I thought that was the point?

I want a sound system that will blow off a girl's clothing - a la The Italian Job.

And if it's done right, the neighbours will lose their clothing, and take time getting dressed to come and complain...

Is there a reason why anyone would install a high powered sound system in a single floor apartment?

Those of us with small children that go to sleep at 7pm know exactly what you're talking about.

"How to Disarm Violent Audio Explosions on Beefy Surround Systems"
Why would you want to disarm them? Are they WMD'S?

I am right now disarming total romance explosion in pants!

when projecting at my place many years ago i usualy used some DSP or held remote control all the way.. which is sad.

@strider_mt2k: It's called a vasectomy.

The only thing I want to disarm when it comes to my home theater is the girl in my pad who I'm on a second date with and got my arm around... yeah, baby. Behave!

What a shitty guide. It pretty much says "But a new reciever that has these fancy functions." Not very useful unless you have a 5.1 or 6.1 system. This does not help those with standard surround sound.

@strider_mt2k:
Now to make sexy time? Wawaweewa!

"whenever Bruce Willis blows up a helicopter with a police car."

Had to have been the most ridiculous scene of the entire movie.

*sings the youtube video*
"We're gonna die (die) die (die) die (die) die hard!"

I'll make it easier: If you have any Dolby Digital receiver, it should have config options for "Dynamic Range". Set it to "Min" or "Night Mode" and it will play the reduced dynamic range audio track. Otherwise, grab the analog outputs from your DVD player, and set it to output limited dynamic range content. This will help to snuff out the excitement of big booms, and boost the whispered dialog.

How about you just buy a damn line limiter?! It's not like this is new tech.

No, no, no, first you go get yourself some seriously expensive Monster cable...

A good system is supposed to be balanced, but most theatre-in-a-box systems are are set up too bottom-heavy by the average user. When everything else is at a normal level, then all of a sudden BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! It is uncomfortable and takes away from the movie - it also sucks having to guard the volume buttom on the remote for the entire movie.

But I guess that's what so many people think they are spending big money for.

The awesome setup at the theatre I saw Iron Man in last weekend reminded me just how important good equalization is.

How about turning the volume down?

@berzerker7: Yeah who needs to hear the dialog when you have explosions to keep you entertained.

That's one of my beefs with most movies now. I have to turn the volume up to hear the dialog, but turn it down when things start exploding lest I want to incur the wrath of the neighbors.

I would think most home theater recievers manufactured after 1998 have features that could be enabled to reduce at least the most wild of dynamic range swings (night mode was mentioned). My home theater in a box has a "movie EQ" feature that 'normalizes' the audio track and eliminates the need for riding the volume button.

Cracking open the ol' owner's manual would propably solve this problem for most people.

@MrSatan:
Thats exactly what I thought after reading it. It offered no Sound Isolation advice at all. And since I am a Noise Control Engineer I was hoping for some realistic tips. This was quite a lame article.

@homerjay: @homerjay:

Yes, and right before their darling little bedtime comes those of us without children hear yours screaming and fighting etc. right in the middle of dinner. That's exactly why I got a good sound system and sleep with a fan on at night, to drown out the noise!!!

(And I'm not saying your kids, just in general), I live in a kid friendly building and it's like a zoo of chilren, while all the adults are inside sitting on their asses in front of their surround sound, they let their darling little angels terrorize the complex and break shit.

Faslane Out

Big Audio Dynamite WAS a band, started by Mick Jones of The Clash.

@OtioseScandal: Is no stop explosion is stop collateral damage.

Just hook up a compressor. It will limit anything that hits a certain threshold. Now... where did I put that Dolby 7.1 compressor...?

@Sean Fallon: "..."big audio dynamite" (wasn't that a band?)..."

In comparison to The Clash, no Big Audio Dynamite wasn't a Band at all.

i'm not turning off my big audio dynamite for no one FTW!!!!!!

@Epaminondas: If you're using Monster Cable you will have to tie a knot in it to limit the dynamic range.

B.A.D. had about as many hits if not more than the clash. They were actually very good but were more underground.

Bottom line was one of thier biggest hits... check it ooooout! This is one of my favorite tracks of all time. I went to school in the 80's so yeah I am old as dirt.

+ Watch video

The only important thing these days, is rhythm and melody.

Horrible guide. Which sucks because I really need a solution for this. And to answer the question of why I bought a insane system and have a 1 floor apartment. I bought the system when I was renting the basement of a house, and have now moved into a brand new building.

What is it with helicopters and surround sound? It's like sound designers came to some universal agreement that side and rear speakers are a helicopter's best friend.

@ripfire4: I did. What are you gonna do about it?