Speaker suggestions for mixed 2-channel and theater application?

2

2FlyingYorkies

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Jun 4, 2017
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Kansas
We've decided to finish our basement rec room, and part of that will be a media area that will be used for 2-channel and movies. Our main system (based around Focal Sopra 3's) will remain on the main floor, so this is definitely going to be a secondary system at significantly lower cost. Curious if any of you have done the surround sound theater thing, and if so, what speakers did you use? I suspect the surround and effect channels will need to be in-wall / architectural for my application, but the front three can be traditional floorstanders. Ideally, I assume all of the speakers would come from the same brand so there's some reasonable tonal matching for the array, but perhaps that isn't strictly necessary?

Anyway, looking for the collective wisdom of the forum before I go too far down this road. And, as always a gentle reminder that I'm in the audio wasteland of Kansas, so my ability to go out and listen to things doesn't go much farther than what my local Best Buy (non-Magnolia) has - i.e. essentially nothing. I've always had to buy based on faith, advice, generous return policies, or audition opportunities when I travel to larger cities.
 
Jeff

A good sounding and reasonable priced alternative for speakers is Ascend Acoustics who has a 30 day trial period and also is a dealer for Rythmik subwoofers. I used five CMT-340 SE's with two subs when I still had an HT setup.

www.ascendacoustics.com
 
Jeff,

Not sure what your budget is, but PSB speakers are always really good and play above their price points. The Golden Ear (with built in subs) are also good for dual duty.
 
Mike said:
Not sure what your budget is...
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Whoops - that would have been helpful to include. I'm hoping to keep this to no more than $10k all-in (speakers and gear), with a hard $15k "do not exceed" limit. Since this will never be a candidate for a Trinnov+Wisdom unlimited budget theater, I think that should be enough budget to escape the "theater in a box" for something approaching decent audio performance.
 
Different territory than what I thought you were shopping in. The Golden Ear's are a good choice but I would stick with three passives across the front like the Triton 5 and keep the subs separate so you can place them where they work best. GE also has on-wall and in-wall speakers as well. With Ascend you could move up to the Sierra towers across the front.
 
I recommend a look at Monitor Audio who has different series and price points, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platnum, in and on-wall options as well. Responsive and detailed, which would be good for both movies and music.

Revel also has the newish Concerto 3 series which is good, also has in-wall.

If you aren't far from the St. Louis area I can recommend some places to look. I also know an installer who could be willing to help you out with audition and sales. Just PM.

Focal's lower series could be an option as well. Or, KEF. Not sure on these lines about in-wall.
 
There are so many great brands out there for home theater speakers. For example: Paradigm Prestige, Monitor Audio Gold, Klipsch Reference, etc... I like the Klipsch THX setup minus the subs. They just didn't have the impact for me. Paradigm has always had great subs for the money. My friends and I preferred them over Monitor Audio & Klipsch. I can't comment on PSB and KEF other than I've heard good things about them. If you're already using Focal and like their sound, why not look at speakers below the Sopra (Kanta, Aria, Electra, etc...). They also make in-wall/ceiling speakers.

I used to design many home theaters with in-wall/ceiling speakers as the surrounds. It shouldn't be an issue at all. Yes you give up a fuller sound if you can't use dipoles or book shelf speakers as surrounds hung on the wall. In the end, it's movies. It will still sound very good if properly setup. Invest in good acoustic treatment it makes a huge improvement when you're using a dedicated room.

Do you plan on using a receiver or processor/amp(s)?
 
2FlyingYorkies said:
Whoops - that would have been helpful to include. I'm hoping to keep this to no more than $10k all-in (speakers and gear), with a hard $15k "do not exceed" limit.
Click to expand...
I'm going to tread lightly here as a speaker manufacturer, but...you would still have to be a bit more specific...for more specific recommendations. How much of that budget goes to TV/Projector? Many folks, including myself, have a "daily driver" say 50" flat screen TV for casual viewing and a say 100" projection screen + projector for movies, etc.
That allocation can vary quite a bit. Then there is how many channels/electronics you want. An upper end AVR will tend to have line outs for outboard amps, or, if speakers are chosen wisely, the onboard amps may be more than sufficient, depending on how many channels driven. Then there are subwoofers. For high quality HT bass, I would suggest 3, minimum, each does not have to cost a fortune, spaced around room to spatially averaged out and combined output capability, to have smooth, non boomy bass over the viewing area.
Once all that is deducted from overall budget, the remaining X amount of channels (suggest 5 minimum) can be dedicated to speakers. A well set up 5ch system can sound terrific, more effects channels can be added later, if desired. Most upper end AVRs will be at least 7ch.
My 2c

cheers,

AJ
 
Some good thoughts here. I think I can actually get Golden Ear locally, so that might be worth a listen. Paradigm might be ok too, so long as they don't use those horribly hot beryllium drivers from the Persona line. KEF has always intrigued me, and I agree PSB often hits above the price point. I guess it's a reasonably safe assumption that if a company makes a really nice stereo speaker, they can probably figure out how to do one that works well for movies and disappears into a wall. I think the guidance I'm hearing is stick with the brands we talk about here for 2-channel and I won't go too far wrong. I'm sure there are dedicated theater speaker companies out there that can compete or exceed, but I just don't know where to find them. And maybe I don't have to!

AJ, good point about budget breakdown. This will be a LED/OLED tv, not a projector. I'm inclined to go with an AV Processor and separate amps. Since I'm framing out the space from scratch, I'd also prefer to do Atmos ceiling channels now (even if it means bending the budget slightly) so I don't have to cut drywall again later.
 
I would also consider Martin Logan. I am not a fan of ML for dedicated music, but I love them for home theater. PSB is also a great choice.
 
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