Need advice on speakers

[Ch@pS]

Hi there all knowing people at XS.

Ok here's the deal, I bought myself some speakers, and looking at getting a few more in the next day or two, and really need some info here.

1) Centre + Rear speakers

I bought myself some Denon Overture Effects Series 100 rears and centres, and I can find almost nothing on the net, Google has failed me. I'll be running them off my NAD T741, and them seemed decent for the price, (Paid R400 for all 3, that's like $55 so I figured nothing to lose really :D) but I've yet to link them up. Mint condition, and they sounded good in the second hand store store(demo'd on a cheap ass Sankyo amp with tons of crowd noise). Can anyone point me to some info on them?

2) Front full range

Ok, these I'm looking at buying in the next few days. A Pair of Kenwood LS-320V's. The only info I can find on the net is for the LS-330V's and they're rated at a lower RMS, so not sure what else may be different. They'll set me back R900(or $125).

As you can see, I'm limiting myself to under $200 for these as they'll only be temp speakers until I move into my own place later this year, so I guess what I'm asking is does anyone have experience with these speakers and could you provide feedback, or that failing links to get a bit more info on them?

Thanks a bunch.

[EniGmA1987]

Why not just use those 2 rear speakers up front and just run L/C/R until you move, then get good speakers at that point? If you dont spend money now, and save it, then thats another $125 each you can put into some nice speakers.

[Ch@pS]

Because I then have nothing that can add bass to the setup, which would really get to me. And the $125 now isn't an issue at all, these speakers will probably end up in my bedroom when my media room in my new place gets some decent equipment, so it's not like I'm spending the $125 now for only a few months of use.

[STEvil]

they cant be very good if they cant make any bass..

Honestly I hate "surround" speakers that are tiny..

[Nanometer]

the marketed surround speakers DO suck. Get front speakers for surround, seriously lol.

[Ch@pS]

they cant be very good if they cant make any bass..

Honestly I hate "surround" speakers that are tiny..

Coming from a a powered 10 inch sub in my last setup, you can see what I mean by these Denon's having no bass.

Well I've bought the surrounds so that's done and sorted, will set them up now and hope for the best. The room I'm setting them up in is fairly small(3m x 3m) so hopefully they'll be alright.

No one has any advice on Kenwood home theater speakers? Most of the info and reviews I can find regarding Kenwood speakers deals with car audio. :confused:

[Soulburner]

Inifinity Primus. $200/ea, sometimes less if found on sale for $150/ea.

Best sounding towers under $1,000 probably.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=722636

P362 Front
PC350 Center

For surrounds I use the new SVS SSS-01 and sub is SVS PC12-NSD :yepp:

[Ch@pS]

Inifinity Primus. $200/ea, sometimes less if found on sale for $150/ea.

Best sounding towers under $1,000 probably.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=722636

P362 Front
PC350 Center

For surrounds I use the new SVS SSS-01 and sub is SVS PC12-NSD :yepp:

The problem with importing things into South Africa is the cost. It's like throwing your life savings into a black hole, only slightly more expensive.

Some feeback on the Denon's, their lack of bass isn't an issue, got an 8 inch Panasonic sub I found lying in my garage hooked up. They're extremely clear warm sounding speakers, do perfectly for CLassic rock and Jazz(my choice of music most of the time). They did seem to struggle with system of a Down and Muse but no worries there, when I get the front's I'll be sorted. :D

[EniGmA1987]

Many people think that just adding more speakers will solve the problem of "bad sound". Just adding fronts that sound "better" will not solve anything, but cause more problems. To get any improvement when you get your fronts, you will need to disable all processing of the audio signal and just let it pass through to the amp and then the speakers. Dont use your center or surrounds at all with any kind of special Dolby or DTS encoding. And depending on how your crossover works, and how your "direct" input works, you might not get any sound from your sub either. So you better get some really good fronts that also have good low end capability. Which you should get anyway.

[RAW-Raptor22]

Many people think that just adding more speakers will solve the problem of "bad sound". Just adding fronts that sound "better" will not solve anything, but cause more problems. To get any improvement when you get your fronts, you will need to disable all processing of the audio signal and just let it pass through to the amp and then the speakers. Dont use your center or surrounds at all with any kind of special Dolby or DTS encoding. And depending on how your crossover works, and how your "direct" input works, you might not get any sound from your sub either. So you better get some really good fronts that also have good low end capability. Which you should get anyway.

Now how will generic CD quality stereo audio become multi-channel without the use of some sort of matrixing technique?

[Soulburner]

There is always just 5CH Stereo mode, but I tend not to like it because my surrounds are not the same. You'd need 5 of the same exact speaker to have it sounding good with fronts, center, and surround.

[[XC] Oj101]

Yip, I agree, but from the size of his room I don't think he even needs the surrounds?

[Ch@pS]

I'll be using the setup for Music and Movies, and the odd single player game now and then.


