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Yesterday I was in the metro and I thought about something that might be cool... But I dunno if it's duable...

Lets say you have enough money to buy 2 Promedias 4.1... And that you are crazy enough to plug each one with a Y into your soundcard... Which means, one set on rear and one in the front. I would then mean a 8.2 system! But I'm wondering, would the sound of the 2 sets be stereo? Which means that you'll get a stereo from front and a stereo front the rears, which would make an octogonal surround sound with 2 subwoofers......and 800 Watts RMS... biggrin.gif

Is that thing possible?

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I'm the real Mike, and proud of it!

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Heh, at the price of 2 sets of 4.1's, ya might as well just get a nice HT setup. Myself, I'm spending about 750 USD (about 150 more than 2 sets of the 4.1's) to buy a HT setup, and although ya might not get an 8.2 setup, something along the lines of what I'm buying (5.1, each corner speaker with a 6" main, and a .75" tweeter, 12" sub, centre chan with dual 5 1/4" drivers and a 1" tweeter, and a pretty damn good reciever). If ya ARE considering spending cash for 2 4.1's, and want a better OVERALL setup, HT might be a better choice. The things ya have to consider if you're gonna buy 2 4.1's is that by using a Y cable, you're splitting the signal in 1/2, and unless you're using VERY high quality cable, there's gonna be a helluva lot of signal degredation. If you are, however, adament about going dual 4.1's, then as a sound card, I'd suggest the Philips Acoustic Edge, mainly cause it kix arse smile.gif

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just about all the locals know this one, but like 2 or 3 months ago, maximumpc hooked up four sets of klipsch 4.1's together to create a 16.4 system (thats 16 freakin satellites with 4 pounding subs for 1600 watts RMS ) i tried to find the link on their page, but i can't seem to, i think its in their november issue. they said that it actually was pretty damn amazing and sounded ungodly loud.

Now that deserves a ROCK ON!!!

J

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For $750, viv, you might be able to get a good receiver. As to an entire system for $750, I don't know. Qualitatively and quantitatively, I think 2 sets of pro's will beat any COMPLETE $750 5.1 setup.

When buying a stereo system, always spend the majority of your budget on speakers. They play the largest role in reproducing sound. So if you spend just $500 or so on speakers, that leaves you with $250 for a receiver, which won't buy much.

Also, $500 for speakers ain't much either. I'm guessing you're looking at a JBL setup right? N-24's, N-Center, and PB-12 probably. Anyway, if you're looking at that or something similar, the difference between it and the pro's will be slight. There is the advantage of a surround receiver, but you also lose 4-speaker surround for gaming.

And then there's the $150 (previously $250 w/v.2 400's) price difference. It all depends on what your needs are.

Oh yeah, when using a y-splitter, there isn't much degradation (I couldn't tell the difference at all).

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quote:

When buying a stereo system, always spend the majority of your budget on speakers. They play the largest role in reproducing sound. So if you spend just $500 or so on speakers, that leaves you with $250 for a receiver, which won't buy much.

Although speakers do reproduce the sound, having speakers on a poor amplifier is not pretty. An amplifier does play an important part in reproducing sound; it doesn't just supply power. For me, a receiver should be at least half the cost of the speakers. Some people buy receivers that cost the same or more than the speakers, although its not necessary IMO. Just don't downplay the importance of amplification. Also, don't use cheap speaker wire either =\

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Actually, 750 for the entire system is what I'm paying. 360 USD for the reciever, 150 USD for 2 pairs of the corner speakers, 160 USD for the sub, and 80 USD for the centre chan. As for the quality of the components, they are FAR from cheap-o components.

