Home-theater solutions in action

As I mentioned in a previous posting, my parents invested in a new home theater system just last fall. And there was definitely a wow period. Not only did the old entertainment center’s replacement by a wall-mounted flat-panel HDTV and low credenza dramatically change the feel of the living room, but the full HD picture offered by the pairing of the Blu-ray player and 52” Sony LCD certainly gave movie night a super charge.
But once the initial stupefaction had run its course, it was extremely educational to sit down and hear how my father had paired what he had learned researching today’s A/V offerings with both his and my mother’s tastes and the specific application to their living room. As it turned out, the combination just a few components and a few technologies resulted in a well-tailored fit.

Let’s start with the HDTV. My dad had been leaning toward the 46” Sony KDL-XBR6 LCD panel, both because of its performance with fast-action scenes and because of LCD’s generally better performance in rooms with higher levels of ambient light. However, upon their trip to the Helena Vann’s store, as soon as my mom beheld the behemoth 52” version, there was no decision to be made. And in all reality, this panel-size upgrade was a better fit to their needs — given their average viewing distance, the 46” may not have offered the same viewing experience to those seated furthest from the TV. (FYI: for optimal viewing, it is recommended that your viewing distance be between 1.5 and 3 times the diagonal measurement of the TV’s screen.)

Moving onto the audio side of things, given the layout of my parents’ living room, a full 5.1- or 7.1-channel surround sound system with independent speakers just wasn’t a practical option. Consequently, my day chose to investigate sound bars. These single-speaker units use multiple drivers to create a surround sound effect in the listening area. Some sound bars achieve this via directionality — i.e. by bouncing sound around the room so that surround channels literally “arrive” at your ears from different locations. Another class of sound bar relies on psychoacoustic principles and the timing of sounds to achieve simulated surround sound. Given that a stone fireplace makes up three quarters of one of the living room’s sidewalls (the other is drywall), it seemed unlikely that sound could be expected to bounce equally off of each wall. As a result, my folks opted for a Definitive Technology Mythos SSA-50 sound bar to achieve surround sound via signal timing.

Finally, that darling decimal of home theater, that little “.1” in 5.1- and 7.1-channel configurations . . . the subwoofer. A low oak credenza with three outward-facing compartments — one with a framed-glass door — house the receiver, Blu-ray player, power conditioner, movie library, and the sub. Typically, subwoofers are designed with one of two driver configurations: down-firing or front-firing. All this terminology refers to is the direction in which the powered driver faces. In general, the low-frequency bass audio reproduced by subwoofers has extremely low directionality, that is, its sound tends to spread evenly throughout your listening area, making it more difficult to pinpoint its source. As a result, a down-firing design can be useful for adding a little directionality — and punch — by reflecting the sound off of the floor. However, when a down-firing sub is placed in a freestanding unit like a cabinet — or in this case credenza — there’s a chance that either the cabinet itself or something in it will resonate with low-frequency audio. The resulting rattle or vibration, of course, is not a part of the surround sound experience. With this in mind, my folks opted for the 8” front-firing Velodyne DLS-3500R.
It’s pretty encouraging to see that today’s A/V offerings sport a diversity and versatility that make it possible — and easy — to customize an HD home theater to a person’s needs and preferences.