The more surround speakers the better or ..??

I was originally gonna go for a 5.1.4 surround setup and am now thinking about adding (2) additional rear surrounds (bipoles) to the mix. My receiver has enough channels, so I'm kinda like 'what not?' The only thing is my couch backs up to the back wall so the bipoles would be mounted on that same wall. Anyone have their 7.x.x system setup like this? To try this, I was just going to get a cheap $120 set of Fluance bipoles off of Amazon. Thoughts? ..is this just overkill?

 

overkill? not even close. I am currently set up for 9.2,6 but right now using 7.2.4. I would recommend installing rear surrounds. Many movies incorporate 7 channels now. If your into action/sci-fi kind of movies then it will really enhance the movie experience. I would consider direct firing speakers for rear surrounds if possible, but Bipole will work. I would place the bipoles on the side and the direct firing in the rear.

 

I'm wondering if rear bipoles on the sides would make multi-chan SACDs sound weird vs. front firing? And then in my config, wouldn't front firing speakers behind my couch (being that it's backed up to the wall) not really work??

 

well bipoles are really like two sets of direct firing speakers, firing different directions.
I know the ones I have its basically two tweeters and two woofers- but all distribute sound at the same time unlike Dipoles which direct sound out of phase with each other. If the back speakers are up against the wall and the speakers are rear ported that may be a problem. I listen to multichannel music sometimes in my home theater and the bipoles sound great. again they are in phase so it just directs the music at different angles. Ideally, yes a multichannel music system should have all the same speakers everywhere- direct ( front) firing.
I say experiment and see what fits your needs. either way 7.1 is a step up from 5.1 in home theater. Not for every movie soundtrack, but if your receiver has the dolby surround option- you can matrix the sound to all the speakers even though the soundtrack is only 5.1.

 

You can never have too many speakers IMHO. I have a 9.2 setup and I think it sounds great.

 

Surround movies and surround music are just mixed differently, so I don't know that there IS an ideal configuration. Can any receiver change configurations versus source?
Can you pull out the couch for serious listening? (But then, no receiver stores multiple Audyssey configurations, though they told me their app will...though maybe it takes a lot of time to swap the filter settings...)

 

Any way to set up without couch on back wall? Speakers need room to create some sort of soundstage from my experience.

 

I could probably get away with pulling the couch out 12" permanently, but no more.

 

For movies you should be fine. For multichannel music I treat the rears as at least equal. You would never be that close to main speakers in a stereo setup, sitting that close to rears isn't advisable.

 

if the rears end up being a bit too close to the listening position you can adjust the levels in you AVR. try room correction via your AVR maybe. audyssey for some- yamaha has YPAO.

 

More speakers sucking more juice from what are usually overrated AVRs that barely meet their published spec into one channel at one frequency, let alone 5 or 7 channels.

 

depending on the receiver you have/or want. I always suggest getting one with preouts. So if needed can add an external amp, For Atmos 7.1.4- most AVR's require an external amp for the second pair of overheads anyway. So those AVR;s usually have preouts for at least the front three channels.

But yes many AVR manufactures pad their measurements. I think most savvy HT enthusiasts already recognize this fact. And more serious home theaters always seem to use external amplification and use the AVR for the latest sound/video tech ( like atmos or dolby vision. now we have Imax enhanced- never ends it seems).
In a smaller room with more efficient speakers it shouldn't be a problem though. Especially if speakers are set to small and subwoofers are used for the low end.

 

I apologize if I came off as poo pooing multi-channel. I only pointed that out because most HT users are using relatively cheap AVRs. Adding more speakers to such systems may result in greater ambiance with the expense of limiting dynamics and increasing distortion. FWIU, in the typical AVR, the "small" speaker setting just limits rail voltage so that the amp produce even less power and fries the speakers before it comes anywhere close to overheating (since many users shoehorn their amps into small cubbies).

 

Well my front speakers are 4ohm and the rears are 6 or 8ohm. I have an older Sony STR DA 777 ES receiver that I think I can use as an amp to drive the fronts to relieve the main receiver. It also has a 4-8ohm selector, 5.1 chan input/outputs and an 'analog direct' mode. That would leave my newer Atmos receiver to drive only the rears and heights (that would still be 4 heights and either 2 or 4 rears). Have you guys ever used a receiver as an external amp? I know the STR DA 777 ES has plenty of 'real' power ..it weighs 50+ lbs!

I was going to use my old Sony STR DA 777 ES receiver as an external amp to drive my fronts in hopes of relieving the Atmos receiver a little. It would only have to drive the surrounds and heights.

 

Makes sense to me.

 

The small setting changes the crossover point so the A/VR does not send low frequency content to speakers that are not capable of reproducing them.

Setting the speaker to large can also damage satellite speaker by over excursion of the cone causing bottoming of the voice coil and/or having it jump out of the gap resulting in damage and a voice coil rub. The surround can also rip or crack due to over excursion causing the cone to rock resulting in a voice coil rub

 

The NAD M17v2 will store multiple DiracLive configs.

 

not at all. myself and I'm sure a lot of AV lovers have been keen on the hype of Av receivers for years. Helps make companies like emotiva, outlaw etc more prominent in the home theater field. Always good to have more power on hand. again if I was buying an av receiver for a mid-to large room. get one with preouts. justin case
I think this is the first home theater thread I've been in on this site since I joined. nice...

 

I use a 50+lb Yamaha integrated amp as external amp for my center speaker. Works fine.
I also have three 28lb each stereo amps driving my main and surround...And I am only doing 5.1. : )

I supposed the Yamaha can drive 4 more speakers, but I am already satisfied with playing stereo in 4.1 only.

 

Op I see you posted this on the AVS forum too-funny -seems you already stirred up the dipole vs direct debate. that didn't take long.

 

Apparently so ..I just want to know what everyone thinks and has to say from their own experiences in the matter. You know, maybe someone will read my post and go 'Hey man! I have the exact same room setup and went through the exact same thing ..here's what I ended up doing!'. Seems like a lot of stuff that is asked ends in heated debates, though

I asked a DAC related question on another forum and it's a hot one! Haha. I'm by no means an audiophile or forum trouble maker

 

For whatever it's worth, in relation to my original post, I went ahead and just ordered the freakin bipoles to test out. What do people do once their systems are flawlessly setup and there's nothing left to do? ..this is the fun part

 

I have a home theatre with a 5.2 set-up that works great for me as most of the movies I truly care about are mono or stereo, and for those others the center and rear surrounds are plenty. I can always add more if my tastes change.

 

I think you'll be fine. I originally had bipoles for rears before switching to direct. Again, depending on the soundtrack the rears are not the most effect dependent speakers int he setup. But when they are utilized correctly it can be fun. examples Fury, and the last jurassic world movie comes to mind.
in your case since you are so close to them it may work better.. experiment and have fun with it.