Help with finishing off my system

[doughobell]

Hi everyone. I just bought a house and now would like to complete my sound system now that I can really listen to it. I have a pair of Forte II, Center is SC-1, and the sub is SW-10 II. I have a pioneer elite 56TXI receiver that is capable of 7.1. Would everyone recommend buying the SS-1 for surround sound, and if so should I buy 4 of them or 2 and run 5.1? I appreciate everyones thoughts. Thanks!

[doudou]

for 5.1 or 7.1 it depends on the size of your room and the money you have:

if its too small theres is no need to have lots of speakers and 7.1 will cost more money than a 5.1 of same quality.

in my opinion you should finf another center channel speaker because an SC1 should not match very well with heritage speakers

[rplace]

I 2nd the new center channel. Find a used academy. As for surrounds another pair of Forte or quartets would be great. Depends on the room and how willing you are to see them. Some people want the speakers to be less visable. As for 5.1 vs 7.1 all I can say is I ran 5.1 for some time and liked it. When I did 6.1 it was a lot better. Finally I got a pair on the back wall for 7.1 and it truly is the best so far.

Give us some info on your room.

Good Luck!

[doughobell]

The room is 20 x 20 with ceilings that are probable around 25 feet tall. So everyone basically is saying buy 2 more pairs of Forte II's and an Academy center? Would it be easier/better to just start over? Thanks.

[colterphoto1]

Your two Forte's are the best thing you have going, and they are a good solid set for HT. Do you like the sound of them? If so, keep on going in that vein. If you don't care for the Fortes, a step to modernizing would be to go all Reference. There is a Member here (travisc) who has a set of ForteII/Academy in Oak that would be a perfect complement to what you have already.

Don't mix Heritage with Synergy. Just won't sound good. You can save the synergy for another room if you wish, don't have to sell it necessarily.

Michael

[michael hurd]

You already have the center and are considering the surrounds, why not buy the corresponding floorstanders ( or their newer replacements ) and put the Forte's in a second 2-channel system?

Seems like me the easier way to go to get a similar sound all the way around. OTOH, I have reference mains, reference center with synergy rears, and the difference is moot, IMO.

[fmushkin]

Four RS-3's for surrounds and rear surrounds would work very well for movies and wouldn't be too expensive used. Folks around here like point sources for all surrounds, which is better for multichannel music on SACD or DVD-A. So it depends on whether you're more into TV/DVD or multichannel music.

[Frzninvt]

If you listen to music you certainly don't want four echoey soundsprayers in the back - Yuk!

Having an all timbre matched sytem all around makes more difference than you think. There are those that are willing to accept things as good enough, so whatever.

[doughobell]

I love the sound from my Forte II's to answer a previous question. I just never thought when I bought them in 1996 that a complete system would be 3 pairs of them. FMUSHKIN - are you suggesting 4 RS-3's along with the Forte's? I like to watch movie and listen to music equally. So I'd rather have a system that was good at everything rather than great on one thing and subpar on the other. I have a the pioneer elite 56txi receiver and pioneer elite dv59-avi dvd player. I'm willing to spend some money but want to do it in an efficient manner. Thanks.

[fmushkin]

On 8/23/2005 4:02:32 PM doughobell wrote:

....are you suggesting 4 RS-3's along with the Forte's? I like to watch movie and listen to music equally...

This experiment may help you think about the monopole/dipole issue:

http://www.hometheatermag.com/loudspeakers/25/index.html

[colterphoto1]

If you cant locate or afford an Academy, I might suggest as an option the KLF-C7. I am very happy with it and my Cornwalls. It is a much better match than even the mightly RC7. TIMBRE is the key. What you're trying for is all speakers to have the same voice. The crossover point, horn type, 2 vs 3-way makup and composition of woofer material make up the speakers' timbre.

That is why you see FOrum members recommend all Heritage or all Reference constantly. It really does make a difference.

I also highly recommend having as evenly matched front and rear mains for full range sound when the sound pans around the room, but at the very least, directional speakers in the rear, so you can localize the sound source. imho, sound sprayers were good for small rooms and Dolby Pro-Logic. If you have a larger room, select direct speakers like RB, not RS.

Michael- others will differ and that's okay too.