KG 3.5 or SS-1 for surrounds?

[jlukins]

Here's my setup now - KG 3.5's for mains, KV-3 center, SS-1's for surrounds, and my old KV-1 for rear. I just got a great deal on a pair of KG 5.5's so the plan was to sell the 3.5's but then I thought, maybe it would be better to just sell the SS-1's. They would sell for about the same price. So what would you guys rather have? Here's my list of pros. SS-1's already mounted on wall and look good. They also sound good and have wide dispersion for enveloping sound. But the 3.5's are bigger and better speakers right? Will they be better surrounds even though they are dipole. If they would be better do you think it is a big enough improvement to justify having another pair of big dudes in my living room instead of the smaller SS-1's almost hidden on the walls? Opinions please. Also, before I get responses saying that the 3.5's would be a better timbre match for my system, let me say that I spoke with the guys at Klipsch and they said the SS-1's would match fine with my system and once I got them installed I had to agree, they sound fine together and the surround seems seamless. Sorry for being longwinded and thanks in advance for the advice.

[Jay L]

your the only one who can truely answer that question. just try them and hear for yourself. answer have you already, sound good it will

[jlukins]

JayL,

Thanks. I agree and I will try and test when I get the 5.5's but I was seeing if there was an obvious answer like, "duh, of course the 3.5's would sound better, they are 4 times as big" or "duh, the SS-1's would sound better because they use WDSP"

[dantfmly]

Personally i would go with the kg-3.5 they are voiced match, but that is up to you and your ears after you test drive both as your surrounds.

[Yesfan70]

I agree with both posts. Me personally I would like the KG3.5 better since it is from the same model line, but it's your system so only your ears can tell you. Try both and see what you come up with.

I had a KV-2 center speaker and was blowed away by even how close the KG2.5 bookshelfs were to my 5.5s. I'm using one of them now as my center speaker (for now). A night and day difference compared to the KV-2.

If you have a DVD-A/SACD player, I would try some 5.1 music as demo between the SS-1s and the 3.5s. See how that goes. For a long time I had a completely different brand and model of speaker for my surrounds until I was able to get another pair of 5.5s for the surrounds. Movies sounded much better, but 5.1 music really shined for me. I was floored.

[jlukins]

Thanks for the replies guysbut as I said in the original post I am not worried about the 'voice matching' or timbre matching because they are both voice matched well. I am trying to compare the two speaker's performance as surounds regardless of the system they are in. Let me change the question a little. Forget about the rest of my setup. Would you rather have the SS-1's or the KG3.5's as surrounds if you didn't know what the rest of your speakers were going to be?

[Yesfan70]

On a performance issue, I like direct radiators better. Back when Dolby Pro-Logic was still the main format, dipoles (I know the SS-1s aren't true dipoles) got the job done.

Fast forward to newer formats Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS. Both these formats use full bandwidth discrete channels, so to me a little bit of localization is good to have. This is where direct radiators (be it towers or bookshelfs) come in to favor. Even DPL-2 and DPL-2x use full bandwidth channels, though not discrete, for the surrounds. The ideal would be identical speakers all around. This is especially true for 5.1 SACD and/or DVD-A.

[jlukins]

OK, so it sounds like the kg3.5's are the favorite. If so, then why the big push by Klipsch and other companies to produce these wide dispersion surrounds. Why not market their bookshelf or floorstanders as surrounds?

[T2K]

bass management deals with full bandwidth.

Keith

[jlukins]

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On 6/6/2005 12:43:32 PM T2K wrote:

bass management deals with full bandwidth.

Keith

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Do what???????????????????

[jlukins]

What about this. Say I kept the SS-1's AND the KG-3.5's. Which set do I use for side surrounds and which for rears?

[Yesfan70]

You could use both. Some recievers, particularly the Denons, will have an "A/B" switch for this. One pair of surrounds for 5.1 music, another for 5.1 movies.

