2.1 Sound Set Up Advice

[Unkindness]

Hello all,

i am looking to get some work done on my house soon and part of my plan is to have a half decent sound set up for a office/tv room/sitting area at the back of my house. It will mainly be used for sport/motorsport watching and gaming. I had toyed with a 5.1 surround set up but with the size of the room, it would be a bit pointless. I am looking to do a 2.1 instead with some decent studio monitors and subwoofer which will all be fed audio by a Strix Soar soundcard since my PC.

I hopefull have about 10ish ft/3ish meters square room to be able to space out the monitors with the sub in the middle of the room underneat a TV on the wall and my desk and PC set up. Would this sort of arraning set up a decent sound? anyone got a good reccomdation from their own setup? I want to go wired also weather its optic or XLR.

Cheers!

[Entropy.]

9 hours ago, Unkindness said:

Hello all,

i am looking to get some work done on my house soon and part of my plan is to have a half decent sound set up for a office/tv room/sitting area at the back of my house. It will mainly be used for sport/motorsport watching and gaming. I had toyed with a 5.1 surround set up but with the size of the room, it would be a bit pointless. I am looking to do a 2.1 instead with some decent studio monitors and subwoofer which will all be fed audio by a Strix Soar soundcard since my PC.

I hopefull have about 10ish ft/3ish meters square room to be able to space out the monitors with the sub in the middle of the room underneat a TV on the wall and my desk and PC set up. Would this sort of arraning set up a decent sound? anyone got a good reccomdation from their own setup? I want to go wired also weather its optic or XLR.

Cheers!

Well first and formost, do you have any sort of budget? Even if you're not quite sure, just list a budget you're comfortable with and we can go from there (please include currency, as well). You should be able to make something work in your setup. If you can, it'd be helpful to know how far away you'd be from the speakers while listening in most cases, and possibly how much space you could put between the speaker and the back wall. 

[Unkindness]

1 hour ago, Entropy. said:

Well first and formost, do you have any sort of budget? Even if you're not quite sure, just list a budget you're comfortable with and we can go from there (please include currency, as well). You should be able to make something work in your setup. If you can, it'd be helpful to know how far away you'd be from the speakers while listening in most cases, and possibly how much space you could put between the speaker and the back wall. 

Biggest distance between the two monitors will be about 10ish ft/3ish meters if I can mount them in the corners of the room (or have on stands). Ideally want them in the very corner of the room but open to plans. Where I'll be mainly sitting will be back against the wall opposed the speakers so about 10ish ft/3ish meters I guess as it is being planned as a 10ish ft/3ish meters square area. Suppose budget will be under €1000 as I'm not looking for concert quaility, just something above average if possible. I have added a very crude drawing of what I am thinking about. Where I'd be sitting is X, TV is green box, sub is triangle and speakers are red dots.

[OfficialTechSpace]

Powered monitors (6.5-8 inch), add a powered sub (10-12 inch).

 

Something like the Mackie MR624/MR824's plus the MRS10 sub might suit you well at that budget

 

I use the MR524's as nearfield monitors with an MRS10 sub at my desktop. You would definitely benefit from the larger displacement of the 6.5-8 inch variants though.

 

And add a DAC... just something cheap though, no need to get fancy.

[Unkindness]

17 hours ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

Powered monitors (6.5-8 inch), add a powered sub (10-12 inch).

 

Something like the Mackie MR624/MR824's plus the MRS10 sub might suit you well at that budget

 

I use the MR524's as nearfield monitors with an MRS10 sub at my desktop. You would definitely benefit from the larger displacement of the 6.5-8 inch variants though.

 

And add a DAC... just something cheap though, no need to get fancy.

Any chance of a pic of your set up?

[OfficialTechSpace]

4 hours ago, Unkindness said:

Any chance of a pic of your set up?

 

I have an SMSL Sanskrit 10th MKII DAC going into an isolation module to help kill any annoying hums, then out to the sub, then outputting from the sub to the monitors using TRS cables  If I had to recommend doing anything differently though, I might suggest going full-balanced (I use an unbalanced RCA DAC).

[Unkindness]

15 hours ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

I have an SMSL Sanskrit 10th MKII DAC going into an isolation module to help kill any annoying hums, then out to the sub, then outputting from the sub to the monitors using TRS cables  If I had to recommend doing anything differently though, I might suggest going full-balanced (I use an unbalanced RCA DAC).

Strangely enough, your set up is pretty much what I had planned! Since I will have the room, the only difference would be a larger desk since my missus will be using it as a work from home set up too. What is the difference between ballanced an unballanced?

[OfficialTechSpace]

4 hours ago, Unkindness said:

What is the difference between ballanced an unballanced?

