re: New Home - Outfit My Home Audio

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That quip works for some things but I would be interested in hearing your argument for it when applied to Dolby Atmos or any other object based surround sound codecs, specifically regarding the number of speakers.

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how many speakers do you need lining your walls & ceiling in your living room??

you'd be better off installing a 5.1 in a proper home theater room than installing a bazillion speakers in your living room...because atmos.

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For 99.99999% of home applications a properly set up 7.1 or 7.2 setup

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7.1 and up is like 4K HDR. the content is 'out there' but we're living in a 1080p/5.1 world.

i have found serving 4K from Plex is iffy at best right now.

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how many speakers do you need lining your walls & ceiling in your living room??

you'd be better off installing a 5.1 in a proper home theater room than installing a bazillion speakers in your living room...because atmos.

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It all comes down to priorities. Most people I know use a simple sound bar (if that) with their main display, they simply don't care about the sound that much.

I was initially confused why you mentioned 5.1 in a dedicated HT since this would be rather odd for someone to do but I think you may mean that 5.1 in a dedicated HT might sound better than say 11.1 in a living room. I can see the argument if the HT is a fully treated room but maybe only 10% of dedicate HTs have proper room treatments.

If a person does not have a dedicated HT AND cares about the audio quality while watching movies 9 or 11 speakers can make a huge improvement in the immersion value of the audio even in a relatively small room. This can be done with minimal visual intrusion if one so desires. The reality is Atmos and other object-based surround methods produce the biggest increases in immersion and quality in non-dedicated spaces that aren't designed and treated for the best acoustics.

In the end, it is all about what makes an individual happy. There are people happy to drive a 15 year old Camry but won't dice an onion with anything less than a Nesmuk Exklusiv knife. Generally, with AV questions I will give advice that leads to the best quality picture and sound within a budget. This can be adjusted based on WAF and convenience parameters if needed. There are lots of things in the tech world that $ per unit of performance is relatively closely related, video is to some degree but sound is full of snake oil and products whose prices are not remotely related to performance, many of which are actually Veblen goods. Give me a set of parameters and I will honestly try to provide quality solutions but I do understand most people don't care that much about the quality of audio in part because many have simply never heard good sound, most people were happy with their quality SD TVs until they saw HD.

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I can see the argument if the HT is a fully treated room but maybe only 10% of dedicate HTs have proper room treatments.

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i'd say the same thing about the local theater. :rimshot:

seriously, unless you're catching the movie new in the 'premium' theater auditorium you're relegated to the shitty rooms with a 70" screen and drop ceiling tiles missing.

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here are people happy to drive a 15 year old Camry but won't dice an onion with anything less than a Nesmuk Exklusiv knife.

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that guy is me and my 4runner is 20 years old. i hate spending money on commuter cars because they just get beat up. we have a fun BMW e30 we drive on the weekends.

one day i might try to set up a HT again but hell i barely get to enjoy anything these days with 4 kids with the speakers above a whisper after they're in bed unless you count 'blippi' and the 750th viewing of 'secret life of pets'.

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7.1 and up is like 4K HDR. the content is 'out there' but we're living in a 1080p/5.1 world.

i have found serving 4K from Plex is iffy at best right now.

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This is another argument that seems logical on the face but it fails to take into account upconversion. With video we face the chicken and egg dilemma from when I bought my first HDTV in 2001, there was very little 720 or 1080 content but it was coming. The cool thing was when I got the HDTV (a 65" rear projection Mitsubishi behemoth) the 480 programming for the most part looked far better than on a 480 native CRT. It is the same with a 4k (UHD) display with 1080 sources as long as the 1080 source isn't highly compressed. So even in a "1080" world 2160 still makes sense IF you care about the quality of the picture. Wide gamut color and HDR/Dolby Vision displays also make sense (not as much) since they tend to produce better picture with non-HDR content than SDR sets in the same price range. Though the video argument is somewhat moot since buying a new decent sized 1080 SDR set is almost impossible today.

On the audio side you also have the upconversion of 5.1 with codecs like Dolby Pro Logic IIz, so even if you only have 5 discrete channels (or even 2) you still get a significant advantage in presentation with 9 or 11 speakers. It is again similar to watching SD on a HD display the "upconversion" improves the soundfield significantly over 2, 5 or 7 channel audio.

Plex is indeed a poor 4k HDR platform but there are plenty of options that are extremely stable as long as you have decent down speed.

Again, I understand budget and how much they give a crap makes soundbars 2.1, 5.1 or 7.1 systems more attractive to a large portion of buyers BUT my recommendation was to run the wire for 11 speakers if the walls are open even if you don't plan to use them now. I stand by that, even in a living/family room. It is cheap and easy if the walls are open.

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Back to the OP what we don't know is size of the room? And how you will use the room? Is there a TV ? Bluray ? Strm box ? Game system ? Etc Do you need another zone or zones of audio/video ? Is that wired already ? Do you even Alexa bro ?

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the home will have structured cabling and the living area will be wired for 5.1 surround sound.

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The wires ran to the ceiling and a blank cover installed for now.

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If you already have this done just buy a AVR and some speakers. You already paid for the wiring and by blank covers I'm assuming you already have the speakers holes cut. Leaving the covers up is tacky so you might as well put in speakers. For what you would pay for just a Sonos playbar and sub you can have a decent little 5.1 with second zone and two speakers. Much more bang for your buck.

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Without knowing the room dimensions and how and if it opens to other areas and placement limitations it's silly to throw a blanket suggestion at him.

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Why did you delete your last post, I was interested in your 20 years of experience and wanted to respond to your points about not knowing more about the space and budget.

If you look back all I suggested was he wire for 11.1 if the walls were open. Then I suggested a AVR backbone with whatever number of speakers he was interested in or had budgeted for now. If he had seemed interested I would have dealt with all the relevant issues about his space.

99.9% of US homes built today have living areas large enough to gan benefit from a full complement of speakers for the object based codecs like Atmos at least IMO and most of the enthusiasts and installers I know. I have been in demos at CES and APOXNA with 30+ speakers in relatively small spaces and it works great, arguably better than large spaces.

Again, all I suggested was pre-wiring and had the OP come back interested in the AVR solution I would have delved deeper in terms of budget and space in order to make specific recommendations. He seemed to be headed in the Sonos direction so I didn't press him.

This thread is gaining some traction---I'll let all you guys pick mine apart and find all the deficiencies.

Tell me what I need to do to attain nirvana...






I'll start--I need to hang all the posters and art.


Your turn.