Home Theater For Music?

I have the Kenwood HTB-504 system. It sounds quite good IMO even for
music. Most of the sound comes from the center speaker and sub. They
are quite good but the others sound poor (weak) even when turned up.
How can I improve my system for music listening? I only use it for
music anyway. Should I add some new speakers maybe? Music seems to
sound best in Circle Surround mode. Is this normal or do I need to make
some changes? Nearly all the sound comes from the sub and center.
Stereo modes do not sound good. Can I make this system better?
Different speakers? Any help appreciated.

Bill

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have the Kenwood HTB-504 system. It sounds quite good IMO even for
music. Most of the sound comes from the center speaker and sub. They
are quite good but the others sound poor (weak) even when turned up.
How can I improve my system for music listening? I only use it for
music anyway. Should I add some new speakers maybe? Music seems to
sound best in Circle Surround mode. Is this normal or do I need to make
some changes? Nearly all the sound comes from the sub and center.
Stereo modes do not sound good. Can I make this system better?
Different speakers? Any help appreciated.

First replace the receiver with a real a/v receiver, then upgrade the
speakers.

On 8 Oct 2006 21:11:40 -0700, wrote:

I have the Kenwood HTB-504 system. It sounds quite good IMO even for
music. Most of the sound comes from the center speaker and sub. They
are quite good but the others sound poor (weak) even when turned up.
How can I improve my system for music listening? I only use it for
music anyway. Should I add some new speakers maybe? Music seems to
sound best in Circle Surround mode. Is this normal or do I need to make
some changes? Nearly all the sound comes from the sub and center.
Stereo modes do not sound good. Can I make this system better?
Different speakers? Any help appreciated.

Assuming that you have set up all the speaker and processing options
correctly, you are dependant on the choice of processing when you use
stereo discs since they, by definition, only use the L/R channels. If
you get only the center and sub working, you need to choose other
options.

Fundamentally, however, this is a mediocre sound system and, for music
as well as HT, you can do better with a decent separate AVR and real
speakers. Unfortunately, your current electronics will probably not
be capable of doing adequately for good speakers.

Kal

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have the Kenwood HTB-504 system. It sounds quite good IMO even for
music. Most of the sound comes from the center speaker and sub. They
are quite good but the others sound poor (weak) even when turned up.
How can I improve my system for music listening? I only use it for
music anyway. Should I add some new speakers maybe? Music seems to
sound best in Circle Surround mode. Is this normal or do I need to make
some changes? Nearly all the sound comes from the sub and center.
Stereo modes do not sound good. Can I make this system better?
Different speakers? Any help appreciated.

You need to be in a mode that uses the L/R mains plus the bass unit for
stereo sources. Not all low-end HT's have such a mode, amazingly. It's
usually the one labeled "stereo" and it turns off all surround processing,
but still routes bass to the bass unit.

Music will never sound good if you have to use some sort of
channel-redistribution mode to play it.

You might try using your receiver's setup menu to silence the center and
surround speakers (set them to "no"). But then of course you will be
listening to two rather anemic speakers for everything above 120Hz, so
you'll have to decide whether the less processed version sounds better than
a processed version that uses all your speakers.

A low end surround system is not the optimal choice for music listening.
However, your system is at least theoretically capable of being upgraded,
since it's configured with standard audio components. But if it doesn't have
a stereo mode, it's not the right tool for the job.

RichC

Neck & Red wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

I have the Kenwood HTB-504 system. It sounds quite good IMO even for
music. Most of the sound comes from the center speaker and sub. They
are quite good but the others sound poor (weak) even when turned up.
How can I improve my system for music listening? I only use it for
music anyway. Should I add some new speakers maybe? Music seems to
sound best in Circle Surround mode. Is this normal or do I need to make
some changes? Nearly all the sound comes from the sub and center.
Stereo modes do not sound good. Can I make this system better?
Different speakers? Any help appreciated.


First replace the receiver with a real a/v receiver, then upgrade the
speakers.



Not very helpful are we.

First, please recognize that you purchased a mass market solution to
home theater. as such, many compromises were made in performance to
meet the $500 retail price that Kenwood set for this product.

Many, if not most of the folks on this forum have a great disdain for
the HTB solution and for most home theater items purchased thru mass
merchants.

