Thoughts on surrounds and set up

JimKellyfan

I currently have the below setup ( in my signature ).
I also have the dining room / back porch / outside, and all mediocre speakers ( rock speakers from Best Buy, 15 year old Advents with the fake bass and satellites on the porch, and display model bookshelf Sony's in the dining room, with an RCA ( radio shack ) switch on the porch for porch or outside.
Since day one, I have felt the Monitor 40's overkill for the surrounds.
I had, at first, auto-tuned or let the stereo set up the system.
I occasionally heard them.
I manually adjusted, now hear them, but still not much comes out, compared to the fronts, the center and the sub.
I do have another amp, new at 85w per channel, an old Pioneer VSX 406.
The Pioneer is for the dining room or back porch or outside.
I know ideally a new amp for both is in order, but for now...
What are thoughts of swapping out R150's ( I snagged from ebay ) for the Monitor 40 surrounds ?
I was also going to place the Monitor 40's in the dining room, and new Atrium's outside ( also what gauge wire for the Atrium's ) ( the Atrium's en route and won from Polk and dorokusai, thank you, thank you ).
Last time I used the dining room setup, I had the Monitor 60's and PSW10 and they rocked, even though the amp struggled a little, and could only handle that, no B selection capable, simultaneous.
I will assume the same will go here, and re-wire my outside speakers to B only to the Atrium's, and have that little RCA switch for dancing on A channel, the dining room Monitor's or the porch speakers, with a rule with the wife, one or the other not both, like before.
Advice here would be much appreciated, thanks.

wutadumsn23

I'm surprised you don't like the 40's, they always worked well for me. You have to remember the surrounds don't get as much "information" as the mains, so you aren't supposed to hear them as much as the front three. Having said that, I now have a pair of TSi 500's as my surrounds, until I can get a 2 ch. rig up and running. Just my $.02

-Jeff

cnh

Sony receivers are notoriously underpowered except for the ES series....it's possible you need more power--especially if you're bi-amping?

The average Sony puts out about 30-35 watts when it is in the surround mode. And that's at clipping levels!

Jeff is also right...program material varies; you won't ALWAYS even hear your surrounds until there is actual information for them that is LOUDer.

Have you sent the MANUAL test tone around to EACH speaker and listened to see if they are all at the same level....don't trust auto-surround calibrations completely...they are often OFF.

I know on my system, which has a much more powerful AVR, the surrounds are not always as 'active' as the CENTER and the L/R speakers. Have you tried some DVDs or Blu-rays that YOU know have a wicked surround track that pans to all 5.1 speakers?

cnh

JimKellyfan

Actually I love the 40's but believe they are being under utilized.
My concern was that the R150's would be good enough as they " don't match " the Monitor 60's, CS2 and PSW10.
I don't think I would blow them, but wanted to be sure they wouldn't be overworked as surrounds and would blend in.
I eventually want to take the PSW10 and put it back in the dining room as well, and jump up in quality and ease of use on that. While the PSW10 is fine, I find myself having to constantly adjust for the different DVD's, TV or music we put in so it doesn't get that rattling sound to it, from getting too much mids, I assume.
But for now, just checking the R150, is it good enough for surround duty with current set up, what wire gauge needed for Atrium 5's, and any other advice from the set up to be.
Thank you for your input.

JimKellyfan

Yes, when they are getting info,they do sound great, but I do have them adjusted way up.
I believe you are right in my Sony under power issue.
I am still under warranty, I believe with the Sony.
I should measure the output in their language.
Would you know what that may be ?
I'll have to look at the manual later.
Thanks for the input.
The R150's should fare well then with the under powering of the Sony.

JimKellyfan

Let me add that I love my Polk's, including my PSW10, I am just lazy and want a remote controlled sub for my HT ( instead of getting up and down to adjust ), I will eventually put my PSW10 back where I had it, music duty only.

cnh

I'm not sure what the real power ratings of that particular Sony would be...you'd have to look up some bench tests in various audio mags and see if they've reviewed it.

Also....as you may know....only the Left, center, Right front speakers have to be timbre matched....surrounds are less relevant and can be different without causing too many problems. So your plan sounds like it will work.

The PSW10 is a nice little sub. It's main problem is that it puts out a lot of port noise when overdriven and it is very easy to overdrive it in HT mode.

On the other hand at more sane levels it's quite good with music above 45hz or so.

cnh

jimmydep

Tim, sounds like your getting upgraditis, I predict a new AVR is in your future..:rolleyes:
Those Atrium 5's that you won were just demoed by me, I beat the living crap out of one speaker, but it still works and looks great. The A5's binding post will accept up to 12ga wire but I'd run a 16 or 14ga wire, if the distance isn't tooo far. You'll be glad to know the Atrium's are very easy to drive.

I sometimes wonder if my surrounds are working also, especially when watching TV movies, I get much more of a presence when watching a DVD.



Jimmy

JimKellyfan

Thanks Jimmy.
Yes, I will be getting a Denon or two most likely, and probably Christams time.
I want to change out the speakers ( db or mm's ) in my 94 Caprice wagon ( Corvette wagon ) first and next, after the Atrium's/Rock speakers and R150/Monitor swap out.
Monitor's will go in the dining room.
I believe the Sony amp to be ok for now, and will downgrade the surrounds as that will save $$ for now.