You and I are the opposite FOMO. You like narrow, controlled directivity. I like wide dispersion speakers. My front speakers are Infinity Primus 362s which have a very wide dispersion (with good off axis performance) and when you find the proper place for the speakers, the soundstage is phenomenal. Not only wide, but also deep. I listen to music with my system so this is highly desired for my music listening. But this also translates into home theater. I remember I had just adjusted the setup for my front towers and music was sounding incredible. And when the family sat down to watch His Dark Materials on HBO that night, the score for the movie which came mostly from the front speakers was completely enveloping. It sounded amazing! There was an action scene in the snow...there ambient sounds like the wind in a snowstorm, gunshots happening, people shouting all in the surrounds. Dialogue and central sounds in the center and everything came out clear....but that score was next level because of what my front towers were capable of. In addition to this, my surrounds are also wide dispersion. Because of this I feel they image very well with my front speakers and everything blends nicely with sounds going back and forth between front and sides. Of course I only have 7 speakers in a 5.2.2 configuration. If I had more speakers I might not need as much width in my speaker dispersion.
ease of use is #1. I use to pay tons of money and make sure I put all the wires into the walls. I'm pretty happy with the sonos ecosystem now. It just works, I don't have to explain to anyone how to turn on the tv and audio system.
Hey fomo would you mind doing an introductory video to home theater setups? I love your videos talking about different features of tvs and what to look for at certain price ranges and what features I should be looking for. I was hoping maybe you could do something similar for home theater/sound bars. What use cases might be better for some etc. Keep up the good work man, love your videos.
Only piece of equipment I have that does that is my Sony 4K bluray player (I mainly have it to play SACD's) has 2 HDMI outs, one specifically for just audio.
Cool. I've never been much of a fan of surround sound. I'd recommend buying 2 excellent speakers (subwoofer is acceptable for small speaker systems) for anyone with normal money. There are tons of acceptable powered recording studio monitors these days. You mentioned genelec, a very good brand.
I have used the same 5.1 speaker setup for home theater about 17 years (I've upgraded the reciever a few times). Mirage Omnisats (the largest ones), they are omnipolar speakers - the exact opposite of the narrow dispersion. There are a few benefits, the biggest is sweet spot, so much larger than every other type of speaker I've tried (I have more normal speakers for stereo music in a different room). Even without 5.1 sound, they sound so much bigger, the sound is all around you. Its a pity, Mirage was purchased by Klipsch then shuttered, it would have been nice to keep going as its the exact opposite of horn type loading that Klipsch specializes in and they could have had both ends of the spectrum. People did like them, you can read old reviews. Nowadays only Ohm makes omnidirection speakers and they are much pricier (but are superior to the mirages in most ways). Anyways if you wanna look up omnidirectional type speakers they are fun, and I always preferred them over normal type speakers for HT, but I liked the normal speakers for music. Its all preference in the end.
Preference but probably also material. I decided to make my own. 2×TF0818 and CDX compression drivers front, 2× SB Acoustics fullrange back. Why no center? Well, 80% of what I do is interactive entertainment. So Eve Online, GTFO, L4D2, etc. And I am behind the pc and always in the sweet spot, screen is in the way anyway, and I am not a fan of sounds coming from beneath where they need to be. A speaker like that (although you can blame my medocre design skills) it really didnt do well placing sound. For film and music, I can imagine the sound being actually in the air and all over being a benefit.
Having a Frankenstein speaker system will influence the sound more than a bad room... Every speaker has to be the exact same (linear) and all equal distance... Any deviation from this will have a detrimental effect on any system... Also you will have a different tone, balance, sensitivity, dynamics, soundstage, resistance , power handling and cosmetics, so active room correction is now required due to the diversity of the speakers ...Pink noise will always sound fragmented when run and that's not the room at play but the speaker choice ... Its the Elephant in the room.
I was hoping you would expand on this video and talk about your setup. I'm thinking of Genelec speakers. I wanted to know how you connected the Genelec speakers to your reciever/power amps as they dont have RCA connectors and the alternative connector is not tuned for home equipment. I also would like to know your distance to the listener. I'm trying to decide on powered speakers for my living room, 13 x 18 feet and sit between 3.5 - 4 m (11 feet approx) away from the main speaker. How did you narrow down your choice of which Genelec in terms of distance and dynamic range at the listening seat. Thank you.
