Speakers for this set up?
Discussion
Ok, TV ordered....stand ordered....amp (Sony STRDH800) ordered - now need speakers!
The amp is 7.1 but theres no room for that layout (had to rearrange the entire room to get 5.1 to work!) so was thinking of bi-wiring the fronts? Given that (and the fact my rears need to be pretty unobtrusive as they are close to the sofa) should i focus on nice fronts and sub and just get cheaper centre and rears? If so...any suggestions? Or is a richersounds esque "pack" of 5.1 speakers going to be better value (wife thinks floor standers are all a bit 80's!)
The amp is 7.1 but theres no room for that layout (had to rearrange the entire room to get 5.1 to work!) so was thinking of bi-wiring the fronts? Given that (and the fact my rears need to be pretty unobtrusive as they are close to the sofa) should i focus on nice fronts and sub and just get cheaper centre and rears? If so...any suggestions? Or is a richersounds esque "pack" of 5.1 speakers going to be better value (wife thinks floor standers are all a bit 80's!)
IMHO don't get 'a small centre':It should match the front left and rights as closly as possible. Remember that the centre does the most work in the majority of films (most of the talking, explosions and other sounds tend to be focussed on the centre, including the bass, apart from the below crossover stuff sent to the sub). Any sound effects that 'pan' across from one side to the other will sound weak if they pass through a non matched small centre between two larger speakers as well. There's nothing worse than struggling to hear dialogue because of a rubbish centre either.
You don't need to go to floorstanders to get a good sound either: You can get some good bookshelf speakers and use a subwoofer, but to get such a good overall sound you might have to spend more this way. I used to have some floostanding Acoustic Energy AE109 speakers that were known as being quite a bassy speaker (I think the cost about £250 10-12 years ago now). It took me years of searching to find something that I was happy to replace them with, but the budget had to go up considerably to some PMC bookshelf speakers and a large BK Monolith subwoofer...so be warned if you want good sound in a small box as it costs to do it well.
You might 'get away' with some smaller surrounds if space and/or budget demand, so if you need to cut back anywhere then that's probably where you should look to do it. You can pick up some fairly compact surrounds at Richer sounds that won't break the bank and you could always upgrade later if you desire.
You don't need to go to floorstanders to get a good sound either: You can get some good bookshelf speakers and use a subwoofer, but to get such a good overall sound you might have to spend more this way. I used to have some floostanding Acoustic Energy AE109 speakers that were known as being quite a bassy speaker (I think the cost about £250 10-12 years ago now). It took me years of searching to find something that I was happy to replace them with, but the budget had to go up considerably to some PMC bookshelf speakers and a large BK Monolith subwoofer...so be warned if you want good sound in a small box as it costs to do it well.
You might 'get away' with some smaller surrounds if space and/or budget demand, so if you need to cut back anywhere then that's probably where you should look to do it. You can pick up some fairly compact surrounds at Richer sounds that won't break the bank and you could always upgrade later if you desire.
I was thinking of something like KEF IQ1 for surround, IQ3 for fronts, IQ2 center (no idea on sub?) Also like the look of the Mordaunt Alumni set but the fronts are not bi-wireable and they dont do a "better" front that would match - with a 7.1 amp (and no need for full 7.1) would i be missing out by not taking advantge of bi wiring the fronts?
I'd just demo the speakers first and see which ones you like the sound of and worry about bi-wiring/bi-amping as a side issue. Even if you choose single connection speakers, then the amp will still be able to drive 5.1 more easily than 7.1 as less power will be taken from the (probably) single mains transformer/power supply of the amp. If you look at amp specs you will often see power ratings for a single speaker being driven and another (lower) figure for all the speakers driven as the power supply 'sags' under full load.
I've bi wired my PMC front speakers and if I'm honest I can't say that I heard any difference.....I've left them that way as the cables are run through the walls/skirting. I had considered buying a second Arcam power amp to bi amp the front three, but after biwiring didn't make a difference I'm not sure I'll bother with the expense (unless one turns up cheap secondhand, that I could sell on if it doesn't make a difference).
I've bi wired my PMC front speakers and if I'm honest I can't say that I heard any difference.....I've left them that way as the cables are run through the walls/skirting. I had considered buying a second Arcam power amp to bi amp the front three, but after biwiring didn't make a difference I'm not sure I'll bother with the expense (unless one turns up cheap secondhand, that I could sell on if it doesn't make a difference).
Edited by OldSkoolRS on Tuesday 1st September 08:09
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