Well an unbalanced cable uses 2 wires internally rather than the 3 found on a balanced cable. One part carries the majority of the signal, and the other carries the remainder while also attempting to shield the other.

 

Because of that, they are more susceptible to picking up on outside noise and interference, whereas a balanced cable uses 2 dedicated signal wires, and 1 as a shield. Balanced cables are also typically capable of louder outputs due to their ability to send 2 in-phase signals (more voltage yields greater output, roughly 6-10 dB difference). 

 

Using balanced XLR outputs on a DAC to the sub, followed by balanced XLR or TRS cables to the monitors would result in the best case scenario for that system.

[Unkindness]

1 hour ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

Well an unbalanced cable uses 2 wires internally rather than the 3 found on a balanced cable. One part carries the majority of the signal, and the other carries the remainder while also attempting to shield the other.

 

Because of that, they are more susceptible to picking up on outside noise and interference, whereas a balanced cable uses 2 dedicated signal wires, and 1 as a shield. Balanced cables are also typically capable of louder outputs due to their ability to send 2 in-phase signals (more voltage yields greater output, roughly 6-10 dB difference). 

 

Using balanced XLR outputs on a DAC to the sub, followed by balanced XLR or TRS cables to the monitors would result in the best case scenario for that system.

Cool. So my plan would be to run something like a yamaha 2.1 like this:

 

https://www.gear4music.ie/Recording-and-Computers/Yamaha-HS7-Active-Studio-Monitors-with-HS8-Powered-Subwoofer/2SRX

 

and the idea would be to run full XLR with an auto source (sound card optical output) being fed to something like a Geshelli J2:

 

https://geshelli.com/j2

 

and we're golden?

 

[OfficialTechSpace]

5 hours ago, Unkindness said:

and we're golden?

Pretty much, although after doing more research you'll find that people typically recommend the Mackies over the Yamahas because they sound a bit dull and don't extend as far into the low-end. Plus the Mackie are cheaper in most places

 

This is a comparison review between the HS5 and the MR524, but the main consensus remains true... that's why I bought them:

http://digitalstereophony.blogspot.com/2019/05/mackie-mr524-or-yamaha-hs5-short.html?m=1

[Unkindness]

On 1/28/2022 at 3:11 AM, OfficialTechSpace said:

Pretty much, although after doing more research you'll find that people typically recommend the Mackies over the Yamahas because they sound a bit dull and don't extend as far into the low-end. Plus the Mackie are cheaper in most places

 

This is a comparison review between the HS5 and the MR524, but the main consensus remains true... that's why I bought them:

http://digitalstereophony.blogspot.com/2019/05/mackie-mr524-or-yamaha-hs5-short.html?m=1

Yamaha's are to hand where I am, and I also have a Yamaha dealer down the road from me if I ever have any issues, but my heart isn't set on anything yet right now. It'll be awhile before I'm purchasing my set-up. Thank you for all the input, mate! Been really helpful!

[H713]

Given that your room is as small as it is, you may find that adding a sub causes more problems than it solves.

Also, if it's the kind of thing you're interested in, there are some seriously good DIY speaker designs out on the web. The Zaph Audio SR-71 is a fantastic speaker for what it costs to build - you can buy kits at Madisound. I really like Zaph's Waveguide TMM and ZD5 designs, but they're both more expensive and much trickier to build. The SR-71 is a pretty easy build.

[H713]

20 hours ago, Unkindness said:

Yamaha's are to hand where I am, and I also have a Yamaha dealer down the road from me if I ever have any issues, but my heart isn't set on anything yet right now. It'll be awhile before I'm purchasing my set-up. Thank you for all the input, mate! Been really helpful!

I'm not a fan of the Mackies or the Yamahas, but I always thought the Yamaha HS5s were pretty fatiguing to listen to - rather bright, rather harsh.

[Unkindness]

On 1/30/2022 at 6:50 AM, H713 said:

Given that your room is as small as it is, you may find that adding a sub causes more problems than it solves.

Also, if it's the kind of thing you're interested in, there are some seriously good DIY speaker designs out on the web. The Zaph Audio SR-71 is a fantastic speaker for what it costs to build - you can buy kits at Madisound. I really like Zaph's Waveguide TMM and ZD5 designs, but they're both more expensive and much trickier to build. The SR-71 is a pretty easy build.

I won't lie, I've little to no interest in DIY set-ups. At this stage, I'd end up just paying as much where I am in import taxes and VAT on stuff I can't put my hand on than I would if I just bought speakers straight up from a company here.

[Unkindness]

On 1/30/2022 at 6:51 AM, H713 said:

I'm not a fan of the Mackies or the Yamahas, but I always thought the Yamaha HS5s were pretty fatiguing to listen to - rather bright, rather harsh.

