four fronts

mikemokr

Curious whether anyone else has tried something like this ... haven't come up with anything in search.

My first Polks were Monitor 5JRs bought new in 1986. Store had a 1-yr upgrade program so I progressed to full 5s and ultimately in 1988 my beloved 7s that still serve as my mains. The other day I bought another pair of 5JRs and now am doing a little low-budget test, trying to widen and fill out the soundstage (it's a big room) while keeping a natural presentation as the 7s deliver so well on their own. I'm doing this mainly for music though also will try h/t.

In the front I now have the 5JRs to the outsides of and maybe a foot or so higher than the 7s. Here's one placement iteration (stitched 2 photos together so there's a bit of a crooked fisheye thing going on - no the left 7 is not toed out ...):



The 7s and 5JRs are about as close a match as possible - both currently have SL2000 as well as MW6502, and I've got a good sub to handle the low end so the different sizes of PRs wouldn't seem to be much of an issue. Original electronics in both as neither has been modded. I haven't opened the 5JRs yet but suspect they're of very similar vintage as the 7s.

My initial impression: Not bad at all - a wider (and slightly taller) soundstage, though not by as much as I might have expected. Perhaps that's a tribute to how good the Monitor 7s are on their own. Also, the 5JRs currently use an old/unmodded, lower wattage power source (the same amp that drove my original 5JRs, actually) - probably for that and/or other reasons the 5JRs, while they sound fine, definitely aren't as "open" as the 7s.

Speaker placement obviously is critical for this exercise and I've only begun to mess with that. Above it's not perfectly symmetrical (the 7s are toward the right of the room but centered on the main listening area) but I do not detect lopsidedness in the imaging. Nor is imaging muddled to my ears by the addition of the second pair of speakers. Main reference CD thus far has been Talking Heads "Remixed," with lots of wacky stuff going on across the soundstage, great for testing.

One thing I always liked about the 7s is how vivid, full and realistic a soundstage they present even if you're sitting far outside the sweet spot. This is even better now, at least when I sit in that rocker visible at the far left of the photo.

Whether I keep this kind of configuration depends on several factors. My initial verdict is it's nice and doesn't harm anything but is not necessarily to die for. I'm sure I'd still do plenty of old-fashioned 2-channel listening with just the 7s regardless.

Next thing to try: connect 5JRs to my main Outlaw rig as L/R surrounds and play all-channel-stereo mode, to compare the 7s and 5JRs getting the same signal from the same amp at the same power (75 wpc at 8 ohms, all channels driven). Also need to modernize and standardize speaker cabling for both pairs.

Down the road, who knows, maybe an h/t setup comprised solely of vintage modded Monitors, however many of them there wind up being ...

Nearly 25 years later and I'm on another Polk upgrade kick. Worse things could happen.

Mr. Bubbles

I have never tried this and don't think i ever will. Speaking from a purely theoretical point; this may sound find to a non critical listener and one that has no fixed listening position. By the same token, it may not depending on many physical properties surrounding placement, other room furniture and treatments, dimensions, size, listening positions etc.

from a critical listening standpoint it would create multiple origination points for the same sounds creating micro phase issues and muddying the sound and confusing the locations in the sound stage. I can't see it ever working well for critical listening, but for just rocking out and enjoying the tunes while maybe reminiscing about younger times, maybe it would be fine.

mikemokr

I see what you're saying even if I didn't detect muddiness/confusion in my initial admittedly limited listen. And, theory aside, if it were such a brilliant idea presumably speaker manufacturers would have glommed onto it long ago as a way to try to sell a lot more product ...

cnh

I'm going to have to agree with Bubbles above, here. The 7s do just about everything "right" and they're especially good with imaging and sound stage in a normal room for a speaker of its size. To put 5 jrs up is going to mess with what someone who is listening in the sweet spot will hear. It might be enjoyable if you're moving around the room and taking it in as background music, though.

Or if you were going to use 5jrs with a surround sound AVR?

cnh

StantonZ

I can't see how it would work imaging-wise for 2-channel stereo, but if they were part of a 5.1/7.1 setup then it's a different story. I actually have 4 speakers across the front in a 5.1 setup, but it's a MAIN L/R and stereo CENTER channels (see sig).

mikemokr

Understood, different situation for surround sound h/t (I probably do 75/25 music/movies). In fact what initially got me thinking of this is how my 7.1 pre/pro can, using PLII Music or Movie (or Game for that matter), derive a signal for front height speakers in otherwise unused rear surround channels. I plan to try that too.

StantonZ, I found an old thread where you talked about your stereo center setup. One question for you or anyone else using vintage Monitors in the center: Do you stand them vertically or on their sides? I've thought of possibly using one or both 5JRs as a center for maximum timbre match with the 7s, not that I detect any problem on that score with the CSi40.

F1nut

Mr. Bubbles wrote: »

I have never tried this and don't think i ever will. Speaking from a purely theoretical point; this may sound find to a non critical listener and one that has no fixed listening position. By the same token, it may not depending on many physical properties surrounding placement, other room furniture and treatments, dimensions, size, listening positions etc.

from a critical listening standpoint it would create multiple origination points for the same sounds creating micro phase issues and muddying the sound and confusing the locations in the sound stage. I can't see it ever working well for critical listening, but for just rocking out and enjoying the tunes while maybe reminiscing about younger times, maybe it would be fine.

^This^

boston1450

I tried this & went back to single & it works ok (both ways) temporary. I didnt lay them down so i cant say. till my center channel arrives (Cs400) i will use the 5jr+ But i think i can get more from a center channel speaker that looks & is made for application

nooshinjohn

The best suggestion for getting the wider, deeper and impactful soundstage you seek would be to go after some SDA1c's and call it a day.

westmassguy

As other have said, the Monitor 7s are arguable the most well rounded from top to bottom, very balanced sound. They don't go as deep as the Monitor 10s, but are great by themselves for 2 channel. The 5Jr+s you have would be excellent surrounds in a 5.1 system. You could pick up a quality 12" sub for the LFE, and another monitor 5b, 5Jr, or 5Jr+ laid on it's side for the center. You can also roll your own center like I did to match the timbre of my SDA-2As. Lot's of options, but combining the 5s and 7s up front is only going to mess with the 7s already superb imaging and sound stage.