Surround sound speaker questions (1 Viewer)

[Chris Dog]

hey there- I'm extremely new to anything "home theater" related so bear with me here:

I finally got a 5.1 Pioneer receiver and I want to set up some surround sound speakers.

HOWEVER I've got a pair of Definitive Audio tower speakers (just a 6" sub looking speaker and a small tweeter) that I don't really want to get rid of because they sound really good.

can I intergrate these tower speakers into my surround sound set up by using them as the "front" speakers than buying a pair of seperate "surround" speakers for the back, a seperate "center" speaker than maybe a subwoofer? (the Definitives already put out very nice bass for my apartment so maybe not necessary)

will these larger seperate tower speakers not be as ideal as just using a set of little surround sound speakers that they sell with the surround sound kits?
should I just throw the Definitives out because the days of stereo are over? I really like my tower speakers but I don't know if they'll work in a surround sound set up. thanks

 

[John Garcia]

Should work fine with those speakers up front. If you can, I'd look for a Def Tech center so that it will match with those fronts (eBay?) and then add some surrounds (less critical to match if you aren't doing multichannel SACD/DVD-A). The benefit of using smaller speakers that don't produce a lot of bass and then using a sub is so the receiver doesn't have to work so hard trying to reproduce the lowest bass frequencies because they use the most power to produce.

 

[Chris Dog]

thats exactly what I was looking to do... check ebay for a Def Tech center speaker.

piece by piece I'll put it all together....

then eventually I'll get the surrounds and maybe a sub.

and if anyone is curious to know how good Def Tech is the tower speakers I have are freakin amazing.... I've had them for almost 15 years and they still sound awesome. i wouldn't trade them for anything (pretty much).

 

[John Garcia]

The less power your receiver has, the more of a benefit a sub will be, but a sub isn't always a necessity in every case (it is for me ).

 

[Charlie Campisi]

You'll get more value out of a sub purchase than you will from surrounds. Most people don't realize how little the surrounds are actually used, while every new movie seems to push the low freqs even further than the last. Even if it's hard to push the bass in an apartment, the sub is really the quickest way to more punch from your system.

 

[John Garcia]

Yep, you'll find that you don't need to turn it up as loud for it to be convincing with a sub, though when you have a sub, you may also find yourself turning it up more...

 

[Chris Dog]

I hear ya.... I just don't know if the people above, below and on the sides of me will appreciate the extra bass
and the book shelf speakers I have now are pretty darn good in the bass department already..... if I hit the loudness or midnight button (wtf is that anyways?) it becomes ridiculous.. atleast for this HT n00b.

so as of now I'm going to just try and find a used CLR 2002 Def Tech center channel to match my other speakers then eventually get some surrounds.
all in good time tho.... i've got to pay off my new Pioneer plasma before I start spending money on anything else... debt sux

 

[Charlie Campisi]

Let's just file that in the "don't know what you're missing if you haven't already heard it" category.

 

[Chris Dog]

haha thats why I said they were good for this HT n00b

now if I had a nice house that I could play my speakers as loud as I wanted to in the bass thing would be a whole different issue.

as of now tho what I have is fine.