Dali Alteco C1’s as on wall Surrounds?

markb1980

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Hi all, after carrying out upgrades to my sub and front speakers over the past few months (thank you to @Jester1066 @Gasp3621 for all the advice) I am looking to upgrade my surrounds. I currently have Q Acoustic 7000i as my surrounds which are wall mounted due to sofa being against the wall. I need something that is aesthetically pleasing due to being a living room but an upgrade on what I have. I have been reading up on the Dali’s and these seem to look like they may fit the bill but I can’t find anyone that has used them as surrounds as most use them for Atmos so I am concerned these might not be any good for surround duties? Does anyone know how these perform as surrounds mounted on the rear wall? On the website it suggests they are a good choice for sofas against the wall due to having a wide dispersion and the fact you can select them as down firing?

I am thinking I could mount them in the same position as my current surrounds?

94C620C4-D761-4D9F-BAE3-A24B9544B168.jpeg

9979F356-9DE3-4327-B6A9-F5CA519610F6.jpeg

452FAE15-8D2F-41A7-944B-05FCFCC5E6E2.jpeg
 
The Dali's will work well in this situation imo. They are fantastic speakers and as you say very versatile in their positioning/use. I use them as heights in an atmos setting, so eventually (when funds allow) you could get a 2nd pair and replace the Minx's you have as front heights! 😜🤣😉
 
As you already have Monitor Audio system why not opt for the Bronze AMS? It would do the same thing and tonally closer although that might be splitting hairs, but when possible to have same brand speakers all around with same cost, then why not?


Is the MA Bronze FX / Silver FX out of question? As you have the speakers so close they could be more ideal as in less directional. I would hate to have surround speakers so close as you have now. Especially monopole (direct radiating) speakers.

This is how Altecos were mounted as surrounds on the rear wall = sideways which is kind of toed in then.

Dali-Alteco-Niek-2-1024x576.jpg


Dali-Alteco-Niek-1-1024x576.jpg
 
As you already have Monitor Audio system why not opt for the Bronze AMS? It would do the same thing and tonally closer although that might be splitting hairs, but when possible to have same brand speakers all around with same cost, then why not?


Is the MA Bronze FX / Silver FX out of question? As you have the speakers so close they could be more ideal as in less directional. I would hate to have surround speakers so close as you have now. Especially monopole (direct radiating) speakers.

This is how Altecos were mounted as surrounds on the rear wall = sideways which is kind of toed in then.

Dali-Alteco-Niek-2-1024x576.jpg


Dali-Alteco-Niek-1-1024x576.jpg

No I hadn’t looked at the MA Bronze AMS as they don’t seem to state about them being used as surrounds like the Dali does?

I would ideally like the Bronze FX but I assumed it wouldn’t work for me as the surround right would be too close to the corner of the adjacent wall?

I searched all day yesterday and couldn’t find any users using the Dali as surrounds like in your picture, was that a member on here?
 
As you already have Monitor Audio system why not opt for the Bronze AMS? It would do the same thing and tonally closer although that might be splitting hairs, but when possible to have same brand speakers all around with same cost, then why not?

The Dali's are cheaper. Bronze AMS:


Dali Alteco C1's:

Is the MA Bronze FX / Silver FX out of question? As you have the speakers so close they could be more ideal as in less directional. I would hate to have surround speakers so close as you have now. Especially monopole (direct radiating) speakers.

Fx's are a good shout, but I thought they ideally needed to be positioned with at least a 30cm gap from any adjacent wall? RRP: £329 (Bronze) £499 (Silver)



Silver FX's have physically bigger cabinet size, so meassure to make sure they'll fit!

There's no technical reason to tonal match the surrounds to the front LCR imo, and any of the speakers mentioned will give a significant upgrade in sound quality over your current QI's.
 
What about the side wall position, the FX speakers slightly forward? That is where they suppose to go in first place.. Naturally you would push the couch slightly forward (without wife noticing it). If you could leave 1feet space from the FX on side wall to rear wall, that would be enough. Maybe even less as i have seen people with about 20cm space to next wall and they seem to enjoy them. Ah but did you have the other wall much further away? Then it won´t work..

The Bronze FX can be used as Front height channels so they can be used as surrounds too. They have keyholes for wall mounting.

Those pictures are from NL site so no AVF member that i know of.
 
No I hadn’t looked at the MA Bronze AMS as they don’t seem to state about them being used as surrounds like the Dali does?
They (afaik) don't have the switch that the Dali's do. As you say, there's no mention in the AMS manual that they can be used as rear surrounds - whereas the Dali's do mention it! Plus the Dali's are cheaper than the AMS.

The AMS can be mounted as heights (also like the Dali's)...

