Rear speakers

stlrmike

Hello,

I am new to the forum but am enjoying the eclectic group of members, their systems, and the vast knowledge. I am working on setting up a modest media/home theater room in my basement and would love any input on some rear speakers for my 5.1 system. Here is what I am working with

Yamaha RX-V465
Polk monitor 60's
Polk CS1 series II
Klipsch KSW10

I've been looking at the Polk OWM5 or Paradigm ADP190 but am open to other suggestions too.

Thanks and Happy 4th!

20hz

stlrmike wrote: »

Hello,

I am new to the forum but am enjoying the eclectic group of members, their systems, and the vast knowledge. I am working on setting up a modest media/home theater room in my basement and would love any input on some rear speakers for my 5.1 system. Here is what I am working with
Yamaha RX-V465
Polk monitor 60's
Polk CS1 series II
Klipsch KSW10

I would go polks of ebay , rears dont require a massive frequency range , so a bookshelf size speaker is fine , I know there are plenty of people who want the best stuff for the system , but this a modest sytem and there is no reason buying big $$ rear speakers for surrounds .
One good sensible plan is to match the center speaker to the surrounds .

kuntasensei

First and foremost, there are no rear speakers in a 5.1 setup. The surrounds go to your sides. See http://www.dolby.com/consumer/setup/speaker-setup-guide/index.html

mdaudioguy

kuntasensei wrote: »

First and foremost, there are no rear speakers in a 5.1 setup. The surrounds go to your sides. See http://www.dolby.com/consumer/setup/speaker-setup-guide/index.html

The terminology might have changed a little with the introduction of 7.1, but I don't think it's a sin to refer to the surrounds in a 5.1 as rears. In some configurations, they can actually be behind you...

http://www.polkaudio.com/education/showanswer.php?question_num=45

mdaudioguy

stlrmike wrote: »

Hello,

I am new to the forum but am enjoying the eclectic group of members, their systems, and the vast knowledge. I am working on setting up a modest media/home theater room in my basement and would love any input on some rear speakers for my 5.1 system. Here is what I am working with

Yamaha RX-V465
Polk monitor 60's
Polk CS1 series II
Klipsch KSW10

I've been looking at the Polk OWM5 or Paradigm ADP190 but am open to other suggestions too.

Thanks and Happy 4th!

Welcome to Club Polk! How about a pair of Monitor bookshelves? If you think they'll be difficult to place, I've read about several people here using the OWMs, due to their flexible mounting options.

kuntasensei

mdaudioguy wrote: »

The terminology might have changed a little with the introduction of 7.1, but I don't think it's a sin to refer to the surrounds in a 5.1 as rears. In some configurations, they can actually be behind you...

http://www.polkaudio.com/education/showanswer.php?question_num=45

It's not a sin... Just completely inaccurate.

mdaudioguy

Really? "Completely"?
Yes, we generally refer to them as surrounds, but I think the distinction is of little consequence, but whatever... Dude has one post.
So what surround speakers would you suggest for him?

EDIT: Check the link:

But the lack of image specificity of dipolar or bipolar speakers is just the ticket for rear channel use

It's what we used to call them back in the days before discrete 7 channel surround...

stlrmike

20hz - thanks for the suggestion of matching center with surrounds. I had forgotten that I had read somewhere that matching is a safe direction to follow.

Also, kuntasensei - thanks for the clarification on surrounds and rears. I wasn't clear on the differences because they seem to be referred to interchangeably anymore when looking at speaker ads and reviews. These surrounds will be mounted on the sides, on-wall, in my setup. I have pre-wired for rear speakers in the event that I upgrade at some point to 7.1.

mdaudioguy - thanks for the info and suggestion on the bookshelf speakers. I will look at those as well. Oh, and thanks for cutting me a little slack too!

kuntasensei

Since you already have Monitor 60 mains, why not pick up a pair of Monitor 30s for side surround use? They're $93 shipped at Newegg right now, and they would definitely do the trick. I used to have a pair as height channels and I was surprised at how good they sounded.

stlrmike

Thanks kuntasensei. I did look at those but my only concern is the depth at 8 3/8" since they will be on a wall that will have some traffic going by it when the theater is not in use. The Ebay Polk store has refurbs of the OWM5 at $149/pr. and I am interested in that as an option.

Not to side track my own post, but I noticed that you have an Epson 8500UB projector. Are you using it for sports, as well as movies? Also, do you have natural light in the room? I am interested in the Epson UB line of projectors but am concerned that the ambient light in my basement might be an issue and I would be watching about a 50/50 mix of sports and movies on it. Making it dark for movies is one thing, but I like to have some light for sports!

kuntasensei

The 8500UB is a freakin' light cannon. Still very watchable with some lighting on. I occasionally watch some football on it, though most of my viewing is movies and video games. I have blackout shades to control the light in my living room, but even with the light that leaks in around them during the day, the Epson still looks fantastic.

stlrmike

Thanks. I think I will focus on a plasma for now and revisit the projector idea at a later date. I know so people have both a plasma and a projector but my pockets aren't that deep!