RTi or FXi for rear speakers?

deadlock2004

Hi

I am trying to figure out which is a better rear speaker Rti A1 or FXi A4.

My Planned Setup (Haven't bought them yet):
RTi A5 Front
CSi A4 Center
RTi A1 Rear or FXi A4
DSW Pro 550
Denon AVR-1911

This is the room with the 5.1 setup, with 4 meter ceiling.


The Rear/Side speakers is placed beside the sofa 2 feet from the listener's ear. I am wondering which would be better to get the FXi A4 or the RTi A1?

My concern is that the listener is close to the side speakers that if I get the FXi A4 which has two speakers angled, it won't be hitting the listener directly?

What do you think guys?

Thanks in advance.

HeyJay

Interested to hear opinions on this as well, since it is very close to my setup.... I believe the FXi's are made to work at side or rear, and you just have to change the bipole/dipole setting accordingly

Topper

i really like the effect of the fxi series over regular bookshelfs for the surrounds so I'd go with those.

pdxfj

Topper wrote: »

i really like the effect of the fxi series over regular bookshelfs for the surrounds so I'd go with those.

Yes, the FXi series (di-pole) make excellent surrounds. You have the space to make good use of them.

I don't think you'd be disappointed with a set.

kuntasensei

deadlock2004 wrote: »

My concern is that the listener is close to the side speakers that if I get the FXi A4 which has two speakers angled, it won't be hitting the listener directly?

Dipoles aren't supposed to hit the listener directly. They get their diffuse sound by the two faces of the speaker firing out-of-phase so that they create a null directly in-line with the listening position. That way, the sound you hear is the sound reflected off of the wall and bounced around, giving it a "somewhere over to that side" sound instead of "that came from that speaker". The intent is to create the same sound as the multi-speaker arrays that are used in theaters.

The flip side of this is when you switch them to Bipole mode, which fires the two faces of the speaker in-phase. This gives them more of a 180 degree dispersion pattern and would sound more direct at your listening position. The good news is... if you buy the FXi A4, you can switch between the two modes and see which you prefer.

I run older dipoles (FXi30) as side surrounds and I like the effect. It's really up to you though.

B Run

Fxi's :biggrin:

jbooker82

Fxi's for sure. If you had regular book shelfs they would be blasting in who evers ears sitting on the end of the couch.

Your side surounds should be placed slightly behind you. About 110 deg from the tv.

Use bipole mode unless they are directly beside you (90 deg). Then use dipole.

mdaudioguy

FXi without a doubt.

HeyJay

I want to add fxi's for my surround in a similar configuration as above, but one would be inside a bookcase... would that dampen the dipole effect?

mdaudioguy

HeyJay wrote: »

I want to add fxi's for my surround in a similar configuration as above, but one would be inside a bookcase... would that dampen the dipole effect?

All that can be said for sure, is that it will alter the sound. Whether good, bad, or neutral, only you can tell.

flyfisher

Hey deadlock.I have the same room layout as you minus the nook.My fxi's work great.You will not be disappointed.

deadlock2004

flyfisher wrote: »

Hey deadlock.I have the same room layout as you minus the nook.My fxi's work great.You will not be disappointed.

Did you have it in bipole or dipole?


Thank You for the feedback guys.

flyfisher

deadlock2004 wrote: »

Did you have it in bipole or dipole?


Thank You for the feedback guys.

I have it set on dipole

deadlock2004

Ok Thanks! It's unanimous then, FXi it is.

Too bad they don't come in cherry color, I'll just need a way to like the White colors then, since i'll be getting the fronts in cherry.

jbooker82

You don't see hardly any wood since it is triangle shaped. It is mostly 2 cloth grills.

deadlock2004

I have just met with my electrician, and he tells me that if I want to conceal the wirings, they have to go through the ceiling, the only way to mount them is 4-5 feet higher than the ear level, will that be ok?

Erik Tracy

deadlock2004 wrote: »

I have just met with my electrician, and he tells me that if I want to conceal the wirings, they have to go through the ceiling, the only way to mount them is 4-5 feet higher than the ear level, will that be ok?

Do you have crown molding?

That's how I hid the wires going from my AVR to the rear surrounds.

I have my Plasma wall mounted above my equipment racks - when it was installed I had the surround wires run up behind the wall and exited at the top of the wall, then the wires were run along the seam of ceiling and walls to get to the surrounds.

Then I had crown molding added over top which added a nice finishing touch to the room and hid the wires!

deadlock2004

The room is still being built, so I have no problems letting them go through the wall, I can't let them go through the floor because all the floors have to be removed again if I wanted them down there. I have an indoor garden beside the listener's chair, so the only way to mount the speakers is 5 feet higher than the listener's ear. What do you think?

Should I go for the 5 feet or look for other alternatives?

Erik Tracy

deadlock2004 wrote: »

The room is still being built, so I have no problems letting them go through the wall, I can't let them go through the floor because all the floors have to be removed again if I wanted them down there. I have an indoor garden beside the listener's chair, so the only way to mount the speakers is 5 feet higher than the listener's ear. What do you think?

Should I go for the 5 feet or look for other alternatives?

I had to mount my surrounds (RTi4s) from the ceiling which is about 4 - 5ft above my couch. Had to, because of the room layout: couch against back wall, windows on the rear and right walls - open on the left to the kitchen.

It ain't a perfect layout - but it works. Sometimes room constraints paint you into a compromise - oh well.