I Recently bought a set of QS8 for my left and Right Surround speakers after hearing a set my friend has and coupled with the VP150v2, I am in Heaven. Now I am looking to put rear surround speakers to take it to 7.1 and I am looking for a little advice. Every where I read it recommends rear surrounds to be Directional instead of bipolar( or quad polar in the case of the QS8) My Left and Right front speakers are Devore Gibbon 8s, Center is a VP150 and surrounds are QS8s. Should I install another set of QS8s or is there another directional speaker for the job that is a good audio match to the Devore as the QS8 have been.

Jorge Rodriguez

Welcome Jorgerod.

The question you ask does not have a definitive answer and I think you will find both camps on this forum on QS8 vs. direct radiators for channels 6&7 (though the camp can even change based on room configuration) .

My 2 cents is that I love the QS8's and the ambiance they produce. My previous system used direct radiators and I greatly prefer the Q's. And as I'm sure you know, the Q's can also be surprisingly directional, so to me they are the best all round surround speaker.

Welcome, Jorge

I think it depends on the room.

I have QS8's for surround and rears and am quite happy with that arrangement in my room.

Jorge, welcome. "Everywhere" apparently doesn't include here, because probably a majority of the opinion has been to use QSs for rear surrounds as well. This may be because of the overall excellence of the QSs, which you've already discovered. Another factor is the seating arrangement in the room. You haven't described how far you are from the back wall where the surrounds would be. The closer that you are, the more likely that the wider dispersion of the QSs would have the advantage, since the direct radiators wouldn't have room to spread enough for good surround effects at such close range.

If you could temporarily borrow some small direct speakers(if you don't have any around)to try in back it might make your decision easier. You could also temporarily move your QS8s back there for a comparison.

QS8's all around (side and rear) is the way to go especially since you like what the QS8's have to offer already as your side surrounds.

Cheers!

I Have about 8 feet from the rear wall to my sofa. The Ceiling behind the sofa is higher and in an angle which means I am planning on putting the surrounds on the ceiling. They would be in a 135 degree angle pointing towards the sofa. from the ceiling to the sofa there is maybe 10 Ft.

Jorge

Jorge, I'd say that would be enough separation to make direct speakers such as M2s feasible, if you'd like. Again though, it'd be good if you could experiment a bit to see what you prefer back there.

I'm using the QS8's as sides and QS4's as rears, I'm pretty happy with that setup.

Why not move your QS8s to the rear first and listen to some material in the position you're thinking about?

I'm using QS8s for my side surrounds, and the only thing preventing from channel 6 and 7 is not physically having anywhere to put them in my current place. Once I get moved and building out a new area, my pick would still be adding two more QS8s (unless they introduce a better one i'll want four of.. they tend to do this!)

IMO, it's less to worry about. They're a better match for more sitting positions (since they emit in orbs instead of lines) and I've been really happy with them in 5.1.

(when you get to 7.1, check out the final action scene in 3:10 to Yuma)

I've got QS8's for the back four channels. Very seamless. Great for SACD material, too. Pink Floyd DSOTM is amazing!

Scott

Given your description of the setup I would say go with another set of QS8s.

Personally, I wouldn't want direct radiating coming from above at an angle at that short of a distance. They will have a directionality to the sound and make the range of seating positions quite limited. The diffused nature of the QS8s will create a much better overall "ambiance" with less directionality. With the direct radiating in those positions it will always seem like the sounds are coming from above even if they aren't supposed to. If they were lower and further away behind you then direct radiating would probably work fine.

Welcome to the forum Foobarred!

Tom,
I gotta say you are drinkin' with a better species of animal now. Rooooowl! I think the first lady spilled a little beer, but I'm not sure. I'll keep looking...

Oh, and on topic...
JohnK hit the nail on the head. It cannot be said one is better than the other (RF vs DF)
- what is the size of your room?
- you say you want to mount the rears 'higher up on the wall'. would they be much higher than the side Q's? Guys, correct me if I am wrong but I believe you want to mount backs in as similar a height to the sides as possible.
- You say you will mount to the ceiling. If you are not planning on mounting QS8's within a few inches or so from the back wall, they will lose some low end. It may take 1 or more feet from wall to lose some low end on the Q's, I'm not sure. I just know that my rears being mid ceiling mounted, the QS8's lost too much low end for my taste (measured by what Audyssey would set the x-over vs. a direct firing speaker.

For the low price of $30 return freight, you can order a pair of QS8' and M2's to test (especially if you do not have a pair of M2 sized DF speakers to test against QS8's.

If you are mounting your back speakers very near the back wall, the Q's may work very well. If away from the wall some, I'd test both types.

Good luck.

Thanks!