Introducing MA RS8's as L&Rs to RS6 5.1

HD Elvis

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Hi, I've seen a used pair of Monitor Audio RS8's for a fairly decent price and wondered whether they would integrate well into my RS6 5.1 surround setup. I was thinking of using the RS6's as the rears and the RS8's as L&RS with my RSLCR obviously as the centre. Would this cause the setup to sound unbalanced?

I'd be using my Z7 receiver which works well with my RS6's and I assume could run the RS8's.
 
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It will be fine having the RS8s up front and should integrate well with the RS6. The issue with the RS6 could be that they may be a little low for rears as they may not be tall enough to get over the back of the sofa (also rears should be above head height ideally). Also how much space do you have behind the sofa (or to the side) as you will need space for the sound to disperse and give a good surround effect. You FX speakers give a very diffused sound already so if you are close to the speaker then it could be a bit too directional which may lower your surround experience. But if you want to upgrade to the RS8s anyway then you could always try the RS6 at the rear and see how it sounds.
 
Looking at your room I would stick with the FX speakers at the rear as these will give the best surround effect given your layout. The RS6 will be too directional and close to sound good at the rear and you do not have the space for 7.1 IMHO. You could upgrade the fronts to the RX8s although they may sound a little boomy since they are going to be close to the walls etc.
One thing you could do to improve sound quality is move the centre speaker out of the cabinet. Speakers do not like being in units or on shelves as they will interact with them and this will affect sound quality. Since it is a dedicated room could you put the centre speaker on a proper speaker stand infront of the unit instead? If it has to stay where it is then pull it as far forward as possible so the front is proud of the unit and use something like polipods to isolate from the unit as much as possible.
 
Looking at your room I would stick with the FX speakers at the rear as these will give the best surround effect given your layout. The RS6 will be too directional and close to sound good at the rear and you do not have the space for 7.1 IMHO. You could upgrade the fronts to the RX8s although they may sound a little boomy since they are going to be close to the walls etc.
One thing you could do to improve sound quality is move the centre speaker out of the cabinet. Speakers do not like being in units or on shelves as they will interact with them and this will affect sound quality. Since it is a dedicated room could you put the centre speaker on a proper speaker stand infront of the unit instead? If it has to stay where it is then pull it as far forward as possible so the front is proud of the unit and use something like polipods to isolate from the unit as much as possible.

Thanks, doesn't the Centre need to be 'in line' with the left and rights? Therefore if I brought the Centre forward presumably the left and rights would also need to come forward by the same distance?
 
I'd also keep the FX over the RS6 for the rear.

Another option, which I have just done is to put a pair of GS10s in place of the RS6s, they still work well well with the RSLCR, and upgrading to the GSLCR is an option. They are better speakers and any LF shortcomings can be handled by the sub.
I'd move the centre up a shelf, but as good as AV should be it still has to fit with our lives, so it seems a real faff to get a separate stand
 
richardw42 said:
I'd also keep the FX over the RS6 for the rear.

Another option, which I have just done is to put a pair of GS10s in place of the RS6s, they still work well well with the RSLCR, and upgrading to the GSLCR is an option. They are better speakers and any LF shortcomings can be handled by the sub.
I'd move the centre up a shelf, but as good as AV should be it still has to fit with our lives, so it seems a real faff to get a separate stand

I can't move the centre up a shelf as the higher shelf is narrower unfortunately so it's as good as I can get it with my setup. Unless of course I look at a new stand...
 
It should not matter if the centre is in front of the front l/r speakers since the amp should compensate with the auto setup (will change the delay setting). Since you have a dedicated HT room I kind of assumed that things that may not be possible in a lounge system would be OK here. So a stand in front of the unit would not get in the wat too much. You could try it before buying a stand by putting the speaker on some books etc. in front of the cabinet and see how it sounds.
 

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