I have to group all my replies into one message because the forum is limiting my ability to post multiple replies. (I'm new here.) Sorry for such a long reply.
lowrider57: RE: "Why two sets of front speakers?" I ordered speakers for a 7.1 setup and that was my original setup. But for music, I use 2-channel stereo mostly. The Sony receiver supports this 5.1 setup with two pairs of front speakers. The 2nd pair is connected to surround terminals, but the receiver remaps them to fronts. When I tried it, I liked it better than the 7.1 setup. It sounds very good in 2-channel stereo for music (and I can select either pair of front speakers or both pairs, but the fronts are the only speakers playing); and the 5.1 layout is still good for movies. To my ears I lost nothing from the 7.1 layout but gained something for listening to music in 2-channel stereo. The two sets of front speakers was (and is) just part of experimenting.
mattmiller: RE: Cambridge CXR 120
I can live without the Bluetooth and other features the CXR lacks. I generally like the trade-off of excess features for better components and better sound. But this is a show-stopper for me:
'HDMI 2.0 is supported, not 2.0a, so you’ll have to do without being able to pass HDR video to a 4K display.' I will definitely consider the Marantz NR1608 or any other receiver up to the price of the Cambridge CXR 120 (or maybe a bit more) as long as it also has the features I use. I do not use any streaming features, for example.
However, I also have the idea of getting separate components -- see below.
erik_squires: RE: "Big puffy things around and behind the speakers are a great help, even on the floor. Try covering the TV. Also, try listening off axis." Pillows seemed to help. Angling all the speakers out a bit also helped a great deal.
After the pillows and changing angles of the speakers and using the equalizer built into the Sony, I watched the movie Baby Driver and the sound was absolutely wonderful!! I used all the speakers (with both sets of fronts) in the 5.1 layout with DTS Neo:X surround format.
I also listened to some challenging music selections and the treble is better. It is far from perfect on my most challenging musical selections. However, these small changes helped on other music.
mtrot: RE: "high end audio people will strongly advise against placing two sets of speakers right next to each other like that." I'm sure that this layout isn't ideal, but I did testing with only one pair of front speakers and the issue was unchanged. The receiver gives me the option to turn off either pair of front speakers at the push of a button, so I have tried either pair multiple times. The two pair of front speakers might not be ideal, but it alone is not the cause of this issue.
wolf_garcia: RE: "I imagine things get "shouty" in there due to proximity…it's a near-field thing where I bet a small monitor speaker matched appropriately with the sub would sound better, although not took as cool." I just did a test where I disconnected both the A7's and A5's and used only a pair of A3 bookshelf speakers as front speakers. Even without a sub, they are indeed plenty for music. Together with the center, surround and subwoofer, they are also fine for movies. That just proves that my two pair of large floorstanding front speakers are total overkill in this room.
However, even with just theses small speakers playing music, the issue is not totally gone on my challenging selections. Maybe it is the Sony receiver or the room?
Here's a photo of this test. The ONLY active speakers are the small Polk Audio RTI A3's (which I sat on top of the A7's for the test).
https://imgur.com/EEkVyZKlowrider57: RE: "Listening position is too close to large speakers." Yes, the room is too small for all this equipment. So I'm considering options (see below).
lowrider57: RE: "Too much glass causing reflections in that small room." Agreed.
lowrider57: RE: "Cover the flat screens for now, the goal is to hear if you have good synergy with your basic components." I had experimented with covering the screens previously and that alone did not solve the issue. However, I'll try it again in combination with my other changes mentioned above.
A more radical solution would be to split the music listening and the movie watching into different rooms, each with their own equipment. This room (and this equipment) are fine for movies, but even the much smaller speakers continue to be harsh for high frequencies. (The problem is very apparent on sitar music at higher volume. The sitar is a twangy instrument with it's metal strings, but in live concert the sound is not annoying or harsh at all, and that's what I want to replicate.)
I could keep the home theater in the smaller room with the smaller speakers. For music, I have access to a large room (about 25 feet x 25 feet with a high ceiling) that I could use for music listening. But it has lots of big windows -- the front wall is almost all glass. And there is some equipment in there that always has fans running. I have a second choice, a room that is around 20 x 25 feet, but has tile flooring and I can't put carpet in it. I would also have to do a lot of rearranging. I'm not sure if either is an ideal room for music, but they are larger. Would a room that large be too large for the speakers I currently have? (See original post for list of all speakers.)
For home theater (movies), I think the Sony receiver is good enough. In fact, as I said above, after the minor changes I made, the sound while watching Baby Driver was near perfect with this setup. And I believe that would hold true even if I drop down to the Polk Audio RTI A3's as the front speakers and use an older pair of Polk 35B bookshelf speakers as rears (and also just one subwoofer).
Then I could take the A5's and A7's and the Klipsch R-112SW Subwoofer to another room and pair those up with a nice pre-amp and power amp for music listening. Any thoughts on that?
All suggestions welcome.