So I purchased a 5.0 set of Klipsch speakers to replace the included speakers that came in the hometheater in a box from Yamaha I also replaced the receiver first cause I wanted to go 5.1.2 and I have a pair of Sony atmos speakers above my bed and for my subwoofer is a Klipsch R-120SW and since I’ve had this room several times I know the exact spot where the subwoofer sounds optimal and despite the atmos speakers being Sony the system sounds amazing! Everything is blended perfectly and there’s no pin pointing, I wish I could do a 7.1.2 but I don’t have the space for the side surrounds as one side is my desk and the other wouldn’t be hard but I’d have to rearrange my room and that’s not the best for how I have everything setup because my chair is right by my bed so I can just slide into bed when I’m done on my computer not to mention I have a 75” Samsung 4k and it’s not exactly an easy tv to move around and I’m a short bean at 5’5 so I’d need my 6’1 grandfathers help and I don’t want to over work him especially he is exhausted from work, I helped him carry the tv up stairs and hang the tv, I’ll never be able to use the tv stand because I have a ps4 pro and a ps5 so I need that space for those!
Im still rocking some Logitech 5.1.2 speakers from 15 years ago when i was a poor uni student. Probably the best value for money purchase ive ever made.
Interesting point of view. I think matching the speakers to the room size and seating area is the best approach. The source material which is the mix of the movie soundtrack is a big factor. Very directional and forward front speakers may not sound all that great for non-atmos movies. Just my humble opinion. Very well presented video
You're so right! I'm always trying to make purchase speakers that have spousal design approval while still trying to get good immersive 3D surround sound can be a challenge
The question should be which amplifier do you use to control your active speakers please answer this and make a video of it that will be very useful thank you for good contacts
“I don’t want wide dispersion”- Buys a Genelec with the best controlled wide dispersion possible. This is confused advice, you need smooth, even dispersion and sound power to capture the ambience that comes from secondary reflections. Listen to Anthony Grimani, he covers this in his Audioholics interview. “Interference” in an Atmos setting is already part of the source processing 😉
Wide dispersion doesn't mean getting in the way of the next speaker. First flat is good. Full bandwidth next, these little guys are not full bandwidth full frequency so now what?. In Atmos it is suggested to have all 9 speakers the same. That way you have correct timbre, and frequency match. I fully agree there is nothing better than powered speakers having amps totally matched to the crossovers and drivers. That is super fine tuning. But full bandwidth speakers that are very flat and all the same with off axis minimum dips is what I would recommend. Atmos has each speaker receiving full bandwidth full frequency signals.
Wow! I really appreciate this information as I've never considered the type of speaker used for home theater can make that big a difference. Thanks Fomo!
Okay but how to use active speakers with surround sound? Cause what decodes surround sound is decoder ar amplituner. Well so amplituner you can find budget second hand but they give amplified outputs that you can connect to passie speakers. What you connect to active is Line level which is unamplified signal. And you can get that only on sound procesors or audio decodes but these are extremeley expensive. So how to use active speakers while my movie source is pc, from HDD, in a budget?
I thought that directivity and dispersion are, essentially, the same thing in speakers. Don’t all those frequency response curves you put up show that fact? Consistency of frequency response off axis = ‘wide dispersion’, does it not? LRAD’s are the only device I know of that can produce “directional” sound in the way you seem to be describing it. Other than that sound propagates outward similar to ripples in water. It doesn’t act like a laser or a flashlight as far as I know. Maybe I’m just missing something 🤷♂️
I went through a number of different Speakers and brands. My favourites and recommendations are: Canton (great All-round Speakers, but don't go for the GLE, try the B Series, the Chrono or Chrono SL), KEF Q Series for great imaging and fantastic soundstage or Elac UniFi if you want Music as your main focus or Home Theatre without going for crazy dynamics. Subwoofers... can't go wrong with SVS or KEF, Klipsch SPL Series is OK, but the quality is dismal, amp failures are frequent and general build quality is a mess.
10:15 can someone explain how he is able to listen to Dolby Atmos mix with a Genelec active power monitors? Is he using 11+ active Genelec monitors and a separate decoder?
