It is been a while since I built this surround setup, I played almost all my HD movie collection on my hard disk again to get the surround sound experience. I jump to the final conclusion that this ancient surround pre-amp is very good. But how good it is?
Looking to the setup of this surround sound is a mess. Please notice that the installation like this is not safe. Yet it is only for temporary and testing purpose. That is why all cables and amplifier lying on the floor. Those cables are from my bin, the quality are bad but at least they are working in this test.
The most convenience power supply for this test is from PC power supply. It is high ampere power supply in the small case. It is actually not recommended for analog audio due to it's switching noise, but for this testing purpose I don't feel building another power supply are worth for this project.
The power amplifier for front and rear channel is get from 4 channel old Italian made car audio amplifier. It is small amp with an IC from TA8210AP running dual channel each.
The others amplifier for the center channel and the sub-woofer is using Nakamichi car audio amplifier. It is only 14 watt x 2 but quite sufficient power for an efficient drivers. The reason I using those car amplifier is because the PC powers supply that I using right now can deliver 12 volt and up to 5 ampere. This voltage rating is suitable for the car amplifier
The speakers for front channel are actually my testing speakers at my working desk. They are from Polytron, my local audio brand.
The center speaker is also come from Polytron. The TimTam is snack while watching the movies:)
The rear speakers are taken from old Altec Lansing PC speaker. For stereo setup, the sound is quite good.
The sub-woofer is taken from old Sony CRT television. It is only 5 inch sub-woofer but due to the unique enclosure design, this sub-woofer is quite loud. It is only need a little power to make the bass sound loud enough. And how I make it more powerful? I placed it on the back of the sofa, at the corner of the room.
All the speakers above are from my storage room. No money was spent during this project:)
I could say that all the front channel are marvelous. The front speakers sound are very wide open. The surround effect from the front channel makes the sound effect wider. The center channel is a 300 hz band pass. It is working great for deliver voice and speech during the movies. Since my center channel is lower sensitivity, I move it more forward to the listener.
The rear channel give a good field effect. Sometimes the rear sound effect play nicely with the movies but sometimes not. I believe this is the problem with the newer digital sound format which not working very well with the old analog surround like this. Overall I could accept the surround sound from this rear speakers.
I open the Youtube channel, search for Dolby Atmos sound demo. I play the demo video with this surround system. As you know, the Dolby Atmos require additional ceiling speakers to make a sound effect above the listener but I could say this old surround system could deliver the sound exactly like what the movie wants. Surprised? So do I.
End of my words, I am surprised how this ancient analog surround could still compete with today digital high technology surround. Furthermore, since this surround is fully analog, I don't feel metallic sound which often find in the digital system. The only problem is from rear surround sound which cannot play flawlessly for the newer format sound of the movies.
Disclaimer: Any statement and photos in this article are not allowed to copy or publish without written permission from the writer. Any injury or loss from following tips in this article is not under writer responsibility.
Looking to the setup of this surround sound is a mess. Please notice that the installation like this is not safe. Yet it is only for temporary and testing purpose. That is why all cables and amplifier lying on the floor. Those cables are from my bin, the quality are bad but at least they are working in this test.
The most convenience power supply for this test is from PC power supply. It is high ampere power supply in the small case. It is actually not recommended for analog audio due to it's switching noise, but for this testing purpose I don't feel building another power supply are worth for this project.
The power amplifier for front and rear channel is get from 4 channel old Italian made car audio amplifier. It is small amp with an IC from TA8210AP running dual channel each.
The others amplifier for the center channel and the sub-woofer is using Nakamichi car audio amplifier. It is only 14 watt x 2 but quite sufficient power for an efficient drivers. The reason I using those car amplifier is because the PC powers supply that I using right now can deliver 12 volt and up to 5 ampere. This voltage rating is suitable for the car amplifier
The speakers for front channel are actually my testing speakers at my working desk. They are from Polytron, my local audio brand.
The center speaker is also come from Polytron. The TimTam is snack while watching the movies:)
The rear speakers are taken from old Altec Lansing PC speaker. For stereo setup, the sound is quite good.
The sub-woofer is taken from old Sony CRT television. It is only 5 inch sub-woofer but due to the unique enclosure design, this sub-woofer is quite loud. It is only need a little power to make the bass sound loud enough. And how I make it more powerful? I placed it on the back of the sofa, at the corner of the room.
All the speakers above are from my storage room. No money was spent during this project:)
I could say that all the front channel are marvelous. The front speakers sound are very wide open. The surround effect from the front channel makes the sound effect wider. The center channel is a 300 hz band pass. It is working great for deliver voice and speech during the movies. Since my center channel is lower sensitivity, I move it more forward to the listener.
The rear channel give a good field effect. Sometimes the rear sound effect play nicely with the movies but sometimes not. I believe this is the problem with the newer digital sound format which not working very well with the old analog surround like this. Overall I could accept the surround sound from this rear speakers.
I open the Youtube channel, search for Dolby Atmos sound demo. I play the demo video with this surround system. As you know, the Dolby Atmos require additional ceiling speakers to make a sound effect above the listener but I could say this old surround system could deliver the sound exactly like what the movie wants. Surprised? So do I.
End of my words, I am surprised how this ancient analog surround could still compete with today digital high technology surround. Furthermore, since this surround is fully analog, I don't feel metallic sound which often find in the digital system. The only problem is from rear surround sound which cannot play flawlessly for the newer format sound of the movies.
Disclaimer: Any statement and photos in this article are not allowed to copy or publish without written permission from the writer. Any injury or loss from following tips in this article is not under writer responsibility.
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