AV Home Theater Advice

I'm no "expert", but I have some knowledge, so take my comments for what it's worth (it's worth about as much as any guy on the internet giving you advice. lol.). I don't know what your level of knowledge of all this is, so when I comment, forgive me if it's beneath you.

1) That's an 11.2 which should be enough to power a 7.2.4 assuming your subs are going to have built-in amps (which I'm guessing they are). Compared to a Denon or Onkyo, it may be a bit overpriced, but if you're getting a refurb, it may be fine in terms of price. Make sure you're actually getting a deal on the Yamaha because new Denons and Onkyos go on pretty big sales throughout the year (especially Onkyos since their new lineup is supposed to be out by the end of the year or so, they've been discounting on and off through various dealers the past few months.). The other thing you may want to research is whether or not Yamaha has kicked the bugs out of the A8A - I recall them having all kinds of issues on release a few years ago. Note : all these brands have some type of issues. I stayed away from Onkyos because of all the failures and bugs in their receivers from a few years ago. They were cutting edge back then, but also cutting edge on bugs. I hear they may have improved lately(?).

2) The theory says if you can't keep the LRC speakers the same speaker, to keep them the same manufacturer and family for best sound, and the majority of people do, but there are people that mix and match and don't seem to notice a difference. Most of the reasoning is for "timbre matching" (assuming that's still a thing). The center can be a different speaker in the same brand/family as the LR, but you can easily get away with the same speaker for all 3 (assuming the center speaker won't be some wonky design - which gets further into the weeds of audio theory and whether anybody can tell without A/B testing of speakers). The reason some people go with with a larger or "better" center channel is because, if you're using it for home theater, the saying is that the center and the subwoofer(s) are the 2 speakers that are most important because of the voice/dialog coming out of the center and the baaaasssss coming from the sub.

3) This is the one I have least experience with, but : I'd look in the manual for what the min impedance per channel would be for the speakers first and/or contact Yamaha. I have no idea about that particular receiver. If it were me, like I said above, I'd keep all the speakers in the same family, though. KEF is a really good brand, but if you're like me, while watching movies, damn near any speaker system will sound pretty damn good unless you do an A/B test. But I'm no audiophile. lol. The reason I say this is because back in 2004, I put together a 7.1 in-wall/in-ceiling surround with the LR bookshelf/1 center channel speaker system from HTD.com that cost peanuts (they were $160/pair for the in-wall/in-celing 8" woofer speakers), then splurged (at the time) on an SVS sub. The speakers aren't in ideal positions (side surrounds are a bit too forward and way too high, the rear surrounds are actually in the ceiling, etc.) aaaaand.... I've loved it, and it's been my home theater system for about 20+ years now. However, I'm about to install a 7.1.4 that may move to a 7.2.4 system where I'll move up in speaker quality. I honestly think I'm wasting money. LOL.

4) The general theory is that you can "cheapen out" on the Atmos speakers a bit since there aren't a ton of movies that take advantage of it, and if they do, it's for some ambient overhead sounds like rain or something, but don't go too cheap. The other thing is try to adhere to Dolby's placement suggestions and aim/angle them correctly. There are people that use the speakers and say they don't get much from them and others that say they're life-changing. lol.

5) Along the lines of 1) above, don't let the names make you decide what speakers you want. There are people getting Bowers & Wilkins, Martin Logan, Focal, etc. in-walls that pay for the name, but when you look at the frequency responses and "spinoramas" on those speakers as reviewers like to do, they don't seem like they should be paying anywhere near what they're paying, but sound is subjective, I guess. If you go with some Klipsch or *gasp* Polk speakers, you'll probably be just as happy. You could always go with a brand/store that offers you something like a trial period or something if you need to return it.

6) A lot of installers/online dealers offer big discounts over buying from places like Best Buy, Crutchfield, or other brick & mortar stores. This is on some speakers, not all. My speakers are all Revel in-walls and in-ceiling speakers (except for the sub), but you're not using in-walls from what I can tell, and a lot of what kind, what size, and what brand of speakers you can use is determined by stuff like your room dimensions and volume.


If you haven't already, go check out forums like avsforum.com (there are people putting together anywhere from $1000 systems to $1,000,000+ systems on there... lol) and audiosciencereview.com (these guys really get in the weeds in terms of reviewing/technical analysis... be careful). Also check out subreddits related to home theater, but again ... be careful there, too.

 

Last time I did serious HT research tech was around 5.1/7.1 so ~25 years ago, so take anything I say with proper amounts of salt.

The reason for wanting your front 3 speakers to match is in movies it's pretty common for things to move from horizontally, and you don't want the sound to be drastically different going from side to center back to side. Usually the center speaker in the same series will use the same tweeter/driver configuration to keep things matched. It sounds like you were originally planning to get the older Q6 version. Do you know if the Q6 and Q6 meta share the same tweeter/driver? If not, then you may want to keep looking for a Q6, or upgrade the l/r to Q3 meta too.

