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The two rooms are completely separate. No point messing up the music room by putting a TV in it.
Sure we all have a great listening setup, or at least are working on it. But reader Charles Domingue wants to know if your main music listening room is also your home-theater room?
I do have my stereo hooked up to my TV. However, my system is strictly stereo (two-channel). My stereo system sounds better than the vast majority of multi-channel systems I have heard. Not just better for music; better for TV and movies too.
The largest room (@5850 cu ft) in my home is where my main two-channel music system holds place of purpose. On an opposite wall, usually behind closed cabinets, there is a TV which has not become and is not likely to become a pop culture shrine (home theater), ever. TV can never be transcendent. Music can.
I don't have enough large rooms to separate the two, so my HT is also my multichannel music and "stereo" system. It's expensive to limit the compromises, but I rationalize that the system gets a lot more use since it serves up music, movies, and TV. Yeah, that's it.
High-end stereo sound and a 1080 resolution front projector. Screensize 80". No surround speakers, center, or subwoofer. Separate preamplifiers for dedicated music or movies. I use balanced inputs for music, single ended for movies on my monoblocks.
The music/home theater system is in our rec room, which is where we spend most of our waking hours and do most of the entertaining. That system has to do everything well. Naturally, I've had to construct a second stereo-only system for when the significant other wants to watch some soap-opera type series on the (only) TV...
Of course I don't waste my money on surround sound. If the picture and sound isn't coming from the same place, it's stupid. It distracts from the movie and you're now listening to the cheesey effects. As far as surround sound for music, why? This industry needs to grow up! It's all about sounding real.
Unless one lives alone, it is impossible to listen to music with only a home theater system if another member of the household wants to see TV or other video, which is usually every evening. I don't see how anyone who listens to music frequently could not have a separate music listening room, irrespective of the number of channels used.
Nope, the A/V system isn't optimized for that kind of sound reproduction. I have another system in my bedroom that does a much better job with music sources rather than soundtracks and movies. Plus the electronics are better in my bedroom system.
The TV is between the KEF floorstanders. I also hooked up a Klipsch 2.1 speaker/amp system designed for the ipod to the audio output on the TV set. I love to watch movies on DVD but I can't stand the thought of listening to them through my audio system so I use the Klipsch and it sounds really good. The sound is "tailored" so to speak for DVD movie audio. If I ever get a full blown surround system set-up then someone please come in and take me away to the funny farm! I can't stand the audio coming from behind where I sit when the picture is only in front of me.