Home Theatre Installers

[newtype85]

Hi fellow audio enthusiasts! I am currently renovating my new resale Condo and would like to install a 5.1.2 system.

Went down to Adelphi to speak to a few companies and found the price and offers from Alpha Audio to be very attractive. However, they do not provide installation services.

In such situations, can I check if there is any third party home theater installers who can advise on placement of speakers and the running of cables? I realised that most companies require you to buy their gear before they offer to install the speakers for you

 

[yves]

Alpha Audio equipment is the cheapest; a third-party home theater installer will not be cheap if you engage them.

I suggest you try checking out Absolute Sound, KEC or AV1 and buy the equipment from them. A 5.1.2 setup is not too difficult to setup so they will likely to help.

 

[petetherock]

Yep... if your gear is up to scratch, it's definitely worth it to hire someone.
Otherwise work with your contractor to install based on internet guidelines, good luck

 

[Audio]

Why are you asking for contractors when you are currently renovating your new home?

You can ask your contractor to do it, it is just mounting the speakers. Speaker mounts should be bought so that it can align the speakers in both axis, for aiming them to the Main Listening Position. (MLP)

Mark a spot on your home theatre viewing position (we call this a MLP, Main Listening Point), every speakers must point directly to this main listening position. This position is "3D" in space, that is, sofa position and ear's height.

Your positioning of the speakers can be found using this guide:-
Dolby Atmos® Home Theater Installation Guidelines

Make it 5.1.4, you need at least 4 overhead speakers as a minimum or else, it is just wasted effort. Make SURE you got independent safety anchor bolt wire loop installed. You cannot just rely on wall plug screw attachments, when it failed, the speakers will drop and will hurt someone.

(Audio)

PS: You can buy your speakers from Sound Decisions and they will take care of installation as a package.

 

[petetherock]

I suspect he's reusing his existing gear...

 

[Audio]

I suspect he's reusing his existing gear...

I didn't have that impression.....

Went down to Adelphi to speak to a few companies and found the price and offers from Alpha Audio to be very attractive. However, they do not provide installation services.

(Audio)

 

[newtype85]

Thank you very much for the advice so far! Just to clarify, I am purchasing new gear.

I am currently using a Samsung Q990B soundbar set. While very good, I think that I am actually missing what a full HT set can offer. Main thing is that the installation issue is giving me headaches.

I spoke to some interior designers, and some seemed to be okay with getting their contractors to install the speakers for me. Will speak to a few more shops first before deciding - I will try to update what comes out of this journey. I may just end up reusing my Q990B

 

[Audio]

Yes, it is difficult and troublesome. But the rewards would be justifible.

Like I said many times before, if all the speakers are set in place, you will find yourself placed inside a dome of sound. And you will laugh at yourself for making this statement:-

I may just end up reusing my Q990B

(Audio)

 

[petetherock]

Ah if you are getting everything, please involve your contractor, it's much cheaper..
Keep the soundbar for nights you just want some TV noise or simple stuff.. or transfer it to a bedroom

 

[ljming99]

Take the leap and just do it.

I also bought resale condo and i did a full house reno.

because condo has a higher ceiling height, i tored down all the exisiting false ceiling and install 4 height speakers. i also made use of the zone 2 and zone 3 of the AVR to also install ceiling speakers in the kitchen and masterbed room (i.e. i can play music or radio to whole house).

On top of that i routed all the cables to a full height wardrobe with built in shelves to hide all the cables and hdmi.

Also installed faceplate for the speakers cables and HDMI (fiber optic cable)

i went for a full 5.1.4 setup. You can use audio advice home theater design tool to plan the position of the speakers.

https://www.audioholics.com/home-theater-calibration/audio-advice-home-theater-designer-tool

 

[petetherock]

My signature should have a link to my setup and it can give you some ideas..

 

[8-lane]

Hi fellow audio enthusiasts! I am currently renovating my new resale Condo and would like to install a 5.1.2 system.

Went down to Adelphi to speak to a few companies and found the price and offers from Alpha Audio to be very attractive. However, they do not provide installation services.

In such situations, can I check if there is any third party home theater installers who can advise on placement of speakers and the running of cables? I realised that most companies require you to buy their gear before they offer to install the speakers for you

U can find them on Carousell... search for "home theatre setup"...

 

[newtype85]

Hi everyone and thanks for all the advice!

By way of an update, I have renovated my place and installed a new HT set with help from Absolute Sound. It is a 5.1.2 Klipsch system with a Pioneer AV receiver (VSX-935).

Some of my quick thoughts are as follows, especially when compared to my Q990B:

1. When watching 5.1 or Dolby material, the sound seems a lot more 3D and full. Could be the subwoofer being a lot more substantial compared to the Q990B system.
2. However, when watching youtube videos (the main thing my family watches), there seemed to be an issue where the 2.1 sound from FR and FL speakers seemed to be off slightly in terms of timing. I use the auto surround mode instead of Dolby upscaling. Amongst others, as the center channel is not used for the Youtube videos, it is quite hard to heard dialouge properly. Not sure if it is because the curtains and windows were closed when the system was being calibrated.
3. Strangely, the issue seems to have gone away after some time - could be my ears getting used to the sound or the speakers getting burned in.
4. For music, the sound seems.... ok I guess? Didn't get the mindblowing revelation that I got when I first listened to a 2.0 set up at Adelphi (AV One). Most likely due to the room acoustics.

