5 or 7 speaker set up on all channel stereo setting

silversubaru
silversubaru Posts: 42
edited March 2009 in Speakers
Hi everyone
Daniel here from SA, hope everyone is well!
I need some advice and hopefully someone out there has tried this....

I currently run an Onkyo 705 receiver and I have two sets of RTi8's running coupled with a CSi3 centre and a PSW12 sub. The front 8's are biamped.

I used to run a set of 4's in the rear until I got another set of 8's

The two questions I have are the following. Would I get a better sound on the 'all channel' stereo setting if I removed the bi-amp option from the front 8's and then connected the 4's to the surround rear positions and then ran 7 speakers instead of 5.

Second question- would the 705 handle the 7 speaker setup (2 pairs of 8's and a pair of 4's) effectively? Does the 705 split the power equally to each channel as it sounds like the rear 8's sound way different to the front 8's (would bi-amping make such a huge difference in sound quality/power?)

I use my system primarily for music and parties with the occasional movie thrown in for good measure 2 or 3 times a week!

Cheers
D
Post edited by silversubaru on
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Comments

  • Mike21
    Mike21 Posts: 252
    edited March 2009
    Hi D.

    "Would I get a better sound on the 'all channel' stereo setting if I removed the bi-amp option from the front 8's and then connected the 4's to the surround rear positions and then ran 7 speakers instead of 5."

    I have an Onk 805. Bi-amping my mains with the rear channels made no improvement. Its not true bi-amping anyways.

    What do you want to play on "all stereo"? Not good for movies. I use it only for TV: news, talk shows, game shows; and sometimes for FM radio.

    I recommend that you try the 7 speakers and see how you like it.

    Mike
    ____________________________________________
    Home Theater 32"LG LCD; Comcast; 7.1 Onkyo 805; Fronts: Polk M50s; Center: Polk CS2; Sides: Polk M40s; Rear: B&W LM1s; Subs: (2) Sony 12" x 100w; Samsung 1500BDP; Toshiba A-2 HD-DVDP.
    PC stereo: Viper custom PC: Windows XP; ASIO4ALL; JRiver Jukebox> Pop Pulse USB to S/PDIF conv> Monarchy DIP > Musiland MD10 DAC > Parasound 2100 pre> Aragon 4004 MKII amp> Dali Ikon6 towers; Sunfire True Sub; PSA Duet, Ultimate outlet and Noise Harvestors.
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited March 2009
    Stereo=2 speakers.

    All channel stereo=an atrocity created to please people who don't truly appreciate music, or what stereo imaging truly means.

    Just my .02 cents.

    That being said though, I can't imagine 2 additional speakers really making the sound quality of all channel stereo any better.

    Try it, and see what you prefer, since you already have the speakers.
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
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  • silversubaru
    silversubaru Posts: 42
    edited March 2009
    Thanks for the replies guys! The reason I run all channel stereo is mostly for parties. Is there a better DSP option that you guys can recommend?
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  • vijayl
    vijayl Posts: 258
    edited March 2009
    Agree Daniel abt All-Ch-Stereo for Parties

    Living Room: 7.3: Samsung - LN52A750, Pioneer Elite SC07    , logitech 880
    Def Tech Mythos ST :D Fronts, Def Tech Mythos 10 Center, Def Tech BP-30 Surr, Def Tech Mythos GemXL SurrBack, MartinLogan Dynamo
    2Ch: Carver TL-3200 CD player, Carver CT-17 pre, Carver TFM-45 amp driving SDA-1C
    Bed Room: Pioneer Elite VSX-52 , Monitor 50

    Storage-RTi8,CSi5,PSW505,Monitor50
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited March 2009
    silversubaru wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies guys! The reason I run all channel stereo is mostly for parties. Is there a better DSP option that you guys can recommend?

    That's about all it's good for IMO. I've used all ch. stereo for parties numerous times myself.
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
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  • Mike21
    Mike21 Posts: 252
    edited March 2009
    I'm too old to have parties. :( But, I'm wondering if Mono wouldn't be better than all channel stereo - then everyone at the party would be hearing the smae thing no matter where they are standing, dancing, drinking, whatever.:cool:
    ____________________________________________
    Home Theater 32"LG LCD; Comcast; 7.1 Onkyo 805; Fronts: Polk M50s; Center: Polk CS2; Sides: Polk M40s; Rear: B&W LM1s; Subs: (2) Sony 12" x 100w; Samsung 1500BDP; Toshiba A-2 HD-DVDP.
    PC stereo: Viper custom PC: Windows XP; ASIO4ALL; JRiver Jukebox> Pop Pulse USB to S/PDIF conv> Monarchy DIP > Musiland MD10 DAC > Parasound 2100 pre> Aragon 4004 MKII amp> Dali Ikon6 towers; Sunfire True Sub; PSA Duet, Ultimate outlet and Noise Harvestors.
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  • silversubaru
    silversubaru Posts: 42
    edited March 2009
    I tried the 7 speaker set up and I have gone back to the bi-amped front option with just 5 speakers as I felt that I lost something from the fronts once the bi-amp option had been removed.

    Will probably keep the RTi4's until I get a 2 channel power amp for the front 8's and then hook the 4's up again and see how that sounds.....
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