Any Benifit Not Running Monitor 70 as surrounds?

wesouth

I have been wondering why everyone seems to run Monitor 70s as Fronts only and then run 50s as surrounds. Wouldn't it sound better if you ran 70s in all 4 positions for 5.1 and even (6) Monitor 70s in a 7.1 configuration, with a CS2 center and a PSW505 sub of course? Can someone please elaborate on this for me.
I have bought (4) Monitor 70s, CS2, and PSW505. I am looking at getting 2 more monitor 70s as side surrounds and another PSW505 for a full 7.2 system. I am using a Onkyo TX-SR707 receiver. I am into music first and home theater second. I would like to hear all views on this topic as I have yet to hook it all up. I guess what I am wondering, would this yeild me the very best Monitor series system? Thanks

comfortablycurt

Running the same speakers at every spot in an HT setup is ideal, but not really necessary.

Monitor 70's would make great surround speakers, but IMO it would be overkill. Monitor 40's or 50's would probably give you about 90% of what the 70's could give you.

Most people go with smaller speakers in back due to budget and space restraints.

kawizx9r

Probably the fact that it's cheaper to get something smaller as surrounds...that'd be my understanding for getting smaller surrounds. That and room placement/space.

Other than that, there's really no reason not to go with 'full sized' speakers all the way around. Especially with the newer codecs/soundtracks you're more likely to get even more material playing throughout your surrounds now and it'd be best to have speakers that have a great frequency response.

Btw Welcome to CP!

One more thing, if you're running all towers AND a 7.2 I have to ask how big is your room? 6/7.1/.2 systems are usually for very large rooms, and if you don't have the space for it it can actually sound worse than a properly setup 5.1 system.

My advice would be, sell the 505 and go with a subwoofer that can dig deeper into those lower frequencies. You're missing alot of content down in the 20hz and below.

-Freddy

wesouth

thanks for the input guys. right now i just have 5.1 and like I said I have not installed it yet, that is tonights project. I am glad you told me that 5.1 will be better in a regular sized room. I would say the room is 18 X 20 at best so i am sure the 5.1 will be enough.
As for the PSW505, I want a really nice even sounding subwoofer so tell me what you would recommend from the polk line that would better suit my system.
Also as for the Onkyo TX-SR707 it is 100 watts per channel. It has preamp outputs so I could get another amp to make it sound really clean. Could you recommend one for my system? I want one that complements my system but gets me in the spot for maximum performance for the speakers. The 70s max out at 275 watts.

Onkyo TX-SR707
Front: Monitor 70s
Center: CS2
Back: Monitor 70s
Sub: PSW505

kawizx9r

No problem wesouth, we're all here to help each other out

What's your budget? SVS are awesome subs for the $, I personally built my own. All depends what you want exactly.

grimmace19

I run 50's as sides and smaller backs because of room size as well as purchasing the 50's much much earlier. Up until now the 70's weren't very cheap. As for now, if you have the budget, get all 70's... no harm in going big.

wesouth

budget is what ever it takes within reason for best sound. I guess $500 max. I would prefer to stay with the cabinet look of the Monitor Series since my other speakers are black vinyal wood grain

chemical

i run m 70's as fronts and m 50's as surrounds because i had the 50's first.....i picked up the m 70's about 6 months after the 50's,but i see no problem with running m'70's all round.

i use an onkyo 806 and a psw 505.....have absolutely no complaints about any part of my system

wutadumsn23

+1 on what Freddy said about a properly setup 5.1 sounding way better than a cramped 7.1. Like has been said, space and budget is usually what dictates the surround speakers, and the fact that having a 4 foot tall surround speaker, most of the speaker will be positioned behind a couch or hidden behind something pretty much blocking that part of the speaker from being heard. The smaller Monitor 30's and 40's are easily put on stands for optimal listening position. Also, before the newer codecs, the surrounds used to "suffer" a bit as not a lot of the soundtrack was optimized for those speakers. IMHO the 70's would be overkill for surrounds, but that decision is based mostly on my tastes. If it works for you, then have at it, lol. Welcome to Club Polk, and sounds like you are on the way to a very nice HT setup. I have the 70's as my mains the CS2 as my center and an Onkyo 806 and am very pleased.

-Jeff