Question about FH/FW speakers

S

Susan

Audiophyte
I am building a surround sound system for the first time and having a lot of fun. I have a Pioneer SC-1323 7.2 AVR. Question: What would happen if I used ONE PAIR of speakers connected to BOTH front height and front wide? Would I end up with mud, or would it work satisfactorily? (Note I did not say "optimally.")
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
I am building a surround sound system for the first time and having a lot of fun. I have a Pioneer SC-1323 7.2 AVR. Question: What would happen if I used ONE PAIR of speakers connected to BOTH front height and front wide? Would I end up with mud, or would it work satisfactorily? (Note I did not say "optimally.")
DON'T! I'm glad I caught this. If you do that you will destroy your receiver instantly. You must never connect two amplifier channels to the same speaker. It blows the output stages instantly.
 
S

Susan

Audiophyte
Thank you very much. I am glad I asked rather than experimented. It would have been an expensive experiment.
 
H

herbu

Audioholic Samurai
I am building a surround sound system for the first time and having a lot of fun. I have a Pioneer SC-1323 7.2 AVR.
Have you already tried the traditional 7.1 or 7.2 configuration w/ Left/Center/Right, Surround Left/Right, Surround Rear Left/Right, and one or two subwoofers? Usually, people do that first, then consider Front Wide/High. And with a 7.2 AVR, to add W/H you will have to give up the rear surrounds.

Since this is your first time, I suggest you start with the traditional setup. After you are quite familiar with that, then you can play with W/H, ATMOS, and any other bells & whistles that come up.
 
S

Susan

Audiophyte
Due to financial considerations, I have added speakers and components over time and I am at 5.1. It's a bit of a mish-mash but it is working well for me. I now have a Samsung 51" F8500 series plasma (stunning, IMO), an Oppo BDP-103 Blu-Ray player, Pioneer SC-1323 AVR, Sony SS-F7000 fronts, Fluance XLBP bipolar rear speakers, and a Klipsch R-110 wireless sub. Don't laugh at the Sony speakers because I made the final purchase decision based on Audioholic's review. :) They are good for the money. Most of this I purchased because I found a great deal. Buying a packaged set would not have been much of a challenge, and I prefer "difficult fun."

I have an old pair of Bose satellite speakers that I am considering adding for FH but I am not sure it is worth the effort. Those speakers really belong in the trash and because I am in an apartment, the wiring is problematic. And two subwoofers is out of the question!
 
H

herbu

Audioholic Samurai
I have an old pair of Bose satellite speakers that I am considering adding for FH
Have you considered using them for Rear Surrounds, (7.1)? It might be easier to wire/connect because they don't have to be "high" on the wall. And most 7.1 sources are designed to utilize rears over highs or wides.
 
H

herbu

Audioholic Samurai
I have an old pair of Bose satellite speakers that I am considering adding for FH
Have you considered using them for Rear Surrounds, (7.1)? It might be easier to wire/connect because they don't have to be "high" on the wall. And most 7.1 sources are designed to utilize rears over highs or wides.
 
H

herbu

Audioholic Samurai
I have an old pair of Bose satellite speakers that I am considering adding for FH
Have you considered trying them for Rear Surrounds? It might be easier to install/wire than Highs because they don't have to be "high" on the wall. And I think you'll get more content to the rears than to the highs.
 
S

Susan

Audiophyte
I could do that, yes. And I had forgotten that the AVR has virtual FH and FW applications. I haven't played around with those yet. Is a virtual FH or FW effect created from frequencies already destined for the front speakers, or does it make use of the actual FH/FW channels and send them through the front speakers? Or neither?
 
H

herbu

Audioholic Samurai
Is a virtual FH or FW effect created from frequencies already destined for the front speakers, or does it make use of the actual FH/FW channels and send them through the front speakers?
I think you would be hard pressed to find any source material, (blurays or dvds), that contains actual FH/FW material. Most is 5.1 and some is 7.1, with the additional material being rear surrounds. Likely in every case you will find, "virtual" is indeed "virtual".
 
P

PENG

Audioholic Slumlord
I am building a surround sound system for the first time and having a lot of fun. I have a Pioneer SC-1323 7.2 AVR. Question: What would happen if I used ONE PAIR of speakers connected to BOTH front height and front wide? Would I end up with mud, or would it work satisfactorily? (Note I did not say "optimally.")
If I understood your question correctly, you were asking whether you could connect just "one" pair of speakers to "both" front height and front wide terminals? If so, I don't understand what you meant by "Both", because the SC1323 has only one pair of terminals (Left and Right) for front height or wide speakers.

So the answer to your question could be yes. You may have no choice but to in fact connect your "one" pair, i.e. left and right speakers to the front height/wide terminals. Then somewhere in the setting you have to select height or wide.
 
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