Downgrading from 5.1....

JamesP1701

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Hi all,

I'm likely not going to be able to continue with my 5.1 setup due to moving due a new house.

My question is: do I need all three front speakers with my amp, or just the front left and right?

James
 
You could use three or two. Up to you. Most Amps/Receivers will give you multiple setup options.
 
Hi all,

I'm likely not going to be able to continue with my 5.1 setup due to moving due a new house.

My question is: do I need all three front speakers with my amp, or just the front left and right?

James

Front L/R plus the sub will be the next best thing.
 
I'd lose the centre also... As Above, front two and sub would probably be my choice.

There are some pretty discrete speakers around these days though... The Kef T Series, or some of the Artcoustic style ones may mean 5.1 can stay....
 
Thank you. Why would I not use the centre?

It's not about them being discrete, it's an issue with the cabling not really being possible. It's a rented house and would require too much restoration work when we leave for it to be feasible or affordable.
 
Stereo sounds quite good, phantom centre created is good.

Using monitor audio bronze 2 speakers.
 
I ran left/right/centre for a little while - assuming a reasonable centre speaker, I can't see a reason not to use one really... I'm sure it was an improvement over L/R only for me at least
 
A few details, when you say front three, do you literally mean front three or front three plus a Sub?

The use of a Center probably hinges on the placement of the front speakers. If the placement is narrow, near the TV, then, yes, you can get by without a Center. However, if the front are medium to somewhat widely space, then a Center is more indicated. There are many members who do not use a Center speaker, and like the result. That said, the Center is relatively important and carries a lot of dialog.

The real answer hinges on what speaker you actually have. If you have some decent bookshelf or floorstanding, then the results of just two or three speakers in front will be very good. However, if we are talking about small satellite speakers, the results are going to be less good.

So, to determine the best configuration, we would need to know specifically what equipment you have, and how big the new room is?

Steve/bluewizard
 
Hi there,

It's a pair of B&W 685s on stands with an HT62 Centre and a sub. The B&Ws will be about 25cm either side of a 50 inch screen.
 
Am I right in assuming that this is a temporary situation? You are temporarily in a rental property?

How temporary? Weeks? Months? Years?

Here is the thing, any configuration is a valid configuration - 2.0, 2.1, 3.0, 3.1, whatever. Given that you have a complete system now, use as much of it as you can under the circumstances. If you have a Sub, and if a Sub is not a problem in the rental property, then certainly 2.1 or 3.1 are workable options. If a Sub is a problem, then certainly 3.0 is a perfectly workable setup. Just re-run the Amp Setup in the new room, and you are set.

We make similar recommendations to people all the time. We encourage them to start with less than a full system, and add more speaker components until they are satisfied. So less than 5.1 are certainly fine sounding and workable configurations.

Do you need all three front speakers, no. But if you have them and if the circumstance will allow them, use them. And if not, don't sweat it, especially if it is just short term.

Steve/bluewizard
 
Good advice.

I'm going to be training for three years and so we've moved to a rental and honestly don't want the hassle in three years of restoring the room. Plus as a student the cost of buying new cable, trunking, drilling into walls is too much for me!

It's two fronts, one centre and a sub. If im using three speakers (and sub), what decoding mode is used on my amp? Presumably not stereo?
 
Run the SETUP program in the Amp, and it will figure it out.

Otherwise the Mode is 3.1.

Steve/bluewizard
 
You could try some wireless speakers for the rear.
 
Instead of connecting the speakers to your amp via a cable, you connect a transmitter to the amp. The sound shouldn't be as good as similarly priced regular speakers... but it's for effects only and it's temporary... so... :)
 
Actually, this sort of thing is even better than wireless speakers : it turns any normal speaker into wireless. There surely are other brands, i've stumbled on that one by chance.

But I've never tested it, maybe the sound is terrible. Though customers at amazon seem to like it.
 
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