I have a low end Marantz receiver that has many modes for displaying the
sound field. I find that the solution for music is RADICALLY different
from movies and TV. I actually find that music works best with Stereo
mode. Many music recordings are designed to place the performers at
different points in the sound stage left to right. Only Stereo mode will
properly allow this placement to occur.

Actually since you almost always play music,why did you choose a Home
Theater in a box solution? A decent pair of speakers, a $300 receiver,
and an inexpensive DVD/CD player would work better for music and still
give great TV/Movie sound for roughly the same amount of money.

Robert Gammon wrote:
Neck & Red wrote:


Not very helpful are we.

I think you are : )


First, please recognize that you purchased a mass market solution to
home theater. as such, many compromises were made in performance to
meet the $500 retail price that Kenwood set for this product.

Many, if not most of the folks on this forum have a great disdain for
the HTB solution and for most home theater items purchased thru mass
merchants.

I have a low end Marantz receiver that has many modes for displaying the
sound field. I find that the solution for music is RADICALLY different
from movies and TV. I actually find that music works best with Stereo
mode. Many music recordings are designed to place the performers at
different points in the sound stage left to right. Only Stereo mode will
properly allow this placement to occur.

Actually since you almost always play music,why did you choose a Home
Theater in a box solution? A decent pair of speakers, a $300 receiver,
and an inexpensive DVD/CD player would work better for music and still
give great TV/Movie sound for roughly the same amount of money.

Actually my Kenwood system sounds quite good. Even music. I just want
better for music. I bought the system thinking I would enjoy TV this
way. But I don't. I guess I'll shop for a music system. Thanks for
telling me what I needed to know!

Bill

Another question for the HT Guru's. Can a decent Home Theater produce
really good music? Or is stereo the only way to go for music?

Bill

wrote in message
oups.com...

Another question for the HT Guru's. Can a decent Home Theater produce
really good music? Or is stereo the only way to go for music?

My subjective opinion is that any surround processing of a stereo recording
degrades it. Which simply means that a good HT system should include main
speakers (or main + subwoofer) capable of the levels, dynamic range,
imaging, and accuracy required to properly reproduce stereo recordings by
themselves, and a receiver with a plain stereo mode.

That's stereo. There are also many exceptionally good multi-channel music
recordings out there, in DVD-A, SACD, DTS, and even Dolby Digital, that need
a multi-channel system for playback. Preferably one with five identical
full-range speakers, although that's asking for too much for most people.

My usual recommendation for anyone who appreciates music is to build a
system based upon a pair of main speakers that are by themselves satisfying
for music playback, combined with a HT receiver, and then expand the system
to multichannel from there. If buying a complete HT system all at once,
start by listening to it in stereo, and choose the one that sounds best that
way. If the mains sound great by themselves, the center and surround
designed to work with them probably sound good too.

(And if the HT system can't be set up for stereo playback at all -- as some
can't, amazingly -- don't even consider it.)

RichC

wrote:

Another question for the HT Guru's. Can a decent Home Theater produce
really good music? Or is stereo the only way to go for music?

I'll second some of what Rich said & disagree with some. You
definitely want good fronts, no matter what you're listening to. I'm
not sure the fronts & the surrounds need to be the same. Very few
recordings are going to surround the listener with the musicians. And
induced (rather than real) 5.1 with PL II Music is very nice. The rear
does a very nice job of supporting & enhancing the front. And, at
least with the jazz, classical & new age stuff I usually listen to,
it's allowed me to catch some musical nuances that might have gone
right by me in stereo.

--
Bill K

Bill Kraski wrote:
wrote:

Another question for the HT Guru's. Can a decent Home Theater produce
really good music? Or is stereo the only way to go for music?

I'll second some of what Rich said & disagree with some. You
definitely want good fronts, no matter what you're listening to. I'm
not sure the fronts & the surrounds need to be the same. Very few
recordings are going to surround the listener with the musicians. And
induced (rather than real) 5.1 with PL II Music is very nice. The rear
does a very nice job of supporting & enhancing the front. And, at
least with the jazz, classical & new age stuff I usually listen to,
it's allowed me to catch some musical nuances that might have gone
right by me in stereo.

My receiver is the Kenwood VR-507. It was the heart of my HTB-504
system. It sounds quite decent for music, just not as great as I want.
I wonder if adding some good speakers would make the difference I'm
looking for. Rather than just building a stereo system? The receiver
and sub seem quite good. The other speakers seem to be quite cheapo.

Bill