Monitor 30's or RM101 as Fronts? Yamaha RX-V2500 as Receiver

NCNog

I recently purchased a Yamaha RX-V2500 receiver from Tweeter. I have 2 Monitor 30's as my fronts, a CS1 as my Center, and 2 RM101's as my suround speakers. My subwoofer is a Yamaha set to about 80Hz for crossover. I calibrated the setup using the YPAO auto-setup feature included with the RX-V2500. After the setup, I still feel the speakers sound a bit weaker in the front. According to the guy at Tweeter, he said I should either move the RM101's to the front, or sell the Monitor 30's and buy 2 more RM101's. He said the overall quality of the RM101 is superior to the Monitor 30's.

Should the RM101's be the fronts?

Another reason I am considering the switch is because my Monitor 30's are wall-mounted and have a back vented port that is against the wall right now. I feel they sound better when away from the wall on a stand or shelf. However, my wife is not sold on the Monitor 30's being in the back position because of their size and where they would be placed in the room. Does anyone know if the RM101's would be a better choice for fronts, or should I just stop fiddling and enjoy the setup I currently have?

polktiger

since it won't cost you anything other than time, switch them around and test them out knowing the the Monitor 30s in the back may be temporary. I doubt the CS1 is voice matched to the RM101, so that may make things worse.

This woould be the first that i have heard that the Monitor 30s (not the M30) is actually "inferior" to the RM101.

NCNog

polktiger wrote:

since it won't cost you anything other than time, switch them around and test them out knowing the the Monitor 30s in the back may be temporary. I doubt the CS1 is voice matched to the RM101, so that may make things worse.

This woould be the first that i have heard that the Monitor 30s (not the M30) is actually "inferior" to the RM101.

I agree about the inferior comment. I have been quite pleased with the Monitors. One other issue that may be throwing me off is the possibility my CS1 has a blown driver or tweeter. When I do the test tones from the Yamaha, the test tones out of the Monitor 30's sound louder than the CS1. The CS1 always sound like the volume is turned down. When the high frequency test is done (the one that sounds like a laser blaster in a video game) the volume out of the CS1 seems to match the Monitor 30's. This makes me think one of the drivers are blown. Ugh.

jakelm

Are the 30's in a book shelf or on stands? My first setup was 30's in the front. I had them on stands, didnt sound full at all. But later on I bought 2 bookshelves for either side of my tv. Being the port in the back and now in a bookshelf, I found that the midbass was much better, fuller sound. The mid Fr that was coming out of the port, was fillinjg up the cabinet and bouncing back toword the listening area. Sounded much better.

I would also try raising the xover Fr to 100 or 120hz. I found that raising the xover Fr, accually amplified the Fr in the 100-200hz range. Giving a fuller sound.

Jake

P.S. The 30's are great little speakers, but not ideal for front main.

NCNog

The 30's are on stands and are resting against a wall. They are about 3.5 feet off the ground and the CS1 is about 4 feet aff the ground. The CS1 is on a mount on top of my HDTV and has nothing blocking the back. The RM101's are on stands.

jakelm

Ok....but I just found the 30's in a bookshelf sounds fuller. When I mounted them on the wall, the port sits only about 2 inches from the wall, so the sound coming out of the port is reflected off of the wall instantly and bounced back. Almost like having a midbass speaker right behind it. Giving a fuller sound.

But for some reason in a cabinet worked best for those speakers.

Jake

NCNog

Did you ever notice that test tones out of 30's sounded louder or different from the tones coming out of the center? My CS1 sounds quieter than the Monitor 30's when doing those tests.

jakelm

No...accually my CS1 was abit louder than the 30's. Setting my set up with my ratshack meter, my left and right 30's were 0, but my CS1 was -2.

Jake

jakelm

Then later I bought M40's and put the 30's in the back. The M40's had the same db level as the CS1. With the 40's my front stage was very close at 0.

I think something is wrong with your CS1.

polktiger

NCNog wrote:

I agree about the inferior comment. I have been quite pleased with the Monitors. One other issue that may be throwing me off is the possibility my CS1 has a blown driver or tweeter. When I do the test tones from the Yamaha, the test tones out of the Monitor 30's sound louder than the CS1. The CS1 always sound like the volume is turned down. When the high frequency test is done (the one that sounds like a laser blaster in a video game) the volume out of the CS1 seems to match the Monitor 30's. This makes me think one of the drivers are blown. Ugh.

My CSi30 sounds "muffled" on the first test tone as compared to my RTi4s, but I have assumed that was due to the 30 not being a perfect match for the 4s (CSi30 went with the older RTi28). Could be something about that tone test or I may have a problem with my center as well. Overall, I am pleased with the sound of my set-up, and I have heard dead speakers, and in my case the center woofers seem ok, and the tweeter should be OK based on the second (high frequency test). Maybe I should try a new center.

Will tweeter let you return a center if you try it out to "test" your current one?

polktiger

jakelm wrote:

No...accually my CS1 was abit louder than the 30's. Setting my set up with my ratshack meter, my left and right 30's were 0, but my CS1 was -2.

Jake

How much are the SPL meters from radio shack?

jakelm

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103668&cp=&kw=sound+meter&parentPage=search

There you go. I prefer the analog.

polktiger

Thanks, I suspect this will find its way into my christmas stocking.