painting. Picture quality is great.

There's a window beneath the screen , i am covering up with normal screen , lights are evading easily , i need to put some thick screen. I cannot remove window , as this is needed for ventilation.



Over all screen looked great , there's mild reflection in the side of walls due to light color paint. Adjustable for now , i may paint dark color later.



Canter speaker , i have placed with simple grill , in this position it sounds great. Dialogues are clear & crisp.

Overall Sonodyne speakers sound great ..

Will try to capture more videos and post..

 

[edjamesx]

Will try to capture more videos and post..

Video captured with playing Movie..