So I've finally got my girlfriend to agree to a whole new front speaker set up (mounted m22's, vp 100, and one of the axiom subs). Where I'm getting serious resistance is with the two rear speakers.

I LOVE the QS8's, but it's just not happenning right now. I don't even know if I'll be able to get something like the M2's. So here's my question, are there any good very small, like bose small, speakers anyone can recommend for rears. I know this is a less than ideal 5.1 setup, but what I"m trying to figure out is it even worth it, or should I settle for a solid 3.1 set up for the time being.

Ok, I'm gonna respond here, but I'm going to seal this thread so that no one else in the forum knows what I'm gonna say!

First of all....Welcome!!

Now then.

When I first got into the silliness and fun we call home theater, I started out kinda slow.

My first surrounds were part of a "Home Theater in a Box" with some pretty nasty surrounds.

I replaced them right away with a pair of...................

They worked better than........oops, I typed too lite.

Ok,.....I bought a pair of Sony SS-MB100H, 5.25" drivered speakers about the size of M2s, with little plastic tweets that worked pretty well in that application for quite a while. About fifty bucks a pair.

Hey, the kids are Still using them!!

Point is; almost Anything will work for surrounds!!

Really!
Rich.

Welcome cofalt, you may want to look at these, they have gotten some good press. Link

And here I'm thinking this thread is going to be about Eva Longoria.

Don't settle. I think it's pretty unlikely that any speaker smaller than an M2 is really ever going to be much good at anything. The QS4's are really pretty unobtrusive since they mount flush with the wall.

How long have you had or do you plan to have the GF?

Some people like the Orb Audio speakers (which are clones of the Anthony Gallo spheres). I have not heard them, and neither brand is inexpensive.

I've been shopping for very small speakers (for the kitchen) for quite a while. I am still shopping. The only ones I've seriously considered either cost too much (Monitor Audio R90, although the R45 might work for you), don't sound good to me (Klipsch) or are just too big. Plus, I have a philosophical problem spending $80 on mounts for a pair of $250 speakers. I know, build a bridge and get over it.

I did kind of like the looks of the Aperion 422 and also the Athena S.5. But I haven't heard either in a decent setting (Best Buy does not count). I briefly considered the Home Theatre Direct Middies, but ultimately decided that it's just a ugly, small box speaker made in Taiwan.

Having tried a few different small direct-radiating speakers as surrounds, I must say that if I were you, I'd hold out for the Axioms. Good 3.1 and $250 is better than suboptimal 5.1. But that's just my opinion (worth price charged).

Hello cofalt

Gallo divas are great and small.

I would go with the QS4's. Buy them with the understanding, and explaination to the GF, that they can be returned under the Axiom "trial period". Then watch every movie that has amazing sound effects you can get your hands on. Then, unhook them and see if she will sit through a few of those same movies again. I would bet that after hearing the difference she will not mind the rears.

Buy the biggest speaker you want. Mount it on the wall. Forget to tighten a few screws. Sit your GF right underneath. Play a movie with lots of explosions. And your problem will take care of itself.

Classic!!

Don't follow these guys advice too closely! Girl friends appear to have short memories.......

......but they get longer again if they become wives.

Then they NEVER FORGET!

......NEVER!!

I would have to agree, get the Qs4's while you just have a girfriend, they will usually put up with about anything until you marry them.

Oh boy, you are already giving your girlfriend the same "control" as a wife.

Just not a good situation when you are "PWed" at the get-go.

Best of luck.

Sell the girlfriend.

Sir Mix-a-Lot wouldn't recommend small rears. His anaconda don't want none.

Geez, cofalt; I hope we didn't lose you!!

Don't leave......please!!

We're gonna have to get the FAQ for the forum changed to include a warning:

"WARNING: The use of the term 'Get my Wife(or girlfriend)to...'is tantamount to putting one of those switch turn-out thingies on a railroad line. A sure derailment will follow."

It's true
Rich.

pmbuko, laughed my A** off on that comment. Great one.