For me though, I just keep one pair of surrounds. It is more convenient. You don't have to worry about hooking up/routing another pair of wires and there's one less pair of speakers taking up floorspace. That's just a preference on my part.

[jlukins]

yesfan70,

thanks for the reply but I was thinking of using both sets for 7.1, one pair on the sides and one pair for the rears, not switching between the two. Right now I only have my old KV-1 for a rear center surround.

[wjaco]

Well...I know this is not what you are asking...but here is what I would do:

1. Use the ss-1 for surrounds

2. Build a 2 channel rig around the 3.5s

Also, that way, in case you decided down the road that you made the wrong choice (or really got into DVA/SACD) you would still have your old beloved 3.5s around.

[Yesfan70]

My bad. I misunderstood you. I thought you were deciding which ones to keep.

I do like Wjaco's suggestion. The SS-1s would give you a more enveloping surround field, especially if your room is fairly big, compared to the KG3.5s. This would probably be better if your system setup is more movies than 5.1 music.

On the other hand, I would probably use the KG3.5s for the L&R surrounds, and use the SS-1s for the back surround channels. I think this would be a better setup, if 5.1 surround music (DVD-A and SACD) are going to be a big priority in your setup. The KG3.5 will be closer to timbre with the 5.5s. The only downside I can think of to this would be the SS-1s might be "too much" for the back surround channels if your room is pretty narrow. Just some thoughts.

I have read in HT Mag (a few years back) where they have tried different types of surrounds in a 7.1 rig. Some liked all direct radiators, some all dipoles, and some a mixture of both. I guess what it bowls down to is what works best for you.

[jlukins]

Finally got the 5.5s via fedex today so I will try out the different combos using the 3.5's and SS-1's tonight and post tomorrow so that there will be one more opinion on the dipole vs. direct radiating debate to confuse everyone a little more.

[Yesfan70]

Cool. I would also like to see what your thoughts are on how the 3.5s compare to the 5.5s. I have the 5.5s as mains and surrounds and use a KG2.5 for the center. Even though the tweeter is slightly different and the woofers are smaller, I'm surprised how close to timbre they are to my 5.5s.

[jlukins]

OK, I got the 5.5's hooked up and let me just say, I love these speakers. the sound is huge and clean. At about $300 a pair on ebay they are definitely the best bang for the buck in the speaker world.

As for the surrounds I did some tests between the SS-1's and the 3.5's using the 'The Return of the King' and 'The Incredibles' DVD's. I did not use any rear channels as I suggested I might do before, only the left and right surrounds. Also, each time I switched from the SS-1's to the 3.5's I used a sound meter to adjust speaker volume to compensate for the size and efficiency difference between the two sets. First impression - very comparable as surround speakers. I thought the 3.5's might sound 'fuller' but the information on the surround channels isn't big or boomy so it doesn't really benefit from having a larger speaker as an output source. As you would expect the sound from the 3.5's seemed a little more localized i.e. a sword to shield clash sounded like it came from just to my right as opposed to 'somewhere in the distance'. Sometimes this is good sometimes not, it's a toss up. The SS-1's seemed to spread the sound a bit better and the effects didn't 'jump' from speaker to speaker as much. But honestly, both these effects were very minimal. Both pairs sounded good just a little different. As for the timbre or voice matching, I really don't think it's an issue between these speakers. The SS-1's seem just as well suited to the 5.5's as the 3.5's, especially as surround speakers.

CONCLUSION: I am keeping the SS-1's because they work just as well (maybe a tad better as far as home theater goes) and they are about 1/6th the size of the 3.5's. If I had a dedicated listening room (instead of my living room) I might keep the 3.5's because they also performed well and would be better for multichannel music but right now that is only about 5% of my listening, if that, and so the SS-1's win.

[Yesfan70]

How would you compare the 5.5s to the 3.5s? Just curious as to see what your thoughts were.