speakers for my new home theatre

[Hojun Yu]

Hello,

I'm building a new 4750 cubic feet home theatre with 7.1 system.
It would be mostly for watching movies.

Now I am considering

B&W CM7,CM centre 2, ASW10CM for the front
or
Paradigm 85F, 55C and Sub12

Paradigm looks a little bit better according to the specification and a little bit cheaper with current on sale. But I am more familiar with B&W brand.

I live in a small town in Canada and I am not able to have a chance to listen to them and I don't have that many choices. I could not get clear answer which brand I should choose even after some researches.

Can I get any opinion from you?

Also I am considering Denon AVR-X4200W for receiver. Is it good enough to drive those speakers?

Many thanks
Hojun

 

[Jeffrey S. Albaugh]

Hello,

I'm building a new 4750 cubic feet home theatre with 7.1 system.
It would be mostly for watching movies.

Now I am considering

B&W CM7,CM centre 2, ASW10CM for the front
or
Paradigm 85F, 55C and Sub12

Paradigm looks a little bit better according to the specification and a little bit cheaper with current on sale. But I am more familiar with B&W brand.

I live in a small town in Canada and I am not able to have a chance to listen to them and I don't have that many choices. I could not get clear answer which brand I should choose even after some researches.

Can I get any opinion from you?

Also I am considering Denon AVR-X4200W for receiver. Is it good enough to drive those speakers?

Many thanks
Hojun

OK, looks like very good choices. I would also recommend looking at Goldenears.com. Also, there are some seriously great Transmission Line loaded speakers highly praised here. In regards to B & W, I think you should know that they were just very recently sold to the President of the San Francisco 49'ers, who is also an audiophile. I'm not sure if that changes your mind in any way. But, good to know. Best of luck.

 

[shadyJ]

The B&W and Paradigm speakers look fine, but their subwoofers look weak. Another option I would be looking at in Canada is Impulse Audio, here are their cinema lines and their life lines. It is a Canada only company being launched by a friend of mine, a VERY smart guy. The subs and especially speakers will be very high performers. I am betting they will be more accurate than the B&W and Paradigm and also have a much wider dynamic range. Considering the cost of the speaker components, Impulse speakers are a very high value proposition relative to other speaker companies.

 

[Hojun Yu]

The B&W and Paradigm speakers look fine, but their subwoofers look weak. Another option I would be looking at in Canada is Impulse Audio, here are their cinema lines and their life lines. It is a Canada only company being launched by a friend of mine, a VERY smart guy. The subs and especially speakers will be very high performers. I am betting they will be more accurate than the B&W and Paradigm and also have a much wider dynamic range. Considering the cost of the speaker components, Impulse speakers are a very high value proposition relative to other speaker companies.

Do you mean B&W ASW10CM is weak compared to CM9 (Paradigm Sub 12 to F85) or weak for the room size?

Thanks

 

[shadyJ]

I mean all of the subs from B&W and Paradigm are weak in terms of serious dynamic range, except for the higher end Paradigm subs, but they are very expensive.

 

[Hojun Yu]

OK, looks like very good choices. I would also recommend looking at Goldenears.com. Also, there are some seriously great Transmission Line loaded speakers highly praised here. In regards to B & W, I think you should know that they were just very recently sold to the President of the San Francisco 49'ers, who is also an audiophile. I'm not sure if that changes your mind in any way. But, good to know. Best of luck.

Thanks for your answer.

I found that the Goldenears has very good reputations.
Which series would you like to recommend for my theatre room including centre speaker?

Thanks
Hojun

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

It is a Canada only company being launched by a friend of mine, a VERY smart guy. The subs and especially speakers will be very high performers. I am betting they will be more accurate than the B&W and Paradigm and also have a much wider dynamic range.

I Wish your buddy would provide more info and measurements like Ascend and Dennis's Philharmonic.
sidenote: Including pro-digitial input on sub - is that really commonly required feature?
Leaving Mini-DSP fully open is asking for trouble for some dumbass to EQ up a band by too much and fry the amp and/or drivers

 

[shadyJ]

I Wish your buddy would provide more info and measurements like Ascend and Dennis's Philharmonic.
sidenote: Including pro-digitial input on sub - is that really commonly required feature?
Leaving Mini-DSP fully open is asking for trouble for some dumbass to EQ up a band by too much and fry the amp and/or drivers

The measurements are certainly very good, and yeah, he should post them. Digital inputs are certainly not required for most systems, but it definitely doesn't hurt to have them. That would be a great feature for integrating the subwoofer into pro-audio setups like studio sound systems. Also, I doubt that the miniDSP will ever cause a problem for any user. While it's possible, it's very unlikely. Dumbasses aren't buying from Impulse Audio, there are other brands for such people.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

@Hojun Yu You already got pretty good advices here:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/advice-for-my-home-theare.105035/#post-1152546
That was then you considered going in-wall. Did you decide to abandon that idea?

So going stand alone - same rules apply: Front LCRs are crucial, surrounds much less so.
One more thing, despite minor bickering with ShadyJ, he's not wrong - B&W and Paradigm both make poor value subs. This does not mean that all brick and mortar subs poor in performance - ie: Paradigm's Sub2 doesn't lack any performance, but it comes at hefty price of 10k.
The good news is you don't have to match sub and speakers vendor at all.

If I were you, I'd trust PSB speakers and SVS subs from sonicboom audio, like this one :
http://www.sonicboomaudio.com/box-subwoofers-c-1/plus-series-c-1_8/pb12plus-box-sub-12-plus-125-woofer-sledge-amp-p-23.html
To improve it's value you'd need to go to CSS and get a Duet sub kit
http://www.sonicboomaudio.com/box-subwoofers-c-1/plus-series-c-1_8/pb12plus-box-sub-12-plus-125-woofer-sledge-amp-p-23.html

 

[Jeffrey S. Albaugh]

Thanks for your answer.

