Practicalities of home cinema.....

[Legend83]

I have wanted to get me an Onkyo HTX22 all-in-one sub/amp/speakers job for a while now and have been constantly sparring with the missus!

We live in a semi-detached cottage and our neighbours are relatively cool when it comes to everything neighbourly....but not sure how they will react to the installation of said system.

My concern is that I buy it, but hardly ever use it out of concern for annoying others...

Any advice? Do people on here have ridiculous systems and live in flats? How do you manage it?

Guess the best thing to do is be upfront about and tell them I planning on buying it.

[JustinP1]

I wouldn't tell them.

If you get someone to listen out for something they will notice it a lot more as they will be waiting for it.

I can't imagine that something that size will be to audible next door. If it is heard, simply move the sub away from the shared wall.

[Legend83]

JustinP1 said:

I wouldn't tell them.

If you get someone to listen out for something they will notice it a lot more as they will be waiting for it.

I can't imagine that something that size will be to audible next door. If it is heard, simply move the sub away from the shared wall.

Good point. They might just never notice....

[Mr_Yogi]

Just ask your neighbour if he’s heard you and the missus arguing over anything recently. If he mentions a surround sound system it’s probably not such a good idea

[Legend83]

Mr_Yogi said:

Just ask your neighbour if he’s heard you and the missus arguing over anything recently. If he mentions a surround sound system it’s probably not such a good idea

Think it would be ok as the sub would not be on the share wall....

...so as a relatively cheap solution would people recommend the Onkyo HTX?

[wiggy001]

When I was in my first house (with paper thin walls) my neighbour came round one morning saying that he understood all couples had arguments but, in future, could we please try to keep the noise and especially the language down in such situations.

I muttered "er... yeah... ok... sorry".

Fact is, the missus was out that night and I was watching 8 mile

I kept the volume a little lower from that point on...

[Legend83]

Classic.

[samrr]

I have just got my system setup and worry about this too.

I live in a flat and told the neighbours when I moved in to let me know if I made too much noise...

Haven't heard since - main worry is the films as they go from wispers (so I turn the sound up) to huge bomb blasts which then sounds like your in a warzone!

I keep the sub down a bit but thats it now.

[Beardy10]

I currently live in a flat and have a pretty decent surround sound system (B+W 802D's and HTM2D are the main speakers) and to be honest it does inhibit the enjoyment of the system a bit knowing I have to respect the neighbours. I find it less of a problem with 2 channel listening as you don't have the variations in volume that you do with films!

We're moving out of London this year and will be buying a detached house, being able to crank up my system is a definite positive!

[sonic_2k_uk]

I have neighbours on both sides. The walls aren't paper thing, but you can hear a door slam or the one couple going for it every other night. Both are really good, at appreciating the noise issue, that is.

I hear them every now and then, they have to put up with the odd film i put on every now and then - It seems they agree as we've never had a problem or a knock at the door asking to turn it down.

ETA: But i am cautious about turning the sub up too much.

Edited by sonic_2k_uk on Friday 14th May 14:48

[OldSkoolRS]

I used to live in a semi with paper thin walls and I got that I couldn't enjoy watching a film or listening to a CD as the elderly neighbour would knock on the door at the slightest sound (even one occasion when I was feeding my then 1 year old son early evening, so it was hardly party levels ). I didn't even bother buying a sub until I moved as I now don't have to worry about neighbours I bought quite a big one. Funny thing is I put on a disc at my typical 'movie night' listening level of -15 and went outside...I couldn't hear anything, but when I put my hand against the porch support I could feel the bass, so I guess that's what is more of the issue, with the sound travelling through the building rather than the air.

I'm planing on rewatching Saving Private Ryan on BluRay soon as when I watched it 12 years ago I spent the whole film grabing the remote to control the explosions and then turning it back up so I could hear the speech in between.

[wiggy001]

Just a quick thought on this but does this particular bit of kit have a "Night Mode"? I've used it on my Sony receiver and it works quite well at reducing the range of volume used, so you don't go from quiet speech to loud explosions in a split second.

Just a thought...

[mammamia]

I,ve got the HTX22 system 2.1 and have added a centre speaker. I,m no audiophile but I love it,
beautiful sound and bass. I have no hesistation in recommending. You don,t have to have it a high volume, still sounds nice if played quietly

[Legend83]

mammamia said:

I,ve got the HTX22 system 2.1 and have added a centre speaker. I,m no audiophile but I love it,
beautiful sound and bass. I have no hesistation in recommending. You don,t have to have it a high volume, still sounds nice if played quietly

Thanks for the response, glad you like it! I am also no audiophile so am pretty sure I would be blown away by it!

Do you get the 'buzzing' sound when listening over HDMI that is well documented?

Tempted to spend the extra on the new model 22HDX...

[mammamia]

the amplifier / sub woofer cooling fan makes a gentle hum but you can,t hear it through the speakers
when you are playing it

[t84]

I have Audessy on my amp which has a volume levelling system which does a good job of curing your problem of not hearing dialogue

Edited by t84 on Tuesday 18th May 18:59

[Paul Drawmer]

I've got one on order...

got this the other day:
We have just had an update today from Onkyo on the delay with the HTX-22HDX. I'm sorry to say that the unit will have a slightly longer delay than first anticipated but the good news is that deliveries should be commencing in the second week of June - 3 weeks time.

I'm really sorry this wasn't the news either you or we were hoping for but we do now have dates. If you have an order with us already you it is safely in the queue in anticipation of the delivery. If you do not have an order with I would recommend placing a pre-order to secure your unit from the first delivery. After the first delivery there is likely to be a 2-3 month wait for the following delivery of stock.

At present we do still have spare allocation from the first batch - but not much!


Still, gives me longer to dream up an explanation. Unlike a change to the car, extra speakers in the living room isn't exactly an 'underground upgrade'!