I get the feeling the Yamaha's aren't as good as some of the reviews I was looking up. May need another think about what to go for.

Cheers for the advice!

[Entropy.]

11 minutes ago, Unkindness said:

I get the feeling the Yamaha's aren't as good as some of the reviews I was looking up. May need another think about what to go for.

Cheers for the advice!

Since everything in this hobby is so subjective and dependant on so many variables, it's really hard to determine your opinion regarding a certain speaker without, well, hearing them for yourself. If at all possible, see if there are any speaker retailers in your area, perhaps take a listen to a few speakers in your area that are within your budget. If you need to make a decision based purely on reviews and the such, try compiling a short list of general thoughts that each reviewer has, and sort out the general themes that appear. With any luck, those themes will be applicable in many different situations, to many different people. 

[H713]

9 hours ago, Unkindness said:

I get the feeling the Yamaha's aren't as good as some of the reviews I was looking up. May need another think about what to go for.

Cheers for the advice!

This is one case where I agree with AudioScienceReview. The frequency response for the HS5 is pretty much exactly what I expected it to be after hearing them.

 

I'll throw the DIY option out there - Zaph SR71s or a Bagby Mandolins are well within this price range, and they sound very, very good indeed.

[ShearMe]

And there's nothing wrong with a little bit of EQ!

[H713]

40 minutes ago, ShearMe said:

And there's nothing wrong with a little bit of EQ!

True, but some issues can't be fixed with EQ - there is only so much turd-polishing that can be done with it.

[Unkindness]

On 1/31/2022 at 8:14 PM, Entropy. said:

Since everything in this hobby is so subjective and dependant on so many variables, it's really hard to determine your opinion regarding a certain speaker without, well, hearing them for yourself. If at all possible, see if there are any speaker retailers in your area, perhaps take a listen to a few speakers in your area that are within your budget. If you need to make a decision based purely on reviews and the such, try compiling a short list of general thoughts that each reviewer has, and sort out the general themes that appear. With any luck, those themes will be applicable in many different situations, to many different people. 

I do have a Yamaha dealer nearby with a sound room, but not sure if they have monitors set up or if it's just their home set up range. There are a few speaker shops around me, so will take your advice on board. Cheers man!

[Unkindness]

On 2/1/2022 at 6:06 AM, H713 said:

This is one case where I agree with AudioScienceReview. The frequency response for the HS5 is pretty much exactly what I expected it to be after hearing them.

 

I'll throw the DIY option out there - Zaph SR71s or a Bagby Mandolins are well within this price range, and they sound very, very good indeed.

DIY is out of the question for me. For every $50 I play for something from The States (which is where all the decent "budget friendly options" seem to be) I will pay another $20 in tax and import charges.

[Unkindness]

 

On 2/2/2022 at 2:41 AM, ShearMe said:

And there's nothing wrong with a little bit of EQ!

 

On 2/2/2022 at 3:21 AM, H713 said:

True, but some issues can't be fixed with EQ - there is only so much turd-polishing that can be done with it.

These 2 statements are very true. I like to think as myself as an enthusiastic fan of audio quality rather than an audiophile, so probably whatever I purchase, it'll be very amateur tuned for my listening.

Out of interest, do you think I would be better with a regular customer grade for my uses of games and motorsport noise enjoyment with a similar budget to my modest studio monitor set up? I still will only be doing a 2.1 at the very most.

[H713]

4 hours ago, Unkindness said:

DIY is out of the question for me. For every $50 I play for something from The States (which is where all the decent "budget friendly options" seem to be) I will pay another $20 in tax and import charges.

You'd have to look at who your local distributors are. Seas (Norway) ScanSpeak (Denmark) and SB Acoustics (Denmark/Indonesia) have distributors all over the world. There are plenty of valid reasons not to go the DIY route, but look at your more local distributors before assuming you have to import from the US.

[Unkindness]

On 2/7/2022 at 6:29 PM, H713 said:

You'd have to look at who your local distributors are. Seas (Norway) ScanSpeak (Denmark) and SB Acoustics (Denmark/Indonesia) have distributors all over the world. There are plenty of valid reasons not to go the DIY route, but look at your more local distributors before assuming you have to import from the US.

I get you but in even Europe, if a supplier in a different tax has a higher tax rate than Ireland where I am, I get no benefit as I have to pay the higher rate (Norway and Denmark VAT is about 25%). If it's lower, I have to pay the difference between VAT rates. If a company brings in components from outside of EU, I get hit with the import duties + VAT differences + possible charges from the post office to take payment off me. Buying from Germany, for instance, I pay an extra 3-5% on what a German citizen does because of the different VAT rates on top delivery costs and that's even if they deliver to little old Ireland. It takes so much longer for logistics to get here since most companies now avoid the UK, they just don't deliver here.