would you do this... (1 Viewer)

[ErikU]

alright, i know many people really dislike bose, but many years ago i was into bose speakers. right now i have "301 Direct/Reflecting" as my mains that i am hoping to upgrade soon. i was thinking about moving those as surrounds. right now i have Cambridge SoundWorks "Surround III Satellites". i figure that the bose are good enough to be surrounds. whaddya guys think? w/o just saying trash the bose. i mean, how necessary is having great surrounds anyway? thanks

erik

 

[LARUE]

Erik, I'm all for it. We can't all drop a wad for a complete setup from the get-go.
I started with some Bose AM-5s (Rubik's Cubes) and retired them to the back after purchasing some second hand Warfedales (used the RPTV for center).
Eventually I saved up the bucks for a Canadian vacation/ Paradigm shopping spree (Reference models I might add).
Next up, replacing an older M&K Subwoofer and maybe (wife willing) an HDTV.
So no, in my opinion there's no shame in a piecemeal upgrade.
LARUE
P.S. you might wanna cover those Blose though, in case anyone with a clue comes over.

 

[Andy Hamric]

I agree that surrounds aren't all that important. Once I got a surround receiver, I added some old Aiwa bookshelf speakers in the rear (I have Infinity RS-5 mains and an Infinity HPS center).

I can certainly tell the difference in timbre when my receiver is playing a test tone, but with movies I detect no noticeable difference. Half the DVDs I watch make little use of the surrounds. I suspect the Bose would work fine for your rears in movies.

If you use your surrounds a lot for music, like through a 5 channel stereo mode or something, you might find them lacking. I, however, only listen to music in two-channel stereo.

 

[Brian Shannon]

i mean, how necessary is having great surrounds anyway

IMHO in a DD or DTS system that is set up properly, having good surrounds really adds to the experience.

 

[Larry Rasmussen]

Erik,

I seem to always end up with surrounds that are not well matched to front and agree with earlier posters that you can get very good sound that way. However I just went to 5 identical speakers and there was a marked improvement, very significant and more that expected. The improvement was more on the ambient and mixed information than on isolated effects for 5.1 movies.

Your bose should make very good surround speakers for now. You may want to plan for a matched system now but start with the mains and center. Heck, that gives you an upgrade to look forward to when you eventually ad the matched surround speakers.

 

[ColinM]

I would believe the 301's would be a good choice for surrounds, due to the direct/reflect property. Sort-of a dipole/bipole effect.

If you can put them in the right spot, you may love it. Calibration would be key, however.

Have fun -

- CM

 

[Chuck C]

I agree that surrounds aren't all that important

what! For a DD/DTS surround sound system, they are very important. Pop in Saving Private Ryan, and you'll know what I mean.