Hi Everyone,
Been reading here for weeks, first to help me with purchase of my Panasonic PT-53x54, then with my Yamaha RX-V750. I am completely satisfied with both selection so far... Now I'm on to surround speakers!
I plan to use my older Infinity SM82's for the front. I'm in an apartment, so no sub for now. I'm also going to wait on the centre channel. Eventually, I will add sub, centre and replace the fronts with a matched set. The room is about 12x20, and unfortunately, my home theatre is set up across the short dimension. Usage is 80% movies, 20% music. I will only be in this apartment for another 5 months, so I want to make a purchase that will be generally preferred for most setups. Because of the room layout, I can't really get the speakers behind the seating position.
I have auditioned several bookshelf speakers (PSB Image, Klipsch RB's, KEF forgotten model numbers, Athena ASB1/2's, Paradigm Titans). Of this group, I seem to prefer Paradigm and KEF, although I heard them in different stores. My budget is in the CAD$300 - $350 range. I'm leaning towards the Paradigms. I know speaker sound is subjective. I think my questions are more about best practices.
1) Most of the speaker reviews I have read are evaluating these speakers for the fronts. Since I want to use them as surrounds, I'm not sure how to know how big/loud I need them to be. Is bigger necessarily better? Maybe the Atoms would suffice and save me some coin getting me closer to adding a sub/centre? How heavy is the demand on the surround speakers when watching movies? Listening to 2-channel music?
2) Should I be considering the dipole/bipole? If I understand correctly, they are not as good for music, so my thoughts were that the regular bookshelf speakers would be more general purpose, and if I eventually wanted to get the dipole/bipoles for movies, I could use my bookshelf speakers for the rear for a 7.1 arrangement. Does this make good sense?
3) Centre channel - I have read you can sometimes use the tv set speakers for the centre channel. I have also read that the Panasonic speakers in the x54 suck, and I concur. So I'm guessing to use them as a surround, even if it is possible, is a bad idea. It may also be a bad idea to use my existing Infinity fronts for centre. Which solution would be less bad?
Hope this all makes sense. Look forward to feedback.
Brian
Been reading here for weeks, first to help me with purchase of my Panasonic PT-53x54, then with my Yamaha RX-V750. I am completely satisfied with both selection so far... Now I'm on to surround speakers!
I plan to use my older Infinity SM82's for the front. I'm in an apartment, so no sub for now. I'm also going to wait on the centre channel. Eventually, I will add sub, centre and replace the fronts with a matched set. The room is about 12x20, and unfortunately, my home theatre is set up across the short dimension. Usage is 80% movies, 20% music. I will only be in this apartment for another 5 months, so I want to make a purchase that will be generally preferred for most setups. Because of the room layout, I can't really get the speakers behind the seating position.
I have auditioned several bookshelf speakers (PSB Image, Klipsch RB's, KEF forgotten model numbers, Athena ASB1/2's, Paradigm Titans). Of this group, I seem to prefer Paradigm and KEF, although I heard them in different stores. My budget is in the CAD$300 - $350 range. I'm leaning towards the Paradigms. I know speaker sound is subjective. I think my questions are more about best practices.
1) Most of the speaker reviews I have read are evaluating these speakers for the fronts. Since I want to use them as surrounds, I'm not sure how to know how big/loud I need them to be. Is bigger necessarily better? Maybe the Atoms would suffice and save me some coin getting me closer to adding a sub/centre? How heavy is the demand on the surround speakers when watching movies? Listening to 2-channel music?
2) Should I be considering the dipole/bipole? If I understand correctly, they are not as good for music, so my thoughts were that the regular bookshelf speakers would be more general purpose, and if I eventually wanted to get the dipole/bipoles for movies, I could use my bookshelf speakers for the rear for a 7.1 arrangement. Does this make good sense?
3) Centre channel - I have read you can sometimes use the tv set speakers for the centre channel. I have also read that the Panasonic speakers in the x54 suck, and I concur. So I'm guessing to use them as a surround, even if it is possible, is a bad idea. It may also be a bad idea to use my existing Infinity fronts for centre. Which solution would be less bad?
Hope this all makes sense. Look forward to feedback.
Brian
