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rear speakers in a 5.1 setup
#322049 09/11/10 07:25 PM
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If I setup my living room for a 5.1 system the rear speakers will be next to the sofa - not in back

Question - would it be better to have 2 pair of bookshelf speakers for the front and rear or would it be better to have something like the QS4 v3 Surround Speakers for the rera speakers?

Re: rear speakers in a 5.1 setup
cvictorg #322050 09/11/10 07:31 PM
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There are no "rear" seakers in a 5.1 setup, you actually have "side" surrounds. If you go 7.1 that is when you would introduce a rear pair. Something like the Q series works great for a 5.1 setup, much better than a bookshelf in my opinion. Since you have 2 tweeters firing to the left and right, it totally wraps you in the experience, which is the point of a surround.

How are you planning on mounting them? If you wall mount them it is best to have them 2-3ft or higher above your ears when seated. Is the sofa going to be pushed right up to the rear wall? What is nice is that the rear tweeter will direct sound towards the back wall, giving you almost a 7.1 experience.


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Re: rear speakers in a 5.1 setup
SirQuack #322052 09/11/10 08:11 PM
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I was planning to mount them on axiom stands - the sofa will not be pushed up against the wall - the speakers can be placed a foot or so away from the wall

Re: rear speakers in a 5.1 setup
SirQuack #322053 09/11/10 08:13 PM
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Why not use 2 pair of QS4 v3 Surround Speakers for the front and side speakers instead of a pair of bookshelf and the Q for the sides?

Re: rear speakers in a 5.1 setup
cvictorg #322054 09/11/10 08:27 PM
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If you mean using QS-4 for front speakers, it is definitely a not a good idea. I tried it for fun at some point, and it creates a very weird soundstage, a bit as if you were listening to a painting by Dali. For the front, you need precision in the location of objects. For the side and the rear, you need some vagueness to properly render the atmosphere. The Qs4/8 provides a good mixture of both (location + atmosphere) to be perfect for side and rear surrounds.


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Re: rear speakers in a 5.1 setup
cvictorg #322055 09/11/10 08:28 PM
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I've never heard about anyone using Q speakers for the L/R channel. Personally, I don't think it would sound right. Traditionally bookshelf, or towers for the front with Q's for the surrounds. I've heard that the QS8 sounds much better than the QS4. Go QS4 only if have to keep the cost down. Personally, I'd do without the QS4 until later and buy QS8 instead.

Re: rear speakers in a 5.1 setup
SirQuack #322065 09/12/10 01:16 AM
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Originally Posted By: sirquack
There are no "rear" seakers in a 5.1 setup, you actually have "side" surrounds. If you go 7.1 that is when you would introduce a rear pair.

It would make good sense to use the terms this way, but I see "rears" often used to refer to the surrounds of a 5.1 system. Since the surrounds of 5.1 correspond to the side surrounds of a 7.1 system rather than the rear or back surrounds of a 7.1 system, the term "rears" is ambiguous, unfortunately, unless you know whether a 5.1 or a 7.1 system is under discussion.


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Re: rear speakers in a 5.1 setup
cvictorg #322066 09/12/10 01:26 AM
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Victor, welcome. As Eric pointed out, the bookshelves have the more precise imaging and are better for the front speakers, while the QSs give more of the spaciousness that's good for surround sound.

If you're going to place the QSs on stands, they should be spread as widely as possible, since they're side surrounds, probably almost up against the side walls. Since there won't be any 7.1 back speakers, it's a good idea to position the side surrounds a little bit(maybe 2')farther back than directly to the side of your listening position, to lend a little "phantom" back imaging.


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Re: rear speakers in a 5.1 setup
JohnK #322068 09/12/10 01:55 AM
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The way my living room is configured it would not be possible to place the speakers 2' away from the walls - they will have to placed either next to the sofa or slightly behind but 2' is not possible

The room is on the smallish side - as I said it's a living room in an apt - it's appx 1600 cubic feet - 16'Lx13"Wx7'8"H

So - I was thinking of something along these lines for the speakers

Pair Millennia M3 Bookshelves
Pair QS4 Surrounds
VP100 Center

For the sub I was thoinking of the Epik Legend

Originally Posted By: JohnK
Victor, welcome. As Eric pointed out, the bookshelves have the more precise imaging and are better for the front speakers, while the QSs give more of the spaciousness that's good for surround sound.

If you're going to place the QSs on stands, they should be spread as widely as possible, since they're side surrounds, probably almost up against the side walls. Since there won't be any 7.1 back speakers, it's a good idea to position the side surrounds a little bit(maybe 2')farther back than directly to the side of your listening position, to lend a little "phantom" back imaging.


Re: rear speakers in a 5.1 setup
cvictorg #322071 09/12/10 02:46 AM
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John is not saying 2ft from the walls, he is saying you want them as far away from "you" as possible, which is why he said spread them as far apart from each other as possible. To agree with his comments, if you can slide them back a little so they are slightly behind the parrallel line where you will be sitting, it will help to simulate the rear speakers you won't have.


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