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RP-600m or RP-502s rear surrounds


mattman

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My wife purchased me a new setup for my birthday and I'm trying to determine if I should keep the rear speakers or swap them out.  Nice little RP-8000f/504c/SPL-120 setup.  I'm not sure about the rear speakers.  Below is the layout of my theater room:

basement.jpg

 

The above 5.1 setup worked well for years using front towers and rear wall-mounted bookshelf speakers which were angled toward the couch.  The new setup that was ordered included RP-502s for rear speakers and I'm not sure if I should keep those or replace them with RP-600m's so I can keep a similar configuration as above.  I can purchase some wall mounts and use them similar to the rear bookshelves (somewhat angled) or I can mount them flat to the wall.  Just not sure how either option would sound since I have no back wall.

 

Thoughts?

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Unfortunately having them on the sides is not an option so I'm forced to have them 2-3' behind.  Via my image there is a door to the closed room in front of the left rear surround speaker, thus, no place to mount it. 

 

Manual states "should be placed on walls directly adjacent to listening position", which I can't do due to room limitations, or, "Another option would be on the wall behind the listening position" which I don't have either.   

Edited by mattman
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If it was me I would move the Rears up a few feet to basically the back of the couch, just before the door/opening to the left of the couch. I would also hang them from the ceiling pointing down at the MLP.  It won't be directly to the left and right of the couch, slightly behind, but close enough I think. Ideally upgrade to a 7.1 system, leave the rears and add 502's just a bit in front of the main couch.

 

Something like the image attached
 

Screen Shot 2019-04-11 at 11.03.37 PM.png

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I appreciate the replies!

 

The image below will drive a better understanding vs. the diagram...

basement2.jpg

 

The area to the direct left of the couch is the walking path, thus, any speaker mounted to the wall there or hanging from the ceiling will be in the way.  FWIW the area to the left of the half wall is a bar area.  There is really no room for any speakers to the left/right of the listening area and the walls against the basement wall were trimmed with ripped 2x4's so there is really no depth on the right side to mount in-wall speakers (done that way before I owned the house).  Stairs are to my left, and behind me is another open room, thus, no rear wall to the listening area.  The left side surround (not shown) mounts on the wall before the door and is angled to the center listening position.  It's appx 3' back from the back of the couch.

 

The right side has a kickout and the old rear surround used to mount on the wall near the corner at an angle pointing to the center seated position.  It's appx 2' from the back of the couch.

basement3.jpg

 

Far from optimal for rear surround and why I'm trying to figure out how to use the 502's and not have to deal with replacing them with 600m's and going back to the same configuration I had before...I'm trying to avoid hanging things from the ceiling.

 

Edited by mattman
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If you don't want to hang from the ceiling I would still try and put them up on the wall about 2ft above the MLP. So on the left you might want to remove the picture frames. On the right I would put it above the lamp and just mount it to the wall. Klipsch I think recommends 502's be above the ear to really help hide where the speaker is located. Then you will just need to run your EQ wizard to account for the new speaker positions, cus the left will be a little further away than the right from the MLP.

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The walking path between the wall and the couch is only 26".  Mounting a 502s there would put the speaker at head height in a pathway reduced to 18.5" which is pretty tight.  I'll probably play around with positioning to see how bad it is.  I could easily mount the right-side 502s to be equal with the left and adjust accordingly with my AV.  I could also shift the couch back another foot but I'm already at 10.8' from the TV.

 

I've considered the PRO-160RPW as a replacement and mounting them in those locations as that would work but the walls themselves are cedar panels and not drywall which can be easily patched if needed.  I just hesitate at such drastic measures to structure.  I could also go for a smaller surround speaker such as the 402s, but go big or go home, huh?

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Sounds like ideally you should try the 502s pair mounted on the wall as the above posters suggested.  It certainly LOOKs like it will fit based upon the pictures you posted, and also I believe it would sound the best.  Otherwise, I'd probably keep the configuration you had previously and use bookshelf speakers angled 45 degrees from the side walls towards the center position.  The bookshelves would have the advantage of being better suited to dolby atmos / dts:x formats due to their non-dispersed sound.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Everyone, thanks for the replies.  Final update:

 

I looked at using the 502s at the proper height/location and they simply would not allow enough room to pass between the wall and the couch without the possibility of hitting your head.   I looked further into in-wall but can't use them on one side due to how the wall is constructed against the concrete and I still didn't want to cut holes in cedar paneling that I can't patch if I decide to move.  I also considered changing the room layout but that would have required removing a half-wall and having to replace carpeting.  I like the room layout as-is and will simply deal with the limitation.

 

So, I chose to go ahead and swap out for the RP-600M's in the same locations that I had my prior rear speakers.  It's not optimal from a surround perspective, but works fine for me.  I didn't realize how big these were until they arrived and the system as a whole sounds as good as I hoped.  I'll run through Audyssey and do some tweaks over the next week or so.

 

 

rearsa.jpg

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  • 5 months later...
On 4/11/2019 at 11:07 PM, spencersmb said:

If it was me I would move the Rears up a few feet to basically the back of the couch, just before the door/opening to the left of the couch. I would also hang them from the ceiling pointing down at the MLP.  It won't be directly to the left and right of the couch, slightly behind, but close enough I think. Ideally upgrade to a 7.1 system, leave the rears and add 502's just a bit in front of the main couch.

 

Something like the image attached
 

Screen Shot 2019-04-11 at 11.03.37 PM.png

 

What is that ceiling mount please ? Omnimount ? I'm confused because the keyhole is at the bottom of the speaker right ? How does it hold in place with 

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