ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hi everyone!
I just set up my harmony (basic setup, still waiting on the mic) and WOW, what a ton of settings and options. Im wondering what is a good place to start for speaker roles. I have a pair of 50s up front and 18s in the rear. The harmony has 3 channels and i set them all to "center front" for now but seems redundant to run them all the same. Sounds like i have a similar setup to Mikipedia and i was hoping for some insight into setup to get the most out of these speakers. I have noticed, just with my Core set up to run the 50s alone, they perform differently depending on if they are connected via powerlink vs optical. I am now running everything via WISA and just want to make sure im getting everything i can out of the speakers and the setup. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Mikipedia will give you great advice but for my money you need to turn the two outside centre channels on the Harmony down - especially if you don't have so much room between the speakers - because they are so powerful. You will need to experiment to see how you can get the best from vocals in that setup but you have all the tools you need to do it.
You need to connect the 50s via powerlink or you won't get anything like the best out of them but my 18s are fine via WISA connection.
Are your 18s at the rear of the room or just behind the seating position? It makes a great deal of difference whether you use them as rears or surrounds.
Thanks for the reply!!
ok, so by "turn them down" do you mean the gain/level? the 50s are about 3 feet to the left and right of the TV.
In regards to the 50s, i meant the interconnect between the master/slave. are you referring to this connection or do you mean directly connecting them to the TV? the specs on the sound guide for the 50s seem to imply that the WISA connection provides for high quality sound transmission. Are you saying that by directly connecting the speakers to the back of the harmony gives better sound? i have noticed that the bass and the sound was much richer and warmer when i had my core connected via powerlink but when i switched to an optical connection, the sound output (when volume levels were held the same) was much lower compared to the powerlink connection. I dont know much about cables and why this would be but i was under the impression that optical/toslink was supposed to be the best quality sound. but for my taste, the 50s were BOOMING when they were hooked up to the core via powerlink.
i have the harmony front and center, then the 50s as a traditional front L/R. The 18s are slightly behind the listening position, on either end of my couch. Pretty much a standard 5.1 surround setup. But is there a way to mimic, or technically HAVE, a 7.1 channel setup since there are 3 speakers within the harmony? i understand that setting the L/R in the harmony to front L/R would be a waste since the 50s are far more capable. If this were your system, how would you set it up? thank you!!
Also, for those that saw my first forum post a few months ago, i did end up getting the receiver1 and have it running one of my SVS SB-16s and with some simple bass mgmt, its working and now i just need to tweak, but for those interested, it is possible to run non BO subs via receiver1 and harmony with some slight bass mgmt. I will keep posted.
also, would love to hear everyones opinions on setup options for the harmony and my current speaker group. thank you. very grateful!
Sounds like you are having fun :-)
As far as cabling and the various options in your setup wait for Mikipedia's input - in fact it would be a great Twitch show on its own (hint, hint).
I was referring to the speaker levels on the Harmony. For TV and YTube I have the two centre outsides set as -1.5 db and the centre as 0db but for other inputs (Netflix, for example) I have the outsides set as -2.5db and the centre as -1db.
For music I only ever use my front speakers (no Harmony or anything else).
The 18s in the position you describe should be set to surround.
amen! as most of us on here, i feel like a kid on christmas. I picked up my harmony soundcenter yesterday and installed the GX mount and the GX screen in a reasonable amount of time. I find that stuff so much fun. now comes the hours and hours of tweaking settings for that perfect sound. I agree, if i had some 90s id only use those too ;-) hahahaha, one day, i went from a pair of e8 earbuds to all of this stuff now, its addicting....and EXPENSIVE. lol.
anywho, really appreciate the input! this is a great place to get info that is not easily obtainable and im grateful for this wealth of knowledge here.
one last thing, im sure its a sound mode or speaker setup issue but i was briefly watching Billions on prime (nice pair of 90s in that dudes apartment) and the audio sounded spot on for surround sound, but when i was on netflix, the audio while watching the brief previews they give you when you scroll over the content, i noticed the sound was very echo-y. As if you had a DSP mode applied, think dance hall or orchestra mode, etc. Is this normal or is it a sound mode setup issue that i need to sort out? thanks!
E8s to 50s, 18s and a Harmony - love it
Have a good tinker but, if it were me, I would get the basics right first.
