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3.1 revisited


YK Thom

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New to me but probably done to death over time...

New circumstances and room coming my way later this summer. We have bought a new condo and my wife is expressing some aesthetic concerns over ther the 5.1 set up.

We only have one system and use it for TV every night, movies on the weekend and 2.1 for music a lot.

I'm wondering if moving to a 3.1 for movies and TV might be a good idea. Perhaps leaving the door open for a front main upgrade.

Have any of you gone this route? Happy with it?

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Happy with it...

I would like to move to 5.1 at some point, but since 2 channel critial listening is my main concern, I spend most of my attention on my fronts... next is a center because I do love my movies.

I am very happy with my set up.

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You know YK Thom.....I have yet to make it to 5.1.....

I've been running 3.1 for a few years now.....it's ok but I do want to upgrade.

But every time I get some "extra" funds I keep buying stuff for my 2 channel systems.....I don't know I'll get there one day

What does your wife not like about the 5.1??

MKP :-)

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Music is 2 channel for the most part... so I assume you are asking about HT.

Modern avr's can mix your single dozens of ways including forcing it into 2 channel.

That Being said, 3.1 will always be a slight compromise... specially in terms of movement and directional during HT playback. It doesnt bother me one bit personally... the rears are much less impacting than are the fronts and mainly the center.

Edited by Schu
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You know YK Thom.....I have yet to make it to 5.1.....

I've been running 3.1 for a few years now.....it's ok but I do want to upgrade.

But every time I get some "extra" funds I keep buying stuff for my 2 channel systems.....I don't know I'll get there one day

What does your wife not like about the 5.1??

MKP :-)

The aesthetics more than anything else. She has a tin ear and would be just as happy using the TV's speakers tell you true. The new room is a bit more open and she's not so keen on running wire and having the extra speakers so visible. I have four RB 61 IIs on nice black metal stands.

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Music is 2 channel for the most part... so I assume you are asking about HT.

Modern avr's can mix your single dozens of ways including forcing it into 2 channel.

That Being said, 3.1 will always be a slight compromise... specially in terms of movement and directional during HT playback. It doesnt bother me one bit personally... the rears are much less impacting than are the fronts and mainly the center.

This may be the answer. My avr is a Marantz sr5008 I bought last year. To these old ears it sounds pretty nice in two channel stereo for music.

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The aesthetics more than anything else. She has a tin ear and would be just as happy using the TV's speakers tell you true. The new room is a bit more open and she's not so keen on running wire and having the extra speakers so visible. I have four RB 61 IIs on nice black metal stands.

 

You and I are married to the same woman, to a "T."  :wacko:

 

My wife HATES speakers visually, and she could care less about the sound.  She thinks my AVR/Klipsch CF-4 speaker with dual 12" woofers sounds about the same as the built-in 3" TV speakers

 

I change my setup all the time but I have been running 3.1 in the TV main room for months, having downgraded from 5.1.  The reason I upgraded in the first place was because now that TV broadcasts in 5.1, the dialog becomes garbled while the background music is overbearing.  A 3.1 setup with a great center speaker cleans all that up.  Dialog is now crystal clear for TV thanks to the center, and I still get to hear decent music when called upon.

 

It's a workable compromise.

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How about this.

 

Keep a 3.1 system up and running for TV watching and drag a pair of surrounds on telescopic stands out of the closet for action movie watching.  Just pull the preconnected rolled up speaker wires out from your TV stand or audio rack and connect to your surrounds.  Only a temporary "eyesore" to contend with.

 

My bedroom 3.1 rig becomes a 5.1 rig for movies by pulling the RSX-4's out from under my bed and placing them on each of the night stands that flank my bed.  

 

Voila!

 

Bill

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I run 3.2 with XT32 and dual sub eq and love it.

 

I have two friends with decent 5.1 setups and theirs does not sound as good as mine. Probably because of the quality of their speakers, placement/setup, and lack of quality subwooferage...

Edited by gadgtfreek
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I have run 3.1 with great success although my preference is the 5.1. I have heard quite a few 5.1's with the surrounds set up as a secondary thought trying to hide the speakers, etc. and they have been more of a distraction than it is worth. If it is a compromise on installation I would say stick with the best 3.1 and be happy.

 

Enjoy!

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I have a difficult time understanding the compromise here.  After listening to the double MWM/402 combination there was no doubt in my mind that this was what I wanted.  I had to convince dtel to build it for us!  I'm sorry, I like for things to be aesthetically pleasing also, but I see absolutely nothing wrong with this.  Yes, those are Forte II's on top....we also have three Fortes hanging over the sofa (you can barely see them hanging just below the beam behind the sofa)...NOBODY even notices!!!! Most of the time they don't even notice the MWM/402s until we point them out!

 

This is our family room.  We have a lot of people in and out of our home.  Our guests, friends of my daughters and their families and customers....I have never once been asked or told anything negative about the way our audio equipment "looks".  

post-17944-0-25140000-1433353013_thumb.j

Edited by dtel's wife
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