Surround bar???

Lowell_M

I am very soon (can't be soon enough) moving my HT system to my newly finished basement. This leaves a void in my living room. Since I will have the HT downstairs, if I want to have any music upstairs I need something as hidden as possible to satisfy my wife.

I'm not sure I want to do in-walls since I don't really want to mess with fishing wires through the wall.

So.... I'm more concerned about light 2-channel capability than surround, but having the capability of surround wouldn't be all that bad. How does the surround bar do in 2-channel? Would probably find a small sub to fill in the bass.

Or, does anybody have any suggestions for very compact speakers (just 2-channel)?

I'm going to be powering these with my JVC AVR, so this will by no means be a high end system. Trying to keep the budget as low as possible, but thought I might give the sourroundbar consideration if it was worth it.

Your thoughts?.....

Lowell_M

No thoughts? ..or was my question stupid......

shack

Have you read the surroundbar reveiw thread? Lots of opinions of members and links to outside reviews. I'll wager it is better than the vast majority of the "cube" speakers available.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35221

madmax

For 2 channel music I would go with something else other than the surround bar. Any place for in-walls? I'm not up on really small speakers and can't help on that aspect.
madmax

Lowell_M

shack wrote:

Have you read the surroundbar reveiw thread? Lots of opinions of members and links to outside reviews. I'll wager it is better than the vast majority of the "cube" speakers available.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35221

Oops....Shouldn't be so lazy. Thanks. Found what I was looking for about the surround bar. Sounds like it would be a decent option. I'm certain without listening to it that it is probably better than Blose.

Do you have any thoughts on alternatives if I just want 2 channel sound? Something compact and on a budget? Already plan on tucking a small sub somewhere, but need 2 speakers.

Lowell_M

madmax wrote:

For 2 channel music I would go with something else other than the surround bar. Any place for in-walls? I'm not up on really small speakers and can't help on that aspect.
madmax

Yea, I could do in-walls, but I'm not too crazy about fishing the wires and cutting the holes. Guess I could as a last resort. I'm pretty tired of home improvement at the moment. I'm in the same boat as you. I don't know **** about small speakers. My RTi25's are the smallest I've ever owned and really, they aren't all that small. I'm hoping to come accross something smaller, but not sure what my options are.

I was just hoping that somebody would say, "Hey...check out the Blah..Blah...Blah speakers. They sound decent and are pretty small and inexpensive and stuff like that....etc."

These would be mostly for music, so I will probably stay away from the surround bar.

shack

Someone had a very small pair of missions here on the forum that they seemed to really like, or use your RT25is.

shack

I remeber the NHT super-zeros were pretty good. Here is their latest model.

http://www.nhthifi.com/products/ab0.html

6ohms might be a problem though.

rodneeb

Have you demo'd the FXi3s? They're small but have quite a good range on them. The FXi5 is a tad bigger and it has a tad more range than the 3s. I know they're surround speakers, but they did sound good in the demo room on 2 channel mode. so good that i went ahead and bought them, but then Im using them as surrounds...

shack

Have you demo'd the FXi3s? They're small but have quite a good range on them. The FXi5 is a tad bigger and it has a tad more range than the 3s. I know they're surround speakers, but they did sound good in the demo room on 2 channel mode.

I would never use a set of dipole/bipole speakers as a stereo pair. It is simply not what they are designed for. Imaging would be shot all to hell.

a_mattison - here is a small pair of Missions Woody Jacobs has for sale. They may be just what you need. You can trust Woody as a seller.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44931

Lowell_M

shack wrote:

I would never use a set of dipole/bipole speakers as a stereo pair. It is simply not what they are designed for. Imaging would be shot all to hell.

a_mattison - here is a small pair of Missions Woody Jacobs has for sale. They may be just what you need. You can trust Woody as a seller.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44931

I was just about to PM Woody and showed my WAF. I thought they looked great and sound like a sweet little deal, but even those are apparently too big for what she wanted. Makes no difference to me, I've got the system that is going downstairs.

So, I don't know what the hell is going to fit right, but doesn't seem to be what I thought would be a good fit. I see wire fishing for in-walls in my future.

Thanks for the help though.

madmax

Be sure and look to polk for inwalls. During their last tour we listened to most of their lineup. They were much better than what I thought I would hear. Didn't sound much different than freestanders.
madmax

RuSsMaN

Another suggestion - a pair of Atrium 45's. Small size, built in bracket for easy mounting, and paintable to match (disappear into) your decor. Pick up a PSW10 for next to nothing and hide it in a corner, or behind a sofa/chair - and you'll be rockin' the suburbs for around $200.

Those Missions are TINY - and you can't much smaller and still have it be listenable. Hit Cambridge Soundworks www.hifi.com and pick up a pair of Newton MC50's and a Basscube 8S.

Cheers,
Russ