Klipsh and SVS Surround Speakers

[New Dude]

Hi. I am about to convert my system to 5.2.4. My room is very narrow so I believe bipoles for my side surrounds will enhance the experience vs monopoles which, while preferred in Dolby Atmos set up, will be too identifiable, as the surround will be right next to the seating positions.

Based on my research and budget, I have narrowed down my choices to the Klipsch 502 and the SVS Ultra Surrounds. So here are my questions.....any input is greatly appreciated;

1. Anyone with a recommendation between those two?

2. Anyone have experience with the duet mode on the SVS Ultras to extend the system to 7.x.x? My back area behind the seating area is small, so I am thinking this may be a solution if it expands the immersiveness..

Thank you in advance.

 

[New Dude]

Any

Hi. I am about to convert my system to 5.2.4. My room is very narrow so I believe bipoles for my side surrounds will enhance the experience vs monopoles which, while preferred in Dolby Atmos set up, will be too identifiable, as the surround will be right next to the seating positions.

Based on my research and budget, I have narrowed down my choices to the Klipsch 502 and the SVS Ultra Surrounds. So here are my questions.....any input is greatly appreciated;

1. Anyone with a recommendation between those two?

2. Anyone have experience with the duet mode on the SVS Ultras to extend the system to 7.x.x? My back area behind the seating area is small, so I am thinking this may be a solution if it expands the immersiveness..

Thank you in advance.

Anyone?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Any


Anyone?

Yep. Soon... lol

 

[KEW]

Hi. I am about to convert my system to 5.2.4. My room is very narrow so I believe bipoles for my side surrounds will enhance the experience vs monopoles which, while preferred in Dolby Atmos set up, will be too identifiable, as the surround will be right next to the seating positions.

Based on my research and budget, I have narrowed down my choices to the Klipsch 502 and the SVS Ultra Surrounds. So here are my questions.....any input is greatly appreciated;

1. Anyone with a recommendation between those two?

2. Anyone have experience with the duet mode on the SVS Ultras to extend the system to 7.x.x? My back area behind the seating area is small, so I am thinking this may be a solution if it expands the immersiveness..

Thank you in advance.

If you are not in too big of a hurry, these Infinity Surrounds usually pop up at ~$250/pr on sale from time to time. They have a 5" woofer on the back side with an offset to maintain space between the woofer and the wall!
https://www.harmanaudio.com/speakers/REFERENCE+RS152.html?cgid=speakers&dwvar_REFERENCE RS152_color=Black-USA-Current#spcs_support

They are worth their MSRP, but when on sale, these are an incredible value!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Hi. I am about to convert my system to 5.2.4. My room is very narrow so I believe bipoles for my side surrounds will enhance the experience vs monopoles which, while preferred in Dolby Atmos set up, will be too identifiable, as the surround will be right next to the seating positions.

Based on my research and budget, I have narrowed down my choices to the Klipsch 502 and the SVS Ultra Surrounds. So here are my questions.....any input is greatly appreciated;

1. Anyone with a recommendation between those two?

2. Anyone have experience with the duet mode on the SVS Ultras to extend the system to 7.x.x? My back area behind the seating area is small, so I am thinking this may be a solution if it expands the immersiveness..

Thank you in advance.

What are your current speakers? I would try to match them. I personally like SVS over klipsch, but the duet mode seems dubious IMO. However I’ve not heard them used as such, so...
I have a friend with a 5.4.4 Atmos setup and he uses bipoles du to his narrow room also. I personally dislike bipoles, but the reason you’re intending to use them is legit enough

 

[New Dude]

Thank you much for your input. My current speakers are 15 year old Atlantic Technology 452 THX with dipoles. The sound okay but eventually will be replaced with what I select for surrounds (I know what is not typical). I have a short spaced in the back of the seating area, and I can't practically fit back surrounds. That is what I am asking about the duet mode of the SVS....but I hear you about potentially being gimmickry.

 

[Pogre]

I second favoring SVS over Klipsch. Kew's suggestion looks like a good one too if you're not in a hurry and can catch 'em on sale. If I couldn't find the match I'd probably go the lesser expensive route.

 

[Auditor55]

I second favoring SVS over Klipsch. Kew's suggestion looks like a good one too if you're not in a hurry and can catch 'em on sale. If I couldn't find the match I'd probably go the lesser expensive route.

