Surround Speaker Selection and Placement

Pizza-King

Hey All... I'm getting ready to purchase speakers for my home theatre system and wanted to get some input on my rear surround speaker selection and placement. To start with, I plan on getting Monitor 30's for the fronts, a CS1 for the center channel and a PSW10 for the sub. Now for the surrounds, because of the layout of the room (see attached) I'm in a little bit undecided on what to get. The main listening area is about up against the back wall with the door to the room to the left of the sofa. So putting speakers on stands to the sides of the listening area is pretty much out of the question. I thought about getting monitor 30's for the rears and mounting them on the wall, but I'm leaning away from that idea because of the "eye sore" that would produce. In-wall speakers to the sides is also out because of the way the studs are around the door so the in-walls would end up being too far towards the front. So now I am leaning towards in-walls in the rear wall firing forward towards the tv. What is everyone's thoughts on the best surrounds to match the rest of the system and how to mount them? Will the in-walls firing forwards sound ok?

Thanks for your input.....

Jeff

StopherJJ1980

In walla sounds great, Hope it works out well for you

reimersnj

i wouldn't do the in-walls simply because it's a lot of work for a system that is low end. it will sound good but if you're gonna go through the effort of doing minor construction i would get higher end speakers all around. i would go for the wall mounted surrounds. if done right they won't be too bad.

wingnut4772

I kind of agree with reimersnj. This hobby has a HUGE learning curve and you may find out 6 months from now that where you put those big holes in the wall is not the ideal spot for your surrounds, or you want to get a different model etc. Unless you know for absolute certain that you are going to stick with those speakers wherever you end up putting them.

That having been said.....I would remove the side couch entirely and pull up the couch from the rear wall centered on the HT center. (You might want to put the other sofa behind the first on a riser later). I have my surrounds wall mounted and they don't bother me at all (check my signature link) and I am a girl!

What ever you do, I would not put the surrounds anywhere forward of your sweet spot- even if you aim the tweeters I think you would really lack a proper soundfield as it was meant to be heard.


Good Luck!

aaharvel

welcome to the forums pizza king. Your best bet given your "weird" room would be the fxi surround speakers. However the Monitor 30's and cs1 do not timbre match these.

Save your money and buy some RTi4's and a csi3. Much nicer speakers, and if you look hard enough- either here on the flea market thread or on ebay- you'll get twice the speaker for a fraction more.

Yes, the fxi's are more expensive, but they can be had for around $200-$250 per pair if you're patient. They're Less expensive and better sounding/more flexible than in-walls... AND if you have a less-than satisfactory room, as I do.. accept no substitute.

Welcome to the forum.

*Seby*-Polk-

Mmm.. Monitor 30 for fronts....OK. Then get 2 pairs of monitor 30...One for fronts and one for surrounds....Your sistem will be very well balanced. Try it

crazy

However the Monitor 30's and cs1 do not timbre match these.

Is timbre matching that important?

aaharvel

if you want a seamless soundfield YES.

crazy

aaharvel wrote:

if you want a seamless soundfield YES.

So if I want to graduate and replace the Monitor 50's with Rti's 8, it's not advisable? In other words, would I be better off with the 50's till I have enough $$$$ to replace the entire set?

aaharvel

i thought you were going to get monitor 30's for the fronts, not the 50's. Since Your first post suggests that want small bookshelf speakers for the fronts yet you haven't bought anything yet, I suggest getting the rti4 instead of the 30, the csi3 instead of the cs1, and those 3 will match a pair of fxi surrounds- probably your best option placement wise.

da5176

IMO, I'd think about Monitor 40s for the fronts and a CS2 for center with Monitor 30s for surrounds. Forget about the PSW10, you can do much better for a sub. Check out Ebay for good prices on these speakers.

Holydoc

crazy wrote:

Is timbre matching that important?

I agree with Aarharvel that the FXi series speaker would be a much better choice for your surrounds. And let me state that I am a big proponent of timbre matching.

However in your situation and because the FXi series can be set in bipolar mode thus diffusing the sound field quite a bit, I do not think you will have much of a problem with timbre matching with these speakers. Because of the diffused sound the "smoothness" of transitioning from your front stage to the sides and rear is much less noticable. I believe you will be quite satisfied with your FXi's.

Now if you have not bought anything yet, then do exactly like Aarharvel states and get all matching timbre speakers. Plus I think you will enjoy the RTi series more than your monitors.

Good Luck and Watch out for this hobby. It will bite you in the wallet!

kmartin971

Yessssssssssss Timbre Match~~!!!!!!!

Pizza-King

Thanks to everyone who took the time to voice their opinion.... I'll definetly check out going a different route with the speakers if the wallet will allow...

Thanks....

Jeff