Question Upgrade from MA Apex?

[audimushroom]

Anyone upgraded from the MA Apex a10 a40?

I’m looking for a bigger soundstage and more mid range?

my Current Apex are on the brackets ceiling mounted above the screen as I have a door to the left of the screen and no wall space either side of the screen.

so anyone found an alternative?

my Room is 8 feet by 18 feet.
My avr is the Anthem mrx 720

 

[Dewi]

The most obvious upgrade from Monitor Audio Apex would be KEF LS50, though I haven't heard them myself.

 

[ShanePJ]

I would say the next step would the A40's if you don't already own them, if you do, then look towards M&K with a woofer to bring in the bottom end in, with your MRX720, you should be able to produce a find balance. This way, you can still mount speakers to the wall and they won't have to be as large as free standing speakers like the LS50's are very nice and musical, but to get the best out of them, they need to be in a bit for free space

Maybe look at the position to as usually having speakers high up (from what I've picked up with you mentioning above the TV) is where information can get lost and boom starts to enter the room which will decrease the musicality of the speakers together with the vocal crispness. So, please add a photo of your current setup to from the front end and rear to see if this is what the real problem is as it could be a very simple fix depending upon the room

 

[audimushroom]

Thank for the ideas, yes they are high up with a40
As centre.
I also have 2 SVS ultra sb13.opposite corners.
I have a null in the main seat, ARC standard sucks the bass and mid out and is very fatiguing, I’ve customised that a lot so is better but is still lacking mid range and poor chest thump.
See the attached pic for the front and rear

 

[ShanePJ]

Looking at the room, I can see you are fighting with space. Speakers high up like that will usually create a boom, you can mess around with the crossovers to remove some of this which I expect the Anthem has done and I suspect what is causing some of your conundrum

Could I ask where it has placed the crossover on the speakers. If they are above 80Hz, then you are not really hearing everything they can deliver (which could explain why you are looking to change)

I would say that moving the speakers lower down at the front of the room should help you hear them more and less reliant upon the woofers to try and fill in for the mid-range which may have been squashed due to their positions (hence asking about the crossover)

The rear of the room where you have the audio rack will certainly be causing you some audio sounds and this will be very hard to sort out. Where in relation is the seating for the rear of the room?

Depending upon where the seating is, you may even be able to bring the speakers further into the room with the A10's pointing toward the seating. This could also enable you to access Atmos at a later date

Maybe draw a diagram of your floor plan so we can all see if their is a better solution for you to enjoy the sound of your cinema

 

[audimushroom]

Thank you for the reply

Crossover is set at 80 yes.

I have Psb Atmos above the screen too.

I would not say there is any boominess at all although
I guess ARC has tamed that although I never heard any before.

I have the 2 subwoofers in those locations as that’s where they measured the best. They are connected via a mini dsp HD to set the gain as the Anthem subwoofer outputs are paralleled not descrete.
Reading around the forums bit was advised that
2 subwoofers would help improve the bass.. not really

I’ve attached updated pics.
The room is 18ft by 8 ft. With main seats approx 12 feet from screen:

 

[ShanePJ]

Looking at the photo's the obvious one is the front end needs some work, the rear isn't perfect, but as the rear surround sound isn't as import as the front's I wouldn't worry about that just yet.

As you also have front highs doing Atmos duties, the remainder of the speakers at the front end are very awkwardly placed as they are all inline with each other and the sound will just be to busy. This ultimately means that the front of your room cannot work correctly. If you wish to correct it, you really need to drop the front Left, right and centre speakers down. If you have room, the left and right need to be situated around the middle of the screen vertically (if space permits). The centre needs to be situated centrally below the screen. Only then will you know if the Anthem is taking away the mid-range of these speakers away due to the booming effect when placing speakers towards the ceiling

With the left and right speakers, an upgrade to the A40's would be a better option as are shallower plus they can be mounted flat to the wall unlike the A10. This would also give you a much more balanced sound at the front end to with some improvements for sure

As for the rears, I feel this maybe a compromise that has to be lived with unless you have sufficient space to place both speakers above ear level on the side wall to the rear of the seating. From the photo's I cannot see it will be possible as the space looks to tight

I hope that gives you some ideas

 

[audimushroom]

Yes thank you