I currently own two M80, VP150, two QS8 and two M2 with an SVS sub. now I have just upgraded my AVR which I use as a Pre\Pro to the Onkyo tx-nr1007. This will allow me to add Heights to my setup. I was wondering would I be better going with ceiling mounted M2's or QS8's?
Thanks for the help.
Fee, long time no see; welcome back. Since the derived height material is ambient and diffused in nature, a speaker with very wide dispersion would be more suitable. The QS4s should be plenty for that application.
But Audyssey recommends using direct fire speakers for height. See what works best for you and let us know!
Audyssey recommends direct radiating speakers in all locations. So if you like what your QSes do for the ambient nature of the surrounds, then they'd be even more appropriate for the totally non-directional height.
I’ve tested QS8s and M22s as heights and the QS8s win easily. However, based on what I hear coming out of them (purely ambient stuff) I think John is correct that QS4s are more than good enough for the job.
Where do you use your M2's? Are you in a 7.1 config with them in the rear, or side surround location?
Hello FoFum
I like the concept of the Dolby IIz 2 front L and 2 R. I followed the advice of one of our resident audio gurus and bought 2 M2s for rear surround speakers. I found them unsuited to the task. I replaced them with QS8s which work very well. I agree with JohnK and the others who recommend one of the QS speakers. I'd use QS8 or 4s as back surrounds, side surrounds and front uppers.
Personally, I also really like the Mission 77DS bipole surround speakers which I picked up from UBid years ago for $40 a pair (MSRP was $400). If any of you can find a minty pair of these at a good price they are extremely excellent surround speakers.
Let's not forget that the QS4 and QS8 speakers ARE direct radiating....just in several directions.
That is, opposed to speaker designs which fire some drivers out of phase.
I am using the M2 as rear surrounds. Thanks for the advice. now I have to talk the wife into two more speakers.
Ok. I know most movies still only use 5.1. So how would getting height speakers help? Or does it do it by just repeating the sound from the fronts?
Dolby works their magic to pull ambient sounds from the front channels to the height speakers. For more on how exactly they do this ask Clubneon. If anyone here know's how they do it, he does.
Uh oh, I've been called upon, yet don't know the answer. Up to Prologic IIx, Dolby's processing has been pretty straight forward. They just look at the phase/amplitude differential between a pair of speakers (the front when making 4/5.1 from 2.0, or the surrounds when making 7.1 from 5.1), and steer the out-of-phase (surround), or completely in phase but with differing amplitude (center/rear) to where it should be heard. (Prologic II did add amplitude checking to the phased extraction to create 5 channels instead of the 4 from the older Prologic.)
As for IIz, I can only guess. Once I get to hear a setup, I might be able to refine this guess a little more. But I'm guessing they're looking for similarly phased information in more than a pair of speakers. Like in the mains and the surrounds of a 5.1 signal. Something like that would mean that the sound is coming from all around the listener, and would give the impression that it's up above their head. So moving it to the height channel, would be improve that impression.
I'd say that's about as good an answer as you're gonna get.
Yeah, Chris; as far as is known, Dolby hasn't provided precise details as to the DPLIIz processing for the height speakers. What has been said is that the front channels in 5.1 source material aren't affected and that the side surround channels are processed. It may be that just as DPLII extracts out-of-phase material from the front channels in 2-channel sources and sends it to side surrounds, DPLIIz extracts out-of-phase material in the discrete 5.1 side channels and sends it to the height speakers. The rationale would be that the phase difference in the side channels results from the sound arriving from a different height. Of course, it may be more complex than this.
That makes sense. Along with in-phase, but differing amplitudes still being extracted for the rear channels for people running 9.1.