[carter840]

So about a year ago this site was very helpful in providing information to help me pick my speakers and AVR. I would even say you helped me save money, but since your advice only drove me to buy more I suppose that's not the case. That said I am loving my current setup, but am now looking for a little improvement.


Right now I have a bit of an issue. My TV sits in the living room of my apartment, and is a pretty open space on one side. My dinner table and kitchen are all contained within this open space. Although I have the capability for 7.1, I don't really have a wall on one side of the seating area to mount a speaker (since that side is open). So I plan to stick with 5.1.


For my rear channel I currently have 2 Polk Monitor 30s and must say I am not too impressed with their sound. Part of the issue is that I don't really have a good place to mount them and right now they are at 45 degree angles behind the primary seating area. I was wondering if there might be a better rear or surround speaker than these that would provide a more "surround" experience. I have read about dipole speakers, but have no idea if that is really what I need. I know I could go to the monitor 40s for rears, but they are just so large and kind of ugly and I don't really think that will help my problem (maybe I'm wrong though). I guess I am looking for an upgrade that will still match my current Polks (in terms of sound), and am curious if Dipole is what I should be looking at?


Current setup:

Dennon 2310CI (audyssey run with 6 possitions)

Fronts: Polk Monitor 70

Center: Polk Monitor CS2

Rear/Surrounds: Monitor 30

Sub: BIC F12


Thanks for the help

 

[m_vanmeter]

in a 5.1 setup, the surrounds are really "sides", the true "rears" are added in a 7.1 setup.
http://www.dolby.com/consumer/setup/...ide/index.html


in any case, I would not recommend dipole speakers for problem areas, but you might try "bipole" speakers with their in-phase front firing speaker along with the side speakers.

 

[DonH50]

Could you attach a scale drawing of your room?


That open area is likely to be a problem if it's on one side... It'd be better at the front or rear.

 

[Timothy91]

Hi,


Ok, these wall-mounts should be your best option for mounting speakers on a wall close to the back of your couch while still allowing you to "swivel" the speaker so it shoots it's sound from the "sides" of the couch. Thereby giving you a much better result.


I like the odds of these two working out better than most because it "clamps" on to the speaker and doesn't need to "bolt" to it:
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_121AM40...40.html?tp=586

http://www.amazon.com/Rocelco-B-Tech.../dp/B004DCAOHK

This one looks good at first glance, BUT then you find it has limited bolt configurations which won't fit a great deal of speakers.
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/50-10895&t=1


I can't tell you how tough it was to find a "bolt" that would fit my speaker. I had to go to the hardware store and find a bolt to match the size and the threading pattern of my speaker. The "clamp on" mount looks like it's much better and in retrospect, I would have gone that route instead. Lesson learned.


You might not even need to buy another speaker, BUT if you want to try out what I discovered is the best surround speaker sound (sound dispersion from the sides), I urge you to go on ebay and check for a mint used set of Optimus LX-5 or LX5-II's. (I own the LX-5 II's which I like better than the original LX-5's, but both sound fantastic.) The woofer is direct while the tweeter is dipolar. This mix of direct and reflected from this quasi-dipole speaker sounds incredible. I can pinpoint sounds within the surround field and at the same time the sound is enveloping and seems like there is much more presence than what the little speakers look like.


Picture with the grills off:

Here's a picture that kind of shows how it looks with the grills on, but it's far away.