Newbie ?: amplifieing surround sound speakers (as 2 channel stereo speakers as well) (1 Viewer)

[Tristan_F]

Before the thought of a HT surround sound speaker set up enterd my mind, I was just going to get myself a middle of the road audiophile stereo system for simply playing music. After that was when I would plan on getting a sort of budget surround setup for another room. However, when I found out that one of the speakers I was considering for my stereo setup, the Axiom Millennia M22ti, were available in a surround sound speaker package, I thought about killing 2 birds with 1 stone if its possible to get a HT surround sound speaker setup with speakers of the same quality as an audiophile stereo setup, and just turn the "HT room" into my new bedroom.

However, because I'm more concerned with the stereo listening aspects then I am with the HT aspects, and because I know nearly nothing of HT amplification, I got a couple questions for ya'll.

1) Am I correct to think that because a surround sound amplifier has to power more speakers, the main stereo speakers used for music will suffer in quality in comparison to an amp designed to power only 2 speakers?

2) If/when I get this surround sound setup, is it possible to use the center and rear effects speakers as part of the 2 channel stereo listening so I don't have them just lieing around as my overall system is used more for music then HT?

ANY help or suggestions for my situation would be GRERATLY appreciated. Keep in mind the Milennia M22tis are not my final choice as I'm still researching speaker choices. Peace.

 

[Selden Ball]

Tristan,

1) not necessarily

2) yes

The quality of the amplifiers you get depends on your budget. Some multichannel amps are much better than some two channel amps. Many people use separate monoblock amplifiers, so the cost per channel is the same, but more channels cost more money. A lot of people use a high quality stereo amp for the front speakers and use their A/V receiver to drive the center and surrounds. In this last case, you have to be sure that the receiver you get includes preamp outputs for all channels. Many inexpensive ones do not. Or you can get a separate preamp/processor and amplifiers to begin with.

The most recent versions of most manufacturers' home theater receivers include Dolby ProLogic II, a revised high quality surround sound processing method that can generate full-range multichanel audio from many stereo sources. This is in addition to various proprietary surround-sound decoders.

Also, not all music is published in stereo. Both SACD and DVD-A high resolution audio formats include many multichannel titles. Multichannel DTS "CD's" have been available for quite a while. Multichannel DVD-Videos of concerts are also readily available.

I hope this helps a little.