Definitely no WISA on the 50s but I don't have a Core so wait for Miki or one of the technically able people to put you right on the best way to hook them up.
As well as a mic get a stand and don't forget to keep the mic pointing up. If the 50s are new, in my experience, it's a good idea to recalibrate after using them for a period of time. Also, a simple db meter on your phone comes in useful.
I have different sound settings for Netflix, Prime and TV and it also makes a difference (IMHO) whether you play these through Apple TV or not so there is even more fun(?) until you get your preferences set.
Once you are happy you can set these different sound settings on the My buttons on the remote.
I have Netflix, Prime, Apple TV and Apple TV (playing only 90s) as MY buttons so switching sound settings is automatically done.
As you will find out there are multiple ways to experiment to achieve different sound settings so good luck - you have some great gear :-)
@pastaj
As for the channels of the Harmony with connected L/R speakers.
Go to 14.30 here: https://youtu.be/svIUxzKzI8E
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
well that pretty much answers that! thanks!
Are there adjustment screws for the harmony speakers to fine tune the alignment? i found the ones on the back of the tv that move the screen closer or further way so the speakers clear the screen, but my speakers are slightly out of alignment and want to trim them. thanks!!
New: Beovision Harmony, Beolab 50's, Beolab 28's, Beolab 18's, Beolab 17's, Beosound Stage & LG, Beosound 2, Beoplay M3, Beoplay A1, Beoplay Portal, Beoplay H4 gen 2, Beoplay E8 3.0
Mikipedia on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Mikipedia
Mikipedi4 on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/mikipedi4
Mikipedia on Intagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikipedi4/
Old: Beosound 9000 mk3, Beolab 3's, Beovision Eclipse, Beolab 1's, Beolab 2, Beovision 10-46, Overture 2300, beolab 8000's, Beolab 4000's, Beovision avant 32" etc. etc.
Congrats on the new setup!
Like Max above, I only use my front (i.e left and right) 50s for music - none of my other speakers are engaged, and certainly not my BV speakers, and neither my rears.
Unless you room is extremely large, there should be no need for anything other than the 50s for music, unless you really have a preference for engaging the 18s too.
pastaj: well that pretty much answers that! thanks!
he has arrived......lol been waiting to hear your opinion. thanks!
pastaj,
Here are some of the things for the Harmony MM and I said in another thread. Firstly though, before we speak about ''optimising'' wire in the 50's and set them up correctly as they will for 80% dedicate the performance of your system.
MM said:
''Normally what you call ‘left back’ would be the speaker placed and set as the left rear speaker behind you.
A ‘surround back’ does not really excist - surround speakers are those, that are placed beside the listening position.....and back would mean speakers that are placed at the back aka rear speakers.
You really should consult the Technical Sound Guide found on the B&O website - there you find good explanations for speaker placement and assigning these to the different roles. Also google for the Dolby layouts of 5.X/7.X speaker configurations.
As for how to use (or not) the L/R’s of the Harmony, when you want a multichannel setup, there are different takes on this.
As with all audio and audio configuration it depends on your room - and indeed on how far you have placed the BL5’s from the tv....also on your seating posions in front of the tv (especially when more people are listening).
You will have to experiment a bit - one good starting point would be to engage the LR as Center, set these up with a difference of 3 db to the C of the Harmony and set the distance of the C to approx 20 centimeters further away than the L/R.
See this video interview with Geoff Martin, where this also is discussed (head for 15:00):
https://youtu.be/svIUxzKzI8E
As always....don’t be afraid of trying things out, just keep record on what you are doing in order to find the right settings for you/your setup, once you have finished testing.
Note: you can easily make to Speaker Groups with different settings and switch between these........maybe even one for solo-listening and one for when you are more people.''
I said:
That is what Geoff said to try, just doing the Harmony C channel for center speaker channel only isn’t “wrong” or “bad” just default and a different way of doing it.''
And:
''Generally in terms of setup with a 5.1 track, the “rear” speakers are the surround audio track. With 7.1 the “rear” speakers are in the back track position and so in that case they should be in the back position, because the the surround speakers are the middle ones in the 7.1 tracks.
