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Home Theater 7.1 Speaker Question


JMO

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I recently purchased a Denon 3808CI AV receiver and the following speakers,

Fronts - RB61's (currently on book shelf)
Center - RC62
Surrounds - RS-42's
Rears - RS-42's

I am using a 12" Shiva DIY sub with a 262W M&K plate amp.

I have the RB-61's set as small and the front crossover set currently at 80 HZ so the sub is handing most of the front bass.

My room is 15 x 17 feet and I mostly watch movies (DVD, BR and HDTV)

Would it be worth while upgrading the fronts to RF-62's from the RB-61's?

Thanks,

Jeremy

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It depends. Can you return the RB-61's for a full refund? If I were you, I would go bigger than the 62s. While you almost always would see an improvement in a Floorstanding speaker, the RF-62's aren't the greatest speakers on the planet. In my opinion, you always want the absolute best speakers that you can afford and if you have to, skimp on the electronics. It appears as if you did the opposite- you got a expensive receiver with cheap (er) speakers.

I run the heritage line, and if you have the space, I'd say go that way. Otherwise, if you like what you have, keep it. If you can return it, and you aren't getting the performance you need, then get the RF-82's. They aren't that much more than the 62's and in my opinion sound a lot better. I would still go heritage, but that's just me.

If you need anything else, let me know.

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I totally agree, I just went down to my local shop and listened to the RF-35's, RF-82's, RF-62's and RB-61's and there was a big difference between the 82's and the others.

My untrained ear ranked them in this order,

RF-82 > RF-35 > RF-62 > RB-61

They're giving me a full refund on the RB-61's. The price is $1100 (normally $1499) Canadian for two RF-82's before tax.

I did go about things a bit backwards and I feel better about having the 82's and the RC-62 (I returned a RC-52) now. I hope the RS-42's surround/backs will be ok still ;o)

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The RS-42s should be just fine. I had the rs-62's with the same setup for a while and they were ok. Truthfully, the surround speakers don't really make that big of a diff to me. I think as long as you have something good back there you will be ok.

Truth be told - you can get a WAY better deal on those RF-82's man - I would return everything and get em from an online dealer. You can still get the warranty if you go somewhere like sound distributors. The owner will work with you too. Also, you may wanna check out those RF-35's. They are basically the same thing as the 82s and should be about 3/5th's the price.

And still, I would recomend if you are going to spend a grand on speakers, you could EASILY get a pair of LaScalas for that price and have about 20x better sound. If you have never heard them, hold off and be patient. The LS's sound like they are from a completely different company and in a completely different class.

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Thanks for the help. I am already way over budget and this was the best price I could get from 3 stores locally. They gave me about 30% off retail on everything so far.

I'd love to get into the Heritage/LaScalas but I already am on the edge of divorce with the amp and speakers to date ;o)

There are some cheaper places online (US) but shipping to Canada is never free and with the dollar the way it is I'll end up about the same as local, we get a bum deal up here...

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If it is not too late, I would take back one set of RS-42's and keep the RB-61's for rears. When I was upgrading my surrounds, Colter recommended bookshelf for the rears instead of surrounds. He said to place surrounds on the side walls and bookshelfs in the rear. It made a big difference for my theater. Instead of the rears just setting there, they drive the surround stage back toward you. It is a much better effect in my room.

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I have a bit of space problem, my room is 15x17 and of that about 12ish x 17 is usable for the home theater setup.

The rear surrounds in the attached picture are 5 feet apart centered on the tv and the left surround is 4 feet in front and 3.5 feet to the side of the rear left. They are all mounted 5 feet off the floor.

The seating area is approximately 4 feet in front of the rears, in line with the side surrounds.

I had thought that that the 4 x RS-42's were overkill already for the space and I don't really have the room to mount anything larger that the RS-42's, the wife thinks they are too big already ;o)

Thanks for the suggestion.

post-32194-13819410656678_thumb.jpg

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I'll probably get flak for this, but here goes..........

In that size room, you'd be waaaaaay better off going 5.1 instead of 7.1 IMHO because getting those 2 rear and 2 side surrounds correct will be tough. Plus you run the risk of the surround channel sound queues getting muddied up. Seems to me that with all those rear speakers being where they are in proximity to your head would be almost like having headphones on.

Sorry......but I just come from the school that a very good, well balanced (and properly tuned room) 5.1 system will best a so-so 7.1 system any day. I've done a 7.1 HT system in a 17' x 28' dedicated room and it was a b*tch to get it to sound right. And even then, I found myself constantly wanting to tweak the system.

Not trying to rain on your parade, just wanting to give a different perspective and some things to think about. Besides.....if you decide to go 5.1 you can take back a pair of speakers and then be back on budget. [:D]

Tom

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I'll probably get flak for this, but here goes..........

Probably not. Many have suggested the same as you. Another thing to consider is that currently, there are not that many true 7.1 disks to take advantage of the 7.1 experience. In the hopefully near future, this will become more and more available. I think either way you go, you are gonna have a rockin system.

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