I found that the Goldenears has very good reputations.
Which series would you like to recommend for my theatre room including centre speaker?

Thanks
Hojun

It really depends on your budget. I would recommend the Triton 1's for the front. Their Super XXL Subwoofer is off the chart!. They have a number of great Center Channel Speakers that vary in size. Check out www.goldenears.com. The owner, Sandy Gross lives very close to me in Maryland.Checkout the reviews. Also, Sandy was a partner originally with Polk Audio, and later he started Definitive Technologies, where he sold it and moved on to Goldenears. Best of Luck.

 

[Jeffrey S. Albaugh]

It really depends on your budget. I would recommend the Triton 1's for the front. Their Super XXL Subwoofer is off the chart!. They have a number of great Center Channel Speakers that vary in size. Check out www.goldenears.com. The owner, Sandy Gross lives very close to me in Maryland.Checkout the reviews. Also, Sandy was a partner originally with Polk Audio, and later he started Definitive Technologies, where he sold it and moved on to Goldenears. Best of Luck.

I made one mistake. With the Triton 1's or 2's, you do not need subwoofers. There are great subs built in to these speakers. Sorry about that.

 

[KenM10759]

If you like the Paradigm Prestige 85F and can get a great price on them, buy them. They're high performing, perfect for both music and HT, and very pretty to look at.

 

[Hojun Yu]

@Hojun Yu You already got pretty good advices here:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/advice-for-my-home-theare.105035/#post-1152546
That was then you considered going in-wall. Did you decide to abandon that idea?

So going stand alone - same rules apply: Front LCRs are crucial, surrounds much less so.
One more thing, despite minor bickering with ShadyJ, he's not wrong - B&W and Paradigm both make poor value subs. This does not mean that all brick and mortar subs poor in performance - ie: Paradigm's Sub2 doesn't lack any performance, but it comes at hefty price of 10k.
The good news is you don't have to match sub and speakers vendor at all.

If I were you, I'd trust PSB speakers and SVS subs from sonicboom audio, like this one :
http://www.sonicboomaudio.com/box-subwoofers-c-1/plus-series-c-1_8/pb12plus-box-sub-12-plus-125-woofer-sledge-amp-p-23.html
To improve it's value you'd need to go to CSS and get a Duet sub kit
http://www.sonicboomaudio.com/box-subwoofers-c-1/plus-series-c-1_8/pb12plus-box-sub-12-plus-125-woofer-sledge-amp-p-23.html

Thanks again.

Yes I got a lot of help from your advices, So I decided to go floor stand speakers
from in-wall speakers as your advice.

SVS sub is quite attractive.
So you recommend pb12 plus model?
I can not find CSS on your link. Is that another brand?

I attached my home theatre plan. Could you recommend the placement of the sub between front right and rear left?

Just one other question,
for the rear speakers, which location is better? rear wall or rear end ceiling?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Oh, A dedicated theater for 8 seats? You're going to need to invest minimum in two subs
I'd recommend Acoustically transparent (AT) screen and 3 identical tower speakers in front (in addition to two subs) and do 7.2 or 9.2 speaker layout. (for 9.2 just add one more SR/SL for 2nd row) For surround speaker, I'd consider on-wall speakers like JBL Arena 120's for example. Front towers need to be very dynamic and ether easy to power or you should have a lot of power driving them. Suddenly your 10k budget doesn't seems like huge

(more info here: https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Editorial/Building-Home-Theater-Part-1-Introduction-and-Planning/Room-Layout-and-Component-0)

My guess you'd also need a projector with relatively short throw distance (but I let experts chime in on that).

Posted wrong link for CSS before, I appologize:
http://www.creativesound.ca/products.php?make=CSS

 

[Hojun Yu]

Oh, A dedicated theater for 8 seats? You're going to need to invest minimum in two subs
I'd recommend Acoustically transparent (AT) screen and 3 identical tower speakers in front (in addition to two subs) and do 7.2 or 9.2 speaker layout. (for 9.2 just add one more SR/SL for 2nd row) For surround speaker, I'd consider on-wall speakers like JBL Arena 120's for example. Front towers need to be very dynamic and ether easy to power or you should have a lot of power driving them. Suddenly your 10k budget doesn't seems like huge

(more info here: https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Editorial/Building-Home-Theater-Part-1-Introduction-and-Planning/Room-Layout-and-Component-0)

My guess you'd also need a projector with relatively short throw distance (but I let experts chime in on that).

Posted wrong link for CSS before, I appologize:
http://www.creativesound.ca/products.php?make=CSS

Wow thanks again !

Because of the budget,
what do you think about installing two SVS PB-2000
or one PB12-plus?

Many thanks in advance.
Hojun

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Wow thanks again !

Because of the budget,
what do you think about installing two SVS PB-2000
or one PB12-plus?

Many thanks in advance.
Hojun

two is almost a must. If you start with one, the bass won't be even for all seats.
Because of such large space, I'd says a pair of PB12Plus would be better.
CSS sub kits will over better value over SVS as you could put both subs behind AT screen and just have the boxes spray painted black few coats.
Pair of CSS SDX12B Sub Kit with BASH500 amp is only $500 (Canadian)
http://www.creativesound.ca/details.php?model=Duet SDX12B

 

[Hojun Yu]

But it looks like DIY kit. I am not familiar or comfortable with those kits.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

But it looks like DIY kit. I am not familiar or comfortable with those kits.

True. You could look into outsourcing box construction to local carpenter shop . It's should be a a very simple build and if you going multiple - it should lower overall cost per each.