DuallyDave

I have a combination of Klipsch speakers bought over the past 15 years, I am upgrading my receiver and I am thinking of getting a couple more speakers. My new receiver (Denon AVR-3808CI) will have 130 watts per channel, but I don't normally crank up the volume that loud. My original speakers were KG3.2, rated at 65 watts / 250 peak. I originally had a KV1 center. 2 years ago I bought a RC7 which is now my center, a pair of RB5s, which are now combined with the KG3.2s as fronts (A+, RB15s, which are my surrounds, and the KV1 became my 6.1 rear. I'm now thinking of moving the RB15s to the back as 7.1 rears, and getting RS-52s for my surrounds. This is all somewhat mismatched, and with 130 watts per channel, I could possibly risk destroying my KG3.2s. I do like the combination of the RB5s and 3.2, they seem to complement each other. The 3808 has the Audessy (sp?) configuration function, hopefully that will be able to balance out some of the mismatch, although my room is not an ideal shape for a sound stage. I'm wondering if I should go another direction, use different surrounds, start over, make more changes, get rid of the 3.2s, or what.... Any comments or suggestions would be more than welcome, I appreciate any help you could provide. I primarily use this for watching TV and DVDs, with some music. I'm hoping the new TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats will give more of a surround sound field.

Thanks for the reply. I also wonder how the electrons know which path to take, since there is no filtering of frequencies. When I was googling around, one place said to just use as fat a wire as possible, and forget the bi-wire. It all just sounds like a way for monster cable to make more money.

My new RC-25 and RB-15 speakers have bi-wire capability, but I'm not clear on how it works. I think I understand bi-amp, seperate amp connections to seperate speakers in place of a crossover. Is the bi-wire similar, does it somehow replace the crossover with just one amp connection? Goodguys wanted to sell me a $120 cable to do this, but they said I could also use two seperate cables somehow. How would that work, sounds less expensive? I'm coming from a Denon 1905.

I upgraded 3 speakers also, might as well do it all. I'm going to use my RB-5s in the front, got an RC-25 for the center and RB-15s for rears. The KG3.2s will become the rear centers for 7.1. Should sound great! Hopefully these bookshelf speakers won't be too small for home theater use, I don't crank it up too loud. I'm just looking for clean sound at a reasonable volume.

DrWho, Thanks for the long and thoughtful reply. While that all sounds great in thoery, I think it might be too problematic for my situation. I already have the wall mount, I guess I can take it back, but I like the idea of having more space in my somewhat small living room. To mount my plasma at 45 degrees in the corner, I'd have to set it on a stand or get a more expensive mount. I had my RPTV in the corner for a while, with the fronts on each side of it, and that worked fairly well with that setup, but required my couch to be back by E, and I had to squeeze by it all the time, so I got tired of that after a while (I need a smaller couch!). My recliner was at D for that layout, I can have it there for the C location also. Actually I can put it a little towards A, and have more room to lean back. While near ideal imaging would be great when watching HD and DVDs, in real life I watch plain old SB most of the time, so the tradeoff would probably not be worth it. If I go with C, I figure I can put my rears high on A and B, so my LR would be in front of the window as you say, but the RB5 would probably fit better there, being smaller. I think that might be the way I will go, after reading these replies and thinking about it more. I can leave my couch at A, and corner mount my fronts by the A corner next to the couch, with my sub under it, and next to the door by E. While I would get more reflections as you say, I think I should probably go for practical rather than ideal, a tradeoff for sure. I would also have lots of room by my TV for the component rack - still looking for a under TV rack that is wider rather than taller, and something that looks more like furniture. Also, there was a sale this weekend, if I buy a Denon receiver, I get a free Denon DVD player. I decided to do that, my JVC receiver and DVD are ok, but I keep hearing great things about Denon, and I wouldn't mind having 6.1. I figure I can mount a back speaker by my computer desk, maybe get another RB5 if they still sell them. If not, maybe an RB15 would be a good match. As long as I'm upgrading to a plasma, I can upgrade from 5.1 to 6.1 also. Even though the Denon is a 1705, bottom of the line for that series, I suspect it might sound better than my JVC, which tends to distort when I approach 50% volume. I don't know that I have room for two more back speakers if I got a 7.1 receiver. I've never had a Denon, but they seem to be very popular among home theater types. I just want a cleaner sound. Might have to go with more reference series speakers front and center at some point.

