Ok,

I would really appreciate any help and suggestions. I finally built a dedicated home theater room in my basement and after many hours listening in stores decided on a new 5.0 system from Golden Ear.

I was leary about built-in subs, but after enough demo's I really enjoyed the sound of the speakers and pulled the trigger. The center channel (60c) is just OK in my book, but the Triton 2 as mains and Aon 2's for rears just sounded the best.

A bit about my room. 17x13 in basement, carpeted wtih padding and fully drywalled including the ceiling. One door on 17 foot wall. Speakers on short wall with TV and 30 inch tall cabinet in between.

Far wall has a window about the same size as my 65 inch plasma almost directly across, now covered in room darkening drapes.

I have a 9 foot wide home theater couch/reclincer (typical home theater seats) 12.5 feet back from the TV. It's leather, about 40 inches tall. Currently the only furniture in the room.

I'm having a HUGE issue presumably with my set-up. Almost to the point that I was going to try to return or sell the speakers.

Whenever I sit down and back in the theater seats (middle, triangulated from mains) I lose 1/2 of my lower mid-bass response. It's driving me NUTS. I spent 6 hours this weekend really trying to diagnose it. Went back to my old NHT ST4's. I lose a bit with those, but no where near what I lose with the Tritons. Those have passive 10 inch woofers on the outside of the cabinet. The Tritons are built in and set at the "noon" position.

When standing they sound GREAT. Seated I find myself cursing and considering going back to my old NHT's.

ANY thoughts or suggestions would be great. It even changes a bit if I lean forward (for the better) so I moved the couch up - as soon as I lean back - no dice.

Maybe some of this is the nature of heavily padded leather seating? But the NHT's don't lose nearly as much, those woofers are side loaded, but also not powered.

So, any help or suggestions would be GREAT. If someone is really good with this, I'd be happy to take pictures to e-mail or post?

The speakers are breaking in, but they sound great when I stand up or even in back of my seats. I've moved the couch forward up to a foot and backward 6 inches. (can't go too much further back as i'm leaving 2.5 - 3 feet behind it.

Does this just happen with a heavily padded leather couch (that's above my head?)

So frutrating, really dig them when standing, but I don't listen standing.

Thanks!

Hard to say from "here", but it sounds like you are sitting in a null (reflections from back wall cancelling bass from front of room in your listening position. Move the seats further back or move the front speakers further out from the wall(s) - or closer.

A null is a null regardless of speakers, but the extended output of the Tritons (or having the bass level up too loud) may be making it worse. Make sure 60C has correct crossover, is aimed at ear level and is free of large reflecting surfaces. If you are using some sort of room correction, make sure it is off (run a hard reset on your receiver if you have implemented Audyssey) to ensure it is not responsible.

Next step, have your local dealer come over and have a listen/look.

I'm going to try pulling the couch forward actually on the recommendation of an acoustics guy.

Auddysey is defeated.

60C is crossed over at 100.

It's the bass from the mains I'm trying to get corrected, just hope that I can! I've had a couple acoustics guys mention that the built in subs are a disadvantage in positioning. I find that a little hard to believe in that many systems with dual subs simply load them up next to the monitors up front anyways.

Also going to treat the room a bit.

Understood, sounds like you are attacking things correctly. Audyssey defeated is something we've heard before on this forum, only to hear that it wasn't actually defeated and was the root of all the problems.

I would suggest a 120Hz crossover for the 60C in a Triton Two system.

Room treatments for null zones is tough - bass traps in the rear perhaps. Moving things around in your room is probably the best solution .... best bass will always be closer to a boundary (rear wall in this case).

So I pulled my seats forward 2 feet - that took care of a good 80% of the issue.

The bummer is I have a 17 foot room, and I'm only sitting 11 feet back, leaving me a lot of space behind my seating. On the bright side, I suppose that is an excuse for a mini-riser and 2 additional seats at some point.

Now I need to attack the echo's in the room (which should be easy enough with a few treatments).

Also realizing that I don't need as much power to listen at reference levels that I was thinking, which should save me money on my new separates, or maybe I can get by with a nice audiophile level receiver. Was looking into the Arcam stuff on Sandy's rec, but the reliability issues seem to be pretty heavy with those.

Ah, the fun of a new theater.

Gotta say though, last night I listened to the Celebration Day Zepplin DVD at reference levels and it again confirmed how smooth these tweeters are.

Dear Dep,
Just a couple of thoughts.
I think you will like sitting closer to the 65" TV. I find that is better for filling one's vision while watching movies. A better experience.
More room behind your sitting position gives a better surround field too, IMHO, as the distances from the listener are more nearly equal (I know that gets corrected for by the processor).
Your system should sound AWESOME!!!!! The fact that you have chosen the Aons for the rears should really sound great.
On separates: I thought you were the one asking about this in terms of current vs watts, but now I cannot find that thread. Sorry if I am confusing your questions and someone else's. But I don't think that is an issue at all. The GEs are so efficient and amp friendly that a reasonably well powered (more than 50-75 wpc) of good, clean power for all 5 channels should be fine. (Don't overlook good deals on 2 amps, a stereo amp and a 3 channel amp--as that stereo, front two channels are the MOST important for music, IF you use it for that).
For a processor, I have the Marantz AV7005 and it sounds really good. IF I had the money I would probably buy better, at least their new AV8801. For the most bang for your buck, I would recommend getting as good a processor as you can and stay with used amps now. They can be easily upgraded in the future, and IMHO are a product of the law of diminishing returns BIG TIME. In other words, it is harder to hear differences in amps than in the processor, to me.
I hope this helps.
Enjoy what sounds like should be a wonderful home theater!!!!
Wayne