conflicting opinions..heeelp!

karkus30

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Thanks for previous replies on the subject, but Im still struggling to find the right system. So to put together my thoughts.

1. Several people advocate the use of a satellite speaker system and a top flight sub woofer like the SVS plus, Velodyne dd 15 or something like the B&W ASW 750.

2. Several people that own subs in that range have augmented them with smaller subs to fill in the 'gaps' at around 30Hz

3. Some people have returned to a floorstanding full range speaker and have turned their backs on the subs.

4.Most people dont seem to think THX speaker packages are worth the trouble.

5.Several people use a smaller (lower quality) set of rear speakers and are quite happy because they are less visible and usually cheaper. Others seem to think the rears need to be at least as good as the main fronts.

6. When I look at most of these satellite set ups, they seem very expensive for what they are. The Anthony Galleo spheres are just tiny full range drivers that seem to cost anything between £200 and £400 each, but you can get a set of Dynaudio bookshelf speaker with 2 drivers/crossovers etc for around the same price.

So in essence I need a system for cinema only, this includes the odd concert DVD. As yet I have not decided on which new amp will be purchased. The room is around 20ft long and 16 feet wide with 8 foot ceilings.

I dont want to have several sub woofers to fill in gaps in the frequency range, but I do want seismic events to feel that way. Also great mids and mid bass for the musical side of a film score would be welcome.

Its more important for the whole system to gel, rather than just concentrate on the extremes. Budget would be around £1500, Stands and cables would not be included in this figure. 5.1 is fine. Secondhand is preferred.

Any ideas ??
 
The front 3 speakers shouls be a very good tonal match. These are the most important as most of the stuff comes out of them in a film. Having a good centre can really make a difference, as dialogue sounds much better. The front 2 speakers will convey a lot of music and main sound effects, so large floorstanders are ideal as they have a wide musical range, although good stand mounts are equally suitable. The rears are only really important if you're listening to multi channel music imo. In films mostly only sound effects come out of them. For music I mostly stick to plain simple stereo.

If you buy a really good sub there's no reason why it couldn't take the extra strain of the sound, but having full range speakers would provide a much better solution, leaving the (normally) less musical sub to deal with the crash bang.
 
Tom you really need to listen to a good sub/sat solution, all the best solutions I've heared have been sub/sat.

PS I use the term sat very generically i.e bass management is engaged and some bass is redirected from the main speakers to the sub or subs.
 
1. Several people advocate the use of a satellite speaker system and a top flight sub woofer like the SVS plus, Velodyne dd 15 or something like the B&W ASW 750.
If you are short on space then a sub/sat combo will work very well. If you have the space then just go demo and get whatever sounds the best to you. Get the best sub you can afford as this can really make a much bigger difference than spending more on other speakers.

2. Several people that own subs in that range have augmented them with smaller subs to fill in the 'gaps' at around 30Hz
With your budget this really isn't an option. Also setting up muti subs can be a real nightmare and only really worth it if you have spare money to splash around - it helps, but will only fill in with what you already have.

3. Some people have returned to a floorstanding full range speaker and have turned their backs on the subs.
Unless you get into really silly money no speakers are truely full range, therefore you really do need a sub for the full cinema experience.

4.Most people dont seem to think THX speaker packages are worth the trouble.
It's not the trouble, it's the money. To get speakers to be able to display the THX badge the maker has to pay THX to test them and then authorise their product if good enough to pass all the tests. Just because they don't have the badge does not mean they are not good enough, they just may not have payed for them to be tested.

5.Several people use a smaller (lower quality) set of rear speakers and are quite happy because they are less visible and usually cheaper. Others seem to think the rears need to be at least as good as the main fronts.
When you first get going in HC you have a lot of equipment to buy and this may be the only way some people can afford the extra speakers. You then have an upgrade option for the future when funds allow.

6. When I look at most of these satellite set ups, they seem very expensive for what they are. The Anthony Galleo spheres are just tiny full range drivers that seem to cost anything between £200 and £400 each, but you can get a set of Dynaudio bookshelf speaker with 2 drivers/crossovers etc for around the same price.
Well look at electronics. The smaller it is the more it tends to cost. It is the same with speakers. Making them small and good costs money. As above, go with what you like the sound of best within your budget.

Mark.
 
Quote 1. Several people advocate the use of a satellite speaker system and a top flight sub woofer like the SVS plus, Velodyne dd 15 or something like the B&W ASW 750.