Wow, you have the heritage Klipschorns! I've never actually heard any, but when I first read about them, that is what led me to buy Klipsch speakers. I plan to put my sub in one of the front corners, so the corner will become part of the sub, or that is my understanding at least. So far it has sounded good in the corner. I plan to replace my upright component rack with a more coffee table style rack that will go below the TV. I wonder if I could, or should try to integrate the sub into the bottom of the rack, maybe with a hole in the bottom of the rack. I'm still looking around at what is available for a reasonable price. Some interesting stuff at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=416358

Yes, 6.1 or 7.1 would be little bang for big bucks, just a thought from reading some things about speaker placement. And if I put my sub nearby, the woofer issue would probably be minor. Thanks for the input!

If I was to go with C, would my KV1 match well with my 3.2s? I've been doing this for a while with my RPTV, but I never really considered how they match. I thought I had a 10" woofer, maybe I should upgrade the 3.2s and the KV1, then keep the RB5s for the rear. With the TV at C, I don't have a lot of choices for rears, they would probably have to go high on the A and B walls, above the door and windows. This would probably make 6.1 or 7.1 rear placement nearly impossible, although that is not a big consideration.

I forgot to mention, the wall between the livingroom and kitchen does not go all the way to the ceiling, which is somewhat vaulted - vertical to drawing, centered on four windowed-wall. This is a double-wide mobile home, so the four windowed (front) wall is about 23'. From front to door wall (A to is about 18'. B wall is 10' door to door. C wall is about 13' from door to A wall.

I did a paint version, looks a little better

Thanks for your quick responses! I have updated my profile to show my equipment. As I say there, I am considering going to a newer receiver with 6.1 or 7.1 and the additional speakers needed (not sure what speakers). I don't want to spend a lot of money doing this, I'm not a hard core audiophile. I have a funny shaped room - kind of an L, and I am actually considering several arrangements, the next-to-the-window was my first choice as it is the best fit for my furniture. I could make a drawing of the room and post it, I'm not sure that I have any good software to do this - any suggestions? If I try to draw it here in text, will it show like it looks when I draw it? - I'll try it: ____________ dr/ B /door dr/ /door A - between windows and corner --- / sit forward of doors by E - 12' view distance / E / kitchen B - left spkr blocked by door unless high or close to TV / / sit by F - 15' view distance / \ C - a little close for 50" TV - about 10' view distance / \ <-45 degree wall biggest wall - sit by D, staggered seating / D \ D - mount on 45 degree wall and sit by A / C ______________ corners not great for furniture arrang. about 12' distance / door / / / <----- / / computer / / desk / A F / <------ ------------------------------------------------ <----- windows (4) --> A was my primary choice, B would possibly get window reflections on TV, C gives me weird placement choices for rears, D gives me weird placement choices for fronts. I hope this displays ok........

I have Klipsch speakers all around, the KG3.2s were my first, and have always been my fronts, later I added the KV1 center, the RB5s became the rears, finally the KSW12 sub. I mostly use these as a 5.1 home theater setup, I don't use them for music a lot. I have always tried to seperate the fronts and rears as much as possible for a wide sound field, and tried to be as symmetric as possible in relation to my ears. Now that I am upgrading my RPTV to a plasma, and wall mounting the plasma, I'm thinking of doing things a little differently. I'm thinking of using a wall between some windows and a corner, which would be somewhat asymmetric. If I was to spread the speakers out, one would be next to the TV, one a ways away. I notice a lot of people put the fronts right next to the TV, is it better to do this, or better to get a wider sound field? If I do this, I'm limited on space, I'm thinking of using the RB5s as fronts and the KG3.2s as rears. Since you may not be familiar with these older models. the KG3.2 speakers are three way, with a 10" woofer, the RB5s are two way with 8" woofers. The RB5s are from the reference speakers, they are supposed to be more precise, more efficient, and can handle more power (I don't turn them up that loud). The KG 3.2s would me mounted up high on the wall behind me, there is a door in the way if I mount them lower. THe sub would probably be near the TV as that is the best corner for it. I'm also considering using the TV speakers (Panasonic TH50PX50U) for the center speaker, would there be a significant difference? The KV1s are not top of the line... What would you recommend for the best sounding layout? If I was to buy a couple of new speakers to accomodate this, which would you replace, and with what?