7.1 or 5.1 w bi-amped fronts?

MFGlobal

I have the Pioneer 1020-k
Monitor 70 fronts bi-amped
CS2 Center
rc85i inwalls surround
psw505 sub

Should I add 2 rc85i for rears and go 7.1 or stay bi-amped?

My first post...

Thanks

On3s&Z3r0s

I'd say you should listen to a mix of stuff bi-amped then go back to single wiring and listen again. I just did the same thing this morning with a Pio receiver and Monitor 70's and decided the bi-amping wasn't doing anything for me at all. The sound was actually smoother and better integrated when they were not bi-amped. If you're room is large enough to accommodate a 7.1 setup, I'd say you'll get more fun out of that.

p.s. Welcome to the club!

tonyb

On3s&Z3r0s wrote: »

I'd say you should listen to a mix of stuff bi-amped then go back to single wiring and listen again. I just did the same thing this morning with a Pio receiver and Monitor 70's and decided the bi-amping wasn't doing anything for me at all. The sound was actually smoother and better integrated when they were not bi-amped. If you're room is large enough to accommodate a 7.1 setup, I'd say you'll get more fun out of that.

p.s. Welcome to the club!

So you did do it, cool, glad it worked out for ya.

MFGlobal

Thanks for your input. I do get more sound from the 70s when they're bi-amped but it would seem that getting sound from different directions might create a better surroud experience. I'm completely new to this stuff. I have to say, I'm having a lot of fun with it!! Thanks again.

nguyendot

It's like a butt dyno... anything you think you got out of it is probably just what you're telling yourself is there, but isn't.

MFGlobal

Seriously? Its all in my head?

On3s&Z3r0s

MFGlobal wrote: »

Thanks for your input. I do get more sound from the 70s when they're bi-amped but it would seem that getting sound from different directions might create a better surroud experience. I'm completely new to this stuff. I have to say, I'm having a lot of fun with it!! Thanks again.

In my case, the improvement from going back to single wire was more apparent when listening to music... 2 channel sources. And, it didn't seem to make a big difference either way when listening to multi-channel material from a movie. Also, I have an SC-25, which Pioneer says is 140WPC, so I think the M70's just didn't need any more power than the amp could put out on the front channel by itself. There's a chance the difference would be bigger with your amp.

As far as the 5.1 vs. 7.1 thing goes by itself, I think the real benefit to that is that with 7.1 speaker positioning you tend to place two of the surround speakers laterally with your seated position and then two farther behind you. I think this emphasizes the surround effect even on movies that aren't using a full 7 channels.

I'd wait for some other folks to weigh in too before you go spending a bunch more coin... I'm definitely not an expert on any aspect of this.

MFGlobal

Too late... Ha! Just ordered the rc85is on newegg for $149.99 with free ship. Newegg is the bomb.

rtart

Welcome MFGlobal!

I'd say it depends mostly on your room size. Secondly, do you have a processor or AVR that will matrix 5.1 sources to 7.1? There isn't much 7.1 discretely encoded material out there. Some games, and a few movies on bluray are all I have found.

I built my HT for 11.4 and use 7.2 right now. It's a big room, and I do matrix 7.1 on almost everything. It's a large room, and I have room for separation between the speakers.

As I recall, Dolby labs website has a lot of info on speaker placement, even providing angles for speaker placement relative to seating position. I used their info years ago when designing my HT and have been very happy with the results.

joeyf

On3s&Z3r0s wrote: »

In my case, the improvement from going back to single wire was more apparent when listening to music... 2 channel sources. And, it didn't seem to make a big difference either way when listening to multi-channel material from a movie. Also, I have an SC-25, which Pioneer says is 140WPC, so I think the M70's just didn't need any more power than the amp could put out on the front channel by itself. There's a chance the difference would be bigger with your amp.

As far as the 5.1 vs. 7.1 thing goes by itself, I think the real benefit to that is that with 7.1 speaker positioning you tend to place two of the surround speakers laterally with your seated position and then two farther behind you. I think this emphasizes the surround effect even on movies that aren't using a full 7 channels.

I'd wait for some other folks to weigh in too before you go spending a bunch more coin... I'm definitely not an expert on any aspect of this.

I experienced the same thing... I have the same Pioneer VSX-1020k. My M70's sound sweet without the bi-amp. Right now I only have 5.1, but I'm kicking around getting 4 OWM3's to run 7.1.