This is my preferred option as long as you do not confuse the word satellite with "life style". I assume that a satellite is a speaker that doesn't play much below 80Hz and therefore needs to be used in conjunction with a subwoofer to provide the full range.

Quote 2. Several people that own subs in that range have augmented them with smaller subs to fill in the 'gaps' at around 30Hz

I think that you may find that one or two people have used a second smaller sub in conjunction with the main one and that is probably because they already had it. The vast majority of us that own SVS, B&W ASW 750 or the big Velodynes are quite happy with their performance on their own.

Quote 5. Several people use a smaller (lower quality) set of rear speakers and are quite happy because they are less visible and usually cheaper. Others seem to think the rears need to be at least as good as the main fronts

I think that this is an allocation of budget issue. I have a good quality, reasonably expensive set of three M&K speakers at the front but the matching rear speakers actually cost more than the fronts even though they only carry a much smaller part of the total sound.

I don't know about other manufacturer's ranges but M&K have two different product ranges and whilst the more expensive range performs to a much higher level than the cheaper range, they are broadly similar tonally and a mix n match system suited my budget perfectly.

Quote 6. When I look at most of these satellite set ups, they seem very expensive for what they are. The Anthony Galleo spheres are just tiny full range drivers that seem to cost anything between £200 and £400 each, but you can get a set of Dynaudio bookshelf speaker with 2 drivers/crossovers etc for around the same price.

Most of us agree with you but the Gallo type speakers have a place in the market due to the large number of threads here that incorporate the words "My wife won't let me have.........."

I don't understand whether your budget of £1,500 is for speakers or is to include the amp as well but if it is the former I would give some consideration to the five M&K S85 for sale here
 
The budget is for just speakers including the sub.

Space is not really an issue, sound quality is the most important aspect.

I had a look at the MKs which look similar to my now redundant pair of hi fi speakers, so this made me wonder if I could do the following:

I currently have a pair of NEAT Critiques on slate audio stands, these have been doing stirling service as my main hi fi speakers until my recent upgrade to Ultimatum 7s. :thumbsup:

NEAT do a centre speaker called the Centrum which is based on the Petite range so has slightly different voicing due to the use of a ribbon tweeter, but Im sure that the Critiques could be modified or vica versa. That would then give me the front 3 speakers as I was very happy with the Critiques as my main stereo pair for music, then would it be fair to say Id also be happy using them for h/c ?

www.neat.co.uk

That would just leave a couple of surround speakers and a sub to buy and thats where my intergration might break down. Neat do not offer a powered sub as they are mainly build for the two channel market.

Just for your info. I already use a Yamaha 5.1 satellite speaker package using the older RVX 396 and smaller sub.

Anyone make a stab at how I would move forward using the Critiques ?
 
Trust you to pick speakers that most of us are probably unfamiliar with :D

Neat seem to be based in the same county as you and according to their website they have demo facilities there. The obvious answer is to try and listen to the Centrum with a pair of Critiques and to see how closely they match.

The next obvious answer is to buy a pair of Petites plus the matching Centrum centre speakers and use your existing Critiques as rears but that doesn't leave much for the type of sub that you are looking for unless you can get a good discount on the Neats.

In general if you were happy with the voicing of Neat as a hifi speaker you should also be happy with them as AV speakers but you would need to ensure that not only does the centre speaker match but also that it is a decent speaker in it's own right as it will be handling over 80% of the soundtrack in the form of dialogue.
 
You don't need to match a sub to the rest of your speakers. Any good quality sub will integrate well into a system.
I've got B&W speakers and a Velodyne sub (see sig below) and have no problems with integration.

Mark.
 
Originally posted by Ian J
Trust you to pick speakers that most of us are probably unfamiliar with :D

Neat seem to be based in the same county as you and according to their website they have demo facilities there. The obvious answer is to try and listen to the Centrum with a pair of Critiques and to see how closely they match.

The next obvious answer is to buy a pair of Petites plus the matching Centrum centre speakers and use your existing Critiques as rears but that doesn't leave much for the type of sub that you are looking for unless you can get a good discount on the Neats.

In general if you were happy with the voicing of Neat as a hifi speaker you should also be happy with them as AV speakers but you would need to ensure that not only does the centre speaker match but also that it is a decent speaker in it's own right as it will be handling over 80% of the soundtrack in the form of dialogue.

Good point Ian. Its a possibility since NEAT sometimes have some marked or damaged cabinets lying around, so it might be possible to build a complete package based on the petite (Im friendly with the owner so that helps). Then maybe buy one of those SVS subs your fond of.

That just leaves the amplifier :rolleyes:
 

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