My belief is that speakers are more critical for music compared to HT, but getting good speakers never hurt. Depending on how much time and effort you want to spend on this, it would be best to take your own material (music/movies) to stores where you can actually do comparisons in order to know what you like. Unfortunately, I suspect brick&mortar HT stores are probably hard to find nowadays. It's been awhile since I went, but Best Buy Magnolias may still have Kefs available to demo. Audio quality is highly subjective, and what one random person recommends on the internet may not suit your tastes.

Unless you plan to listen to stuff at super loud volumes, I wouldn't really worry all that much about wattage/impedance/etc. Since you're looking at Q3s, I'm also assuming your room isn't particularly large, and I think most receivers will be perfectly fine to pair with Kef Qseries. Pulling up a random whathifi review for the q3 meta mentions 50W/ch and 30W/ch receivers as being perfectly fine. It seems like the Yamaha is a $3k+ receiver? I feel like that may be a bit overkill, unless that's the minimum to meet the multi-room/atmos spec. Personally, I would probably budget more towards speakers, especially if you value music quality. Electronics break down a lot more often, or standards may change, while good speakers will last forever. Personally I haven't done enough demoing or research to determine whether dolby atmos 7.2.4 is worth the trouble or if it's just marketing gimmicks. I'd even question whether 7.1 will be that noticeably better than 5.1, especially if you don't have a room where you can optimize the placement.

When I first researched and put together my HT, I probably listened to over 10+ speaker brands, and settled Kef Q35s for R/L/SR/SL and Q95 Center. Had those for probably around 20 years, before I decided to upgrade to Kef R500s. My daughter pushed over one of my Q35s, and if you played a very specific frequency, it'd make a slight buzzing sound. Didn't happen often, but gave me the excuse I needed to upgrade. The unique thing about Kef speaker design is their uni-q array, which puts the tweeter in the middle of the driver. In theory this widens the sweet spot and makes placement/orientation less sensitive compared to other brands.

 

Just use tv speakers breh...

 

I have a DENON X3800H and a 5.1 setup with PSB speakers and a SVS subwoofer.
I got the Denon on sale for $1000.

 

That Yamaha is a $3k retail receiver, I think, but it was on sale for under $2k recently (like a few days ago) - which is rare for Yamahas from what I saw while waiting for my Denon x3800h to go on sale.

Also agree completely with the home theater vs. music-only crowd. Most people are trying to crank up their audio for the sound effects on a home theater setup. The only speaker that probably give them a "wow" effect is the sub. Especially on scenes where there's a infrasound sequence that makes their chests rumble (Sauron's ring drop in LOTR, opening subwoofer destroyer in Edge of Tomorrow, etc.) without really hearing anything or there's a bass sweep that makes them think the walls are about to cave in. But subs capable of doing that well ain't cheap.

Really really agree about the wattage wars on receivers. Since most people don't listen at anywhere near reference levels, the difference between listening on a 95w/channel receiver and a 150w/channel receiver is negligible for sound output for most people since the increase in wattage accounts for a small increase in loudness and only if you're cranking the hell out of the receiver.

Also agree about the 7.1 vs 5.1 vs 7.2.4 vs. whatever.whatever.whatever. A lot of it depends on speaker placement. Even a $5000 sub may not sound like you want it to sound because of something like a room mode destroying bass frequencies where you happen to be sitting, but you move the sub a couple of feet over or from the back wall to the center of another wall and all of a sudden you hear bass you hadn't heard before. There are just situations where you want to go with 7.x.x, but space dictates the best sound will be a 5.x.x system. I had to talk a friend into a 5.x surround instead of a 7.2.4 because his side surround, rear surrounds and ceiling atmos speakers would all be smashed up against the back wall.... where his seating was smashed up against (yikes). His room was just too small to do what he wanted to do and he'd be wasting money on speakers to get worse sound.

 

FYI : I believe the A8A I saw a few days ago on sale for around $1800 was a new one (I think it was at Adorama - I was never a big fan of them, but others say they order there with no issues and are legit). At the end of last year, around Christmas, it was $2000 at BHPhotovideo.com (they're very legit - I've ordered from them for years with no issues). May want to keep an eye on sites like SlickDeals (that's where I was keeping watch on various receivers before buying my x3800h back in November... which I still haven't used yet. )

 

Nope! Sounds great IMO.

X3800H has been solid.
I have a sealed sub https://www.svsound.com/products/sb-2000
Could have went with PB-2000 but I like how the SB sounded after trying both.

The center channel is the key speaker. I want to upgrade mine.

 

Haven't kept up with them recently, but my 1st(and only) sub was a SVS 20-39 PC, the first generation sub with integrated amplifier. Unfortunately I had to give it up when I moved, and my currently living accommodations aren't really suitable for that kind of monstrosity, unless I want to piss off all my neighbors. That sub taught me that bass is meant to be felt, not heard :-D

Also a fan of PSBs, my final choice at the time was basically between PSBs and Kefs.