These are my quick thoughts as a noob who was more into IEMs and Headphones. Now I am thinking of upgrading eventually to the new Onkyo receivers when they arrive in Singapore, as I hope Dirac Live may do better in terms of calibration for my living room.

 

[wacko]

Hi everyone and thanks for all the advice!

By way of an update, I have renovated my place and installed a new HT set with help from Absolute Sound. It is a 5.1.2 Klipsch system with a Pioneer AV receiver (VSX-935).

Some of my quick thoughts are as follows, especially when compared to my Q990B:

1. When watching 5.1 or Dolby material, the sound seems a lot more 3D and full. Could be the subwoofer being a lot more substantial compared to the Q990B system.
2. However, when watching youtube videos (the main thing my family watches), there seemed to be an issue where the 2.1 sound from FR and FL speakers seemed to be off slightly in terms of timing. I use the auto surround mode instead of Dolby upscaling. Amongst others, as the center channel is not used for the Youtube videos, it is quite hard to heard dialouge properly. Not sure if it is because the curtains and windows were closed when the system was being calibrated.
3. Strangely, the issue seems to have gone away after some time - could be my ears getting used to the sound or the speakers getting burned in.
4. For music, the sound seems.... ok I guess? Didn't get the mindblowing revelation that I got when I first listened to a 2.0 set up at Adelphi (AV One). Most likely due to the room acoustics.

These are my quick thoughts as a noob who was more into IEMs and Headphones. Now I am thinking of upgrading eventually to the new Onkyo receivers when they arrive in Singapore, as I hope Dirac Live may do better in terms of calibration for my living room.

are your Atmos speakers the upfiring kind? if so there wasn't a need for an installer... in any case, the speakers and amp combo at AV One was likely quite a few steps up from your current set up, so even discounting room acoustics, it would be a superior sounding combo.

 

[newtype85]

Yes totally agree on the set up at AV One being superior.

I guess I was just hoping that the Klipsch RP600m iis would sound clearly better than the Qacoustics M20s that I have at my desk, but they are not. Will be buying some isoacoustics stands to see if isolating and bringing my speakers' tweeters to my ear level will help.

To be honest, I think part of the fun of a HT system is the constant tinkering and upgrade paths available - I have GAS and this is a good (but expensive) outlet for it

 

[wacko]

Yes totally agree on the set up at AV One being superior.

I guess I was just hoping that the Klipsch RP600m iis would sound clearly better than the Qacoustics M20s that I have at my desk, but they are not. Will be buying some isoacoustics stands to see if isolating and bringing my speakers' tweeters to my ear level will help.

To be honest, I think part of the fun of a HT system is the constant tinkering and upgrade paths available - I have GAS and this is a good (but expensive) outlet for it

near field listening and living room listening inherently have pretty different characteristics, likely what you are missing is the more detailed and precise near field listening nature, you didn't describe what you meant by "sound clearly better", so just going out on a limb. by the way, how far from the wall are your Klipsch RP-600M? Typical living room speaker positioning in SG is terrible, i.e. too close to the wall, and this can very much affect the sound quality.

 

[newtype85]

near field listening and living room listening inherently have pretty different characteristics, likely what you are missing is the more detailed and precise near field listening nature, you didn't describe what you meant by "sound clearly better", so just going out on a limb. by the way, how far from the wall are your Klipsch RP-600M? Typical living room speaker positioning in SG is terrible, i.e. too close to the wall, and this can very much affect the sound quality.

My speakers are quite close to the wall, but not directly in front. I have set them on my built-in console towards the front. I know this is not ideal, but WAF is a thing... Lol.

I listened to my speakers again for music and it sounds a bit... distant? I also don't get the sense of detail I was hoping for. I have very young children so I cannot turn up the volume to confirm my observations. It also could be, like you say, living room listening and the fact that I came from a headphone/IEM background where I can hear every nuance in the music when I upgrade my gear.

 

[wacko]

My speakers are quite close to the wall, but not directly in front. I have set them on my built-in console towards the front. I know this is not ideal, but WAF is a thing... Lol.

I listened to my speakers again for music and it sounds a bit... distant? I also don't get the sense of detail I was hoping for. I have very young children so I cannot turn up the volume to confirm my observations. It also could be, like you say, living room listening and the fact that I came from a headphone/IEM background where I can hear every nuance in the music when I upgrade my gear.

you likely already answered your own phenomenon. in any case, when you can, listen at 80-85dB level, and see if it's any better. it won't be anywhere in comparison to what you are expecting, because of a few things, zero room acoustic treatment, a middling AVR powering the speakers, and speaker placement. I notice you have a rather curious placement of surround, and in-ceiling atmos speakers... and i am still trying to guess where you sub is.

 

[newtype85]

you likely already answered your own phenomenon. in any case, when you can, listen at 80-85dB level, and see if it's any better. it won't be anywhere in comparison to what you are expecting, because of a few things, zero room acoustic treatment, a middling AVR powering the speakers, and speaker placement. I notice you have a rather curious placement of surround, and in-ceiling atmos speakers... and i am still trying to guess where you sub is.

Thanks for the guidance!

Haha again it is WAF, and the fact that I have young kids whom I am afaid will destroy my surrounds if I keep them on the ground. May get proper surrounds once they are older. The Sub is hidden inside the console on the extreme end. Again not ideal, but compromises have to be made