Is This OVERKILL for Home Theater?

[@rhysbartlett55]

Well, according to my wife it was a dark dark day when I found your channel. Such is life I say. Keep it up

[@Youthman]

Hahaha. Don’t let her know where I live

[@herrtrigger7220]

sounds like it's time to upgrade!

[@simkinsfrank4169]

I have 13 speakers and 3 10” subs into 1.33 ohms into a 1 ohm load amp. Does it count if it’s in my 19’ boat?

[@ironcloud8457]

Lol my girlfriend gets pissed when she hears that “pink noise” when doing levels 😂😂😂

[@Laissez_Faire]

😂

[@VividTheater]

When your system starts destroying your house and your neighbors house, then that is when you hit the overkill threshold.

[@Youthman]

That’s what the volume knob is for

[@VividTheater]

​@@Youthman Usually owners of endless system power and massive subs lack volume discipline lol. The wife or the cops are the only true volume knob.

[@lunatikk1967]

@@VividTheater Yo rock but THAT is when you know your home theater is just right 🤣

[@JerrysHouseMusic1]

When you can’t here anything but bass and you can’t here Dialogue or effects .. then yes it’s overkill

[@rico9391]

That's not overkill. That's ridiculous.

[@Sloimer]

“Overkill”? Sorry - I’m not familiar with that term.

[@fdezdebobadilla]

"overkill" would mean that it would be 'too much' sound power

[@Sloimer]

ivanhoe 1968 woosh

[@gibluap]

@@Sloimer he took you literally! Lol! Although, you were serious! Lol

[@alford35]

Nope not at all. Overkill in audio just means headroom or lack of distortion if proper gear. Less distortion, higher efficiency, and proper gear equals better everything lol

[@Youthman]

That’s my thoughts exactly

[@paultripp1156]

I’m 62 years old, just bought my first set of hearing aids, yes... there is such a thing as overkill once you get to a certain point you pay a whole lotta money for just a little bit, how ever there is a lotta people out there that go the underkill road.... and that really sucks, your right plenty of power is always better, comfortable volume is best, bragging rights..... well that’s stupid!

[@bphilbac]

Paul Tripp Well said Paul! I agree totally.

[@adamk5305]

Of course there is overkill, but the threshold for which differs among all HT enthusiasts.

[@HossLUK]

there's no such thing as overkill when it comes to your passion

[@Bradimus1]

Overkill = Almost Enough

[@danielseguin913]

This video is a gem. Came right on time for me as I was asking myself the same question about my future plans upgrading my HT. I’m a fan of you and your videos. You are doing good presentations and provide very helpful knowledge. Thank you for sharing!

[@Youthman]

Thank you very much Daniel I’m glad you’re enjoying the content

[@shaneducholke364]

I know what you mean about subs needing to pressurized the room. Best thing I ever did during construction is I used tuck tape and acoustic sealant on ever electrical box, over every staple I used for the poly, on every stud, every base and head board so it was completely air tight. I also got sealed plugs to go in every air vent and I used sealed exterior doors to prevent air loss. This was mostly done for addition al sound proofing (plus alot more) but I noticed a significant improvement to my sub response and believe that has to do with a sealed room. It sounded like I doubled my subs and took me days to fix all the rattled.

[@TheKrillmeisterswe]

Overkill is a "term" that doesn't exist when it comes to hometheater

[@strtngfrsh]

Overkill is a term that should exist in everyone's vocabulary when it comes to home theater.

[@charlesm.9858]

I agree!! Mine in THX certified and it’s the Perfect set up according to Lucas Film and they are the God fathers of how sound should sound and I have been to their studios and I have NEVER heard anything like it that comes close!! And I have installed theater Gear worth over a hundred thousand dollars... so I can confidently say..There is Term that does matter like YouthMan says.😁

[@johndoe9501]

@@charlesm.9858 my $20 earbuds are thx certified

[@Majorowsky1337]

id say same comes to the car audio ;)

[@TheKrillmeisterswe]

@@strtngfrsh nope

[@budgetaudiophile6048]

I honestly feel it's impossible to have "too much" subwoofer in a room. If I could afford to have 5 32" subs (they're about 3 grand each) instead of the 5 18s I have currently and 6 24" subs (they're about 2 grand each) instead of the 6 15s, I'd do that. Just gain match, time align, set your levels, send it! It's all about HEAD . . to the ROOM!

[@Quetzalcoatl0]

Can't agree more. My 0.02 $ is that you need an amp that can do 2x the power of what your speakers are rated, not PEAK power, but the nominal power. If you have more, then that's even better. Would you rather drive a car with a top speed of 170km/h at 160km/h or a car with top speed of 250km/h at 160km/h ? Also remember that the less the cone is moving the cleaner the sound, the lesser of distortion. So having 4 - 8 or more subwoofers will make the bass more clean, and you would be able to reach lower digits hz, even single digit hz.(if sealed, vented can't produce under port tuning).

