Radius - newbie help with Amp and centre speaker

[ingram69]

I'm in the process of putting together my first 5.1 system and a few weeks ago settled on the MA radius range - with small kids and a busy job, I didn't have the time to audition anything so just took the plunge based on advice on these forums.

What I originally went for was as follows (for just over £520 all-in due to the bargains around on Radius in silver)

R45 x2 rear
R90 x2 L&R
R180 center
Sony str-dg820

(no decision yet on sub)

Anyway, the wife amazed me by saying she preferred the look of the R270's to go at the front, so I subsequently took the plunge before she changed her mind! My intention now is to use the R90's as my rear's and offload the R45's somewhere.

I don't actually have anything connected yet as the room that everything's going into is being decorated - the main questions I had though were as follows;

- Will I find that the R270's will be to overbearing for the R180 as a centre? Some have mentioned on here that the R180 is a bit 'weak' as a centre speaker. I'd rather not have to upgrade that speaker aswell. I'm not intending to listen to everything at very high volume due to sleeping children, neighbours etc.

- Does anyone have any views on whether I've underspecified the amp for this set-up; When I started down this route I guess I was intending to put together the best system I could for the lowest outlay. Now I've bought bigger front speakers, I'm wondering whether I should have bought a more powerful amp?

Finally - if anyone else is thinking of snapping up a Radius bargain in silver, can I say that the speakers look absolutely superb - I've swapped the grills on what's arrived so far from silver to black and with the decor of our room and other gear we have, they're going to fit right in. I would say that the speakers in this range are far better on the eye in real life than they appear on the web

 

[Filbert]

- Will I find that the R270's will be to overbearing for the R180 as a centre? Some have mentioned on here that the R180 is a bit 'weak' as a centre speaker. I'd rather not have to upgrade that speaker aswell. I'm not intending to listen to everything at very high volume due to sleeping children, neighbours etc.

The fact that you have chosen to go for 270's as your fronts instead of 90's doesn't really have any bearing on your centre as such. What I mean is if the 180 was OK as the centre for the 90's it doesn't suddenly become unsuitable as the centre with the 270's. Treat the speaker in isolation. I agree with the opinion that the 180 is a bit weak, not really a bad speaker by any means, but not the best when it comes to centre channel duties. If you can/want to go for a 225 or better still a 250 then I think it will be a beneficial upgrade.

- Does anyone have any views on whether I've underspecified the amp for this set-up; When I started down this route I guess I was intending to put together the best system I could for the lowest outlay. Now I've bought bigger front speakers, I'm wondering whether I should have bought a more powerful amp?

I don't have any personal experience of the Sony AV Receiver, but I wouldn't worry about power. The 270's aren't particularly power hungry speakers, and upping the power isn't really going to mean anything. Factors other than the power output of an AV Receiver are more important, e.g. sound quality, features that may be of interest to you, e.g. Audessy Dynamic Volume, sufficient inputs and outputs, Dolby Tru-HD and DTS HD Master Audio decoding etc. etc. If you had say a pair of RS6's up front then you could make an argument for a more powerful amp, as the RS6's would benefit, but don't get caught up on Wattage figures.

Hope that helps.

 

[ingram69]

Yes - that definitely helps thanks. I guess I'll just need to (eventually!) connect it all up and go from there.

If I were to go for the upgrade, is there any way you could explain how the 250 would be better vs the 225?

 

[Filbert]

Well when looking at specifications, and I admit this isn't always the best way to compare speakers, but in the case of 2 speakers from the same range it can prove very useful, you will see that the 225's have a frequency range of 55Hz - 25 kHz whereas the 250's go down as low as 50Hz. Basically that means that the 250's can handle an extra 5Hz of bass and in a nutshell that's the key benefit. Also the price difference between the two is only £25 RRP, so unless you really don't want a speaker the size of the 250 (it's not that much bigger than the 225) then I can't see any reason why anyone would go for the 225.

 

[KatTV]

It's funny, I started out looking at very small speakers, then after a bit of a journey, I arrived at the MA Radius, and started considering the R45 all round, rapidly went to R90, and finally R270 fronts, R225 centre and R90 rears.

It's a great setup for sure!. I originally considered the R180 for a centre, but the advice I got from most who had the Radius, was that the R180 was going to be a bit mismatched for the larger R270 fronts, and that I shold gor for the larger ones. The R250 I guess would be the optimum, but I didn't think it was completely necessary, and the extra size of it was an issue for me - as centres go, the R225 is wide enough in front of my 40".

Gotta agree about the finish too - I have them in cherry, and they really are objects of desire - they feel great to the touch, and look fab!

I cant speak for the Sony either - it's not easy to be totally objective about which is the real 'strength' in the sound, but with my Yamaha, the Radius sound crystal clear, airy and open - every bit as good (if not better) than I had hoped

KatTV