I've been kind of skeptical about the Ultra Surrounds, their so big and not that much info goes to the surround channels to invest so much in them.

 

[New Dude]

Good point. Because my room is so narrow I may need to go to in wall speakers....suggestions?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I've been kind of skeptical about the Ultra Surrounds, their so big and not that much info goes to the surround channels to invest so much in them.

Gonna disagree here. Modern tracks contain a lot of info, and what many people discount is that it’s not JUST THE SURROUNDS that contribute to surround sound. The way they tie into the front end completes the bubble. My old surrounds were 38 lb beasts and imaged like crazy. This made for a front to back sound field that was seamless, with plenty of phantom imaging behind my LP even before I went to 7.3. Then I sold them to a forum member to finance my atmos upgrade and chose JBL studio iw55 in wall speakers. They are very nice speakers indeed but just aren’t the same. I will recommend them to the OP, but my room is a little wider so he might benefit from bipoles(yikes lol).
The thing I’m not convinced about is the dual mode of the SVS surrounds. Just seems dubious, but I could be all wrong.

 

[New Dude]

Gonna disagree here. Modern tracks contain a lot of info, and what many people discount is that it’s not JUST THE SURROUNDS that contribute to surround sound. The way they tie into the front end completes the bubble. My old surrounds were 38 lb beasts and imaged like crazy. This made for a front to back sound field that was seamless, with plenty of phantom imaging behind my LP even before I went to 7.3. Then I sold them to a forum member to finance my atmos upgrade and chose JBL studio iw55 in wall speakers. They are very nice speakers indeed but just aren’t the same. I will recommend them to the OP, but my room is a little wider so he might benefit from bipoles(yikes lol).
The thing I’m not convinced about is the dual mode of the SVS surrounds. Just seems dubious, but I could be all wrong.

My room is only 11 feet wide so I need to go with in walls. I hear the Definitive techs and b&w are fairly neutral in timber which I need to match with a future TBD LCR purchase and both fairly robust ...did you find the same with the JBLs? Thanks.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

My room is only 11 feet wide so I need to go with in walls. I hear the Definitive techs and b&w are fairly neutral in timber which I need to match with a future TBD LCR purchase and both fairly robust ...did you find the same with the JBLs? Thanks.

Yes I do think they’re nice and neutral. My other bed layer speakers are also JBL so they’re all more similar than different. Not exactly the same but very close, and while I do miss my larger monitor style speakers these haven’t disappointed at all. My in ceiling speakers are RSL c34e’s, and while they are a tad more laid back than the JBL’s they fit right in.

 

[Auditor55]

If you are not in too big of a hurry, these Infinity Surrounds usually pop up at ~$250/pr on sale from time to time. They have a 5" woofer on the back side with an offset to maintain space between the woofer and the wall!
https://www.harmanaudio.com/speakers/REFERENCE+RS152.html?cgid=speakers&dwvar_REFERENCE RS152_color=Black-USA-Current#spcs_support

They are worth their MSRP, but when on sale, these are an incredible value!

Are those bi-pole designs really good for surrounds in a 5.1 systems?

 

[KEW]

Are those bi-pole designs really good for surrounds in a 5.1 systems?

I'm not enough of a HT guy to know the answer to that, I just know the general sound quality of these Infinity Reference speakers is very good, and when they are on sale there is nothing close!

Are you sure they are bipoles and not dipoles?

All I saw on the Harman website is they use patented Hemispherical Soundfield Technology (HST) with lots of benefits described, but no real explanation of the technical implementation..
Infinity/Harman has consistently shown good design and engineering in their speakers and has probably done more research than any other speaker company, so I doubt they would select a conspicuously inferior approach.
LOL, they don't seem like a company fraught with whimsy!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Are those bi-pole designs really good for surrounds in a 5.1 systems?

IMO? No. Bipoles are horrible, and should only be used in very narrow rooms to avoid hot spotting. Many people do like them though so there’s that...

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

LOL, they don't seem like a company fraught with whimsy!

For some reason I think this is the quote of the day.
They could probably sell more speakers if they added chocolaty midrange though...

 

[KEW]

For some reason I think this is the quote of the day.
They could probably sell more speakers if they added chocolaty midrange though...

(Homer voice on)
"Ummm, chocolate!"

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

(Homer voice on)
"Ummm, chocolate!"

Lol. Drool...