[@Youthman]

Completely agree

[@inglouriousmofo]

Amp/speaker matching can be tricky sometimes, but having way more amp power to speakers can be dangerous. I agree you do need a bit more (25-30% is my general rule) but 2x rms is overkill and just asking for blown speakers.

[@Youthman]

I’ve used 200wpc for years with a ton of speakers and have never damaged a speaker.

[@inglouriousmofo]

@@Youthman Yes, and I agree, but that's not a good example. In your case, the speakers may be underrated. Try 2000 watts to a 1000 watt speaker and see what happens. All I was saying is twice the power is not always a good rule to follow. Also you can't always follow receiver wattage specs. 100 watts from a receiver is not always equal to 100 watts from a power amplifier for example. When you push your system, most likely your speakers are seeing a bit lower than that rated receiver power depending on the company.

[@Youthman]

Common sense has to be used as well. I would have zero issues running a 2000 watt amp with speakers that are rated at 1000 watts. It would be dumb for anyone to turn it wide open. But then again, running a lower wattage wife open is just as dangerous due to distortion and clipping.

[@bartl006]

I think it was Tom Danley (used to work with Jeff P way back in the day) who said that drivers and loundspeakers start getting into non-linearity/distortion at 10% of rated power. Great video! keep it up, and see if you can get a Danley TH-50 in for review. I'd be curious to know how it compares to your current set up

[@Youthman]

Danley is next level as well. They design subwoofers for Football Stadiums LOL

[@dennisbohner6876]

What needs to be considered is voltage drop from the power line and the efficiency of the amplifier. If you go all in then you need dedicated lines and if you choose certain amps you can pump 220/240 volts which passes considerably more power to the device. If your amp is designed to run Class 'A', you will need to compensate for the lack of efficiency (usually 75% of the power is turned to heat). If you move up the ladder to newer designs, such as Class 'D', efficiency can exceed 90%. With the Class 'D' you can get more power delivered to your speakers with less waste heat (think ventilation issues, ease of placement), weight and a SMALLER power line. The better power amp modules are sonically indistinguishable from the better traditional designs. So it's not just the speakers which create choke-points for reproduction volumes. You want to get nuts, get a highly efficient amp, speakers and a power line with no other draws than the amp. With a good Class 'D' receiver you should be able to avoid the need of an off board amp. Even if you are venturing into crazy loud then consider the same design as IMPORTANT in an outboard amp. One other added benefit of coll running amplifier, they should last longer. Heat is one of the destructive forces working on your electronics. It's also eco-friendly. Especially when you are running your A/C to go Class 'D'.

[@Youthman]

Good info!

[@Dirtywhtboy87930]

Dennis Bohner that is why I have a small breaker box at the meter base. I ran all 10 gauge wire as a dedicated circuit for my home theater, actually three runs. One for my electronics that my monster cable power distribution box is plugged into. Another one for my main amps. The last one for my subwoofer duty using QSC RMX pro audio amplification. Now I’m satisfied that everything is truly getting full power.

[@bucknertarsney7674]

It’s a $$$ spent for value consideration. Sure, on an unlimited budget, more is better, but that is rarely a reality in a low or mid level HT build. Amplification power and speaker efficiency is key, balanced with $$$ invested is highly important.

[@path9mm]

That's why I went the DIY route.

[@Youthman]

You can get a lot of value to performance with DIY if you are handy

[@DuraMaxDieHard101]

I agree with you. I even run 2,000 watts to 12 inch subwoofers in my truck but they're dialed in. I also wanted to say thank you very much for sharing the difference in subwoofer because I am looking for new ones.

[@sleeper1023]

Thank you for raising and discussing these points. As someone relatively new to the hobby, this dispels a lot of misconceptions I have--making it clearer for me to select which hardware to acquire.

[@jallred2]

Great talk, I agree with your points on blending subs within the soundfield and having headroom for your speakers.

[@b3owu1f]

Man..this was such a great video. I kinda knew some of this already.. but the way you talked about multiple subs lowering the workload of one to pressurize the room.. that really made good sense.

[@akjannu]

Great Video ! I fully agree with Youthman !! we must have enough headroom in both Amplifier and SW/Speakers to enjoy movies or music. I have a dual 12 inch Sunfire and Dennon 11.2 with Marantz 5 channel power Amp MM 7055 for earlevel speakers sounds great both at high and low volumes !!

[@garryhammond3117]

Total agreement Sir. Overdriving and distortion lead to speaker distruction. Of course, one could also go "stupid" and run way too much power into a given speaker.

[@Youthman]

Yes you still have to use common sense. If you have a 200 watt rms speaker and feed it 1000 watts and try and turn it wide open, you are asking for trouble

[@dirkbisschoff8946]

I fully agree with you Youthman! It's NOT overkill if the amps, speakers & subs are dialed in correctly. Great video 🤘

[@Youthman]

Thank you

[@bassproable]

Hmm that's a bit of a personal choice. I played live music for years and had different rigs for different venues. So really it depends on your space and room dynamics.

