[rescue] OK, step one of the purge in New Jersey...

[Joshua D Boyd]

On Mon, Nov 05, 2001 at 07:07:35PM -0600, Derrick Daugherty wrote:
> It's rumored that around Mon, Nov 05, 2001 at 06:54:43PM -0500
> Joshua D Boyd <jdboyd at cs.millersville.edu> wrote:
> > 
> > I keep dreaming about adding digital inputs and maybe surround sound
> > decoding to my entertainment center amp.  I have a fairly nice 1970s
> > quadraphonic amp.  It sounds nice, and to my untrained eye, it appears to 
> 
> If you have separates as it is now just keep it that way.  Buy a decoder
> that sits upstream of your amp.  Add additional amps for the center and
> surrounds if you need them.  You can buy these pretty cheap nowadays and
> they'll just have pre-amp outs that you pop into your nice old beastie.
> Separates are pretty much the way to go.  Amps can be expensive, so
> you're one-up already.  btw, if you're going to do surrounds then you
> _have_ to have a center channel or it sounds like complete shit.  The
> center chan is the most important.  And all speakers should be exactly
> the same.  If not the same chasis atleast the same drivers inside.

I've yet to see an affordable surround sound decoder.  You have to
understand that my system has been carefully put together on an extremely
low amount of money.

My parents purchased a nice 27" TV with svideo in, and audio outputs that
are volume controlled from the remote.  This is the most expensive piece,
at $300.  The VCR was a $90 special, which scored well in CR, and seems to
be decent, although it has trouble with resetting the time on me (rather
it just looses the time altogether when it tries to resync with the PBS
station).  The DVD player was a $98 special, which I intend to work on
when the waranty runs out.  There are a number of things that can be done
to clean up the audio, although it isn't that bad to begin with.

The amp as I said before is a 1970s quadraphonic.  It has 4 inputs, and
with an external surround decoder, it works fine, except it is one chanel
short of being able to handle a center speaker.  However, the cost was $5
at a yard sale, and it has a reasonably good frequency response range.  No
obvious problem frequencies, and a nice warm sound and presence, all from
something that isn't a tube amp.

The speakers are a set of Sonys.  They are the weak point.  I have a
center speaker, and two surround speakers.  The speaker is setup as a sum
of the left and right.  I have yet to have any phase problems with it,
which kinda surprises me.  Anyway, these speakers cost me $20 from a semi
homeless guy.  The main complaint is that sometimes the bass response
doesn't hold up, particularly on films and music that feature a lot of
relentless bass.  It sounds like the venting is inadequate, and so too
much back presure is building up.  I probably have all the technical terms
wrong.  Adding a sub woofer (have one, but it needs a new cabinet) and a
crossover should help here.  Haven't really seen crossovers for cheap
either though.  I wonder how hard one would be to build.

So, I've spent under $250, and my parents contributed $300, and this is
certainly not fanatic quality, but it is far better than what most people
spend a lot more money on.

I don't know if I really want to move to full surround.  For one thing,
placing the surrounds would be tricky in the room, and for another, I
think I might prefer working on just making it the best possible stereo
system.  For one thing, it is my main non computer based music listening
system.  However, I know my mother would like full surround.  The
direction all depends on what gear I find at good prices.  It isn't likely
that I will find a set of 5 great speakers at what I consider to be an
acceptible price though.

-- 
Joshua D. Boyd