Floorstanding Speakers as surrounds?

jess9

In place of getting bookshelf speakers as surrounds, would a floorstanding speaker work?

I have tsi500's and a cs10 for my front 3 speakers.

Would it make sense to have something like a pair of tsi300's as surrounds? Or would I be better off with bookshelfs of some kind?

I ask because I have a spot for one surround speaker on a shelf, but not for another. I would have to buy a stand to put it on.

If a floorstanding speaker wouldn't make sense, would it be prudent to stay in the TSi family, or could I go up a notch and get some RTI A3 bookshelfs which I believe are 8 ohm.

Also, which of these would sound the best? I believe they are fairly close in price.

Thanks,
Jess

mdaudioguy

Some people use towers for surrounds and are very happy. I'm an advocate of smaller speakers that you can mount a few feet above ear level. That's always worked well for me for surround. Stay in the TSi family. It's not really as critical to match surrounds, but you're really not going to realize a significant benefit to upgrading surrounds to a higher line.

jess9

I understand the point of the surround sound issue. It seems like a simple concept that eluded me before you said so. Thank you.


As far as floorstanding vs. bookshelf. To clarify, are you saying that the main feature benefit would be the mobility of the bookshelfs as opposed to the floorstanding?

Outside of mobility, could I expect better sound from a floorstanding tsi300 over a bookshelf tsi200?

Thanks again,
Jess

mdaudioguy

"Better" sound... no, but more of a full-range sound... yes. However, in HT, your speakers are usually crossed over at a certain frequency - 80Hz is common. Your sub would handle any sound below that threshold. So, essentially, you'd be wasting the lower end capabilities of towers, when used as surrounds. There are, however, probably as many different configurations and variations as there are people on this forum, so what ever works for you. If it were me, I'd get the bookshelves for surrounds, but if you're more comfortable avoiding having to place one on a stand, then it won't be bad if you went with floorstanders. You'll have good sound either way.

jess9

Thank you for responding with the thoughtful advice.

My dilema was between the tsi 300 and the tsi 200. I do not understand a lot of tech specs unfortunately, however I did notice all the specs as far as driver complements and electrical seemed to be identical.

I think i'll take your advice and get a pair of tsi 200's and save myself the extra 100 dollars tsi300's would cost me on Amazon.

Do you have any other advice, such as other components that would improve the overall experience?


Jess

mdaudioguy

I saw in your other thread that you have a pretty nice, but basic, Yamaha receiver. Hook it all up and see what you think. Do you have a sub. If not, return those LSi9s and put the money into a decent subwoofer. That's the part that really makes a HT, IMO. Well, if you like chest pounding action flix!

jess9

I have a Sony sub. I forget the exact model. I believe it sells for about 75 on Amazon. I got it from Dell for 100. Should have remembered to always shop around.

I turned it all up one day. My wife later told me it was shaking the whole place, and it scared her. I laughed.

mdaudioguy

jess9 wrote: »

I have a Sony sub. I forget the exact model. I believe it sells for about 75 on Amazon. I got it from Dell for 100. Should have remembered to always shop around.

I turned it all up one day. My wife later told me it was shaking the whole place, and it scared her. I laughed.

Ever see the glass in your windows pulsate in and out? LOL!

jess9

Sounds like fun, at someone elses house.

Do you have any thoughts on a good sub that would work with my receiver?

mdaudioguy

If you want to stay with Polk, the PSW505 seems to have a great rep for the price.

http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-12-Inch-Powered-Subwoofer/dp/B000092TT0

If you want to spend more than that, there are some great performers from some of the internet-direct companies:

www.hsuresearch.com and www.epiksubwoofers.com to name a couple.

David R

I tried the A7 speakers with the RTi8's as rear speakers. It was great. I would go with something other than the tsi speakers as I did not like the sound. My wife will not allow me to have tower speakers for the rear's so I passed the great deal on to my brother. I will go with the A1's for the rears as they are almost as good as the A3's and they will fit in my book case.

If I hadn't already bought the A7's I would try the lsi speakers first. The A7's are sounding much better after a month.

ibewbrother

What you need to keep in mind.....in HT the surround channels need to have the center (? I have M40 surrounds so I use the tweeter) about 1 foot above your ears at listening position. Floorstanders, in general, sitting on a couch, would need to be lifted about 1 foot. For bookshelves, to get it right (in my opinion), You are going to have to have stands or custom mounted shelves. Speaker position ...tweeter position really for this discussion.....matters.

Don't be afraid to experiment with speaker heights, angles, widths, seperation, etc. A little nudge on the mains will sometimes make a big difference, depending on what you are listening to.