[@davidtallott3070]

IMAX audio engineers speak of head room in a KZbin video discussing there speakers and amp. They use a a really great example with driving a car either flooring it all the time or having enough power in the engine to go faster when needed. Thanks for your videos youthman always learning from you.

[@Youthman]

Glad you are finding the content helpful.

[@shaneducholke364]

When I built by home theater room 15 years ago, I found a very detailed formula that was used to fi s out the optimum and maximum amp watch to a particular speaker. It used sensitivity, max speaker capability, cable length, room volume and total number of speakers ( I may have missed on or added one, it was a long time ago) you plugged those numbers into 2 different formulas, 1 gives you minimum per channel and the other gave you maximum. I believe max was based on +10 or basically a level you would never listen to. This helped you get the beat performance without hurting your speakers. I bought just above the max and my AVR does not over work or get too hot. I just wish I could find it again. I tho k it was in a really old Sound and Vision Magazine

[@jessicaembers924]

I've got overkill in an efficiency apartment? I've got eight 15" band speakers with horns wired in series parallel with a 1,000 watt Allen Heath powered mixer, and a 3 way 540 watt studio monitor system. They blend phenomenal, i like that old school new school approach.

[@FinnishArmy]

I upgraded my TV to a 70" 4K last year. In July, on my birthday; I'm getting a 4K blu-ray player and a 4K 9.2 channel receiver for myself. I'm very excited! Been watching 1080p blurays with 7.1/5.1 surround. I have a full 7.2.2 setup, just no way to fully utilize all the speakers I installed myself. Dolby Atmos is going to be so great!!

[@Youthman]

Congrats on the upgrades!

[@nonametofame]

Yes, definitely. This was touched on in your video regarding subwoofers, but having too large of speakers for a small space can present issues. You will introduce significant room gain in bass, if you're not able to pull them away from the walls/corners. This will result in requiring proper room treatment (which isn't cheap) and appropriate room correction to tame excessive bass frequencies, which can cause bloating and unevenness. So, yes, you can overpower your room with too much displacement. Every room is different, so you need to do the proper research.

[@FOH3663]

Many good points! Don't underpower you LCRs Clipping=no bueno (simply listening closely one can hear loudspeaker compression, if they're compressing, turn it down) Also remember; It takes 4x excursion to maintain level and drop one octave. So if your sub system can attain reference level in a bass managed 5.1 or 7.1 system (~125dB* or so) at 25hz** to hit achieve that at 12.5hz*** you need to quadruple your sub capability. *(for example worst case scenario, ie, full scale 0dB LFE, +7ch) **(quite difficult) ***(extremely difficult)

[@atorgeese]

Just became a patreon 120db crew, well done videos, also just finished my home theatre with a Marantz AVR with 5 channel amp with the help of your videos, made the decision a no brainer. Made my home theater come to life! Thanks for all you do Michael!

[@Evil_Peter]

I'd say that overkill should be seen as balancing gain and budget. For example, if you have amplification that lets you play at your desired listening level without any distortion or other negative effects it will be overkill to increase amp power (since you already have the headroom you need, and amplifier quality is something different) if that means that you can't spend as much on something else, like room treatment which often is something that is very neglected relative to the effort put into the audio system. When money isn't a factor then I agree that there is no problem with overkill.

[@JesusISdaonlyway]

You illustrated that a single subwoofer may struggle to pressurize your room. Where as, more of them working together can share the load and makes it that they all work less for a cleaner sound and maintain health of the equipment! That just makes so much sense. I experienced that with a Polk + Marantz SR8001 set up I had. I had four speakers (no subwoofer) and I noticed how just two of them on would struggle but when I turned all four on, the sound especially at louder volumes seemed to make my walls disappear. I also noticed that when all four speakers were on, the excursion of all the woofers was less but the sound was more and I was able to turn the amp up higher without distortion. I love how scientific this stuff is. Yeah I'm a nerd! Beautiful explanation though!

[@vansonmafeet734]

I've told my wife I am looking to get a second subwoofer for my theater, which of course she thinks I don't need. Every time we watch a movie I ask her "did you like that?" She says yes of course. So I tell her that everything I've purchased for the home theater I bought for her enjoyment, I'm not being selfish. That seems to work. .....looks like I'll be getting that second sub fairly soon.

[@wendellgayheart9228]

I agree Youthman 👍... it’s kinda like pleasing a woman...small can be enuff but bigger is better because a man doesn’t have to work it as hard 😁

[@Youthman]

😂😂😂

[@williamtoth6186]

But if you got it you’re gonna use it all. Right?