Many people think that just adding more speakers will solve the problem of "bad sound". Just adding fronts that sound "better" will not solve anything, but cause more problems. To get any improvement when you get your fronts, you will need to disable all processing of the audio signal and just let it pass through to the amp and then the speakers. Dont use your center or surrounds at all with any kind of special Dolby or DTS encoding. And depending on how your crossover works, and how your "direct" input works, you might not get any sound from your sub either. So you better get some really good fronts that also have good low end capability. Which you should get anyway.

Why would I want to disable DTS or Dolby encoding? For music I leave the system in stereo mode, for games that support it I let the system run with all the bells and whistles(AMP reads the signal and changes speaker setup to pro logic automatically), for movies that support Dolby et al I leave it on, and its always seemed fine? Metallica's S&M concert sounds so :banana::banana::banana::banana: in stereo/E.A.R.S(NAD's "matrixing tech") compared to running with Dolby on.

With the speakers that aren't identical, can't I just increase the volume level of the rears/center so that the setup is "balanced"? Increase the volume level of the rears +4db compared to rest of the setup for example, they should keep up with the more powerful fronts then surely?

As for the room size, having rears linked up certainly makes a difference when playing things like Modern Warfare 2 and Metro 2033 and if I've got the speakers(for what is most definitely a bargain IMO) why not use em?

[Soulburner]

Ch@pS, it isn't about volume. The surround speakers will usually sound completely different than the fronts. That is why you do a calibration with speaker distance to listening position (which affects delay, output), EQ, etc...Audyssey is a great help for this, if your receiver can do it.

When I play games with the PS3, my receiver switches to MULTICH IN and uses whatever speakers the game was programmed to use. No fake matrixing. If its stereo, that's how it stays. If its 5.1, it uses my full setup. How it should be :)

[Ch@pS]

Ch@pS, it isn't about volume. The surround speakers will usually sound completely different than the fronts. That is why you do a calibration with speaker distance to listening position (which affects delay, output), EQ, etc...Audyssey is a great help for this, if your receiver can do it.



Sorry, I brainfarted. :yepp: When I do calibration on my AMP or using my sound cards audio app, it has distance from listening position measured in feet, and any increase or decrese to calibrate it is measured in db, so when I said volume level I meant when calibrating the rears, cant I just decrease the distance of the rears to my listening position(so an increase in db as my amp is telling me) since the rears will be less powerful than my fronts?


When I play games with the PS3, my receiver switches to MULTICH IN and uses whatever speakers the game was programmed to use. No fake matrixing. If its stereo, that's how it stays. If its 5.1, it uses my full setup. How it should be :)

This is exactly what I do. If I'm watching a concert that supports Dolby/DTS/etc I leave it on, same thing for movies. When I listen to music, rater than using E.A.R.S which my AMP defaults to, I just switch the AMP to Stereo.

And by AMP I mean my reciever, just easier to type and thats what I called any form of audio when I was more n00bish(not that I'm not noob now, I just have a tad more info than I had then) and it's stuck with me. Just had to put that there before someone pointed it out. :D

Oh, and does anyone have any info regarding my first post and the Kenwoods I'm considering buying? :)

[Soulburner]

Adjusting the distance should also change the delay - when they fire. This is done so sounds from different speakers reach your ears at the proper timing. May want to look into that :)

[Ch@pS]

Ok guys so...

Took the plunge and bought the Wharfedale 10.1 diamonds from a local retailer for around $175 and all I can say is WOW! I tend to agree with all the reviewers, these really are brilliant speakers, I have had no complaints and am immensely impressed.

Got them attached to my NAD T741 along with the Denon's I mentioned previously, although for music I only run the Wharfies in stereo, the Denon's are for the occasional game and movies.

For the time being they're just sitting on my desk, will look at getting the stands next month, for now this will serve its purpose. I've never really known about speaker stands etc so will do a bunch of reading on them over the next few weeks.

[Soulburner]

Ran across this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1158232) thread...user there is in South Africa. Odd coincidence?

I recently got the speaker stands sold here (http://www.svsound.com/products-parts-stand.cfm) and they are really nice. If you have any questions I can try to answer them.

[Ch@pS]

Bass seems to be nice and tight with my Diamond 10's, my dad had Diamond 9's at one point and they seem much of a muchness. I guess my small room and seating position do effect that but meh, I'm really happy with them. :)

Stands I'll consider once I'm in my new place, for now the setup I have is decent.

Pics:

The Denon rears I can't find any info on

http://i39.tinypic.com/35lhwsw.jpg

My current setup, it's ok as is, haven't really read much into positioning, but will do when I have a free second again.

http://i40.tinypic.com/5pos4g.jpg

[Soulburner]

Oh those are a lot smaller than I thought. Look good on the desk though.

Ideally you want them off the desk and away from the wall. They should "float" and have air around them (minus stands). This would mean moving the desk too though, so it depends how far you want to go with it.