Rear surround advice (1 Viewer)

I have a 6.1 receiver in which I am running a pair of Pioneer S-HF31's with the matching center channel. For my rears I am running some small Sony Satelites from an old boxed set. Needless to say the satelites aren't keeping up. Any advice would be great.

 

[Robert_J]

What is your budget? There are speakers from $10 to $100,000 a pair.

 

[Jason Charlton]

And by "rears" do you mean only the back center channel, the two side surrounds (they should ideally be placed to the sides of the listening position, not behind), or all three?

 

All 3. About $200-250. I was thinking about the newer versions of the speakers I have. I may have to go with just a 5.1 though being in the new house I really don't have many options for the rear center.

 

[dc88]

the best i think would be to match all of your speakers so if you could get the same ones you have already i would do that

 

[Jason Charlton]

I disagree with Dane. Matching your rears to your fronts is really not necessary (there's very little overlap of signals between fronts and rears). Now, matching the front three to each other is much more critical - but that's not what we're talking about here.


Personally, I don't think you'd be missing out on much at all by going with 5.1 vs. 6.1 unless you really have a spacious room and "need" the extra speaker. You'd be better off anyway, splitting your budget between 2 speakers rather than 3.


Unfortunately, I haven't shopped for speakers in a long while, so don't have much specific to offer. Looking at the Polk website, they do have a couple of smallish "bipole" looking surround speakers (the RM8) that fall into your budget - assuming they retail for a bit less than MSRP. IMO, you're better off shopping from a manufacturer of speakers, rather than an electronics manufacturer that also happens to make speakers.


In-person auditioning of surrounds is far less critical than for mains, so as you shop, you can focus more on price point and size/profile than you would for, say your fronts or center. However, if you have the chance to listen in person, by all means go for it.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Oh, one other thought...


Surround speakers are not intended to be as "in your face" as your fronts, so you shouldn't expect a night-and-day improvement from upgrading your surrounds.


You will get a much more noticeable improvement in system performance by upgrading your front three speakers, and then, perhaps, moving your current front speakers to the back and using them for surrounds (it also kind of makes sense that the "nicest" speakers in your system be the fronts).


Unfortunately, with this approach, you're going to have to spread your budget even thinner, since you'll want to get all three front speakers at the same time.


In short, if you can save up a bit more cash for a while longer, consider getting new fronts/center. In the end, it will increase the overall performance of your system as a whole, rather than just a small part of the system.


Just some food for thought.

 

[CB750]

Don,


I would also suggest matching all of your speakers. $200 - $250 is not an unreasonable budget for three speakers. Your other option would be to upgrade your front stage and move your existing fronts to your surrounds and rear.


When you say your Sony's can't keep up remember that in a 5.1 or 6.1 system not much as much sound comes from the surround channels. They are meant to be fill in and to add 360 degree sound when necessary.

 

I like my fronts, they give me great sound. I just don't find the rears put out much sound period. I don't even hear them anylonger.

 

[Robert_J]

Originally Posted by Donald Plaisance

I just don't find the rears put out much sound period. I don't even hear them anylonger.

They are there for effects. How did you calibrate your system?

 

Originally Posted by Robert_J




They are there for effects. How did you calibrate your system?

How do you calibrate a system?

 

[Robert_J]

If your receiver is more advanced, then it will have an auto calibration system and an included mic. Follow the instructions in your owner's manual.


I'm guessing your system is a little older and will require a manual calibration. You need a DVD like Avia or Video Essentials and a Radio Shack analog SPL meter. The RS analog model may sound like old technology but it is also the model that everyone has and more detailed information is known about it. Once you have your two items, you set up the meter at your listening position (head high). I use a camera tri-pod. Then you play the audio tones on the disc. You are setting the levels of each speaker to the same output. No one speaker can overpower another.


Why can't I just use my ears? Because your ears are not reliable. Using this proven method will make a set of average sounding speakers sound very good. It will make a set of good speakers sound great. It will make great speakers sound amazing. Plus the SPL meter can be used for more advanced calibration when you are ready. If you are tuning up a car, do you rely on your ears or do you use proven diagnostic tools? It's the same situation here.

 

Great, thanks for all of your help.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Regarding Robert's response: yes, this is the correct way to calibrate your speakers.


I would say right away, start with your ears. You don't need one of the calibration discs, because there is a test tone built in to your receiver - check the manual to find it. You can adjust the relative volume on each speaker using the test tones using your ears, then later tweak it with a SPL meter. The SPL meter method really works best - it's definitely worth it to get one. However, I can say that in my bedroom I have a 5.1 system that I just did by ear and it sounds fine. I'm not particular enough to bother setting that one up. At least just using your ears and the test tones can tell you if one or more of the speakers is VERY out of whack.


In regards to rear surrounds - personally I really like using a pair of dipole design speakers in the rear of my 5.1 system. "Dipole" or "Bipole" speakers tend to "spread the sound out" more, compared to your fronts where you want the sound localized to the right/left/center. Something like this maybe a good start:


http://www.warehousedeals.com/Cambridge-SoundWorks-Newton-Series-S205-Surround/M/B00345E900.htm?traffic_src=froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=froogle

 

[Eset]

You're lucky

 

Originally Posted by Eset

You're lucky

Why?

 

[Parker Clack]

Donald:


Also, if you have an iPod Touch (4th Gen) or iPhone there is an app that replicates the Radio Shack DB meter and it is only 0.99 cents. There is an app in the Android

Market too call Professional dB (SPL) that goes for 0.99 cents.


In either case just use your audio sweep of your receiver so it sends out a test tone to each speaker going from the left front and ending up in the left rear. Set the dB meter to

to 70 dB, slow response and C weighting. (This is set on the meter pretty straight forward). Put the meter in the approximate position you are going to be setting the majority

of the time (the meter comes with a tripod mount so you can set it around your ear level if you want). Turn up the volume on your receiver to a "reference" level (say 0 on your

volume knob from -40 or however your volume knob is numbered) and watching the meter turn the volume up or down on each channel (not the master volume) one at a time

so that they end up swinging the meter to around 70 or 75 dB. Now all your speakers are "dialed in" to your room from you main listening position.


Give that a try before replacing your surrounds. You may find that you don't need to in the end.

 

[Robert_J]

I would advise against using an app. You don't know the frequency response of the mic capsule on the phone. At least people have plotted the response on the RS meter and it has proven itself over years of use.

 

[Parker Clack]

Robert:


I would tend to agree but at the same time I have downloaded an app (Peter Triberman pointed it out to me at CEDIA) that is spot on with my RS meter. So if

he didn't want to bother with getting the RS meter and has an iPhone, iPod or Android phone this would work as a good substitute.


Parker