[@chrispatterson2115]

@@williamtoth6186 dam right

[@mikan004]

Wow bro

[@glynmatthews678]

That's a great way of explaining it ...youthman should borrow that 😂

[@LifeofBliss]

I definitely think there's a point of diminishing returns when it comes to spending money on components. But overkill is subjective. I think there are always products and people that will push the limits of what can be done at home. I personally don't believe there is overkill if you are working within your budget and the space is an enjoyable experience

[@Youthman]

Agree. It makes for good conversation

[@KlipschHead281]

Very well done video, I have tried explaining there is no such thing as overkill to people since 1978! Explaining distortion, clipping etc.... I'm going to point people to this video, thanks. The other thing I have to explain is phase, for some people some people can't tell when speakers are out of phase, back in the day it seemed most stereo stores had speakers hooked up this way, drove my ears insane.

[@nimlil]

Also, the more subwoofers, the more even the bass is thruout the room (less room modes), so as you said, you don't end up over driving them to fill out the lulls or holes in areas that may not be getting enough bass (even thou other area's may be getting too much . You've talked about room modes in other videos but I don't think you mentioned them here when you were commenting about adding 2 or three more subs ;-)

[@Youthman]

That is certainly a great point.

[@adamrodriguez4027]

All i heard was that a man bought two more massive subs based on one movie scene

[@drew9932]

Been playing for years, decades even. But learned so much with this video. Thank you!

[@Youthman]

Glad to hear it. I learn something new every day

[@IGB231085]

Just to add to another great advice video. Impedance dips are also demanding on amplifiers especially some receivers

[@Youthman]

That is very true. My RF7’s have impedance dips down near 2ohm. Didn’t think to mention that.

[@IGB231085]

@@Youthman obviously when buying higher end electronics they can usually deal with such issues

[@michaelbauer6126]

The term “overkill” is in my vocabulary but is limited by my budget! I appreciate all the components I’d like to have but know that some are simply not affordable for me! 👍😁

[@johnf517]

Overkill is what you feel before you get accustomed to the upgrade and then realize it's time for overkill again... I have 2 x SVS PB16s.. I thought those were overkill... Now I want the JTRs you got... LOL

[@Guitar387]

I have a very modest budget home cinema system , REL 400 sub ,Denon 2600 and four mission lx 2 speakers and a mission lx centre speaker , I have two monitor audio radius 45 for atmos. My room is only 12 foot square and it’s enough. But I love watching audiophile you tubers like this man.

[@BradleyButlerDrums]

Port chuffing is something I wasn’t familiar with but I had an experience with my sub that it made a “fluttery” sound and I had no idea what it was. So I looked up what it was after you said that phrase and sure enough that was the problem. Thanks for the knowledge!

[@rafaelruiz-tagle358]

You sure make an awesome show every time… Every Time! Thanks for giving us your knowledge and experience!

[@Youthman]

Glad you are enjoying the content Rafael

[@deputysheriff5994]

Very informative!Thank you! Would love to have all the power when you need it for sure!So yes would love to be in a position of "over kill"!

[@MusclesAVS]

The one area I will say that Watts matter more in a home theater is if you listen to music full range and are sending full range signals to your L and R speakers. I can see my amp meters go well above 300+ watts during loud music sessions, albeit these are pushing over 120db at the listening position, but it will be cleaner the more power you have. For home theater you will seldom run your amps too hard because anything below 80hz is routed to the subwoofers who have their own built in class D amps that are much more powerful.

[@Dirtywhtboy87930]

Vinny Diesel unless you have your processor set to Large for any configuration of your speakers. I ran Audessey to get it dialed in on my Marantz flagship processor and it set my speaker settings to Large...

[@MusclesAVS]

Marvin Lawrence I don’t run it through my AVR. I have a home theater bypass to a McIntosh c2600. 2 channel through an AVR is not something I would recommend. It runs them full range.

[@merwynvincent]

Wow not many ppl talk abt these things. I'm surprised that a subwoofer worth 3000$ too flap around when it's loud. I believed a svs 18" sub would just complete my system!!! Presently I have two Rockford fosgate T2 built into my custom boxes which does a very neat job in reproducing low end till 14hz. But it flaps around when I crank up to 0db. Till now I thought it does that as I designed the box and system. U really put a light into the topic most reviews won't tell about their $3000 subwoofers.... Very honest review. Thanks......👍

[@Youthman]

I think it would be great if SVS made an 18”.

[@merwynvincent]

@@Youthman When I have saved enough to buy a svs, I hope they have an18" then!!!!

[@Youthman]

Don’t hold your breath lol

[@Tinybench]

Just so you know! passive radiators work with resonance. When the woofer is moving in, the passive radiator is also moving in and when the woofer is moving out, the passive radiator is also moving out, in phase with the woofer, helping it compress and decompress the environment. Imaging a slinky hanging off your hand in resonance, as you you push in, the slinky is also pushing in and as you pull, the slinky is also pulling. If the passive radiator would move out when the woofer is moving in and vice versa, the sound of the woofer and passive radiator would cancel out.

[@Youthman]

Thx for the info. Learn something new every day 👍

[@Tinybench]

Your are welcome!!! Mechanical Engineering!!! LOL!!!! Hope the explanation was clear enough! Thank you very much for the entertainment teammate! I enjoy your videos very much!!!!