I don't really know anything about speakers but I bought the auna linie 300 5.1 home theater set made n shipped from Germany and for a cheap set of speakers they are actually pretty impressive. Once you set the levels and dial in the EQ and add a dB or 2 to the bookshhelfs they really do a good job for a small to medium sized room. My whole Atmos home theater build cost less than $700 all bought brand new.
I enjoy your content. In this particular video I'm a bit confused - the way I hear your description, controlled directivity and wide dispersion sound like the same thing. The first seems to be when off-axis loudness at each frequency falls off slowly and evenly as the listener moves off axis. The second seems to me to be the same. So when you say you want controlled directivity plus narrow dispersion, it sounds like directly conflicting requirements, and I'm confused. I don't see how narrow dispersion could be anything other than "loudness falls off quickly as you move off axis." If that's the case, wouldn't that imply being highly directive ("poorly controlled directivity")? Perhaps I'm missing something. Thought I'd mention it, in case others were also confused about the difference. Thanks for the solid content.
Good directivity = The off axis reflections are similar tonality to on axis. 6:09 timestamp, look at the off angle curves. If the FR of on axis goes up, the off axis curves should also go up to a certain extent with it. It should loosely follow what's happening with on axis. There are speakers where that's not the case at all, and a bounce goes from super quiet to super loud and it's bouncing all over the place independent of whatever's happening with on axis. If you think about a sound being made in a room, you will hear the direct sound coming to you first, and soon after bounces from the walls. If the sound that bounces off the walls and reaches you is very different from what you hear on axis, then that is bad. Look at 11:55, Genelec's dispersion graph. The 0 to -3 db area in the middle in deep green. That area could be wide or narrow, that's how you get wide or narrow dispersion. You want the edges of the deep green area to gradually widen as you go from right to left. You don't want it to get wider and get narrower again, that's bad.
Genelec ♥I currently have only 2x8330, but getting some more soon. Planned to add 2x7350 subs and some more 8330. GLM tuning makes it easy to get everything right, very effective in normal livingroom.
Anyone ever use "live sound" speakers? I have 2 Bose s1 pros, a Bose s1 compact, and a EVm30. All of which are insanely load and clear. But haven't tried them for movies etc.. Any answers would be greatly appreciated
Sorry Fomo, but this one is a swing and a missed. It essentially was a Genelec speaker and Audio Science review promotion. Just send everyone to read Sound & Vision, Audioholics, Soundstage Access websites for Home Theater reviews and set up instructions.
Good point. My dream home theater consists of eventually getting Adam s series studio montiors for front channels and the ax series for height & surround channels or maybe all s series if I have the money lol. But I know they'll be damn expensive so I'm far away from getting them. Right now I just have two Adam Tensor Deltas for stereo and Sennheiser Ambeo for movie duty. Some day..I'll eventually have my home theater.
thumbs up - How about some links on tuning? You mentioned software, can balance (ranges?) , I have a hard time comprehending my smartphone when it acts up... People are looking for something out of the box that works, or easy tuning, this sounds like you need a PHD even when spending huge $$
I think if you're going to put out a video review regardless of the subject matter then you need to be as honest and transparent as possible. IMHO you achieve this and I thank you for that .👌
Hello, thank you for wonderful video! I think I'd stay for beginning with TV speaker and buy only subwoofer and buy good 4k player. Later maybe I will buy Home theater system. Waiting for full review about A90J waiting to buy it as it gets a bit cheaper my waiting has paid off!
So I got a Q90A recently and I am also trying to get audio set up in the next couple months (new aprt) I am planning on getting a ps5(disk for bluray functionality) and have a high end PC. I have been thinking about getting the HW-Q900A or Q950A some time early next year for the gaming surround features. I am also planning to buy a new turntable(thinking Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo) for the vinyls I have been collecting and am trying to figure out if there is a viable way to set up my vinyl playback in a way where playing from the Q900 would make sense from a sound quality perspective or if I would just be better served buying a more traditional speaker set up and using that for all my home audio needs.) are there amplifiers that would do well paired with such a high number of channels or is the audio coming off the vinyl just not engineered in a way where the sound bar surround system would handle them well? hope the question makes sense. I haven't been able to find much resources talking hifi connectivity to these new soundbar systems.
The biggest issue i have with powered speakers is that they require a power socket. I'm in a room with only two double sockets and a Lot of electronics that requite power. Using wired speakers and an amplifier or receiver, you can power as many speakers as you like and it requires only 1 power plug. I have the same issue with so called 'wireless' speakers which require a power socket for every speaker, how is that wireless?? Its worse in my book.
