Suggestions for a large-ish room

[Acuity]

Has anyone heard the Sonus Faber Olympica 2 ? Or, do you know about it?
I was able to audition a pair today in Hyderabad. Sounded quite good in stereo mode, I liked the sound signature of this speaker.

Any thoughts on using it as a part of a Home Theatre system?

 

[ajuvignesh]

Hi All,

I am planning on a new setup and would love to hear any feedback or suggestions on the planned setup:

Room size 22' x 16' & 11' height. The setup will be along the long wall. So the distance will be around 14' from the system to the seat (Not a multi row seating).

Channels: 5.2.2
Fronts (L R): B&W 703 S3
Center: B&W HTM71 S3 (Matching to L R)
Surrounds: B&W CWM664 (2 nos)
Atmos: B&W CCM 664 (2 nos)
2 Subs: SVS SB 2000 Pro 2 nos.

AVR: Denon AVR-X3800H 9.4 Channel
Or Marantz something?
Amp: Emotiva XPA-3 (For LCR)

Acoustic treatment for the room, with an RT60 target.

My usage is 50% movies and 50% music. Movies source is FireTV Stick and the music source is AppleTV. Music genre is mostly Pop, House and Relaxing.

I have auditioned the B&W 703 speakers with the Emotiva Amp, and I liked them quite a bit. I have not auditioned any of the other items listed above.

Do you have any suggestions for this setup, anything you can suggest to make it sound better.

The cost is coming to about Rs 15 Lakhs including cables (The three front speakers itself are about 8 Lakhs).
Acoustics is an extra Rs 4 Lakhs.

Can I do anything to save about 2 Lakhs on the cost... Like can I bi-amp the receiver and avoid buying the Emotiva XPA amp.

For a room of this size (22'x16'), can I opt for 1 sub instead of 2 (Sealed 12" is the plan).

My other systems are: Tannoy+NAD and Klipsch+Marantz. I'm looking for something special.

This is a big purchase and for a long term usage. Highly appreciate any feedback.

Thank you

For that room size I would suggest you to go with 7.2.4 or atleast 5.2.4 And I don't think a 12 inch sealed would suffice.

 

[Dhruv.Arora]

Hi All,

I am planning on a new setup and would love to hear any feedback or suggestions on the planned setup:

Room size 22' x 16' & 11' height. The setup will be along the long wall. So the distance will be around 14' from the system to the seat (Not a multi row seating).

Channels: 5.2.2
Fronts (L R): B&W 703 S3
Center: B&W HTM71 S3 (Matching to L R)
Surrounds: B&W CWM664 (2 nos)
Atmos: B&W CCM 664 (2 nos)
2 Subs: SVS SB 2000 Pro 2 nos.

AVR: Denon AVR-X3800H 9.4 Channel
Or Marantz something?
Amp: Emotiva XPA-3 (For LCR)

Acoustic treatment for the room, with an RT60 target.

My usage is 50% movies and 50% music. Movies source is FireTV Stick and the music source is AppleTV. Music genre is mostly Pop, House and Relaxing.

I have auditioned the B&W 703 speakers with the Emotiva Amp, and I liked them quite a bit. I have not auditioned any of the other items listed above.

Do you have any suggestions for this setup, anything you can suggest to make it sound better.

The cost is coming to about Rs 15 Lakhs including cables (The three front speakers itself are about 8 Lakhs).
Acoustics is an extra Rs 4 Lakhs.

Can I do anything to save about 2 Lakhs on the cost... Like can I bi-amp the receiver and avoid buying the Emotiva XPA amp.

For a room of this size (22'x16'), can I opt for 1 sub instead of 2 (Sealed 12" is the plan).

My other systems are: Tannoy+NAD and Klipsch+Marantz. I'm looking for something special.

This is a big purchase and for a long term usage. Highly appreciate any feedback.

Thank you

Bi Amping the receiver for LR cannot replace the impact of pre out with Power Amp

 

[Acuity]

For that room size I would suggest you to go with 7.2.4 or atleast 5.2.4 And I don't think a 12 inch sealed would suffice.

Thanks Ajuvignesh. Although the room size is 15x22, I will be sitting on the long side of the room. The distance from the seat to the speakers will be about 13 feet, so the optimum appears to be 5.2.2. I will be going for 2 sealed subs not one, I'm hoping this will be enough.

 

[ssf]

Has anyone heard the Sonus Faber Olympica 2 ? Or, do you know about it?
I was able to audition a pair today in Hyderabad. Sounded quite good in stereo mode, I liked the sound signature of this speaker.

Any thoughts on using it as a part of a Home Theatre system?

You said you were looking for something special. For most of us, Sonus Faber Olympica 2 are special indeed. If I am not mistaken, they will take up most of your 15 lakh budget. The latest iteration of the speaker is the Olympica Nova 2.

https://www.sonusfaber.com/en/products/olympica-nova-ii

Any speaker which will sound good in stereo will sound good in HT. The only question to be asked is if it is an overkill for a 50-50 usage.

 

[ajuvignesh]

Thanks Ajuvignesh. Although the room size is 15x22, I will be sitting on the long side of the room. The distance from the seat to the speakers will be about 13 feet, so the optimum appears to be 5.2.2. I will be going for 2 sealed subs not one, I'm hoping this will be enough.

No. Dolby atmos will be nice with 2 ceiling speakers. But it would be better with 4 or 6 speakers. With two you can hear the sound shift across the two speakers. That is left and right. With 4 speakers in place you also get sound moving from top back and forth and also diagonally. 5 channels is enough. But for atmos, I recommend atleast 4.
For example if there is a scene with arrows were panning across the sky from front to back, 4 atmos speakers with give better representation of motion than 2 atmos speakers.

 

[Acuity]

No. Dolby atmos will be nice with 2 ceiling speakers. But it would be better with 4 or 6 speakers. With two you can hear the sound shift across the two speakers. That is left and right. With 4 speakers in place you also get sound moving from top back and forth and also diagonally. 5 channels is enough. But for atmos, I recommend atleast 4.
For example if there is a scene with arrows were panning across the sky from front to back, 4 atmos speakers with give better representation of motion than 2 atmos speakers.

Thank you. I didn’t realize we can get a 4 channel effect for Atmos ceiling speakers. I thought there would be just Left Right Atmos, not Front Back zatmos too. Will look into it.

 

[ajuvignesh]

Thank you. I didn’t realize we can get a 4 channel effect for Atmos ceiling speakers. I thought there would be just Left Right Atmos, not Front Back zatmos too. Will look into it.

Basically, its objects. The mix engineer defines a place in space and the AVR emulates it with all the speakers it has access to. I guess, some AVRs support in excess of 10 atmos speakers.