Amused To Death and Avalon Opus

Amused to Death is an album that makes you wonder why there is so much fuss about multi channel music. As for the dog sound, I didn't get the barking dog behind me until I swapped the speaker polarity since my pre-amp is phase inverting. B.T.W., the recent live recording "In the Flesh", also in QSound, is very good as well. You can hear the 2001 Space Odyssey bit in the beginning of Perfect Sense, where HAL is talking to Dave, coming from just behind you.

That is two different dogs. If I knew my dogs better, I would know the breeds! It's getting soooo good.

Rich-
Have you been experimenting with speaker "toe-in"? I've found that sometimes just a slight tweak inward will snap things into focus. I also wouldn't be afraid of trying the speakers a bit closer to the walls, anything might help tune them in, so don't dismiss it 'till you've tried it. And lastly - throw away the formulas, set them up with your ears, and ENJOY!
Good Luck,
Ed

rich: dialing in a pair of speakers is rarely easy for anyone, no matter their individual experiences. a couple of weeks ago, my audio dealer and close friend had an open house, for the first time featuring avalon eidolon diamonds in the "main room." the vice-president of avalon, another good friend of mine, spent many hours "getting things right," notwithstanding his great familiarity with the room's acoustics, having setup several pairs of different avalon models over the years. in the end, the tweaking centered on the removal of some side wall acoustic panels and the insertion of tube traps behind and between the diamonds. the differences these fine tunings produced were startling. believe me, it's worth it to keep up your efforts. i'd suggest you pause for a bit, though, to establish a "control" for the finest of fine tunings. -cfb

cfb and Albert: I agree with both of you. I should have stated that I am using many CD's and LP's to place my speakers. Not just the "barking dog" CD. My apologies.

Dialing in a pair of loudspekers is not easy. Not for me at least. There are not enough equations that can be written down to solve for the many variables.

Rich

Go with Cornfeds suggestion. Amused to Death is one of my favorite LP's, but I would not use a dogs bark to set up an expensive set of speakers.

As already stated, if that makes the dog appear behind you instead of to your right, then so be it.

Just to add my personal experience to this, with my Soundlab speakers, which are bipolar, the dog is about 45 degrees to the right of center and VERY far off, but barking and growling AT everyone in the 17 foot width of my listening space.

This does not make my system better, it only illustrates that Qsound, being out of phase, will result in different sound imaging, depending on room, speakers and set up.

My room is 11.5 x 17.5 x 8 feet. Rectangular. Entrance to the right which opens up to a two story foyer. Speaker position is relative to the tweater: 30.5 inches from the side wall and 60 inches from the front wall. Nothing on the walls other than ASC sound panels on the side first and second reflection (left wall only) points.

Thanks,
Rich

rich: roger water's "amused to death" was mixed in Qsound, a proprietary process that uses out-of-phase signals to produce startling image effects. because this recording and others using Qsound ( e.g., madonna's "music") intentionally create a certain combination of effects not generally found on other recordings, i think it's one of the worst you could pick for speaker placement. i'd rely on other software with which you're very familiar to dial in speaker placement. use several types of music, including male and female voice, small orchestral or jazz group pieces, or anything else you enjoy. once you get your speakers set, THEN listen to "amused to death." what you'll hear is the "correct" imaging for YOUR system and YOUR listening environment. BTW, i think it's really cool to have sounds seemingly produced behind my head. -cfb

We need some info to help:
Room size? Shape? Current positioning? How does that compare to the room you demoed them in? Is the room bright/dull/carpeted, etc.?
BTW, you should hear the vinyl of that album. It is OUTSTANDING! That dog is not only outside the room, he's barking at _you_!