Speaker sensitivity and its impact in Home Theatre setup

[Manish Sharma]

Hi Experts,
I have a question regarding speaker sensitivity and its impact in home theatre setup…I have 9.1 setup with pioneer AVR rated at 130watts 2 channel driven driving
LR - Qacoustics 3050i - 91db sensitivity
Centre - Qacoustics 3090i - 88db sensitivity
FH - Focal Bird - 89db sensitivity
Ceiling - klipsch - 88db sensitivity
SB - Qacoustics 7000 - 85db sensitivity

My surround back speakers are quite low in sensitivity and when I calibrate the SPL level of all speakers I have to push the SB speakers to +9 +12 db to make them match with my fronts….Is it ok to do so?? Or shall I replace them with the 89sensitivity speakers (I have extra pair of focal birds lying idle)….I wanna know is it causing my amp to distort?? I am not using any sub…And I listen music between -20db to -10db…Room size is also small…Attached the pics of the setup

 

[ajuvignesh]

If you're sitting more than 6 feet closer to the surround than to the fronts, then it doesn't matter. But, you can crank up the volume on surrounds to match fronts especially since you have more than 10 db to go on the master volume in your avr.

 

[Nagaraj S]

I would use a speaker with higher sensitivity than use one with a lower one and then crank up the levels. Because, from my experience I found one has to crank up the levels way up in such a setup, and the system usually goes out of balance (and more tweaking). Mixing speakers brands also brings out its own challenges: I once had mixed Tannoys with Wharfedales, and had them level matched. Even then, the Tannoys always sounded more enthusiastic than the slightly muted Wharfedales. Experimentation is the key: a level-matched, balanced system will draw you into the action. One set of speakers taking over the rest becomes a distraction after the initial “Wow!”.

 

[Manish Sharma]

If you're sitting more than 6 feet closer to the surround than to the fronts, then it doesn't matter. But, you can crank up the volume on surrounds to match fronts especially since you have more than 10 db to go on the master volume in your avr.

 

[Manish Sharma]

My sitting setup is quite odd…I am sitting quite close to my left back speakers than my right back speakers…I am 1.81 metres to my SBL and 3.81 metres from my SBR…The living room is rectangular and I had no space to put the SBR close to me

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

Hi Experts,
I have a question regarding speaker sensitivity and its impact in home theatre setup…I have 9.1 setup with pioneer AVR rated at 130watts 2 channel driven driving
LR - Qacoustics 3050i - 91db sensitivity
Centre - Qacoustics 3090i - 88db sensitivity
FH - Focal Bird - 89db sensitivity
Ceiling - klipsch - 88db sensitivity
SB - Qacoustics 7000 - 85db sensitivity

My surround back speakers are quite low in sensitivity and when I calibrate the SPL level of all speakers I have to push the SB speakers to +9 +12 db to make them match with my fronts….Is it ok to do so?? Or shall I replace them with the 89sensitivity speakers (I have extra pair of focal birds lying idle)….I wanna know is it causing my amp to distort?? I am not using any sub…And I listen music between -20db to -10db…Room size is also small…Attached the pics of the setup

Lovely interiors you have there. Very tastefully done with color matched gear .

Even Iam using the exact same Qacoustics Q7000 Lri speakers as my surrounds. And even i have to sit closer to the left speaker than the right due to arrangement of the room. Those speakers at 85 db are not an issue. But not having a sub is. Once you add a sub, and off load the bass below 80hz to it, it really frees up a lot of available power from the AVR. Qacoustics have matching subs in white to go with the rest of the kit you have. I would advise to consider adding one .

My seating position and room layout is same as yours. And i have a tiny Qacousitcs sub to the right of my sofa. And you seem to have space there.

 

[Manish Sharma]

Lovely interiors you have there. Very tastefully done with color matched gear .