[@Youthman]

There is a lot of technical knowledge I do not know but I love learning from others. In the end we learn from each other. I certainly do not have it all figured out

[@Tinybench]

@@Youthman Teammate you do a fantastic job and I appreciate your videos! The passive radiator movement is extremely counter intuitive and beyond the scope of the excellent reviews that you do!

[@LoudCobra1]

Well in my case I could have gone bigger but the layout and size of the room determined the size of my speakers

[@mikan004]

For those asking why we need twice amplifier power just for 3db, 50dB is 10 times stronger than 40dB, at least based on measurement where 0 dB is a level that most, if not all humans, cannot hear. The thing that I am trying to say is that the dB scale, is logarithmic, not linear, altough we hear it quite linearly. And I think refrence level (80dB) is the level at which the average human can hear all fequencies from 20Hz to 20kHz well. And it is not exactly the amplifier that moves the driver but rather the magnet, which is powered by the amplifier. Anyway, great video Youthman, extremely informative.

[@brianlove3369]

Another thing to add you need dedicated 20 amp for a receiver or you won't get the power that the amp in that AVR has to offer, if you add an amp it is recommended to get more than a 20 amp outlet to power the amp

[@Youthman]

I run my theater off of a dedicated 20

[@skizzarz]

18:45 I think it's more than it's overpowering itself than other speakers, it's the overtones that would be the sounds you'd be able to locate from a sub.

[@larryjackson3145]

YES!!! For one example... if you have small Jamo towers for fronts, but 6 18inch subs... thats overkill!!! At some point, every system will face diminishing returns...

[@musaedalfraih4682]

The only overkill in a home theater I could think off is having a sound stage or space that's too large for a given room size, that's when you lose some small details in the soundfield, or the sound sometimes just doesn't seem right. Not because of overpower but coz of speaker or other component level and specs that require larger spaces to perform optimally.

[@DerekBove]

I like this format of video. Lots of common misconceptions out there, and this is timely as I look at external amplification :)

[@Youthman]

Thank you. I’m trying some new things on the channel. Seeing what people enjoy the most. Thank you for the feedback

[@Antimonkat]

Only time I think there is overkill is when people use full range tower speakers for effects chanels. The movies aren't mixed to take advvantage fo that so it's more speaker than you'll ever need for that purpose. but otherwise, yeah headroom is a good thing to have, over buy if you can, and run things cooler and more effeciently, stuff will last loger too.

[@markgray6048]

If you set everything up right. Balance everything out it should be okay should be no problems at all

[@paulmcwilliams8641]

I got rid of my centre speaker a couple of years ago. It sounded okay, but I sit within 3 meters of my TV and the voices of actors lost realism. The audio seemed unconnected to the cast, when one actor was on the left of screen having a conversation with someone right of screen, yet both voices eminated from the centre. I am much happier now, especially when just watching a stereo TV programme. I don't have a sub either, because I kept forgetting to switch it off and my mains have enough bass for me. So for me a sub and a center speakers are overkill for me, once I am fully engaged with what is being screened I am not really concentrating too much on the audio. It's totally different when I listen to my two channel hifi system, no subs there either though.

[@Themadscientist6858]

If you put too large of a speaker in a small room ,the acoustic signature of that that room are going to work against that particular speaker. Just like if you place a small s peaker in too large of a room. Too much amplification into a speaker coil thats rated to handle lower amplification eventually will heat up coil . There is no need to spend thousands of dollars on a 7 channel amp if you going to have all the gains lower. Its ok to have some headroom buy no need to ho overboard. There is a line when you know you need some headroom and when you essagerated a bit. But if you got money to burn, go right ahead. But most people outhere like to get as much as they can from the gear they allready have.

[@shadrachjackson752]

Wow! That is.... Wow! I like it. I understand it. I probably would do something similar to that if I had the opportunity. I wonder what it sounds like. I wonder how far can you hear that away from the house. I wonder if you can hear that from maybe a couple blocks away.

[@gilbertrios5283]

Wow this is HT 101, I wish I had had a video like this one to guide me into this crazy hobby when I first started back in the 90's... Some great info here for the rookie! Now as far as overkill is concerned, I've been at this game for many years and I have not gotten to that point...With my years of experience, I've improved the quality of my ht by buying better components, and bigger subs because when it comes to bottom end, bigger is better! By doing that, I have no problem pushing my ht to reference level with no strain! And that to me is Sonic Bliss!

[@C--A]

Yeah bigger subs are better as long as they are good performing subs and you have the space available to accommodate them. And yep that's the key having the headroom to hit the home reference level if you choose to play at that level. But 8 or more massive subs playing hot way over the home reference level is overkill! It will give a inaccurate bass presentation plus damage your ears hearing in the mid to long term.

[@stephenbarnes8817]

I’ve always had a saying. Too much is never enough

[@sabrewolf9567]

Great video I’m just starting to dive into the hobby. I had been wondering about this exact topic for a little while now. Thanks for all the info keep up the great work.