Can you give a piece of advice, i want to make 5.1 with studio monitors. For example presonus or krk because they are more budget friendly. May i put only one speaker for central speaker because as far as i know the central speaker usually has two drivers and one tweeter
Hi FOMO, I am French and I would like to have your opinion on my questioning concerning my intention to change TV. Currently, I have a SAMSUNG UE55F6500 TV from 2013. I want to change my TV this year because I will get a PS5 or XBOX SERIES X at the end of the year (2021). I have a budget of around 3000 EUROS. I hesitate in an LG 77 CX at 3299 EUROS or wait for the LG 77 C1 or LG 77 G1 for a price that will surely be higher than this sum! What would you advise me? Maybe another reference / another brand? I thank you in advance for your answer and bravo for what you are doing! Good continuation ( sorry for my English and It's not always easy for me to understand all your videos) :)
hi there, thank you for the content. I understand that a brand was highlighted, but can you confirm the model numbers for each speaker in the set up if you are setting up the combined single set up for Atmos, Auro3d and DTS:X? And subwoofer? only 1 subwoofer is enough?
I’ve got one of the Canton Movie setups. They sound great for my size living room, along with a couple of ceiling speakers for Atmos. All running from my Denon 2700h receiver. Looking forward to getting the Sony A90J next month and using its centre speaker function. Anyone else used this? And got any feedback?
@@MV0023 yeah it’s all set up. Sounds good tbh. Haven’t really noticed the difference between the screen generating the sound and Canton Centre Speaker. I’m impressed.
I have to disagree here. Imo there is no such thing as a “home theater speaker” everyone has their own tastes. Some people like bright speakers for ht, others like darker ones. Same with dispersion, it depends on the room as well. My advice is to just go listen to some or try some at home and return/don’t buy the ones that don’t sound good. People on youtube often rely too much on frequency response graphs because they don’t go and listen to a speaker. Sometimes there is a reason a certain brand likes to voice their speakers a certain way which may or may not measure well but sound way better than another speaker that is perfectly flat. Again, things might change depending on the room. And for the soundbar people, it’s totally fine to use a bar and does not need justification.
I just hate when people talk just utter nonsense, because they have read an article or two. He is just talking nonsense... Its like you have to choose tv based on what you watch, fantasy, action movies or drama...NO! Good speakers are just that ! Good fucking speakers
Cool vlog Fomo I never knew that you were in the speaker reviewing I just thought just the video aspect good for you!!! I just finally got my Dolby Atmos home theater speakers they are Golden Ear Technology. What do you think of that brand. Robert from Value Electronics carries them but I did not get them from him. What is your opinion on them. When I first heard them I was blown away from just the sound quality you get out of them with the right amps and that is why I put Bryston power amps to drive them and they sound amazing. I have Titan Reference for my whole front stage with Bryston mono blocks driving them and then two 4 channel amps each with 200RMS of power driving my rear and rear surrounds and my Atmos speakers. And then to finish off with two subs I did two JL Audio Fathom V2 12". Also my preamp processor is the Bryston SP4. Do you think I did good? Have a great one!!!
Completely disagree with this. Great speakers reproduce sound as accurately as possible, which includes frequency response and dynamics. If you're selecting equipment for, "sound signature" you're basically indicating you prefer a certain type of distortion. After speaker selection, as some one else indicated, the room is the next largest influence. Dispersion matters less if the room is treated as well, but if your speakers have poor dispersion, they're likely cheap or colored audiophile junk.
agree 150%. FOMO just doesnt have a clue. 🤣 Home theatre speakers are NOT hifi speakers. "Good" HT speaker should have neutral freq response AND high sensitivity. Otherwise its gonna be distorted mess with no silent part of mix audible. And NO damn Trinnov for $15,000 nor $50,000 gonna fix that. Period.
Not crapping on FOMO, just stating what I've learned as a 30-year audio/videophile. I've had/ experience all range of equipment, and although performance is generally related to price, it doesn't always hold true. Audio is one of the most subjective hobbies you can get into, and causes arguments much like politics or, more accurately, religion. Want an expert opinion that ignores measurements? Call an audiophile. Want to ignore cost vs quality? Call an audiophile....
