Speaker Matching in a 5.1 Setup

[Quad Linda]

I'm an audiopile. I've got software and equipment piled everywhere.

Seriously, I got my first job in the business by knowing that word. In my interview, I was asked, "what qualifies you to work here?" My retort: "I'm an audiophile." He figured that if I knew the word, I must be one. He hired me to fill an Assistant Manager spot. :banana:

ah well if its good enough for audiophiles it's good enough for me!

 

[leevitalone1]

Bose the best..!? Oh fucking hell.. don't make me laugh!! Their "Subs" make the best doorstops but that's about it.

No! that was zabble I quoted, it came up as mine though. see post 34 on this page. Me? I wouldn't never buy into the bullshit of bose. My buddy bought a 3-2 1 bose and I still cannot get over how bad it is! He says, "that's what I've been told" What? Don't yer ears work?
And, OMG! How could I show my face up around QQ?

 

[Snood]

My main system (living room) is powered by a B&K THX Ultra preamp and two B&K power amps (250W x 5), driving four Mission 775's, matching center, and a REL T-9 (400W) sub with active and passive 10" drivers:
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My second system (bedroom) has four Polk T-20's, powered by a Denon AVR-3801 (110W x 7) receiver and a Mission (300w) sub:
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My third system (rec room) is an Onkyo TX-SR504(75W x 5), driving 2 Philips 477's and 2 Electro-Voice EV-4 speakers (Mismatch!). Each are full-range with 12" woofers.
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My fourth system is a Calibre 240 receiver and Marantz 2440 (rear channel amp with full-logic SQ), powering four Kenwood speakers. It resides in my LP/CD collection room.

My fifth system is a Sony HCD-HDX285 Home Theater in a box with sub/sat speakers, which I inherited when my Dad passed. It plays 5.1 SACD, and resides in the room with my 5.1/Quad/Blu-Ray/DVD collection.
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Holy Freaking Kwap :yikes

I'm an audiopile. I've got software and equipment piled everywhere.

Seriously, I got my first job in the business by knowing that word. In my interview, I was asked, "what qualifies you to work here?" My retort: "I'm an audiophile." He figured that if I knew the word, I must be one. He hired me to fill an Assistant Manager spot. :banana:

I will remember this to use this quote at job interviews, mortgage apps, parties and plain just anywhere. :banana:

 

[Quad Linda]

Another key to my success is my use of the word "Fantastic!" Anytime someone tells me something that is hard to believe, I reply, "Fantastic!" Before learning the word "Fantastic," I would reply, "Bullshit!"

 

[wavelength]

To Zabble: Just curious - how big is your room? And how far away are the speakers from the listening position?

 

[patrick1]

Hey- I worked my way around having 5 identical speakers, since I had no room for placing identical rears- I aquired the Definitive Technology ST-8060 "bundle" where I bought the fronts, and got the center/rears for "free". I then paid a very small amount to bump up to the 8080 rears- all of the drivers now being the same size. I'm very happy with what I hear to be a pretty seamless listen across the board. And 12 mos. same as cash helped seal the deal (And, no, I'm not a Dealer or Shareholder!)Thanks.

 

[patrick1]

Hey- I worked my way around having 5 identical speakers, since I had no room for placing identical rears- I aquired the Definitive Technology ST-8060 "bundle" where I bought the fronts, and got the center/rears for "free". I then paid a very small amount to bump up to the 8080 rears- all of the drivers now being the same size. I'm very happy with what I hear to be a pretty seamless listen across the board. And 12 mos. same as cash helped seal the deal (And, no, I'm not a Dealer or Shareholder!) Thanks.

 

[Snood]

Another key to my success is my use of the word "Fantastic!" Anytime someone tells me something that is hard to believe, I reply, "Fantastic!" Before learning the word "Fantastic," I would reply, "Bullshit!"

Well, if I ever hear anyone using that term at a Party or whatnot, I will now be thinking............"Is that Quad Linda?" :banana:

Quad Linda will you be my life coach?

 

[zabble]

To Zabble: Just curious - how big is your room? And how far away are the speakers from the listening position?

Because I am home today (it is minus 16 degrees today and I am "working" from home), I am able to measure my listening room. It is 15 feet wide by 24 feet deep. So low in behold, it is 360 square feet (or should I say 360 surround feet). The speakers are about eight feet in each direction from my listening position.

