TheKillerTomato

That sux. I'll wager they take care of you, though.

The general consensus is RS series for surrounds, RB's for rears. I'm surprised Colter hasn't chimed in, yet.

Dolby Speaker Placement Diagram

Do you have room for floorstanding mains, or do you prefer bookshelf? I would buy a $200 5.1 receiver, and then get the RF-82's for mains with the RC-62 Center (approx. $1200). Then, when your budget allows, add two RS-52 surrounds for approx. $600, and a used subwoofer. You can just buy "filler" speakers until you can get good ones for dirt cheap, for your surrounds and your rears. You want a good foundation, and the RF-82/RC-62 combo is sooooooo nice. Maybe not "fire-breathing dragon" RF-83/RC-64 nice, but very nice.

My advice would be to sell all your triangle speakers, buy Klipsch, and get RB-61's for your rears, which have the threaded inserts on the back that will work with the Omnimount 20.0 speaker mount. That was easy.

Damn. How much does a rig like that set you back?

What speakers are you mounting?

The brackets were $39.99 a piece at Ultimate Electronics. They are very well made. You might check to see if the RS-7 has the same threaded inserts on the back as the 52's. Just run a search on the net and they'll be available at many places.

Yeah, she's the best. I was advised to get RB-61's for the rears, but I love the 52's so much that I'll probably get two more. Google 'THX speaker placement'- THX advises monopole directional speakers for the rear surrounds. Really. A: How one places the speakers depends on a couple of things. Our prime recommendation for consumers using components with THX Ultra2 Certification and looking for a single speaker arrangement for cinema and music is the following: two dipole speakers to the side and two direct radiators in the back touching side by side with the ASA circuit engaged at a distance less than one foot. (Figure 2). The ASA circuit takes the single back channel signal and using the two speakers makes it sound like one timbrally correct wall-to-wall sound. In THX cinema mode, the balance is as recorded. In THX Music mode, the sound is biased toward the back to mimic the ITU recommendations for 5.1 speaker placement in music recording situations. Yeah, I've read that, too, Colter. I'll likely go with the RB-61's, but the 52's look so sweet up on the wall, and my amateur ear probably would not hear much of a difference.

Sorry, been out for a few days - daughter had the pukes. Anyway, I'm at the office so I don't have the part number right now. However, I attached a bracket to the speaker using the two threaded inserts and screws that came with the Omnimount. The bracket that attaches to the wall requires a pre-drilled hole, as the screws are nice and thick so once they're in the stud they aren't going anywhere. The real trick was clamping down the wall bracket onto the rubber ball attached to the bracket on the speaker, all while trying to maintain my balance and not drop the speaker. The clamp that tightens on the rubber ball has little grooves, or teeth, so it really grabs snugly.

Just watched the "Descent" (movie). Scary, claustrophobic movie where women get trapped in a cave and encounter some weird stuff. We turned down all the lights and watched it, and the really dark scenes with dripping water behind you and to the sides, and (spoiler) the clicking noise made by some sweet looking creatures as they encircle the women makes it a great horror movie. Great use of surround sound.

Omnimount 20.0 series. http://www.omnimount.com/consumer/product.aspx?ProductId=fe7fa0e3-d6f7-4b54-885d-34db03c2f7e1&CurrentId=7.2.2

Yeah, she's the best. I was advised to get RB-61's for the rears, but I love the 52's so much that I'll probably get two more.

I'm slowly but surely upgrading my system. At xmas, I picked up RF-82 mains and the RC-62 center, pushed by the Pio VSX-81TXV. I just added two RS-52's for my surrounds (replaced htib pioneer speakers), and the results are amazing. Thanks to all of you who helped me in my decisions. Colter, I aimed my RS-52's, and it works, so don't rip me. Before and after ... AFTER...

When the friends and family come over to see the results of your "throwing away money on that ridiculous home theater hobby," what do you show them to make them shut up? Of late, I use the podracing scene on Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. It used to be the Matrix scene where Neo and Trinity break into the skyscraper to rescue Morpheus. I also DVR'd the gunfight at the end of Open Range when it came on HDNET - it's really nice. Your ideas?

