Matthews Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 (edited) So after years of being "strictly 2-channel", no exceptions, I may be considering a slight change. I really don't watch many movies (t.v. is not even hooked up to main rig), don't use a multi-channel amp or processor. I am dedicated 2-channel. What I am considering is adding another amp and a set of rear speakers (KLF-30's up front, 20's in the rear). The rears will be playing the same channel as the front, left and right. The new amp (rear) will have easy access gain control to help smooth the front and rear together. A couple of questions come to mind, thinking of this... 1) Are any others out there running this configuration and what is your experience with it? 2) Does the rear polarity (phase) need to be reversed from the front (i.e. switching the positive and negative speaker inputs on the rears)? Any experience or suggestions with this configuration greatly appreciated. Matt ♪ ♫ ♪ Edited September 2, 2015 by Matthews Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 It will be kinda like all channel stereo thru some avr's. It should sound OK if everything is time aligned and level adjusted. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twistedcrankcammer Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 What derrickdj1 said !! I use a multi channel surround sound pre and it has both 2 channel stereo and multi channel stereo. No problems. Roger 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthews Posted September 2, 2015 Author Share Posted September 2, 2015 It will be kinda like all channel stereo thru some avr's. It should sound OK if everything is time aligned and level adjusted. The amps are two M-series Yamaha's running a Rotel RC-1070 pre. Sounding just "OK" is really not an objective. My fear is that I may actually come up with the sound of "mud", for lack of a better term... ♪ ♫ ♪ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 i personally dont care for multichannel stereo unless i am doing housework or something, and just want sound spraying all over the house. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthews Posted September 2, 2015 Author Share Posted September 2, 2015 i personally dont care for multichannel stereo unless i am doing housework or something, and just want sound spraying all over the house. That is kind of how I have imagined it Scrappy, "sound spraying all over the house". Thinking of side-stepping this idea... I love in your face, 2-channel !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totalcomfort Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 I'm with scrappy, never cared for it much other than to fill the house with sound when I am moving around a bunch. Just sounds weird to me when I'm in mlp. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Just sounds weird to me when I'm in mlp. yep! echoey almost. its funny i have a buddy who had 9 identical speakers all the way around at the same height and he prefers the multichannel. so i thought maybe that was the key to enjoying it was the seamless sound all the way around. wrong! lol when i heard it at his place sounded the same as at my place. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 It will be kinda like all channel stereo thru some avr's. It should sound OK if everything is time aligned and level adjusted. The amps are two M-series Yamaha's running a Rotel RC-1070 pre. Sounding just "OK" is really not an objective. My fear is that I may actually come up with the sound of "mud", for lack of a better term... ♪ ♫ ♪ I agree with Derrick's comment about AVR's in all speaker stereo, and I agree with your comment about not wanting "sounding OK." I run an Onkyo 717 AVR and all speaker stereo to my ears sounds more like mono, with a flatness of sound all around. If running 2-channel I much prefer Pure Audio (2 channel) Stereo (two channel) or a hybrid 2.1 which brings the sub into play. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teaman Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 If you are simply adding two rear speakers and using both Amp A and Amp B outputs you will simply surround yourself in stereo sound, which for music reproduction should be fine. Just make sure to time align the amps so the different runs of speaker wire don't introduce a delay which will drive you nuts. I used to run that with a second pair of speakers hooked up in a room for music only and it sounded decent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 It will sound fine, but you will loose dimension and some imaging. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 As much as I like 2 channel stereo from my main RF-63 rig, I love the fullness and 3 dimensional that my NAD pre/pro provides with it's "Enhanced Stereo" mode(5.1) with Audyssey on set to it's "NAD" curve. Very rich and detailed with great punch. Bill 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 (edited) On my AV receiver, the setting is called 7-Channel Stereo. It has a few uses: daytime listening when I'm in and out of the room, watching sporting events on TV, since it comes closer to the sound of an outdoor event than regular 2-channel stereo does, and late-night listening with the recliner fully reclined, which lets the side surround speakers have an almost headphone-like effect. Also, when listening late at night, I can have the volume lower, because the side