Did you listen to FOMO? He specifically said that he did NOT want his home theater speakers to add their own signature, and that he wanted the reproduction to be as accurate as possible. And then he showed the frequency response for his speakers, which have the very flat response typical of active studio monitors with L-R crossovers and separate dedicated internal amps.
@@willdejong7763 Calm down. Yes, I listened to him, and stated that I'm not attacking him, just disagreeing with some statements. I've heard several Genelecs, and consider them rather inexpensive but fairly functional monitors. Dynamics are somewhat limited though. I've only heard them near-field... is that what his are designed for? Inappropriate for HT if so, unless really small, but I don't know what he's using exactly. If you want reproduction to be as accurate as possible, Genelec's aren't it, and yes, they add their own signature.
I just want the best voice clarity most movies have to much effects making it hard to hear voices unless I crank it tried klipsch kef bose elac vizio so far bose had the best voice clarity but male voices sounded very small
In a previous comment I tried to be polite, I'll be less so here. Mr. FOMO knows nothing about speakers. As a retired member of the AES (Audio Engineering Society), the world wide body that exchanges and publishes scientific studies relating to all things audio I have to say this video is completely bogus and uninformed. Whether directivity is important - it certainly is not as important as Mr FOMO imagines. It is one of many important criteria. He even fails to realize that it changes dramatically over a wide range of frequencies. His charts only show three ill defined points. He has another "expert"who suggests that a mid range dip on a Klipsch speaker can be electronically corrected yet that is only partially true - what happens to phase response then? Speakers are incredibly complex to analyze and you should audition them in person. That actually is the best way. A larger question remains: Mr FOMO's relationship to Genelec who he seems to be touting.
Audiophiles don’t choose speakers for a specific sound character. That is a misrepresentation. This review is distortion in itself. Narrow dispersion requires broad aperture and none of the speakers discussed are that.
I am using edifier r2000db shelf speaker for my use with optical. Fits the tv cabinet very well and sounds nice. At least i don't have to worry with those arc/earc hdmi issues.
@Stop The FOMO Value Electronics has the prices up for the LG C1 55” $1,399, 65” $2,299, and 77” $3,499 and I believe the G1 77” $4,299. Make a video explaining the differences! No one has made a video in actual prices yet, be the first!!!
I can't listen to home consumer speakers anymore. For me the best speakers for home theater must be a high output high spl with high clarity abilities. The only speakers can achieve that is commercial cinema speakers.
Fourteen speakers is nothing that I want in my living room. The next model of Dolby will probably need more. It is all silly to me when a simple 4.1 setup is perfectly adequate. Especially if it is just you watching or listening. No need for a centre speaker at all. Bullets whizzing past my head don't matter to me. I'm more of a story person than a hyper-critical technical person. I like good sound and my main speakers are Magnepans. But buying a new AVR and a giant collection of speakers just for the latest "whiz bang" effects is marketing overkill to me. Call me a Luddite if you like but I'm a trained audio engineer and Dolby Atmos is gross overkill for a home theatre. 😜😜😜
Like FOMO, I'm a fan of accurate high fidelity reproduction, even for music, but definitely for home theater. And that's why I like active studio monitors, which are the very accurate speakers that are often used by audio professionals. But the Genelec monitors seem over-priced. And ugly. Shop around and you can find other active studio monitors that are both more affordable and have a better look. Oh, and be careful, I've seen some cheap speakers that call themselves studio monitors that don't have what you want. Make sure each monitor uses a Linkwitz-Riley audio crossover and separate dedicated internal amplifiers for each driver (woofer and tweeter). This is called "bi-amplification" or "bi-amping". And you probably want this done inside the speaker, not at your receiver. Why? Because every passive studio monitor (speaker) that can support both normal and bi-amp inputs includes internal passive crossover networks. Removing the external input bridges does not disable this passive crossover. And making an accurate passive crossover network is very expensive; think 10x the price for the same performance from an active crossover.
Hi Fomo, if I'm eating penutbutter and spinach sandwich every day to build muscle will it matter if I'm lifting 2016 model tvs as opposed to lifting theb2021 models to gain strength and size?
Hates Klipsch 🙄🙄🙄. You need to study more on how to place speakers. Harmon makes a great app. Get it. Your approach to sound is also lazy. It’s ok, definitely no where near fomo. Stick with displays