 

[leevitalone1]

Another key to my success is my use of the word "Fantastic!" Anytime someone tells me something that is hard to believe, I reply, "Fantastic!" Before learning the word "Fantastic," I would reply, "Bullshit!"

"If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit!"

 

[CobraJet]

Bose supposed to be the best ask mamita Linda about bose.

I don't know about Bose pre-amps and subs, but I recently replaced my four Bose 901's for four Focal Chorus 716V speakers, and now I feel something is "missing". I even added my Sony SA-WM40 subwoofer to the mix. I just don't get the same "excitement" in the final crescendos of Iron Butterfly "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" and Ravel's Bolero, my two test pieces. I never considered myself an audiophile, and my ears ain't what they used to be, but the Focal's just aren't providing the punch I felt with the Bose 901's. If they weren't so hard to set up, I would consider going back, but I need the QRX-9001 four channel inputs for my tape deck.

 

[milt]

I think you're hearing a more accurate representation of the recording actually and\or you need tweak the speaker placement.
That doesn't mean you like accurate but what you are used to with the 901s.

 

[DuncanS]

First off let me apologize if this has been beaten to death and extensively discussed elsewhere here (I can't find it though) and/or this is the wrong place to ask. Also please understand I am learning as I go about multichannel stuff...music, hardware, etc. and this is the best place I have found to go for accurate information. I am researching things daily so I am not asking things to be lazy, moreso for clarification on things I haven't been able to satisfactorily discern yet. That being said, my next subject to discuss is speakers. Now before I get the typical responses (which is tons of questions about everything I own and where) and I understand the subjectivity of which speaker I want, but this is more about of what type of speaker to get.

To elaborate more, I currently have a typical 5.1 home theater set up with a pair of tower speakers, a center speaker and bookshelf speakers for surround, and a sub. All of these have the same size woofers, mids, and tweeters for balance except obviously the sub. Not sure how much that helps or hurts but it is what I have. I just purchased Gallo CL4 speakers, only 2 for now as an upgrade. More upgrades will come but this was first. My questions begin with should I get 5 of the same speaker or can I get the center and bookshelf speakers to match and please give me opinions why. I am all but set on the center and bokshelf mainly because of my space and practicality, but if there is overwhelming logic to not do this I will see what I can do. My main usage for these are music and mainly surround like the titles typically discussed on this site. I also use it for movies and stereo and streaming music (Pandora, etc.). I am thinking that 5 full size is best for surround music but not needed for anything else, but not my easiest option. How much am I missing out on the surround speakers by not using full size? Any other insights, experiences, whatever are appreciated.

I went for the option of 4x Silver RS-8 floor-standers and a Silver RS matched centre, no sub, purely for listening to music. I think the key factor is go for speakers made by the same manufacturer and from the same range to get a balanced sound. I have the luxury of being able to have the floor-standers for front & rear, which does give me a better tonally balanced sound across the frequency range, but less space!

 

[elroy]

I'm an audiopile. I've got software and equipment piled everywhere.

Seriously, I got my first job in the business by knowing that word. In my interview, I was asked, "what qualifies you to work here?" My retort: "I'm an audiophile." He figured that if I knew the word, I must be one. He hired me to fill an Assistant Manager spot. :banana:

I wonder if there is anywhere today where you could get a job with that retort?

 

[leevitalone1]

I wonder if there is anywhere today where you could get a job with that retort?

she's way too smart for BB.

 

[Doug G.]

Another key to my success is my use of the word "Fantastic!" Anytime someone tells me something that is hard to believe, I reply, "Fantastic!" Before learning the word "Fantastic," I would reply, "Bullshit!"

OK, I know this is off track but this reminded me of when I worked at Mountain Electronics here as a salesman (although I'm actually more of a technical guy but I kinda gave them the "audiophile" bit too) in 1986 and one of my fellow salesmen would, whenever a customer would comment that a particular piece of equipment sounded good, reply "Yeah, them are nice."

We would snicker behind his back.

Also, Jeffery Wahr, the manager who was Welsh, had a white Porsche and lived in a little town about 50 miles from here. He was on his way to work one night and hit a deer with that Porsche. Not much damage to the car but he also had on a white suit and told us it was red after the accident. The deer slid up the windshield and landed on him. Yuck!



I have other stories of working there too. It was a blast but the store was poorly located and went out of business. We sold high-end equipment for the time - the big Infinity speakers, Carver, Nakamichi tape decks, Denon turntables, etc.

Doug

 

[Doug G.]

I wonder if there is anywhere today where you could get a job with that retort?