surrounds are closer to the listening position than the mains in my system (I've got each side surround only about four or five feet from my head, because of a baseboard heater on one side and a fireplace on the other side), which are all the way over near the front wall. That's the ways I find it useful. For more serious music listening, 2-channel stereo is the way to go, since in the case of my system, the left and right main speakers are higher-performing than the surround speakers, which does "dilute" the quality when the lesser speakers are operating. The musicians are also not as clearly placed in the soundfield when 7-channel is on, so that's another reason that 2-channel stereo is the better setting when you really want to appreciate the recording. So, it's different settings for different situations. Both are useful to have. As for the phase, all the speakers are in phase with each other, meaning none are reversed. The Paradigm sub is phase-shifted 90 degrees for the best match with the left and right main speakers. Edited September 2, 2015 by Islander 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthews Posted September 2, 2015 Author Share Posted September 2, 2015 Thank you, all. I think it is time to step back and re-evaluate. From reading your opinions, it seems my initial fear, "muddiness", will most likely be the end result of adding the aforementioned configuration. ...and so the pursuit (madness) move along Perhaps some Belle's 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MookieStl Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 (edited) Matt, May be time to seek help, and I don't mean help finding more speakers! Edited September 2, 2015 by MookieStl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthews Posted September 2, 2015 Author Share Posted September 2, 2015 Matt, May be time to seek help, and I don't mean help finding more speakers! LOL - oh, indeed, "Mookie"!!! *professional help* - and not referring to Pro series Klipsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 i personally dont care for multichannel stereo unless i am doing housework or something, and just want sound spraying all over the house. Somehow, the vision of you traipsing around the house wearing an apron while pushing a Hoover behind the chair and monitoring the chicken pot-pie in the oven, while at the same time, your son is planking between (on?) the couch and end table.... is just too much. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 I've been running rears to ensure accurate playback of 2 channel recordings since 1976 when I acquired a Hafler DynaQuad. It's essentially as you said, a device that reverses polarity to the rears but also includes a switch to bypass entirely and to balance the rears. Far from "spraying sound all over" few even realize the rears are active unless I turn them off. When I do so, the image looses depth to the point of sounding like what 2 channel is...dual channel mono inherently incapable of providing an accurate playback of an acoustic space/time event. The impact of this circuit is most noticeable on two microphone recordings where they are coincidentally placed as the out of phase spatial cues are most accurate in such recordings. The main effect is that of greatly enhanced depth and dimension. Heavily mixed recordings like DSOTM and such are not really predictable but the results are both very pleasing as well as startling at times. The current trend of re-mixing these classics as surround underscores the legitimacy of such treatment. BTW, the current issue of "Sound and Vision" has an interesting sidebar interview with Pink Floyd producer Andy Jackson in which he states a growing preference for ignoring the center and .1 channel in surround in favor of 4 channels only...something I've argued for in music for years. Those channels are clearly useful in HT systems where I like them, but of no use in music. As mentioned, if you clearly hear the rears they are too loud. Of course, they really need to be well matched to the fronts. My fronts are K'horns and the rears are little Frazier Super Monte Carlos which match transparently. No matter how loud I drive the 'horns the MCs are never in danger as the power going to them is far less. As I've written about this in depth in the Forum and other places in the past I'll leave it short this time. Dave 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 I might add that this is NOT a processor. It's simply sending out of phase information to where it belongs via a purely natural method. Dave 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Just sounds weird to me when I'm in mlp.yep! echoey almost. its funny i have a buddy who had 9 identical speakers all the way around at the same height and he prefers the multichannel. so i thought maybe that was the key to enjoying it was the seamless sound all the way around. wrong! lol when i heard it at his place sounded the same as at my place. Yep, think about it you're sending the same electrical signal to 2 different speakers(x2 for stereo) that are in different positions in the room. That's going to honk up the stereo image or soundstage or whatever you want to call it at the MLP. If you just want to fill the whole area with sound for a party(or doing chores) that's a different story. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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