Rear Surround Recomendations

[SOUNDMANFORD]

I am trying to complete this go around of my Theater system. I am looking for a nice but not to overly pricey set of rears. Budget is $299-400 for the set. My fronts are JM Lab Cobalt 815's, Center is a energy CC5 (holding me over till I can find a Cobalt Center) Sub is a custom Elemental Designs A2-300. Receiver is a Pioneer elite VSX 82TSX. Rears as of right now are from the old JBL theater in a box system. Nothing is wrong with them other than that they don't compliment the mains at all. The are very dry and just bland. The listening area is 16X20 with 14 foot vaulted ceilings. The current speaker location is 8ft up and about 7-8 foot from the rear of the listening spot. They are not angled down but the new speakers will be. They do have to be this high because of doors that open and close. What suggestions would you guys give for a set of small rears, like a 4 or 5.25 to round out the system. Open to any and all brands other than Bose or Acoustic Research.

 

[afterlife2]

Welcome! Pioneer SP-BS22-LR bookshelf or Nxg Pro 4.1 Satellite Speaker for less than $150. check tigerdirect or amazon.

 

[Swerd]

I am looking for a nice but not to overly pricey set of rears. Budget is $299-400 for the set.

The listening area is 16X20 with 14 foot vaulted ceilings. The current speaker location is 8ft up and about 7-8 foot from the rear of the listening spot. They are not angled down but the new speakers will be. They do have to be this high because of doors that open and close.

What suggestions would you guys give for a set of small rears, like a 4 or 5.25 to round out the system. Open to any and all brands other than Bose or Acoustic Research.

I have two suggestions. Both can easily be mounted on walls or ceilings with the appropriate hardware, available at extra cost.

SuperZero 2.0 | Bookshelf Speakers | Premium Audio Equipment

I have heard these and they have an overall neutral sound, allowing them to blend with a variety of different speakers. At $99 each, I think you can't go wrong with these. Highly recommended for the use you intend. NHT says these speakers come with ¼" × 20 threaded inserts in the cabinet, and they also sell Omnimount 10 brackets to hang them. Maybe if you search, you can find these same brackets for sale at a lower price.

CBM-170 SE High Performance Bookshelf Loudspeaker

I haven't heard these, but they get mentioned often as good rear channel speakers. At about $350 a pair, they cost more than the NHT SuperZeros, but they are still within your budget. Ascend Acoustics says they weigh 14 lbs each, and come with ¼" × 20 threaded inserts for simple mounting to wall mount brackets, but they don't mention any particular wall mounting bracket.

 

[SOUNDMANFORD]

I have the opportunity to grab a set of JBL E20's and E30's. Would any of these be a good set? The E20's are rear fire ports so I am worried about port noise on the wall. The E30's are a little large. As far as mounting i can mount any thing with the correct rigging hardware.

 

[afterlife2]

I had the JBL E20's and they were amazing small bookshelves. I lost mine in the storm. They would be perfect for surrounds. Try mounting them and If you don't like what you hear you can get some cheap stands on CL or amazon.

 

[SOUNDMANFORD]

I was at best buy today and listened to a set of Energy CB-5's 4.5 two way book shelves. $199 for the pair. They sounded ok to me but i am just not familiar with the brand

 

[Swerd]

I have the opportunity to grab a set of JBL E20's and E30's. Would any of these be a good set? The E20's are rear fire ports so I am worried about port noise on the wall. The E30's are a little large. As far as mounting i can mount any thing with the correct rigging hardware.

I had the JBL E20's and they were amazing small bookshelves. I lost mine in the storm. They would be perfect for surrounds. Try mounting them and If you don't like what you hear you can get some cheap stands on CL or amazon.

I haven't heard them, but afterlife knows and likes them .

If I had to guess, I'd pick the smaller E20 over the larger E30 for rear channel duty.

The E20 weighs 7 lbs, the E30 is 16.3 lbs.

The E20's 5" woofer is crossed over to the ¾" tweeter at 3000 Hz. The E30's 6" woofer is crossed over to what looks like the same tweeter at 4000 Hz. The E20 design makes more sense to me – I can imagine the 6" woofer making breakup noise if it goes that high. I'd worry about that much more than I'd worry about the rear port on the E20 being close to a wall. If you set those speakers to small, feeding them signals of about 80 Hz or higher, the rear port should not be an audible problem.

Energy is a Canadian make that has a decent reputation. Those CB-5's you mentioned should also be OK. To be honest, if you like your front three speakers, finding decent rear channel speakers for movie sound is not difficult. They don't have to be a straight up match with the front speakers. Price, size and weight matter because of what space you have available for them.

 

[SOUNDMANFORD]

I am kinda of in that "want to get it done today" mode. I don't know of any place locally that sells the JBL line so I will prbly go with the energys, they do match my center which sounds great to me.

 

[Swerd]

I am kinda of in that "want to get it done today" mode. I don't know of any place locally that sells the JBL line so I will prbly go with the energys, they do match my center which sounds great to me.

They look good on paper, they're small and light, and they come with a ¼" × 20 threaded insert. Go for them.

 

[SOUNDMANFORD]

I will post a review when i get it all set up today. Only down side is they are coming from the evil Best Buy . Thanks for all the recommendations. Now I will have to sell the old JBL/Yamaha System to make the wife happy. It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission right?

 

[afterlife2]

You did say you had an opportunity to get the E20 though? If not get the Pioneer 22's bookshelfs less than 150$ and are available at Best Buy.

 

[SOUNDMANFORD]

Im going to listen to both of them when i go to night. Waiting for a chance to get away from all the family over for Easter.

 

[afterlife2]

Take some CD's with you and have fun.