The left and right of the harmony aren’t on on mine either, you can turn them on (as MM reffered to, by Geoff) but i think it makes the center a bit boomy. That’s up to you, to me it makes more sense on an avant or eclipse as the harmony already kicks butt''
But please sort the 50's and the physical setup of the Harmony first!
pastaj:he has arrived......lol been waiting to hear your opinion. thanks!
just posted one. sorry, im new to "forums" and seem to have 2 running posts about the same topic. I posted to the other one just now. But yes, i watched Edge of Tomorrow yesterday and the system BLEW me away. i couldnt believe how great it sounded, and this is with NO mic tuning. Just a tape measure and a dB meter. So far so good but im having lip sync issues. It seems like everytime i have an issue, there is some small, easy fix that sets it right, its just with SO many settings and whatnot, it makes it difficult to figure out but when i do, it solves the problem immediately. Had a horrible echo when watching Ocean's 13 intro music and went into 50s configurator and found them to be set to high latency. Switched to auto and voila!
question about bass management...when no subwoofer is hooked up, and bass mgmt is ON, all the speakers are set to enable filtering to the 50s. Is this necessary? in theory, its taking low end from the center and the 18s in the rear and sending it to the 50s. my understanding. Is this necessary though? It seems that all the speakers in my setup would be capable of handling a fairly full frequency range and the system might sound "fuller" when all speakers are receiving the entire signal?
thanks again!!
and to the other individual's question, yes i just bought a harmony sound center as i already had the LG GX panel that I coincidentally bought prior to starting this B&O journey. Was very easy to install with the GX mounting bracket and the connections were easy, aside from the glitch my 50s were having that a power cycle was able to solve.
My thinking is that the 50s are the best speakers to handle the bass so why not?
Miki may have another view though
i dont disagree but im wondering if it really makes a difference. or would it be better to just run all speakers "unrestricted" per se. I guess i can just play with watching the same scene of a movie with and without bass mgmt on and see the difference. but this does all feel a little preemptive since i still haven't done the proper mic setup. Does the mic set up ALL parameters? i know it does distance and levels but what about the bass mgmt settings of pan and balance, etc? thx!
You need to read this before you do anything else
https://support.bang-olufsen.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042434432-Beolab-50-technical-sound-guide
How a beolab speaker can handle bas is (among other factors) a matter of the sound pressure level.
If you drive your setup at a relatively low volume level, you won’t notice much difference.
However, if you - which you probably will :-) - listen at higher volume, it is recommended to use the bas management functionallity of the Sound Center.
Please be aware, that the mic setup procedure is a matter of configuring the BL50’s (not the entire multichannel setup).
During the mic setup you can make presets, that you afterwards - when setting up the entire speaker setup can integrate with the Sound Center.
Here is a link to a setting up video and others - very helpfull for those who want to do the setup on their own:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRPmJ785xnMi0nBHAKH25GbHItnj_1E8Q
Also reading this entire thread can be helpfull:
https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/t/43644.aspx
Deleted
pastaj:just posted one. sorry, im new to "forums" and seem to have 2 running posts about the same topic. I posted to the other one just now. But yes, i watched Edge of Tomorrow yesterday and the system BLEW me away. i couldnt believe how great it sounded, and this is with NO mic tuning. Just a tape measure and a dB meter. So far so good but im having lip sync issues. It seems like everytime i have an issue, there is some small, easy fix that sets it right, its just with SO many settings and whatnot, it makes it difficult to figure out but when i do, it solves the problem immediately. Had a horrible echo when watching Ocean's 13 intro music and went into 50s configurator and found them to be set to high latency. Switched to auto and voila! question about bass management...when no subwoofer is hooked up, and bass mgmt is ON, all the speakers are set to enable filtering to the 50s. Is this necessary? in theory, its taking low end from the center and the 18s in the rear and sending it to the 50s. my understanding. Is this necessary though? It seems that all the speakers in my setup would be capable of handling a fairly full frequency range and the system might sound "fuller" when all speakers are receiving the entire signal? thanks again!! and to the other individual's question, yes i just bought a harmony sound center as i already had the LG GX panel that I coincidentally bought prior to starting this B&O journey. Was very easy to install with the GX mounting bracket and the connections were easy, aside from the glitch my 50s were having that a power cycle was able to solve.
im grateful to be in a position to enjoy these products. my dad has had the same pair for 30 years and i guess i was just wired to gravitate towards BO. Dont know how to post pictures but its a great looking setup :-)