Surround Speakers (1 Viewer)

[Roy Wallace]

Hello again forum faithful:

I am going to replace my Rat Shack surround speakers soon, and I am very interested in these bipolar type units, such as the Klipsh SS.5/ SS.1 and Energy RVSS units.

Would these be an acceptable choice for when I eventually upgrade to a 5.1 receiver? As I am a bit budget challenged, these are in my price range.

Any opinions or suggestions anyone has would be welcomed.

Thank you

RW

 

[Drew Eckhardt]

It's a matter of personal preference.

Movies are mixed for an array of direct radiating surround speakers which are diffuse sources rather than points. If you don't have the room and budget to duplicate this, dipoles and bipoles are a good way to emulate this.

Personally, I run front, side, and rear bipoles; and prefer them over direct radiators in the surround positions for this reason (you get surrounded and don't notice the surrounds). Up front, they make different tradeoffs than direct radiators.

 

[Roy Wallace]

You make a good point.

I am definitely planning to audition as many combinations as I can before purchasing.

Thanks for the input, Drew.

RW

 

[Andy Anderson]

Roy-

I have the ss.5 rears--using them with an sc1 center, and sb3 mains. I'm running a Marantz SR7000 receiver, and a KSW-12 sub (soon to upgrade to an SVS), and I'm very happy. They are excellent speakers for those on a budget. I've always been pleased with their response--if I were you, I might spring the extra cash for the ss1 rears--there is just the slightest difference in tone/thickness/timbre when using Avia test tones and playing Xbox games where a sound travels/rotates from front to rear.

All in all, great speaks for the cash--they won't disappoint. They arae very forgiving for placement as well--the design of the speakers allows versatile placement.

 

[Roy Wallace]

Thanks for the input, Andy.

I have been chatting with a local dealer, and he suggested using the SB.5 and a pair of SB-1's along with the SS.5's to make a similar sized set, but I had my eye on the SB-3's as they are bigger, and I have always had larger main speakers...

I was not able to listen to any of these, as they have the demo room full of Jamo gear. ( Although he was willing to swap them for a whole set of the Klipsch if I wanted to, but I didn't have time.)

What size of room do you have? Would that KSW-12 be a good choice for a larger room? I don't think I will ever want reference level bass, but I do want to make a pleasing choice.

Thanks again

RW

 

[Roy Wallace]

I also see I have typos in my last post... I MEANT the SC.5 center to go with the SB-1's. :b

RW

 

[Andy Anderson]

The KSW-12 is a great sub, capable of reaching way down low. I have a fairly large room (short and wide); although my viewing distance is short--the HT is at the right end of a long room horizontally. In a similar price range, I have heard good things about the HSU VTF-2, as well--people rave about them--but I've never heard them. (the price is about $499--the same neighborhood as a KSW-12) Don't worry about staying with a Klipsch sub if you've got Klipsch speaks. There's not a reason why you need to stick with the same manufacturer--it's not the same as being consistent in your main speaker array. (Not that the KSW-12 is bad, though!)
I would definitely go for the SC-1, rather than the SC.5. There is a marked difference in these two speakers, and the SC.5 (which I bought first, and used for about 2 weeks) just wasn't cutting it for me. Especially when matched with the SB-3s, it sounded a bit smaller. The rears, however--I've only demoed in the stores, and while I did notice a difference, it wasn't as critical as the rears.
My advice to you: go with the larger center, and go as large as you can with those bookshelf mains. The SB-3's really shine (I got mine on an open box special, so that helped with the cost--I was eyeing the SB-2's), the rears--just go with what your budget allows.

 

[Roy Wallace]

Terrific information, Thanks again

RW

 

[Andy Anderson]

No problem, Roy. Feel free to post again or email me (by clicking on my profile) if you have any more questions.

Cheers,

Andy

 

[Bob Christensen]

Roy: The Klipsch surrounds are not true bipole designs. They have a side firing woofer and two horn loaded tweets firing at a 45 degree angle from the woofer. However, they sound excellent and they do seem to surround you with sound like a bipole does. The SS.1 is a much better speaker, IMHO, and sounds very nice. It is much more efficient and has double the power rating that the .5 has (100 vs 50).
Drew: You are using bipoles as mains? For music, too?? I considered this when setting up a mono high powered system for gymnastics floor music in a gymnasium, but chickened out
Andy: If the system will be used primarily for HT, then the best center channel is a must. Go with the best you can afford and skimp on the surrounds until you can buy better ones (get better fronts than rears at first, even really crappy rears will do for a while, and it will make you enjoy the good ones all the more when you can finally upgrade). If the system will be used primarily for music (and I assume 2 channel), then get the best fronts you can afford and fill in later with the remaining speaks as your budget allows. The SB-2's are probably the best budget bookshelf bargain on the planet. But I prefer the power handling of the SB-3's, which sound remarkably similar to the SB-2's.
Andy: You are spot on when you say not to worry about matching the sub to the reast of the speaks. I had (still do out in the garage) a KSW-12. It worked well for HT, but my new SVS is a dream on HT and music. I used to turn of the KSW-12 when listening to tunes. Not so with the SVS (although I do back off the level considerably).