[@nicko880]

Considering how affordable a DIY subwoofer system like this is, it actually is not necessarily overkill. It gives you the power and headroom to tweak the response in your room pretty much just how you like it with no compromises. You could make that 12 18" subwoofer system with drivers, amps, boxes, and DSP for about $6000-7000 by my calculation (depending on what drivers you use) which is only enough to buy 2-3 PB16-Ultras otherwise... Even if you use lower quality drivers than the PB16 or another high end sub, having 12 of them means each driver only needs to move a fraction of the distance to produce the overall same amount of response when they are all added together. Lower driver movement means lower distortion, so even with lower quality drivers, if you have enough of them, you can result in lower distortion than a few high end drivers. Larger overall driver surface areas means lower overall movement of the drivers and lower distortion. Of course the downside is all the space the 12 subs take up, but if you have a dedicated theater room, a big acoustically transparent screen there is no reason you would even see any of those sub stacks if you didn't want to.

[@Youthman]

DIY will give you much more bang for your buck if you are handy enough to build them

[@drwinlied]

Not even someone being killed by their own system ("Death by Stereo", Lost Boys, 1987) would be considered overkill. Spend any time on forums/youtube and you'll soon realize (not that you don't already) that in this industry, more is never enough. Also, save yourself some money and stay away from forums/youtube.

[@Youthman]

Love the last sentence 😂😂😂

[@icantthinkofanoriginalname7818]

Omar japhet Landeros gonzalez are you there head of advertising

[@daveycrockett5738]

Lol love the profile pic, Kurt Russell, big trouble in little China’s classic. Also lost boys, another classic. Lol good advice!

[@Youthman]

That Yamaha only plays down to 32Hz. It’s designed for venues where they play music that doesn’t have low frequencies. I’ll stick with my JTR Captivator RS2’s that play flat down to 5Hz.

[@daveycrockett5738]

Youthman ya me to youthman, I’ll stick with Jtr, cap4000 should be getting in about 3 weeks or so.

[@howi5065]

Grait video man. Realy like your videos and Content, keep up the good work!! 👌 I actualy started building my very first Home theater just 3 days ago, and man i am learning much from your videos. Thanks!!! 😎👍

[@Youthman]

Congrats! Enjoy the journey

[@howi5065]

Youthman Thanks! 👍 I am leaning towards Klipsch speakers. Now I just have 5.1 of Dali. But want something bigger and with more punch!! 😎

[@travis4798]

Yep, the only overkill thing is too much sound pressure and cancellation from too much bass. I like a bassey system but I like it to be clean too. I had a not so great experience with a local movie theater. It's is a newer place but they use an ancient / improperly dialed surround setup (High's spike and too much midrange) and apparently a wall of subwoofers that flutter out the mid's and high's. It really felt like there were Buttkicker modules attached to the seating but nope, just regular flip down seats. Impressive bass just a bad application.

[@Youthman]

Any system can sound terrible if not dialed in properly. But it’s not about having too many, it’s about improper installation and application

[@michaelpowell4823]

I thought my home system was okay, on the older side but worked. Then I got a new car and I heard things that I had never heard on my home system. I'm looking at upgrading (adding an amp and changing out center/mains) but have found a rabbit hole of information. Is there a good source that lays out the basics and terms? With searches I have done (like every topic now) there is a bunch of cross information; I don't know where to start.

[@edwardbarr1533]

Overkill ? Is it Overkill to have Bespoke Suits made if you can afford them No Is it Overkill to buy the very best Turntable one can attord,and to 2 haveothers in service for particular records No Is it overkill to polish your shoes every day No One of the most painful sounds is hearing an amplifier being driven to clipping. It is the equivalent of an aural overdraft a destructive and dreadful experience Clean power is the only power particularly for the reproduction of classical music In all things you should always have something in reserve Thankyou for another excellent video What you say is equally applicable to the reproduction of music. Orchestras are never conducted to clipping

[@charlesm.9858]

Aloha YouthMan! I believe it all goes back to having a standard in which Lucas came out with years ago.. We know that THX has made that standard Years before anyone else and I believe when we get back to that standard.. it helps put sound quality, Speaker size and position into check other wise it could be so out of proportion but it’s hard to enjoy even at a quality standpoint anything can be loud but without having that standard people tend to get lost into what is to much or to less or asking where or who set that standard in the first place. Just my thoughts 😁🍿 Be safe Sir!! Aloha!

[@OldsXCool]

If you're hearing alot of port chuffing inside of your subwoofers frequency response then they are incorrectly placed. Perhaps you've never been able to get the results you desire because you've been putting your subwoofers where they look good instead of where they sound good. There's no replacement for displacement, but there is also no replacement for proper speaker placement.