If you can fit them in, my preference in order would be:

1. Bronze/Silver FX's
2. Dali Alteco's
 
What about the side wall position, the FX speakers slightly forward? That is where they suppose to go in first place.. Naturally you would push the couch slightly forward (without wife noticing it). If you could leave 1feet space from the FX on side wall to rear wall, that would be enough. Maybe even less as i have seen people with about 20cm space to next wall and they seem to enjoy them. Ah but did you have the other wall much further away? Then it won´t work..

The Bronze FX can be used as Front height channels so they can be used as surrounds too. They have keyholes for wall mounting.

Those pictures are from NL site so no AVF member that i know of.


Yeah there is no wall to the left side of couch as that goes off to the rest of the living room. So whatever I get needs to be wall mounted the same as what I have currently not ideal agreed but that’s the constraints I have with how my living space is.

Bronze fx will be tight as even if I remove the pictures from the wall and move them in so they are 30cm from the side wall then they will be quite close together as the wall is only as long as the sofa 🙈

This is why the Alteco looked like a decent solution for my situation.
 
The Bronze FX can be used as Front height channels so they can be used as surrounds too. They have keyholes for wall mounting.
Are you sure you meant this? I wouldn't use the FX's as front heights! The AMS's yes (as that's what they're designed for).

Ah but did you have the other wall much further away? Then it won´t work..
For this reason, scrap the FX's - Just get the Alteco's (and use for both surrounds and front heights).....

Clearly the Dali's "win" as they're both the cheapest and most versatile of the speakers mentioned 😜😉😊👍🏼
 
They (afaik) don't have the switch that the Dali's do. As you say, there's no mention in the AMS manual that they can be used as rear surrounds - whereas the Dali's do mention it! Plus the Dali's are cheaper than the AMS.

The AMS can be mounted as heights (also like the Dali's)...

If you can fit them in, my preference in order would be:

1. Bronze/Silver FX's
2. Dali Alteco's

Yeah the Dali specifically a says about being a surround speaker also and allows to down fire. Also wide dispersion. I guess my only concern with them they need to be mounted as high as I have my current ones according to the instructions (2/3) up the wall so will this then drown out the front heights?!
 
I guess my only concern with them they need to be mounted as high as I have my current ones according to the instructions (2/3) up the wall so will this then drown out the front heights?!
Mount them at just above seated head height....

Or, get some Radius 45's or A10's which are much smaller and easier to place/ angle towards your MLP!

Seriously, book a demo @ RS for the 45's.... People use a pair of these as stereo speakers (they're that good). I think you'll be surprised just how good tbh. Heck take a pair of your QA's with you to compare! 🤣😉....

Either way it looks like you're gonna need some of this:

718N9ozjx8L._AC_SX522_.jpg


To fill them holes, fella 😂😂😂😂🙈👍🏼
 
Ah yes typo no FX.. But if AMS can be used as height channels as MA says, they can be used as surround channels too. :)

That´s the issue with couch against wall (without even thinking the other negatives it does for the sound), you should mount them lot higher than those 7000s, but you have the front heights so they would be battling against each other.. You have to make compromise. Not too low and not too high.

By all means go with Dali as you seem to like them more and they are cheaper.
 
Ah yes typo no FX.. But if AMS can be used as height channels as MA says, they can be used as surround channels too. :)

That´s the issue with couch against wall (without even thinking the other negatives it does for the sound), you should mount them lot higher than those 7000s, but you have the front heights so they would be battling against each other.. You have to make compromise. Not too low and not too high.

By all means go with Dali as you seem to like them more and they are cheaper.

It’s not that I like the Dali more, I was just thinking that it may be the best solution for a not ideal situation 😂 due to being versatile and aesthetically pleasing. If I could mount the bronze fx either end of the sofa on the rear wall I would go with them no doubt. What impact would having the bronze fx close to that corner create? Would the correction via Audyssey not negate some of the issues?
 
It’s not that I like the Dali more, I was just thinking that it may be the best solution for a not ideal situation 😂 due to being versatile and aesthetically pleasing. If I could mount the bronze fx either end of the sofa on the rear wall I would go with them no doubt. What impact would having the bronze fx close to that corner create? Would the correction via Audyssey not negate some of the issues?
Audessey will help for sure, but it's more the other side (where the door is) that's the main issue if using FX's...

By their very design the FX's need to be near *but not too near an adjacent wall to be effective. The sound from the side mounted tweeters bounces off the side walls. Here's a pictoral guide to how each of the speaker types (monopole, dipole & bipole) work:

image.jpeg


The FX have a switch on them that allows them to be used in Bipole or Dipole mode.
 
The 1feet is minium they need as the tweeters are at the sides, but MA actually recommends at least 2 feet to next wall for best results. Audussey can´t help if speaker is wrongly placed.
 

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