Surrounds for my HT?

[jbird21]

I'm getting ready to update my HT room, & I need some rear surrounds to go w/Forte ll fronts, Academy center, & a RT 10d sub

I was thinking about the RS series, 42/52 but have been reading some are not happy w/them & the academy?

the room is 14 x 15 w/a cathedrial ceiling, the TV is mounted above the fireplace 4'8" off the floor, the center will need to go above the tv, the base of the center will be 6'10" off the floo. The peak runs perpendicularly from the screen.

the HT receiver is Arcam AVR 300 w/the Forte ll's running off an Adcom 555ll amp

this will also be the time for me to pull wires any advice on affordable speaker wire would be appreciated & rules of thumb as to how to calcuate lengths.

(the wires currently hang on the walls or under the carpet, which is a liitle too dorm room for my wife's tastes)

thanks in advance, jay

[Chris A]

I was thinking about the RS series, 42/52 but have been reading some are not happy w/them & the academy?

Surround speakers are usually much less critical than the fronts and the center, so you can do just about anything that you want to, if you are only listening to movies.

However, if you are listening to 5.1 DVD-As or SACDs (surround sound) that make use of all 5 channels equally, then I'd recommend a couple of used Fortes (ideal), Heresies (smaller), or Cornwalls (biggest) instead in order to "match timbre" better.

Klipsch also makes higher-end bipolar surrounds in their professional line that can support larger, deeper home theaters sitting more than one or two rows of listeners.

Chris

[Olorin]

The perfect surrounds for your setup are either more Forte IIs or Quartets. However, both of those come with some practicality challenges, so sometimes some less-than-perfect surrounds end up working better when all the factors are considered.

In your case, the small KG series speakers -- 1.x and 2.x -- are terrific fall-back options. They can be had fairly inexpensively on the 'bay and on Craigslist with some regularity, and many users here have reported success in using these with the Forte/Academy combination. They're also small enough to hide on a shelf or literally hang from the wall. Some of them came with wall-mounting provisions built in; I forget if they were keyholes or omnimount attachments, but a search of retired products on the main site would give you that info . . . and so would the seller's photos on eBay.

Your Academy is the perfect center for your Forte IIs -- if it physically fits, don't even think of messing with that. People unhappy with the Academy either need monsterous output that the Academy just can't give, OR they are trying to use it between anything that isn't a Chorus, Forte, Quartet, or another pair of Academys and they are experiencing tonal match problems. I can't ever remember anybody posting that they were unhappy using an Academy, within its limits, between the speakers it's meant to be used between.

As for speaker wire, I'm a fan of the 12 or 14 gauge from monoprice.com. They also have good prices on banana plugs for the ends. Length is basically unimportant -- "long enough to reach plus enough slack to let you move things around a little" is the general formula.

[jbird21]

thanks for the replies so far, I do have another pair of Forte ll's but not the room to place them [:@]

I had bought another pair to modify last year, w/Crites re-built cross-overs & new tweeter diaphrams (the Academy too)

And they do sound great.

so I have my original Forte ll's just sitting. I guess I'll start looking for some smaller KG's, It should save me some $$ as well. Thanks for the speaker wire info also I just couldn't remember the preferred gauge.

[wuzzzer]

I had a pair of KG 3.5s as surrounds for a while and they were awesome. Great sound, very small footprint.

[wsd]

I have a similar setup : Forte - fronts , Academy - center and KG-3's as surround in 13x13x10+ (~1720) sealed room.

The KG-3's sound great as surrounds and have a small foot print I have them on 26" stands.

Shawn

[tragusa3]

I have three LaScala up front and spent a good deal of time researching surrounds, including a long phone call to Klipsch consultant regarding the KP dipole surrounds (professional line). My room is 32' long and with the LS front and commercial type subwoofers, I thought I needed the KP surrounds. Klipsch assured me that the RS62's would do the job. I was doubtful. I've had them now for a few months, and am suprised at their performance. I don't feel the need for anything more, even at above reference volume levels. The tonal match is a non issue for me as well. I'm using Heresies for the rear surrounds.

[jbird21]

again, thanks for the suggetions, I think I could mount/build a shelf for some kg3.xx's on the back wall, I like that they are ported or have the passive radiator on the front. The room has it's own issues that are making the placement tricky.

[Stolenrs]

I listen to more music than movies (65/35 split) I am using Chorus I as mains academy for a center and Heresy back surrounds and to my suprise my old set of SS-1 as side surrounds. I actually had them as back surrounds before I got the heresy's. I really like the sound of the ss-1 with the setup, just my opinion, but they are easy to mount on the wall and sound good with the heratige speakers. I don't know in your area, bu here they can be found for about a 100.00 pair.

Good Luck