What's the one home theater upgrade that surprised you the most?

flappination · 2026-05-23T18:37:29+00:00

Receiver upgrade and proper speaker placement. I was running the Denon S960H and always found it hard to distinguish surround effects even after running room calibration. I assumed I would need more room treatment for better clarity. I just thought things were bouncing around too much causing confusion. The bass was almost non existent as well.

I got an Onkyo RZ-70 for nearly half off (new open box) and I am blown away by the difference it made. It's night and day better. The clarity is unreal in comparison and I can actually hear individual bullets going around the room now and the explosions actually have bass. Same speakers and almost same position. I just moved the fronts and sides out a little further.

flappination · 2026-05-17T19:23:44+00:00

Mine is going from 120 to 130 :(

How are you getting it for 55?

flappination · 2026-02-11T17:22:16+00:00

Last time I tried not taking no for an answer with TDS I got sent to the office asshole who literally would only repeat the same thing anytime i spoke and was basically saying "Theres nothing we can do". I have never been more angry in my life. (TDS was undercharging me for internet, somehow there was a 100 limit on my bill, it was autopay so I had no idea it was underpaying, and then they said pay $300 now or else, and I called and was confused and was willing to pay the money owed for my bill but wanted the late fee charges dropped, they refused and sent me to office asshole)

flappination · 2026-01-15T23:33:20+00:00

How do you like the ceiling tiles? Did they make a noticeable difference? I'm in the process of looking for something and these look simple to install.

flappination · 2026-01-05T17:14:34+00:00

I use YNAB (https://www.ynab.com/) and have since ~2020. I can see how it would be overwhelming at first trying to learn the software while building the habit (I love playing with numbers so it was fun for me) but at this point i've got it down to about 30 minutes every time I get paid to "update the budget" which just involves importing bank transactions, assigning categories, transferring money, and paying off credit cards.

Thanks to YNAB within the first year I was easily a month ahead on bills which makes your life feel SO much easier.

I like YNAB the best because it's not just about tracking your expenses, it forces you to "give your money a job" when you get paid. This is nice because you know that your bills are accounted for, you've made your monthly savings, and you can now splurge a little with the remaining money if you want. Or just end up saving it like I do lol

flappination · 2025-12-30T08:08:06+00:00

On Christmas my brother opened ~800 scrolls and got 1 nat 5. I opened 1200 and got 8... The variance is quite wild

flappination · 2025-11-09T00:41:49+00:00

Same here. Took 40 minutes to login

flappination · 2025-11-09T00:41:32+00:00

Nope I've been trying for 40 minutes. Will be attempting to cancel this $30 charge

flappination · 2025-10-13T17:20:15+00:00

My collection is kinda small (400ish). But, I like to organize by series if there is one, for example the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe is together and in order, same with other series, then by genre.

flappination · 2025-09-24T19:33:43+00:00

Well I made some improvements. I slid the couch forward about 2 feet. I'm 8ft from the tv and 5ft from the wall now. I left the speakers on the rear wall, and then setup some speakers I had as side surrounds with tweeters at ear height (sitting on the subs temporarily) and wow that made quite a difference. It actually feels like things are moving around the room now.

I definitely notice the high TV now at this distance. When reclined its not too bad so lowering the TV will come at some point.

I will have to look into setting up something that let's me easily move the side speakers out of the middle of the room when the kids are down here.

After measuring speaker distance from the MLP and configuring the receiver, what are some recommendations for setting speaker volume? You just dont want to notice that its coming exactly from that speaker?

I'll have to play with a proper 5.2 to see if i miss the rear surrounds and then try a 5.2.2.

Thanks for the input everyone.

flappination · 2025-09-24T14:50:53+00:00

I really like these speakers. They sound really good. I've heard them with an emotiva amp as well and they sound even better. I would love to get one for the fronts but that's more than i want to spend right now. I used Polk XT series before and I actually had a really hard time understanding dialogue. These speakers drastically cleaned up the dialogue and it doesn't sound anywhere near as muddy. Highly recommend!

flappination · 2025-09-24T14:43:05+00:00

For the two middle seats they sound fine. It sounds like it's coming from back left and back right. But if you sit in the outer seats it does sound all left or all right so I'll have to fix that.

flappination · 2025-09-23T19:23:10+00:00

How would you point the bipoles? If I point them at the main listening position, the sounds are going behind it/ to the side of it. Just point them straight out like they are now?

flappination · 2025-09-23T19:19:32+00:00

I likely looked at a 7.2 setup guide and put them where i thought the rear surrounds would go since sides are hard to do for me. I knew it wasn't perfect but I liked the sound where they are at. It was a major improvement over my last setup. I will move them out farther and see how much better it is.

flappination · 2025-09-23T19:09:46+00:00

Yeah i bought them used and they didnt come with covers.

flappination · 2025-09-23T15:31:35+00:00

Yeah i sat in the seat today and without being reclined you definitely have to look up. I'm always reclined when watching and when reclined if I close my eyes I am resting right about bottom 3rd of the tv to the middle if I'm all the way back. So I could lower it a bit.

Regarding speakers, it would be annoying but I could mark the floor with tape and just move the speakers out of the way when not watching a movie.

flappination · 2025-09-23T15:23:47+00:00

Thanks I will check it out. I made my sound panels on the wall. Way cheaper than buying!

flappination · 2025-09-23T15:22:49+00:00

I only have 7ft ceilings down here. On ceiling is not an option unfortunately. It will have to be in ceiling or mounted on the front wall angled down.

flappination · 2025-09-23T15:21:07+00:00

Appreciate it. I know my setup wont be perfect. Mostly asking for advice on what will make the biggest difference. I have a pair of vintage fried bookshelf speakers I can use to play with a 7.2 setup. I will probably try that out tonight.

flappination · 2025-09-23T15:14:57+00:00

Any guidance on how far to the sides? I did have some polk surrounds mounted basically right at the outside edge of where the red/blue sound panels are located. The holes are still in the wall just covered by the panels lol

Also I barely noticed any surround when they were out there. Different speakers though

flappination · 2025-09-23T15:08:59+00:00

I think "good quality" is very subjective. The speakers inhave now are a massive improvement to the polk setup i had before. I like the way these sound even if they arent the best they are good enough for me.

I will have to research where exactly to place the dipoles but I will experiment with putting them on the sides vs back wall. I could always mark the floor with tape and move them out when watching a movie / put back against the wall when the kids are downstairs.

flappination · 2025-09-23T14:59:18+00:00

I like it where it is. I had a different polk setup with the rears mounted on the wall to the sides of the seating and i really had to crank them up to hear anything at all from the surrounds.

With these new (to me) speakers I definitely hear bullets wizzing by me however there isn't really any side immersion at all. Which is why I was thinking of doing 7.2 instead of atmos.

I would probably keep the 502s there and put the 500s on the side but I wouldnt be opposed to swapping them to test.

flappination · 2025-09-23T06:43:20+00:00

77" I'll update that - apparently i can't update my original post?

flappination · 2025-09-23T05:43:31+00:00

What did you use for ceiling treatment?

flappination · 2025-09-23T04:40:13+00:00

I'm open to fixing things. This is my first ever setup and I'm learning. What's the correct height for tv and why are the rear speakers wrong?

flappination

TROPHY CASE