I can give second hand info on on the orbs. A friend at work just bought the entire system and loves it. He was coming from a Bose lifestyle mini type set up.
oz

I have to agree with some of the other "experienced" voices here. You have the start of a very nice HT setup.
Trade in the girl friend and get the Q's.
Or just get them and she'll get over it.
Also do lots of stomach crunches. It helps support the spine.
oz

Get the 8s or the 4s in a color that matches the mounting area. 8s in eggshell might disappear in a room or paint them to match.

Well this thread was a disappointment…….where’s the small rears?

Wow, I was away this weekend, and just checked to see if anybody posted any thing and was shocked to see so many response. Your advice and humor is much appreciated, I actually laughed out loud a few times in reading your posts.

Let me ask a follow up question, if I get a pair of the small rears suggested, do you think I'll end up listening to music in 5.1, or will I mostly use the full set up just for HT? Thanks again.

I think it will be for HT use. Every once in a while I'll put in a cd that's mixed for 5.1, but I find my ears enjoying the old fashioned two channel thing better. The small rears will work better for HT, as matching rears is not so critical.

Pmbuko's got small rears (Cambridge Soundworks Surround 1s), and he uses them for 5 channel stereo music on occasion. Of course, his receiver doesn't have DPLII or DTS:Neo6, so your mileage may vary...

Ah Good! You're still here after all! I was afraid we lost you!

Music!?? Stereo Only!!

I went through a stage where I was very happy with 5.1 surround, but just like with coffee; I always find myself going back to just straight black!

Pull my bod into the absolute best sweet spot(a real trick cuz my room is the worst single audio component in my room) and enjoy it the way it was performed.

Anyway.

The reason I suggested a speaker with a 5" woofer was due to the fact that you want to go with M22s and a VP100.

What I have found is that you really want to go with a rear set of surrounds that are a good power handling and sonic match to your fronts. You don't have to have a perfect sonic match but a match that is at least capable of showing that if a DC-3 flies from the front to the rear, it dosen't sound like a Piper single as it leaves the room!

Almost anything with a 5" minimum woofer and any ol' kind of tweeter will work well enough if it dosen't totally clash with your room decor. Size matters....cost dosen't!

I've seen speakers that size that would fit the bill at C-C or B-B as a freeby for any electronics purchase of 43 cents or more!

Happy Hunting!
Rich.

Co, since the receivers which you're considering will have DPLIIx and/or Logic 7, in my view you should use them to make full use of all your speakers with either two or five channel material. Extracting the ambience found(in varying degrees)in two channel material which originally came from directions other than the front and sending it to the surrounds where it belongs makes listening a bit more realistic.

Once you have them installed, you can always try them multiple ways and see how you like it.

One other thing. Buy something that you like and will be happy with. I am sure everyone here (when they first got into this) shelled out good money for a below par system (the small rears you asked about, bose or the system in the box). Then the upgrade bug hits and you put out more money that you wished you had done the first time around. This sucks for three reasons.

1) The amount of $$ as outlined above
2) Looking at the discarded speakers in your storage space
3) Trying to convince your wife or GF that you really need to replace the speakers that, in her opinion, sound OK to her. A bigger fight then the one you will have if you just get what you want. Trust me on this one. I've had a few "discussions" over amps, wires, DVD player, second system, third system.....ect...ect..(see profile listing for all "discussion" items.

So, do it right the first time. Bite the bullet, slip them in when she is gone for the weekend. Demand them. Sell her, trade her in, cry, fight, whatever, but do not settle for something you will not be happy with in the future.

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Sell her,

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I've asked my wife if she'd be up for this to enable me to get a 500.

I wouldn't recommend suggesting that as a source of income. She didn't like the idea even after I'd explained that she could pay off the sub in just a month or two.

She needs a lesson in the "Glass half full vs half empty" thought pattern. She has some nerve!

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She has some nerve!

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Tell me about it. Some people only think of themselves.