DIY Home Theater - Is it possible ?

Amarendra

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Hi,

I was wondering if it was possible to use the following components to build a semi diy home theater:

1. Speakers- any commercial 5.1 package (wharfedale diamond 220 hcp)

2. Audio processing- Analogue out (6 channels ) from PC sound card (i have the asrock z170 extreme 3 which supports dts connect)

3. Amplification:
Front - stereo amp (Rotel RA 10 )
Rear- stereo amp (lets say Norge 2060 ?)
Center- stereo amp (another Norge 2060- but biwired to center speaker and using a Y cable)
Sub- commercial sub

What I will miss out on:
- Dolby atmos/ dts X
- Audssey / YPAO or similar room calibration

Besides the above are there any downsides to not using a commercial AVR ?

In my opinion the above setup will give a lot of freedom to experiment with amps and channels without having to worry about wattage/ headroom etc.

Also can class D amps like these (see link below) replace the Norge/ Rotel amps in the above setup?

https://www.tanotis.com/products/ta...v-dual-channel-stereo-amp?variant=20623528389

https://www.tanotis.com/products/ta...wer-audio-amplifier-board?variant=20615983365

Thanks in advance
 
Hi,

I was wondering if it was possible to use the following components to build a semi diy home theater:

1. Speakers- any commercial 5.1 package (wharfedale diamond 220 hcp)

2. Audio processing- Analogue out (6 channels ) from PC sound card (i have the asrock z170 extreme 3 which supports dts connect)

3. Amplification:
Front - stereo amp (Rotel RA 10 )
Rear- stereo amp (lets say Norge 2060 ?)
Center- stereo amp (another Norge 2060- but biwired to center speaker and using a Y cable)
Sub- commercial sub

What I will miss out on:
- Dolby atmos/ dts X
- Audssey / YPAO or similar room calibration

Besides the above are there any downsides to not using a commercial AVR ?

In my opinion the above setup will give a lot of freedom to experiment with amps and channels without having to worry about wattage/ headroom etc.

Also can class D amps like these (see link below) replace the Norge/ Rotel amps in the above setup?

https://www.tanotis.com/products/ta...v-dual-channel-stereo-amp?variant=20623528389

https://www.tanotis.com/products/ta...wer-audio-amplifier-board?variant=20615983365

Thanks in advance
Yes you can surely give it a shot. You could use a software to get the basic speaker leveling done. Atmos and other modern formats are yet to really catch-up, maybe a year or two.

However, what I would prefer would be a 6 channel preamp feeding into power amps, rather than stereo amps. That way you will have one volume control to feed into all your power amps. Take a look at peeceebee to build your diy power amps. Forum member Shaan is the designer and can help you set it up.

MaSh

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using Tapatalk
 
Thanks Mash for your inputs. What is peeceebee and how do I contact shaan. Also can I use the class d amps in place of stereo or power amps.
I agree with you on the preamp bit but usually they are expensive. The processing is the only weak link so far.
 
Thanks Mash for your inputs. What is peeceebee and how do I contact shaan. Also can I use the class d amps in place of stereo or power amps.
I agree with you on the preamp bit but usually they are expensive. The processing is the only weak link so far.
Just look up the diy section.. You'll see the peeceebee thread. I am not sure about the type of amp.

MaSh

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using Tapatalk
 
for HT setup, always go with high power amps. class D boards are good for rear speakers. but for front and center go with good high power amps. not less than 100W
 
I was wondering if I need to use the same amp build for all channels to maintain uniformity of sound similar to the way we use same speaker drivers for all channels ?
 
I say go for the TPA 3116D2 boards running off some quality laptop adapters. You can upgrade the soundcard every time a new format comes along, instead of the whole receiver
 
Greenhorn thanks, what exactly do you mean by laptop adapters. Also can I use the 3116d2 out of the box . Do these kind of amps hurt speakers ?
 
yest i listened to audioengine 5 bookshelf speakers with smsl q5 amp (uses TSA series amp chip) and tpa3118 amp. both sounded similar and both are roughly of same power. however when i switched to norge 140w amp....there is a dramatic improvement in sound quality. the boominess in bass and male vocals disappeared. everything went smooth and fatigue-less. this means, unless your speakers are very high sensitive say more than 90dB, its better to have more juice available for the speakers. especially in HT setup as you will be tempted to increase volume during watching movies. tpa3118 are good sounding amps. but low powered. they are good for desktop and nearfield music listening. i can suggest you this,
front - min 100W class AB (or any solid state) amps
rear - 60W class AB (or any solid state) amps
center - min 100W class AB (or any solid state) amps
subwoofer - dedicated min 500W plate amp
all better be integration type amps so its easy for you to adjust volume to your taste
 
I was wondering if I need to use the same amp build for all channels to maintain uniformity of sound similar to the way we use same speaker drivers for all channels ?

this is not really the case. there is no such thing as uniformity of sound...especially in HT setup. unless you have a big sensitive golden ear!! :D
 
I say go for the TPA 3116D2 boards running off some quality laptop adapters. You can upgrade the soundcard every time a new format comes along, instead of the whole receiver



How about adding good quality 5.1 Sound card to the PC and taking those channels to poweramp? Software decoding as usual done by PC.

Or Bluray / DVD players with 5.1 Dolby Decoder and 6/8 channel analog audio outs ( even hi end blu-ray player like oppo 103 have 8 analog outputs with decent DAC and Dolby Decoder on board) and connecting to respective Power Amplifiers?
Anyone running in such manner?
 
I had thought of bluray players with analogue outs but I guess this is available in very high end players. Also the problem with PC decoding is that the center and sub channels are mixed and painful to segregate.
 
Also the problem with PC decoding is that the center and sub channels are mixed and painful to segregate.

I think the analogue out on PC Mobo is 3.5mm out, and not RCA..If that is the case, you can use 3.5mm to dual RCA and split signal..

I think, you may consider any old AVR which has 7.1 multichannel Analogue inputs that can receive the signal from PC motherboard.. This can be advantage as it will be singe point of volume control for all channels..
 
True in that case I will just go for AVR but that will take the fun out of this

The suggestion to use old AVR was to receive ONLY the analogue out signal from your PC MOBO & a single point of volume control for all channels than having multiple amplifier and trying to level volume.. Can be tedious..

How would you integrate a subwoofer in this set-up?..
 
The other limitation is that ci have to add a sub even if I use floor standers otherwise the low frequencies will be lost
 
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