still debating choices for surrounds

Stocks_sd
Stocks_sd Posts: 28
edited March 2002 in Technical/Setup
Jumped into the forums a couple of weeks ago trying to decide what surrounds I wanted for a future 7.1 set up. Right now I have rt800i's up front, upgrading 245i to a cs400i for the center, rt25's in the rear, psw450, and a harman/kardan avr310. I'm having the same problem as everyone else trying to find fx500i's so now I'm looking at a few other options.

Keep my 25i's for rear surrounds and get fx300i's for side surrounds.

Trade my 25i's for fx300i's, buy another cs245i and use them for my rear surrounds.

Or trade up my 25i's to rt35i's, buy another pair of 35i's and run them across the back.

I'm leaning toward getting all 35i's. Is this a bad decision? good decision? I don't know. I'm pretty knew to the whole home theater thing and really don't know which way to go.I didn't get a whole lot of feedback last time so I would really appreciate any advice. Thanks.
Post edited by Stocks_sd on
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Comments

  • The Old Gaffer
    The Old Gaffer Posts: 35
    edited March 2002
    I would urge you to find the fx500's they are still out there and don't panic you can problably score some in the weeks to come on ebay, My number one rule is everthing eventually shows up on ebay!

    Now having said that, you do have other options, from what I hear the 35's would be a better choice than the 25's. before I got my fx500's I used a pair of JBL n-28's and they sounded great for music and in hindsight pretty damn good for movies, the fx500's are definetly better for movies in dipole from the side.

    bear in mind this is in a 5.1 system.

    (being an Audiophile is not a hobby, it is a disease)
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  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited March 2002
    i just recently upgraded my side rt35i's to fx1000's (thanks russ!(hoosier21)), and for movies the dipole side surrounds make a huge difference. the 35i's threw alot of sound at you and you could easily pinpoint where the speakers were at all times. the 1000's give such an engulfing sound (much like the 500's would as well), dipoles are the way to go for HT side surronds IMO. i have rt25i's (soon to be the center surrounds once i upgrade to a 6.1 rec.) in the back, they are currently running as well for rears now in 5.1 as well as the 1000's, they sound great, and with the omnimounts you can order from polk, they ceiling/wall mount great! (the 35's were too heavy to ceiling mount in my application)

    so with that in mind, i would suggest to keep trying to find the fx500's (i think crutchfield had a couple of white ones left) and keep your 25's for the rear centers. if you can't find the 500's go the choice between the 300's/35's is a tougher one. try both out in your home if you can, and see which you prefer. that's my .02...
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  • ncstatesman
    ncstatesman Posts: 145
    edited March 2002
    Juice,

    Do you ever play your music in all channel mode? If so, how to the 1000'is do? Maybe because i don't know eny better and I'm learning about HT, but I think the 500i's sounf perfrectly fine when playing music on all channel, or PLII
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  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited March 2002
    i listen to my music in 2 channel only. if i had an SACD of DVD-A player i would use all channels, but the 'effect' modes for regular 2-channel music converted into whatever don't really appeal to me. sorry i can't comment. i am loving the dipoles for surrounds over the directs now for HT though. i listened to both (direct/dipole) in demo rooms and heard the differences, but never fully appreciated the difference until i got the fx1000's installed at home...
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  • tortfsr24
    tortfsr24 Posts: 79
    edited March 2002
    I concur with everyone else, don't forgo getting dipole surround speakers. I was first introduced to this concept years ago when I purchased a pair of LS/FX. Compared to a direct firing speaker, the dipoles are really impressive. You can stare right at them and still not determine audibly where the sound is coming from. They are a necessity for movies and sound good for music as well.

    Brent
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  • Stocks_sd
    Stocks_sd Posts: 28
    edited March 2002
    Thanks for the opinions. Seems like fx's are what most people like. It's still hard to decide but I think tomorrow I'm going to pic up my new 400i center channel and uprade my 25i's to 35i's. (only 50 bucks!!) I can use them for my surrounds while I keep looking for fx500i's. Thanks again.
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  • ncstatesman
    ncstatesman Posts: 145
    edited March 2002
    tortfsr24, I totally aggree - f/x500i is great for movies and music. My 7.1 setup:

    onkyo 898
    400i center
    f/x500i side surr
    rt800i front
    35i - rear back surr (haven't installed this pair yet).
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