Hi everyone,

I have a 3700 cubic ft finished basement and have decided to go with the Epic 80 600 system. I read Ray Atkins review on Audioholics about using 2 M80s for surrounds in a 7.1 system. Is this overkill or will it sound awesome like he described?

I like to listen to music (regular cds and DVD audio 5.1), watch movies and play my xbox. All at moderate to loud levels depending on if the fiancee is around I like full rich sound....assume money is not an object here.

I plan on using an Outlaw 7700 amp which can drive a mule's weight in power so that shouldn't be a problem.....

Let me know your thoughts/experience with this setup.
Thanks!

Chris aka Shugs

I'm a little confused (not an unusual occurrence ). A 7.1 system has 4 surrounds, 2 on the side, and 2 in the rear. Which two were the M80s, and what did he use for the other two?

Dennis (Tharkun) had a 7.1 system that used QS8s as side surrounds and M80s as rear surrounds. Maybe he'll put in his two cents.

For multichannel music (DVD-A/SACD), it is generally considered optimal, though not necessarily required, to have all 5 speakers be the same. However, I have used M60s, QS8s, and a VP150 for multichannel and haven't felt deprived in the least. But then I haven't heard multichannel music through a matched set to compare.

Sorry - I assumed you could all read my mind...he he he.
The 7.1 would consist of 4 M80s (2 front and 2 surround L and R) 2 Q8's for surround back (ex channels)a vp 150 and EP 600. I was even thinking of going with 2 VP150s......

Others may differ on advice, but to me the whole point of the left/right surrounds is the surround effect. The Q's will envelope you in sound, whereas, a bookshelf or floorstanding speaker would be more direct radiating. Now, if you are going to listen to a lot of music in 7.1, DVD-A, or SACD, then m80's would make you go deaf. My room is 8,000 cubic feet. I don't use the whole room for HT applications but for music 2 m60's are fine.

Wow, that would be some system, but I would have to agree with Randy, it may be a bit of overkill for a room that size unless you listen extremely loud.

Yep, another vote for QS surrounds (at the side) then towers at the back. The related trick I read somewhere was to hook up the surround channels (analog 5.1) from your DVD-A / SACD player to the rear inputs instead of the surround inputs -- that way your 5.1 discrete audio playback will automatically use the rears rather than the surrounds.

One day I will have time to try it at home...

For point of reference, Dennis used 5 M80s+2 QS8s. The 80s were used as front left, center, front right, rear left and rear right. The Qs were used as side surrounds.

Now, Dennis listens at ~115 dB all the time. Which is extraordinarily loud.

He did experience problems with having a single 7 channel amplifier driving all 7 speakers (heat issues, I believe) and went to 4 2 channel amps to run them. You may not encounter this issue if you don't drive them so loud, but it's something to be aware of.

He still uses 5 m80's, are you sure?

Ok, so I'm almost there in terms of my complete package I want to order. It sounds like you folks all agree two 80s for the surround/rear channels is overkill and then some. I appreciate all the feedback....I guess it makes sense to use the appropriate speakers for the job they were designed to do.

Now, since you all as well as Brent from Axiom convinced me to use 4 QS8s...what about using dual center channels and dual ep600s??

I'm going for spectacular sound here folks....this will probably be the last gift to myself before marriage..after that it will be kids and a minivan...

I want this system to rock but sound great doing it!

Personally, I'm not sure you would need 2 center channels, or 2 EP600's for that matter. With two subs located correctly in a room, you can achieve a better blend of the low frequencies, but even one ep600 will probably move your neighbors house off its foundation. The EP600's are huge, bigger in size than the m80's. You might want to consider going with 2 EP500's, as they are smaller overall and can be more pleasing to the wife. I tell you though, I only have 1 EP500 and it blows me away and makes the room shake.

What is your percentage of HT versus music? The reason I say this is you may want to consider m22's or something like that for the rear channels if you plan to listen to SACD's or DVD-A's. The Qs8's do a good job with music, but are designed more for HT movies, in which the excel. The rear channel does not receive as much information for movies.

Is the room you describe above going to be entirely used for the HT area?

I would say my blend is 70% movies and xbox with 30% going to music. The room is my playground so to speak...we have a more formal living room upstairs. So pretty much anything goes for this room.