[@JingoLoBa57]

Very thoughtful and thorough video. Learned a lot thank you. I hope listeners can distinguish between dialed in and overkill. Maybe a follow up vid on diff scenarios and how to calibrate overkill from just right (or under powered too). Well done. Mind you I guess a virtual reality headset and chair maybe just as effective in communicating the experience you are looking for too. Cheaper and easier to set up, lol. Just not social...

[@mitch7983monkey]

Just so everything can blend seamlessly I made sure to include the WF Factor at 22:30 mark! Great topic and video, Big Thumbs Up!!!

[@redstang5150]

Good question. I do believe there's overkill, but in the end there's lots of factors involved, with the major one being $$$. Specifically though, subwoofer overkill is the one most intriguing to me. I see guys on avsforum that have 12 more DIY 18" subs in average size rooms and I wonder how effective that is? I wonder, what was it like when they had 6 in there and went to 12? The reason is I have a relatively small HT room. I have "only" a pair of 12" ported subs. While they give a lot of output, there's plenty of room for improvement. But, because my room is small I don't have room for a pair of JTR dual 18" cabinets, much less even single 18" 'ers. Therefore I am tempted to go with a higher quantity of 12" subs that would fit in my room, but I don't see ANYBODY doing that. Generally the recommendation I see is to just get one bigger one. Yet at the same time, there's those guys with lots of 18" subs in their rooms. ok, so I just watched your video of Newby's room - that's EXACTLY the sort of room I was talking about! Wow. So what I completely don't get is how he is able to get all those subs in that amount of space. That room is only 14x16? I don't get it - is it like walking into a Tardis?

[@aaronz7267]

that cracking sound sounds like the voicecoil former smashing against the magnet! probably damaged them a little bit!!! i have ran much higher end car audio subwoofers as well as reconed plenty of them!

[@herrtrigger7220]

50% more amp power than needed is headroom, 50% more sub volume than needed is overkill. Same as having Magnepan 20.7 or big Westlakes in a 10 x 12 room. If you can locate a sub it's crossed over too high, subs crossed over above 50 hz means your mains are too small

[@Youthman]

You can’t locate my subs and they are crossed over above 50Hz.

[@eddieshirely1462]

I Totally agree with you. More is Better. More power more subs more more more.. Yeah boyyie.. This is Even so with the video. Multi Stack configuration with projectors. It gives it so much more punch. Coloring improves considerably. Ohh. By the way. Don't try it.. Its really hard to go back. I failed that part. Haha

[@louisd95714]

I think the specific way there can be overkill is if the room is too small to absorb the energy waves that sub-woofers produce. In larger rooms, it would not be an issue but the energy waves produced in sub-woofers have to be reflected, and if the room is too small there would be extreme bounce back. But this video showcases the anxiety that audiophiles have. Audio quality , no matter how good it is, is never enough for them, and they will forever upgrade their equipment in the pursuit of perfection.

[@Youthman]

Pretty much the same with any hobby you are passionate about.

[@louisd95714]

@@Youthman Thank God I am not as passionate as some others are, otherwise I would be broke. LOL

[@Bigfootz2004]

I think the only correct answer to this question is "it depends". It depends on many factors, most of which have nothing to do with your home audio setup and more to do with life and priorities.

[@peritia5703]

Wonderful and informative video! I really appreciate that you went into such great detail to explain your positions.

[@mgdotto1]

Wow super super super informative I am trying to build my system and don’t want to make mistakes THANK YOU!!!! SO MUCH

[@Youthman]

Glad to help

[@ronmerkus5941]

I have to agree with you , that manufacturers do play this big wattage game in the AV receiver , especially in the car audio market......there is a few things one should look out for if you enter that market . As in Ohm's rating in the 1 ohm stable to 0.5 ohm stable , and not just look at the wattage output of a amp!

[@Youthman]

Car audio is pretty bad at doing that as well

[@jackbookerjr.3047]

I just don't need that much I guess, which is fortunate because I can't afford all that equipment. I am happy with my Denon x6500h and single Klipsch RW-12D. I did get a Monolith 3*200 for front stage, but I can't really tell any difference. Maybe I just don't crank it like you guys.

[@CroftGaming1]

underpower does not hurt your speaker, distortion do, when you have 100watt speaker running on a 50watt amplifier thats totally fine unless you overload your amp. even your speaker can take little bit of distinction and you can hear it and turn down the volume, but if you use a 200watt amp it wont distort untill go higher than 200watt and you wont be able to tell, and trust me i build amplifiers and sound boxes and customers many times burned their speaker because of high power amps, your speaker cant handle over than 100watt for long time , its better to use overpower amp if you know what are you doing and dont go full power or match your speaker with your amp power.

[@Youthman]

Well you definitely have to use some common sense when driving your speakers. You can’t go crazy on either extreme. If you have two low of power, and try to push it be on its capabilities you introduce distortion which will damage your speakers very quickly. If you have a ton of power and crank it up to the max, of course you can definitely blow some speakers doing that. Again common sense goes a long ways in this hobby

[@CroftGaming1]

@@Youthman thanks for replying, my customer dont understand that, thats why i double the power of speakers, the amp is under powered to damage those speakers on minimum distortion, with high distortion they can totally hear it and turn the volume down.