Even Iam using the exact same Qacoustics Q7000 Lri speakers as my surrounds. And even i have to sit closer to the left speaker than the right due to arrangement of the room. Those speakers at 85 db are not an issue. But not having a sub is. Once you add a sub, and off load the bass below 80hz to it, it really frees up a lot of available power from the AVR. Qacoustics have matching subs in white to go with the rest of the kit you have. I would advise to consider adding one .

My seating position and room layout is same as yours. And i have a tiny Qacousitcs sub to the right of my sofa. And you seem to have space there.

First of all thanks for the wonderful compliment Yes I am considering a sub but qacoustics sub is smaller I think…If i get the svs 1000 pro then i wil have to paint it to white

 

[Manish Sharma]

Lovely interiors you have there. Very tastefully done with color matched gear .

Even Iam using the exact same Qacoustics Q7000 Lri speakers as my surrounds. And even i have to sit closer to the left speaker than the right due to arrangement of the room. Those speakers at 85 db are not an issue. But not having a sub is. Once you add a sub, and off load the bass below 80hz to it, it really frees up a lot of available power from the AVR. Qacoustics have matching subs in white to go with the rest of the kit you have. I would advise to consider adding one .

My seating position and room layout is same as yours. And i have a tiny Qacousitcs sub to the right of my sofa. And you seem to have space there.

Are u talking about 3060 or B12?? Both are available in white…But 3060 is small in driver and watts…Also low frequency is 35hz of 3060

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

Are u talking about 3060 or B12?? Both are available in white…But 3060 is small in driver and watts…Also low frequency is 35hz of 3060

I have the tiniest one they make, I think it is called the 3060S or something. I would say it is just about decent, and does an alright job. But I would upgrade to a bigger one if the lady of the house allowed it

The sub is the heart of any HT system, followed by the center channel. So the biggest you can fit in, the better it will be.

In my limited experience, 35 hz and below is the rumble part of the bass, to rattle the windows and the furniture which we usually call as extension. The bass that delivers impact is in the mid 30 to 120 hz region. So the claims of a 20hz extension is not the be all and end all of a subwoofer. I would pay more weightage to the speed and slam from 35 to 120hz over a 20hz extension, if I had to choose only one between the two. But it would be lovely to have both, but this combination gets expensive, and big.

Ideally, to recreate a sub sonic explosion like a under water depth charge we need both extension and impact. Iam no expert at subwoofers, so I will wait for the more experienced forum members to chime in with their recommendations of which sub woofer might work better.

 

[ajuvignesh]

My sitting setup is quite odd…I am sitting quite close to my left back speakers than my right back speakers…I am 1.81 metres to my SBL and 3.81 metres from my SBR…The living room is rectangular and I had no space to put the SBR close to me

As long as your AVR can level match, I don't think it is an issue between the surround speakers.

 

[caspian1985]

Hi Experts,
I have a question regarding speaker sensitivity and its impact in home theatre setup…I have 9.1 setup with pioneer AVR rated at 130watts 2 channel driven driving
LR - Qacoustics 3050i - 91db sensitivity
Centre - Qacoustics 3090i - 88db sensitivity
FH - Focal Bird - 89db sensitivity
Ceiling - klipsch - 88db sensitivity
SB - Qacoustics 7000 - 85db sensitivity

My surround back speakers are quite low in sensitivity and when I calibrate the SPL level of all speakers I have to push the SB speakers to +9 +12 db to make them match with my fronts….Is it ok to do so?? Or shall I replace them with the 89sensitivity speakers (I have extra pair of focal birds lying idle)….I wanna know is it causing my amp to distort?? I am not using any sub…And I listen music between -20db to -10db…Room size is also small…Attached the pics of the setup

A trick I use is to keep the levels as close to 0 as possible - as what matters is the relative difference. So in your case, for a 9dB boost on the surrounds, you could make the LCR -4dB, the sub -4dB, and the surrounds +5dB. So surrounds are still higher, but as all the levels are closer to zero there is less “added stuff”