Date: 28 March 24, 03:02 AM
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 Christmas Gift Surprise



scuzzy


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So I was given a REALLY BIG surprise for Christmas, masterminded by my wife.

Like any other normal and reasonable man, I recognize Tombstone (Kurt Russell) as the greatest movie ever. While I wasn't paying attention (which is most of the time), my wife had our theater themed to the inside of Tombstone's Bird Cage Theater. She also gifted me a 75" Samsung 4K television.

There's still more work to do, including a canvass painting of Josephine Marcus for the back wall. I also plan to build a bar for the back half.

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Bill


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Holy cow, you must have been a really good boy!!! :D
More later I'm off for a session with my coach.
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scuzzy


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Bill


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The second time looking at the pictures, I'm impressed.  I hadn't realized you had been working on your theater and it looks great. Last I recall you mentioning the "basement" there was still concrete showing.  I particularly noticed the ceiling. Did you use sound dampening panels and all that stuff.

Now it's probably time to double the size of the sub-woofer and upgrade the JBLs!

Your HDTV is 10 inches bigger than mine and I will be interested in your impressions.  Aside from the number of seats it's like going out  to the movies.
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scuzzy


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I haven't done anything in the theater. That really was all spearheaded by my wife. I really didn't find out until Christmas day. The theater is in the basement and super easy to ignore unless you have a reason to go in there. The room itself has been finished since we purchase the home, but 3 of the walls are concrete behind the finished product. The theater is approximately 12' by 24', give or take.

There's nothing special about the ceiling. It's simple drywall. Sound dampening will come later as needed.

No need to upgrade the JBL XPL-160 speakers. Trust me in that they will bring the house down. Lol

It'll be awhile before I get the TV set up. There's simply too much on the plate right now, so it may be a couple weeks. I hope to pick up a miter saw today so that I can get busy building stuff.

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When I mentioned "upgrade the JBLs" I was talking about the surround stuff, not the Fronts.
But , wow, what a gift.
One word about the bar and seating.  Some of the
folks on the AVS forum talk about spending a lot of money on stuff to accommodate family and friends, only to discover that many of the seats go unused. 
Tonight, to celebrate your new toy, I'm going to watch Tombstone.
BTW my surround wiring and speakers are going in next Friday
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scuzzy


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Oh okay, I agree on upgrading the surround system. There's nothing in there at the moment. My current surround system is in my bedroom, so I'll have to start fresh. My intent will be to keep it as simple as possible.

Funny that I already considered that excessive seating would just go unused. I plan to mostly accommodate mostly me & my wife. As for a bar, it will be reasonable for my needs, etc.

I still enjoy Tombstone as much as the first day I watched it over 20 years ago. What a timeless movie.

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One of the lessons I learned this time is to use the same brand stuff.  See if you can find a Samsung AVR that's acceptable, and what ever else you might buy.  Individual components talk to each other.
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scuzzy


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Thanks, I will take that into consideration. However, I am more likely to take the simple approach of running everything through the television, and then running the TV signal through the amplifier. That is how I currently have it setup in my bedroom. It works exceptionally well for me, and the only thing I ever have to change on the amp is the volume.

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What do you do when you want to change audio format?
How old is your present AVR?  Lots of new capability in the new ones.  My Sony even supports Atmos, which is an interesting addition to the standard 5.2 or 7.1 system.
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I'm not sure what you mean by changing audio format. The Blu-Ray, Roku, etc., all feed directly to the TV, and my Sony amp simply decodes whatever signal the TV feeds to it. I was serious in that the only adjustment I ever make to the amp is the volume level. It sounds awesome as is.

The Sony amp I'm using is about 14 years old, but obviously I'll pick up a modern unit for the theater.

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You should understand I am an old newbe with most of this audio/video stuff. I spent a couple hours on the AVS forum trying to research the Atmos speaker impact on a standard system. Several members talked about having to change audio settings from Dolby Surround to Bitmap to "tell" the AVR  to play Atmos content.
I understand, I think, that my AVR changes format automatically, as well as changing sources automatically.  Maybe the comments I read were targeted for older systems. But it's easy to get confused.
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Now a day later, I understand that the devices you mentioned -Roku, Blu Ray etc.- are sources not formats.  When I push the Movie button on the AVR remote the default format is Dolby Surround, but there are several Dolby variations available and DTS, a competing format.  Using the Music button, the default format is Audio Enhancer, designed to upgrade music to near HD levels.  My question now is irrelevant, the AVR selects the format contained on/in the content -DVD or Blu Ray Movies or Music.

And BTW, according to my Sony manual, Dolby Surround recognizes Atmos content, making the information I was relying on from AVS  Forum wrong.
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scuzzy


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It all sounds complicated. Lol. My receiver automatically decodes the signal to the appropriate audio format. Music normally comes through in stereo, and movies that are coded with an HD signal come through in full surround. I don't do anything other than listen and enjoy.

I would have to dig out the remote for the receiver, as it's put away somewhere. I only have the volume control programmed on my universal remote. I know I might be missing some features, but my current setup works just fine for my needs. No doubt that once I start setting things up in the theater I'll poke at this more carefully.

My biggest concern is finding a receiver powerful enough to drive the JBL XPL-160 speakers. I had a powerful amp once, but that was nearly 25 years ago and I paid a mint for it. High quality receivers with massive capacitors are still in the thousands of dollars, which I'd rather not pay. The last amp that I had (I can't recall the brand) could be literally unplugged from the wall and would continue to play for 10 seconds or more until the capacitors drained.

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If you pick the right AVR, one option the SONY has is to allow dual or Bi-amps, one for each channel.  Maybe two lesser AVRs used together could solve your JBL problem?
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I ran out to buy a miter saw and I just got back home. While I was out I was giving this some thought. What is most likely to happen is that I will buy a complete system, including speakers, for the home theater. The JBL speakers will remain off to the side until I find the right stereo amp for them, even if it's a used amp. There will be no surround decoding or sub-woofers associated with them, and they will be used strictly for listening to CDs.

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Buying a complete system maybe will require a lot of trade offs, and maybe a tough decision.  I think it might be easier to separate the electronics from the speakers. If JBL has been your fav., might be worthwhile to buy all JBL and then match them with a brand of electronics. 

I think you might benefit from a free membership at the AVS Forum, if you aren't a member yet. https://avsforum.com/forum/index.php


Did you find a miter saw?
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scuzzy


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The problem is that the JBL XPL-160 speakers are a beast all by themselves, and they are designed to be driven hard. I will likely never have the funds to properly match them up to other speakers that can keep up, along with the required electronics. I believe keeping them separated on their own system will be best.

There is no hurry at the moment. I have plenty of time to give all of this serious consideration. Heck, I haven't even been back in the theater since Christmas day. Everything is still boxed up. Thanks for the link, I'll keep it in mind.

I'll start a new thread in Home Improvement on the miter saw.

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Nothing like jumping in with both feet!  But seriously a very nice, complete package.  If your serious, add 2 more Atmos speakers for the ultimate experience.  2 up front mounted over the towers and 2 mounted over the rear surrounds. You may never go to the movies again. 

Netflix is starting to show Atmos movies but there are restrictions at the moment
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I'm not holding my breath! But you have a good eye.....
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I completely forgot that I have a Yamaha RX-1130 that I bought in Germany in the early 1990s. It is an awesome, old-school unit with massive amounts of clean power, and is perfect for driving the JBL speakers. The tuner is not working so I'll take it in to my favorite repair shop this weekend.

It's been in storage for years and has a few smudges, but is otherwise in great condition.

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Wow, you actually have a repair shop?? Few and far between these days. I hope it works out for you.
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