Centre and Rear Speaker Suggestions
Discussion
Folks - another request for advice, this time regarding my home cinema set up.
First off, I'm not entirely sure I have the right speaker combination to give me the best 5.1 experience.
Up front I have my lovely Kef Reference 205/2 which are driven by my A308 pre power combo, which in turn is fed via pre-out from my Yamaha RX-V3067. These speakers ain't going anywhere so I mention them just for completeness.
However my centre is a pretty old Monitor Audio Silver LCR and my rears are an immaculate pair of Monitor Audio Gold Reference 10s on dedicated stands - so pretty decent front stereo bookshelf speakers, but not designed for 5.1
Last I have a REL Strata 5 Sub which is probably both very good and poorly set up!
I find the sound good but apart from a few films the 5.1 effects are pretty underwhelming. Exceptions to this rule include Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which is excellent.
Are my rears totally wrong for the job or are they basically OK? I have always had the feeling that the GR10s were very expensive speakers doing the wrong job. They were about £1k new I recall although I think I got a decent discount.
I do have a set of old Kef eggs from a previous set up which I always thought were amazing little things. Worth swapping the GR10s for a couple of these?
And that centre speaker? Will a better centre make a huge difference or are we talking minimal gains for quite a lot of extra outlay? If I flogged the GR10s and the Silver centre on ebay would I make enough to buy some SH replacements that did a far better job?
Last but not least - my Yamaha RX-V3067. Bought because it had tons of 5 star reviews and I have no complaints - other than it has about 5 thousand settings that I'll never use! It has about 50 audio settings (stadium, hall, concert, etc etc) but I always use it in the "Straight" setting, which I assume means it does not mess with the incoming signal from the source. Is this the best way to use it? Are there any critical setup things I need to do to get the best out of the amp? I have set the speakers sizes and I did once do the auto set up thing with the little microphone you put in the ideal listening position.
As you can see I have not invested as much passion in to my home cinema as I have my Hi-Fi so I'm largely clueless!
Be gentle.
First off, I'm not entirely sure I have the right speaker combination to give me the best 5.1 experience.
Up front I have my lovely Kef Reference 205/2 which are driven by my A308 pre power combo, which in turn is fed via pre-out from my Yamaha RX-V3067. These speakers ain't going anywhere so I mention them just for completeness.
However my centre is a pretty old Monitor Audio Silver LCR and my rears are an immaculate pair of Monitor Audio Gold Reference 10s on dedicated stands - so pretty decent front stereo bookshelf speakers, but not designed for 5.1
Last I have a REL Strata 5 Sub which is probably both very good and poorly set up!
I find the sound good but apart from a few films the 5.1 effects are pretty underwhelming. Exceptions to this rule include Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which is excellent.
Are my rears totally wrong for the job or are they basically OK? I have always had the feeling that the GR10s were very expensive speakers doing the wrong job. They were about £1k new I recall although I think I got a decent discount.
I do have a set of old Kef eggs from a previous set up which I always thought were amazing little things. Worth swapping the GR10s for a couple of these?
And that centre speaker? Will a better centre make a huge difference or are we talking minimal gains for quite a lot of extra outlay? If I flogged the GR10s and the Silver centre on ebay would I make enough to buy some SH replacements that did a far better job?
Last but not least - my Yamaha RX-V3067. Bought because it had tons of 5 star reviews and I have no complaints - other than it has about 5 thousand settings that I'll never use! It has about 50 audio settings (stadium, hall, concert, etc etc) but I always use it in the "Straight" setting, which I assume means it does not mess with the incoming signal from the source. Is this the best way to use it? Are there any critical setup things I need to do to get the best out of the amp? I have set the speakers sizes and I did once do the auto set up thing with the little microphone you put in the ideal listening position.
As you can see I have not invested as much passion in to my home cinema as I have my Hi-Fi so I'm largely clueless!
Be gentle.
Edited by TorqueDirty on Wednesday 27th May 08:50
The first thing I would do it carry out another setup.
Lots of things change over time so might as well start with the basics and see what you can improve with your current set up. Once set up try both good and bad films to see the difference and learn what you like and what you want to improve.
It would also be worth checking the little Eggs, calibrate again and listen, see if anything has changed for better / worse.
Finally, depending on the age of the AVR, it may only call for one point of calibration. I alway found these to be a little off for my (and clients) preferences so dont be afraid to go in and play with the levels a bit (note to self, i need to redo mine as my rears are a bit to loud)
Only then would I suggest looking for replacements.
Which of course, several of us here would be happy to sell you.
Lots of things change over time so might as well start with the basics and see what you can improve with your current set up. Once set up try both good and bad films to see the difference and learn what you like and what you want to improve.
It would also be worth checking the little Eggs, calibrate again and listen, see if anything has changed for better / worse.
Finally, depending on the age of the AVR, it may only call for one point of calibration. I alway found these to be a little off for my (and clients) preferences so dont be afraid to go in and play with the levels a bit (note to self, i need to redo mine as my rears are a bit to loud)
Only then would I suggest looking for replacements.
Which of course, several of us here would be happy to sell you.
The majority of the sound comes from the Centre Speaker - especially dialogue, so worth spending a bit of money on.
I got myself an SVS Ultra and it's a bit of a beast! Didn't pay the full £750 though - got an open box one for a serious discount.
I got myself an SVS Ultra and it's a bit of a beast! Didn't pay the full £750 though - got an open box one for a serious discount.
Edited by rossub on Wednesday 27th May 15:46
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