Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with surround and audio

The sound from a movie download comes out of two speakers, but what about 5.1?

skylar — Mon, 04 May 2009 03:29:35 -0800

These days a lot of movie viewing takes place from digital files sitting on a computer and downloaded from BitTorrent. In this environment, is it worth having a 5.1 type surround sound audio decoder? Do most of the movie files on BitTorrent come encoded as multi-channel surround sound these days? And to output 5.1 digital surround from a computer what does one need? A special sound card? Some kind of surround sound decoder separate attached to the computer via its optical out?

Best places to talk Home Audio?

Phyltre — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:42:05 -0800

What and where are the best audio/home theater discussion groups/forums for someone wanting to learn about said items? I'm working in big-box retail (and loving it, thank you very much), and there are some extremely tempting Employee Accommodations available to me. I've been looking at home audio a lot recently, and this cements it--I'm definitely buying when the components cost between 50 and 75% less than retail.

The catch is, I don't know very much about home audio. I've googled the models, and gotten some information. I've googled for audio and home theater forums as well (with tons of results), but I don't know who to trust or respect. That's where I need your help. What and where are the best audio/home theater discussion groups and forums, so I can get good advice and not waste my once-a-year accommodations purchase or, at worst, buy the wrong thing and burn the house down?

(Because I know you'll ask: My preliminary plan is to get a Harman Kardon AVR-144 receiver with two Klipsch RF-82 floorstanders and an RW10d sub. Price to me: roughly $700 for everything. Yes, this will be an ad-hoc 2.1 system on a 5.1 receiver, but I'm not buying everything at once for budgeting reasons.)

2.0 + 3.1 = ?

daver — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 12:30:14 -0800

Surround Sound 2.0 setup: What do I do w/ my new amp and old speakers? I have 2 old Boston Accoustic "a150" 100 watt speakers, and a powered yahama 'inline' subwoofer. My old amp is dead, now I have a new (to me) Denon AVR-2700 surround sound amp.
Basic question: do I now also need 3+1 more speakers to make life complete? Or can I get reasonable performance from my old speaker setup?

Additional info: I'm just fine with how music and movies sounded on my old Stereo amp.

Extracredit:
* If I need 5.1 speakers, do I need to go out and get matched speakers, or can I use my 2 A150s as 'fronts'
* Is it reasonable to run my built in TV speaker (from a huge old Toshiba Cinema Series TV) as my 'center' channel?
* What am I loosing out on if I don't move to a 5.1 speaker setup?

Thanks in advance...

Help me wire this crazy-ass layout for surround sound...

twiggy — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 20:32:20 -0800

Help me inexpensively and at least somewhat discreetly wire my place for surround. The problem: Really challenging room layout and a tight budget. The short version of what I'm looking for is:
- Recommendations of quality but affordable speaker cable (please, no Monster)
- Ideas on how to find out if/how I can drill into the soffit safely (if you need pics, I can put some up)
- Ballpark figures on having a room wired for surround if you've had it done
- Creative ideas for semi-attractively achieving this wiring without going into the wall
- Or .. point me to a magical tool that will let me go through the wall with minimal damage and easy/inexpensive repairs?
- I already have the surround system, and I'm house-poor - please do not recommend I purchase wireless speakers

The more detailed notes with regard to this challenge:
- Floors are hardwood, I can't tuck wiring under baseboards or carpet, unfortunately
- It shouldn't make a huge difference, but the system I have is 6.1 surround (3 rears), not just 5.1
- Ceilings are somewhat high (9 feet). There is a soffit running around the perimeter (from the left of the entertainment center toward right, all the way around the wall with the balcony doors, and over to the kitchen), but it is unclear if I can drill into this soffit safely. Ductwork definitely runs through it, but it seems awfully big for all of that space to be air duct. Is there a safe way to find out if/how/where I can drill in and pull cables?
- Note all the doorways / hallways in the floorplan below. I was going to buy that white conduit-type tubing you can run along your trim, but it seems like it'd look awfully goofy going around so many doors or hallway openings. Please excuse my really crappy and not at all to scale MS Paint mockup of the room's floorplan:

- I'm very house-poor having just spent most of my savings on this condo, so I'm afraid spending several hundred dollars having an electrician pull cables is probably out of the question, though I don't know how much that costs.

I fully understand that waiting until I have the money to have a professional run cables is an option. However, I have 2 cats and leaving the wiring running all over the floor temporarily is not really an option as they like to muck with things once in a while, so right now I can't hook up the speakers at all. I'm really really missing the ability to listen to music and watch movies with decent sound.