Pioneer Elite VSX-84TXSi http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_310069789_310985784,00.html That's what I would get. Local store had this receiver pushing an RF-83 system, and it was incredible. Has all the HDMI you could need, plus the auto calibration is very well thought of. My budget only allowed for the VSX-81TXV ($750), which puts out 110/channel, but I wanted the 84. Try the forums at avsforum.com, there are some excellent threads regarding most popular receivers.

Very impressive - thanks for the pics and the post. It gives me something to shoot for.

Your best bet is a media extender that will stream the video over a home computer network, either wired or wireless. For instance, I have a Media Center pc, and an xbox 360. This allows me to play certain videos downloaded from the net (even HD videos), on my living room big screen that is attached to the xbox. I downloaded an HD video of a space shuttle launch, with some views from space, zero-gravity astronaut antics, and the landing, and my daughter loves to watch it over and over. There are many limitations to the media center/xbox 360 setup, so if you're not much of a gamer, I would consider other extender setups.

Thanks. Picking up two RS-52's in the next week or so, and looking forward to the improved sound.

I was trying to confirm that I should aim the RS down. Also, I'm working on the "gong" getting moved, and lowering and placing the opposite speaker closer to the trim around the windows. Why does THX recommend that rears be placed together? If so, why have two channels for the rears, instead of just one? The RS-42 probably wouldn't cut it for that much space, would it? I know you hate my setup, but I have a room above the garage that I plan to convert once the kids get a little older and the funds begin to grow. Then your ears won't hurt as much when looking at my pictures.

I know it's not perfect, but I have to work with the house! To the untrained ear, such as my own, it doesn't sound that bad. As to the pillar, my wife prefers symmetry, and that dang window on the opposite side requires the surrounds to be pushed back that far. I'll make another run at her, but they would still need to be hung high so folks don't bump their heads walking by. By placing the RB's above the wall opening in the back, do you mean right where the current speakers are? And, as for aiming, I do need to aim the RS's down, right? RS42 cut it, or do you recommend the 52 because of the volume? Thanks for your responses - I've been waiting for ya!

They have the same. Whichever I choose, I will need to find a nice mounting bracket to angle them severely down.

I've searched for this topic, and read that most would recommend the surrounds (RS-52/62) as the side surrounds for movies, and a bookshelf (RB-51/61) for primarily music. Is that still the prevailing logic? In addition, would a surround or bookshelf work better for rear surrounds? Right now, I am using some extremely cheap Pioneer speakers for surrounds and rears, and I'm looking to upgrade, since I recently went with the RF-82 mains and RC-62 center (which I love), to go with my Pioneer Elite VSX-81TXV. Also, my setup is strange, due to house design, in that my side surrounds are slightly behind the listening position, and are about 10 ft off the floor (as are the rears). With my particular setup, even though I'm primarily a movies guy, but want to start listening to some multi channel audio, I don't know if the wide dispersion technology in the RS line would work real well. Please take a look at the pics below of my setup and give me your recommendations as to whether to go with the RS or RB line for my surrounds and rears. Room dimensions are approx. 20 x 20. This forum is terrific, I thank you all in advance.

I have my RF-82 mains set to large, and the crossover set to 80 for the other speakers. I tried setting the mains to "small," per the suggestion of many, but I suggest really taking advantage of a full-range speaker, and letting it handle some of the lower frequencies.

I had a hard time deciding between the two (RC-52/RC-62) to go with my RF-82's, and I went with the bigger center channel. I am very happy with my choice. The dialog in movies that I could hardly hear before is clear as a bell. My center's channel level is actually LOWER than the RF-82's. I think the 52 would work, but why not go with the speaker they designed to match the RF-82's? Beware, it is a beast. Huge. I love the way it looks on top of my TV. By the way, I got the 62 for $350 - don't pay msrp.