[F12]

Hi all,
First, I just want to say thanks to everyone on the forum for all of the great information. I've been reading for a number of years but never actually had to post anything as I've always been able to find the answer in previous posts. But my current situation is something I haven't run across.

I recently moved into a new home and there is zero chance of me being able to run wires for surround speakers. I've slowly accepted the fact that my movie watching will not quite be the same. Luckily, I'm only in the house for 18 months so it's only a temporary hiccup.

My question is this:
Should I "add" my two surround speakers to my front speakers? I'm not really sure what this is called or if it's a really dumb idea but I was thinking I may be able to just plug the rear speaker banana plugs into the current front speaker banana plugs and then place the speakers near the already existing front speakers? Would this benefit the sound at all?

My current set-up-
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V675 7.2 (brand new, still haven't taken it out of the box - previously had a Pioneer 5.1 that I sold prior to the move)
Sub: Polk Audio PSW505 (also brand new - previously had the Bic F12 that I loved)
Fronts: BIC America Venturi DV64 2-Way Tower Speakers
Center: BIC America DV-62CLRS 6-Inch 2-Way
Rears: BIC America DV62si Bookshelf Speakers

I am no audiophile by any means but I do enjoy movie-theater sounding movies. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers.

 

[grasshoppers]

I wouldn't do it...just set up your front
3 and your sub. Put your surround away
For now. My opinion.

You could always use your extra speakers
In a bedroom...just snag a cheap AVR somewhere.
(Craigslist?)

 

[RayDunzl]

I'm adventurous sometimes.

Looking at what you have:

"The DV64 towers use the same components as the DV62CLR-S (center speaker) and DV62si (bookshelf speakers). "

They're 8 ohm.

If your receiver is happy with a 4 ohm load, or you listen at lower levels, you could plug them into each other.

I'd envision stacking the surround on top of the floorstanding, upside down, making a W-W-W-M-T-T-M stack.

Or...

Stack it on top aimed backwards toward the wall, experimenting with phase (reversing the plug on the surround).

Anything other than those configurations would make less sense to me as a two channel experiment.

 

[Ratman]

I recently moved into a new home and there is zero chance of me being able to run wires for surround speakers.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

How about something wireless:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/rocketf...-speaker-kit-black/8275528.p?id=1171058476489

 

[F12]

I wouldn't do it...just set up your front
3 and your sub. Put your surround away
For now. My opinion.

You could always use your extra speakers
In a bedroom...just snag a cheap AVR somewhere.
(Craigslist?)

Thanks for the feedback Grasshopper. Luckily I've kep the original boxes over the past 5 years so storage would not be a problem. My wife and I have so far resisted any sort of tv in the boom boom room ....wouldn't want to be too distracted from making the magic happen.

 

[Ratman]

....wouldn't want to be too distracted from making the magic happen.

You give yourself too much "credit". She'd rather watch TV. :kiss:

 

[F12]

I'm adventurous sometimes.

Looking at what you have:

"The DV64 towers use the same components as the DV62CLR-S (center speaker) and DV62si (bookshelf speakers). "

They're 8 ohm.

If your receiver is happy with a 4 ohm load, or you listen at lower levels, you could plug them into each other.

I'd envision stacking the surround on top of the floorstanding, upside down, making a W-W-W-M-T-T-M stack.

Or...

Stack it on top aimed backwards toward the wall, experimenting with phase (reversing the plug on the surround).

Anything other than those configurations would make less sense to me as a two channel experiment.

Thanks, Ray. This looks to be a very intriguing set-up andyou've definitely piqued my curiosity. Is there an acoustical reason forturning the surround speakers upside down (serious question --- I had no ideathis could make a difference). Also, if I did this, would I just plug the “black”plug from the surround speaker into the black plug for my front speaker (andthe same for the reds)?

Because there is only a certain amount of wattage beingapplied to each channel, would the two speakers that are now paired, share thewattage that is being applied to them? For example, if my receiver pushed 100W/channel,would the original front speaker use 50W of that and the added “surround”speaker would then use the other 50W?

These are probably foolish questions but I appreciate yourexpertise.

 

[F12]

How about something wireless:

Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, even with the rocketfish, our current tv room would require speaker wire being run across the ceiling in the middle of a wide open space. I'd be down for it but if my wife were to come home and see that ....no more magic

 

[Ratman]

I don't know what your TV room looks like.
I thought "wireless" could be a viable option... good luck stud.

 

[toddbigeasy]

actually I have put the 2 surrounds up near the front to the sides a bit, when I couldn't place them where they should be, and they sounded kinda cool that way. that was a few years ago. stick them up there and try it out, what could it hurt..

 

[RayDunzl]

Thanks, Ray. This looks to be a very intriguing set-up andyou've definitely piqued my curiosity. Is there an acoustical reason forturning the surround speakers upside down (serious question --- I had no ideathis could make a difference). Also, if I did this, would I just plug the “black”plug from the surround speaker into the black plug for my front speaker (andthe same for the reds)?

Because there is only a certain amount of wattage beingapplied to each channel, would the two speakers that are now paired, share thewattage that is being applied to them? For example, if my receiver pushed 100W/channel,would the original front speaker use 50W of that and the added “surround”speaker would then use the other 50W?

These are probably foolish questions but I appreciate yourexpertise.

The orientation I suggest - cabinet top to top - keeps the tweeters close together, which 'should' be preferable for your experiment.

black to black, red to red - in phase - the speaker cones move in and out in unison with the signal.
black to red, red to black - out of phase - one speaker's cones move in and out while the other speakers cones move out then in for the same signal.

No, a voltage is being presented to the speakers. If they are wired in parallel, they will each pull their regular amount of current for that voltage (volume setting) - and twice the electrical power will be consumed - at the same volume setting on the amplifier.

Analogy:

You have a bucket full of water (that you keep refilling with a hose, keeping it full, but it can't overfill). The water pressure at the bottom of the bucket is the voltage, the water itself is the current. A taller bucket has more pressure.

You drill a hole (the size of the hole is Ohms, and represents a speaker) in the bottom of the bucket.. Water flows out.

You drill another hole in the bottom of the bucket. The same amount of water flows out that hole.

Power = flow x pressure (current x voltage)

You doubled the total flow. Pressure remained constant (keeping the bucket full)

So total power used doubled, but the power at each speaker remains the same.

(this can be picked apart of course, but those are the basic starting numbers to work with)