For the reciever, we have the Yamaha HTR-5250 reciever, specs can be found here (for a HT setup, this might not be THE best, but if you're hooking it upto ur computer, this is MORE than enough) http://www.electronicsemall.com/yamhtconsers.html

Next up, for the 4 corner speakers, we have 2 pairs of Acoustic Research 206HO speakers. These speakers are discontinued, hence their low price, but when these babies were still in production, they sold for about 250 USD a pair. Specs can be found here. http://www.egghead.com/category/inv/00000501/03690060.htm

Next is the centre channel. For this, I'm going with the Acoustic Research CS25HO, mainly because it's designed to be matched up with my main speakers, and it too is discontinued, lowering its price by about 1/3. Specs can be found here. http://www.egghead.com/category/inv/00000501/03690077.htm

And finally, for the sub, I was originally gonna go with the JBL PB10, but since it would cost $400.00 Can total to have it shipped up here, I've decided to go with the Sony SA-WM40 sub. It's 12", and quality wise, probably one of THE best subs you'll find for under $400.00 USD (which says a lot, since this thing's only $160.00 USD). Specs can be found here. http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?stk_code=SONSAWM40&SVBName=30

Heh, ya see, by doing some searching, and choosing discontinued speakers, I've managed to put together a system that'd EASILY decimate 2 sets of the Pro's, while only adding $150.00 USD to the price tag. As for loosing the ability for 4 channel gaming, no worries, my nice, new Acoustic Edge takes care of that, since for gaming all I do is switch the reciever to use the anaglog channels from the sound card, while for dvd's, I set the reciever to use the digital, and I get VERY kickass sound smile.gif

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Oh, don't think I'm anti-Pro Media either, cause before I decided to spend the extra cash and go HT, I was DEAD SET on buying the Pro's since they first came out. I've heard them, and am impressed with them, but then I thought some more, and decided why not just go all the way, and turn my computer into a full blown home entertainment system

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lol, how would I know how it sounds? I have the reciever and sound card, but the speakers I won't have till the end of next week. Heh, although, I HAVE been assured by lots of people on the 3D Sound Surge BB that the setup I'm going for will be as good as I've said smile.gif

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Oh yea, and I've been reading owners comments on this hardware from audioreview.com, so I know the weaknesses and strengths of this setup, and if all the dozens of people whos comments I've read are right, I'm gonna have one KICKARSE setup smile.gif

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nice setup, great bang for the buck viv.

although the sub is a bit on the weak side, well to my tastes anyways...

which goes a long way to explain why i was initially disappointed at the promedia's bass! biggrin.gif

that's a good basis for upgrade though.

I can very well see you buy a used prologic receiver and some better front speakers, thus relegating your present speakers to rear duty in a pseudo 6.1 ES or EX system (whatever you wanna call it)...

then you'd obviously upgrade the sub (if not even before the last thing i said) to something that BUMPS like a good Paradigm PW 2200 or an SVS sub...

then upgrade your receiver...

you get the point.

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Heh, oh hell yea, ya cold always upgrade the components just a little more. But think about it this way, this is going in my room. My room is about 11x8', is on the 2nd floor, and my parents don't like TOO much sound smile.gif With this setup, I'll be able to go loud, and the sub won't cause the ceiling below my room to collapse smile.gif

Anyways, I WAS gonna go with the JBL PB10, which would be a MUCH better sub, but I just don't have the extra 100 bux to shell out, so the SAWM40 is it.

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Yeah I have the AR 206HO. They are really nice, especially after being broken in.I have them attached to the midiland 8200 (replaced satelites).

They are really worth the money. I got mine for $67 (auction at egghead.com). I am totally satisfied. Although the satelites amp is only 20w atts I hardly carry the volume about half.

Very Satisfied!!!!!

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3 pairs would be an interesting setup, but one thing I haven't figured out yet is how do you control the volume? I dunno if one preamp can control the volume for ALL 12 sats and 3 subs, and having to use the computer's volume control would be EXTREMELY cumbersome, so how would volume be controlled by one preamp?

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Well if you sit in front of your computer, using the sound card volume isn't cumbersome, but for hometheater purposes, it would be. I don't know, this is all theoretical at this point anyway. If you really wanted to though, you could use a receivers preamp outs (which are volume controlled by the receiver) and connect them with rca/miniplug adapters to the pros.

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