[@gges1605]

The bigger the output of the amp theoretically the better for your speakers as they are not struggling to drive them and therefore can control them better however that does not always hold true you can get a higher quality amp with less wattage that will sound much better than a high output monster that isn't reproducing the sound properly so its a bit of a difficult question to answer properly generally you need to find an amp that matches well with the speakers you are using.

[@gges1605]

Unfortunately i don't agree with you in regards to subs the lower the frequency you reproduce in the system the slower the note is and unfortunately it has a side effect of masking the faster bass notes to the point you cannot hear the fast bass notes in some cases you will hear one massive bass note which you might think is fantastic until you realise there's supposed to be 3 notes played, so where i would call it overkill is where the bass is so powerful that it is actually detrimental to the sound of the system

[@ARSENALS-cn8mv]

SIR I REALLY DO RESPECT ABT THE LOVE ND KNOWLEDGE U HAV FOR THE HOME THEATERS ND AUDIO SYSTEMS..I NEVER MISSED A SINGLE VIDEOS OF YOURS..KEEP IT UP..🇦🇺🦘🦘

[@imissmypeep2209]

I would love to hear your set up! I recently moved into a travel trailer and had to sell all my surround sound equipment. When I get a house again some day I'll be extremely excited to get a home theater system together. With two subs this time. Though I won't be able to afford anything like you have ! Lol, lordy. Great video.

[@Themadscientist6858]

All your doing is making that system wish is overkill to begin, work in that space by adjusting gains and decibels on amp. Of course if you run your amp decibel on (-) and keep gains on minimun and dont crank your volume , then your system will not sound like its overkill. But turn things up a bit and play louder and your ear will distort not your speakers. Thats when youll find out what you got is on the overkill side.

[@godfather1116]

Power is never overkill, better to have extra and ample power available than to have a lack of it. Heck I feed 120+ watts to my Atmos speakers via my Outlaw 5000, soon to be 200W per channel when I add another Emotiva to the rack. Emotiva XPA-5 Gen 3 for the LCR, surrounds (that would feed them more than 200+ watts) and the XPA-7 Gen 3 will be powering the rest, I will have an extra open channel, that means I will be feeding all of my speakers more than 200+ :)

[@Youthman]

And your speakers are performing optimally with ease

[@godfather1116]

@@Youthman and i'll say it agin, "I thought I was done UPGRADING" again lol HAHAHA - it never ends!

[@Youthman]

@@godfather1116 Yeah, but we could be spending money on a lot worse things. LOL

[@Edward135i]

I have a a full Klipsch 7.2 THX Ultra 2 system in a 700 cu ft room, sounds great, my receiver has a volume nob, I can easily get the room to 100db sustained if I never want to hear again. "there is no such thing as too much horsepower just not enough traction" -Carroll Shelby

[@danielj.glowny4108]

What movie has low frequency at 20 hz. or lower ? You must use frequency generator for such low bass that you love. I have six power sub woofers in my system, three of the power subs are used for the low frequency channel. I use full size JBL speakers for all channels.

[@Youthman]

Lots of movies have sub 20Hz content. Google for a long list

[@offshorevids7073]

Love you sight!!! Avid viewers here! Sure do wish you would also review HOME THEATER SEATING...especially the BIG & TALL seats. Seems like nobody on KZbin does this. Keep up the great vids!!!

[@Youthman]

I have several home theater seating reviews on my channel. Look up Valencia Tuscany, Valencia Verona and Valencia Oxford on my channel. I have not reviewed any Big and Tall seats though.

[@theatremad9797]

If this speaker setup was in my theatre room, i would still be looking to upgrade.The only overkill here is myself.And i love it.He who dies with the most toys wins!

[@Dirtywhtboy87930]

Theatre Mad I am the same way. Get awesome gear, get used to it for a few years, and start looking on MORE! Lol!

[@ProjectSOG]

Very good information and super educational. Thank you so much!

[@toddroy9558]

Youthman, my room is 12’x24’ I’m planning on using two SVS 16” plus ported subs. Now will adding one or two more of those subs, will that allow me to get those real lows?

[@claxtoncurtis811]

amps don't shove power, speakers and other electronics PULL power. I hooked up tiny laptop speakers out of an old macbook to my receiver to see what would happen and they did't blow.

[@wadimek116]

I dont think there is a limit. You can get 8 subs and they would work with less power than 4 or 2 but distortion will be smaller and surface would be always bigger with more subwoofers of the same size.

[@5L_Eater]

If you’re willing to get your hands dirty, Fi Car Audio HT3 18s in a 10ft^3 tuned to 20Hz. A few of those should do the damage you’re seeking/missing...

[@Youthman]

Here is my friend’s setup that I mentioned in the video. He now has (4) FI 18’s - kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2GzfYCbjcZ2mpI