Not these days. Now an applicant goes through a two-week interview process only to be told, "Sorry, the job went to somebody else. Thanks anyway."

Guess what? Screw you. Thanks for taking up two weeks of my life for nothing, aholes.



Doug

 

[Blrac]

Ok, so I just realized the Gallo CL-4 speakers I just bought are 4 ohms. All my Polks are 8 ohms. I am replacing the fronts, and center immediately, so just surrounds will be 8 ohms. From a bit of research that should not matter much, if at all, because I don't listen that loud and the Polk surround speakers aren't amazing, good but still planning on upgrading. The biggest problem is that my receiver is only rated to 6 ohms. Again, from a bit of research that should not be a problem either because again, I don't listen that loud. However, I don't always trust random reading on the interwebs. So....what does anyone know about this?

I know that my Pioneer 1120 could not like it too loud for too long, but they are relative terms. I usually only listen a few (3 or less) hours at a time, at a volume you can still talk over (not shout) so I think I have that covered (I hope). I have learned that adding an amp will basically eliminate any power problems and related issues (distortion, over heating, etc.)--is this true? I will gladly add an amp if I can leave other stuff alone, as that is the best and cheapest way from what I have read. I am looking at the Emotiva UPA 700 to power the 5 main speakers (FL, FR, C, RL, RR) and my 2 zone 2 speakers. Obviously I can carry over the amp to any preamp or av receiver upgrades, and maybe save a bit of money that way. Any suggestions, experience with any of these things, etc would be appreciated.

I realize the quick solution is to cancel my speaker order and buy compatible speakers, but I got a GREAT deal I hate to do that. I basically saved more than the $500 it costs to buy the Emotiva.

 

[uffeolby]

I think you're hearing a more accurate representation of the recording actually and\or you need tweak the speaker placement.
That doesn't mean you like accurate but what you are used to with the 901s.

You nailed it, milt! We are a bunch of gentlemen (age 50+) that meet on a regular basis for food, drinks and music. When we are at my place everybody agrees that I have a pretty good sound gear giving a high quality sound, but one of the guys always tend to wine about that there is not enough base output. Everytime I say that if there is base on the recording, you get a good base output, but if the base is lacking on the recording my gear is not adding anything "boomy". I seriously doubt that my my message has gone through... probably never will... glad for forums like this where one can get some understanding

 

[DuncanS]

Ok, so I just realized the Gallo CL-4 speakers I just bought are 4 ohms. All my Polks are 8 ohms. I am replacing the fronts, and center immediately, so just surrounds will be 8 ohms. From a bit of research that should not matter much, if at all, because I don't listen that loud and the Polk surround speakers aren't amazing, good but still planning on upgrading. The biggest problem is that my receiver is only rated to 6 ohms. Again, from a bit of research that should not be a problem either because again, I don't listen that loud. However, I don't always trust random reading on the interwebs. So....what does anyone know about this?

I know that my Pioneer 1120 could not like it too loud for too long, but they are relative terms. I usually only listen a few (3 or less) hours at a time, at a volume you can still talk over (not shout) so I think I have that covered (I hope). I have learned that adding an amp will basically eliminate any power problems and related issues (distortion, over heating, etc.)--is this true? I will gladly add an amp if I can leave other stuff alone, as that is the best and cheapest way from what I have read. I am looking at the Emotiva UPA 700 to power the 5 main speakers (FL, FR, C, RL, RR) and my 2 zone 2 speakers. Obviously I can carry over the amp to any preamp or av receiver upgrades, and maybe save a bit of money that way. Any suggestions, experience with any of these things, etc would be appreciated.

I realize the quick solution is to cancel my speaker order and buy compatible speakers, but I got a GREAT deal I hate to do that. I basically saved more than the $500 it costs to buy the Emotiva.

Its really determined by the impedance curve of the speakers with frequency, they will not be constantly seen by the amp as 4-Ohms. Some may be spec'd as 4-Ohms minimum, others 4-Ohms nominal, so could be lower. Your speakers could try and take too much current from the amp, which usually would lead to distortion (possibly blowing the tweeter), and the amp getting too hot, and maybe an output fuse blowing (some amps still have them!) so possible issues there. So it is safer to match (me being an Engineer), but that said if you don't turn it up (keeps the current down), don't over-drive, then most kit is fairly robust and often have good output protection (me being pragmatic!). I don't know what the Pioneer 1120 has, so I'd be careful.