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Doubling up on L and R mains ok?


Sam Marrocco

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I currently have a Klipsch 504C Center channel and am planning to purchase some L and R Mains. I currently have a single R51 as a left and a single R51 for a right. However, these are very 'weak' compared to the 504C center, and I am forced to turn down the output of the 504c in order to prevent it from overpowering the L and R mains.

 

Although I would like larger floor standing models for the Mains, it is impossible due to floor layouts and cabinetry. Therefore, I am wondering if I could use a pair of RP500m speakers for Left and a pair of RP500m speakers for the Right, simply stacked on each other as a 'mini-tower' for each channel. At some point in the future, I would purchase another pair of RP500m to use for side surround L and R. My reason for using pairs of RP500m models is primarily so they will fit in the cabinetry space, but they do have the same size woofers as the 504C, so I'm hoping that the 'math' works out that the mains will be pushing the same amount of air as the center (essentially, (4) 5.25" woofers. There is the 'doubling up' of the 1" tweeters, but I don't know if I should be concerned with that.

 

I would also be adding a 10" or 12" Klipsch sub woofer with the mains.

Obviously I'll need to make certain my Amp can handle the 16 ohms of each main channel (in series).

 

Is there anything about this scheme that doesn't add up or would lead to problems? All comments are welcome.

 

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I'd run one pair of speakers as mains...If you are dead set on trying it I've heard if you turn the top speaker upside down so the horns are close to each other that helps cut down on the comb filtering. And think these are good questions to start off with: 

8 minutes ago, baron167 said:

What AVR are you running? What speaker size are the mains set to? Have you run any kind of calibration or have you tried adjusting everything by ear (nothing wrong with that)? Is a sub being used?

{Edit Note: I lined out what I didn't agree with in the post and not the op}

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1 minute ago, Zen Traveler said:

if you turn the top speaker upside down so the horns are close to each other

I´ve seen a post here somewhere, somebody had speakers staked that way... i think ist was Epics or Legends.

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@baron167:

I'm currently using an old Yamaha RX series, but am planning to purchase a Marantz SR5115 or similiar model with the new speakers.

I will also be purchasing a Klipsch subwoofer, probably a 12" reference or SPL model.

I will be using the Audyssey system (assuming I buy the Marantz since it comes with that system).

 

@zen:

Interesting about the 'inversion' to prevent comb filtering. I'll look for that post.

 

 

 

 

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While I haven't tried this myself with the types of speakers you are considering, I would honestly avoid doubling up on bookshelf speakers to try and match the output of your center. My gut tells me you're going to be opening a whole ugly can of worms with comb filtering etc, and depending on how you plan to wire them up to your receiver, you might end up overloading your receiver if it's not up to the task.

 

I see you did mention that you'll be wiring them in series, which I almost missed when I first read your post. You probably know this already then, but just in case, remember that if you wire them in parallel, you'll effectively be halving the nominal impedance to 4 Ohms, and in reality it could dip even lower than that... you'll need a very capable amp to safely handle the resulting 4 ohm load.

 

If it were me, I would rather go with one pair of RP-600M's, which I hear are very capable bookshelf speakers, and will most certainly be able to keep up with your 504C. I'm sure there are many other there that have paired the 600's with the 504C. This way you have excellent left and right mains, no unpleasant surprises or issues with comb filtering etc, and a safe impedance range that your amp can easily handle. 

 

Just my 2 cents... 😉

 

Let us know what you end up deciding on and how it works out...

 

Brendon

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@everyone who responded....

Thanks for the feedback. I have had an opportunity to perform some tests regarding the 'doubling up' of speakers. 

 

@inMotionGraphics, to complete the thread with my test results....

My ultimate plan was to use my 504C centerchannel, two or four stacked 600Ms for mains, and two 600Ms for surround with a Reference 12" subwoofer. The room is approximately 30' wide by 15 feet deep. The primary viewing spot is12 feet back from the screen and center channel, with the mains just to the left and right of the center by a couple feet. The surrounds are directly left and right of the primary viewing spot, about 8' away from the viewer. Placement is something I have no options about.

 

I was able to borrow from my workplace six R51Ms. Although these are not the 600Ms I am aiming for, it would give me a chance to stack speakers and observe the results.

 

I made the comparisons with a pair of Left Mains and a Pair of Right Mains at the same time, and tried using the second Zone of my receiver to power the second pair of LRs. I also tried wiring them in series.

 

Once I recovered from how different the Klipsch all sounded from my existing home theater setup, I came to the conclusion that doubling up the Mains was not worth the expense. I don't have a perfect ear, but I spend a lot of time in our million dollar audio suites so I am sensitive to differences. From what I could tell, the only real difference when the second pair of mains was active was that the sound was a bit 'fuller', and amplitude was a tad stronger. I expected much more volume being pushed because of the doubling of the speakers, but it was not much more than 15% at most, and almost all of it was in the low end of the spectrum. Flipping the speakers (to separate the horns) made no discernable difference to me, and even a couple feet between them was negligible to my ear.

 

It was well worth the experiment as now I can avoid the purchase of the second set of 600ms. Now I need to decide on a 12" reference vs 12" SPL subwoofer :)

 

Thanks to all for the suggestions!

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