One anecdote I have about Yamahas is that I had a friend in college who put together a super budget HT setup with Radioshack Optimus speakers + entry Yamaha receiver. That receiver would always shut down every time we hit that scene in Gladiator where Maximus was fighting the guy with the silver mask and used his shield to hit him in the face. Something about that frequency or power output would push the receiver past its limits.

 

I stream my TV audio through my guitar amp.

 

I once read something like this happening to someone's system during explosion scenes and it ended up being fixed by replacing the speaker wire.

Heeey, that's my current sub! I've been using it since 2005. I still remember when I tested it for the first time after receiving it by cranking the gain all the way up and putting in Lord of the Rings and a scene where the "elephants" or something were marching. Jesus, I stood outside and realize the windows were rattling. I ran back in to turn it down. Never again. Dropped the gain down to half for the rest of the time I've owned it. And that was in a roughly 20x20 living room that opened up into a kitchen.

Since you gave an anecdote, I'll do it as well : about 5 years ago, I was about to go in for a surgery that might relegate me to a lot of resting immediately afterwards and no strenuous activity, so I figured I may as well watch some movies afterwards. I turned on that sub and my receiver and popped a dvd in to make sure everything was working and setup since I wouldn't be able to crawl around troubleshooting. And, of course, the sub wouldn't even turn on. After about 16 years, the sub had bit the bullet at the worst time. I asked around on forums if it would be better to replace the amp or just buy a new sub. SVS said they'd send me a new/improved amp for something like $400 if I recall. I was going to jump on the amp, have them send it to me, and replace it myself when I got another response from a guy that said he had an old prototype amp that would work in the sub he would send to me. I was kind of scared to use a prototype amp (what if it goes up in flames? lol). He said he wouldn't be able to guarantee how long it would work. I asked him "how much?" He said, don't worry about it - just give him my address and he'd send it to me after cleaning it up a bit. Said the potentiometers would probably need replacing but he didn't have any, but it still should work fine for a while, as is, at least. I thought "SCAM!" but then I noticed the guy had a ton of posts on the forum, so more than likely he was legit, so I said "ok, just let me know how much the shipping is" and gave him my address.

Later he just said that he had tested it for 2 days and they'd clean it off the crud from it (since it was pretty old by that time), then ship it, and that it should arrive by the weekend. I was like "damn, guess he doesn't want me to pay for the shipping, either?" This really started sounding odd because why would this guy who seems to be working for some other company have a prototype or old variant of an old SVS amp that I could use and be willing to send it to me for free AND cover the shipping? What's more, in the email exchanges we had, he was often recommending products from other manufacturers like SVS, Hsu Research, etc. (and still does) for my needs and if I was looking for value.

I knew his name because it was his handle on the forum - Tom Vodhanel. I had googled and found out he was the owner/founder of Power Sound Audio - a loudspeaker company I hadn't heard of until that point since I don't actively follow home theater stuff (due to my fear of continually spending on upgrades, mostly. lol.). But to end the anecdote, Todd Vodhanel was the "V" in SVS. He was one of the two founders the company was named after. Which explained why he had the thing lying around and was willing to ship it to me for free. He left and started Power Sound Audio. At that point I said my next sub will be a PSA sub (and that might be soon) since he did something he had no need to do. I've been eyeing a couple of their subs, but it's hard to do so since that old amp in the 20-39 PC is still kicking 5 years later.

 

Apparently 100 inch tvs are the new 65 inch TVs

 

You should start with a small two channel system and build from there. I’d suggest a trinnov 48ext for your pre/pro. This will give you plenty of headroom for future expansion. For amplification, I’d suggest a couple of Boulder 3050 monoblocks, and for speakers, I’d go with a pair of Magico M9’s ( much better wife approval factor than Wilson WAMM master chronosonics) They actually require bi-amplification, so you’ll actually need four of those Boulder monoblocks, but the sound should be pretty good. You can add speakers, more amplification and subs later.

 

He's looking for a pistol and you come in with Tsar Bomba as a suggestion.

 

Lol, I read halfway through your anecdote and thinking I bet it's Tom V! I remember him being quite active on HT forums. I remember pre-ordering the 20-39 PC since I didn't want to deal with the separate amp and got a pair of them to split with one of my friends. I still remember watching him treat it like a baby and seatbelting it into the backseat of his car to take back to Austin. Unfortunately there was something wrong with one of the subs, but they got me squared away pretty quickly. I think I had to swap out the amp to fix the issue. Later on they had an upgrade program where you could swap out the driver I think. I did it not because I needed it or because I thought I could tell the difference, but just because it was a reasonable price and I could :-D

 

@Kevooooo, here you go - something to aspire to. Or die from. Whatever. You need 24 24" subs. Quite possibly the most insane setup I've ever seen. 155+ dB @ possibly down to 5Hz in the space of a master bedroom. It's like a suicide chamber.