Surround question

[SimplyEpic]

Trying to find the best configuration.
I am planning on getting the Martin Logan 60XTI towers for fronts with the 50XTI center and am wondering of there is a benefit to getting a dedicated surround speaker for the rears such as the Motion FX or would it be better to buy some bookshelf speakers like the 35XTI or would it be best to have 2 additional 60XTI towers.

This is strictly dealing with sound quality and overall performance of a 5.2 configuration with all costs not being a factor. This is also relating to both music and movie although I don't know how much the music will be upmixed to 5.x. I also would be placing all speakers at ear level.
Just trying to learn and my limited experience has been with computer speakers where the 4 satellites are the same with a specific center and subs. This experience has given good results for the most part but is on a completely different scale and performance level which I do feel is a good representation of the best setups.

 

[lovinthehd]

Well ideally all five would be the same; a center is a compromise for tvs. Might be hard to use one as a center unless you have a acoustically transparent screen or a display mounted above. If you have the space/money for towers all around I say go for it, particularly for multich music.

 

[SimplyEpic]

Perfect. I appreciate the confirmation. I figured the rear towers at the least may give for added frequency range over the smaller speakers. The extra frequency range should add some depth and fuller sound especially with a sub at each end is what I believed but have never worked with surround speakers before

 

[ryanosaur]

Towers all around would be ... well... simply epic.

If you have space, and unless you are doing some serious critical listening in 5.1 channel audio, I would say go with the Stand Mount option over the FX speakers. A good Stand mount in place of the Center can be better than a bad Center speaker. But if the option comes down to a good 3-way Center vs a good 2-way option, I would choose the 3-way. IIRC, the 50XTI is just a 2-way MTM though.

If you are using good subs... save the money on surround towers.

If you are not using Subs... you should be.

 

[lovinthehd]

Perfect. I appreciate the confirmation. I figured the rear towers at the least may give for added frequency range over the smaller speakers. The extra frequency range should add some depth and fuller sound especially with a sub at each end is what I believed but have never worked with surround speakers before

I recently went for towers for surrounds (altho not matching L/R, but the next step down in same series); altho my rear surrounds are still bookshelves in same series just due layout of room (and have four subs too). It's a fairly large room and think it has an edge over the bookshelves I used before (and now moved to my smaller bedroom where they're fine). BTW the subs need not match. How big is your room?

 

[ryanosaur]

Agreed. I like the idea. The 60XTIs aren't cheap though. Hell, that whole lineup ain't cheap, even on sale.Flagship towers at L/R, smaller towers in the lineup at C/SL/SR... Standmounts at Rear. And 3 High Quality Subs!

 

[SimplyEpic]

My room is 25x15 but has 22 foot vaulted ceilings (just over 8300 cubic feet). It is also part of an open floor plan for the main floor of the house and to add insult to injury it also has a balcony for the master bedroom that overlooks it. Did I mention the 20 foot vaulted windows as well :-S . Acoustically it is a audiophile nightmare. It is a major echo chamber with hardwood floors and hard surfaces. I have pics in a different thread titled Odd large room assistance. I plan on setting up the 3.1 with the receiver and amp and adding the rears and second sub shortly after so I am not worried about the extra cost of the rear towers. I figured I will avoid up firing speakers because they would run fire parallel to the ceiling and not looking to add speakers to the vaulted ceiling at this time especially with the ceiling fan in the middle. I figure if I was to get everything I am looking at currently without sales I am looking at a $12k bill or so. I just know I will be getting good sound for a change.

Hell call it a midlife crisis but at least me ant the wife will be happy lol. We need to get away from a crappy shelf system and standard TV speakers (shudder).

 

[ryanosaur]

Ha! Definitely no bouncy-houce atmos modules for you!

If you can afford towers all around, go for it. An important consideration will be some sort of riser for the surround towers: you do want those to have the tweeter above ear level.
Your front 3... Your best performance would come from another tower, or their larger Standmount speaker at center, but if you need to go horizontal...

Just out of curiosity, do you have anybody near you that deals Monitor Audio? I liked the Silver Series better than the ML Motions. They have a pretty good 3-way Center too.

 

[SimplyEpic]

I will look around but I don't have much near me. I live in the country and the nearest "music equipment" stores would be either a Bust buy or a Guitar center which are both about 45 minute drive. everything else is over an hour easy. At least in the country it's harder to piss off the neighbors.

 

[ryanosaur]

Whereabouts?
Yeah, Monitor Audio isn't a big name here in the states, but the gear is legit. They definitely aren't a BB/Magnolia brand.
If that's what you have to work with, though, you are picking the best they have to offer in the Motions.
The first day I did speaker auditions, I listened to the KEF Q and R series, then the Motion 60s... If I had cash on me, I would have bought them on the spot.

 

[SimplyEpic]

I'm just outside Princeton Minnesota. There are some other stores I have heard of but they are on the other side of the cities from me. I would basically need to take a day off work to go audition speakers once the Stay at home orders lift. While I have heard some amazing equipment at Guitar Center but it wouldn't pass the WAF if I made my living room look like a concert venue lol.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I'm just outside Princeton Minnesota. There are some other stores I have heard of but they are on the other side of the cities from me. I would basically need to take a day off work to go audition speakers once the Stay at home orders lift. While I have heard some amazing equipment at Guitar Center but it wouldn't pass the WAF if I made my living room look like a concert venue lol.

I hear you on selection. I’m south of BRD a little bit. BB is a joke and St. Cloud isn’t much better. Mpls, well.....

 

[Pogre]

This is a fun one!

If you can swing it, all towers all the way around is the most ideal, tho not most cost effective! I would not cut my subwoofer budget to make room for all towers. If it doesn't force you to skimp on subwoofage tho, I not only whole heartedly recommend this plan for a cost no object system but also request pics when you get it all set up! Have fun and enjoy the ride!

 

[SimplyEpic]

I have been looking at 2 SVS SB-4000 for subs but not completely set on a specific sub yet. I do like the smaller sealed units for aesthetic and space conservation. The ported subs can be very large and unless I turn one into a massaging ottoman I don't think the wife would allow one of the really large ones lol. Wait..... That may be a new selling point... hmmm might have to see about that mod.

 

[Verdinut]

You have a big listening room. I would suggest that you opt for ported subs which are more efficient in the infrasonic frequencies and have other advantages over the sealed sub.
The sealed subwoofer is to be used only when your room is small and you don't have much space for the bigger ported cabinets.

 

[Pogre]

You have a big listening room. I would suggest that you opt for ported subs which are more efficient in the infrasonic frequencies and have other advantages over the sealed sub.
The sealed subwoofer is to be used only when your room is small and you don't have much space for the bigger ported cabinets.

Agreed. How many sealed subs would it take to match the output of a single ported? Isn't it 4? In that size of a room I'd want 4 if going sealed.

Wait... you have room for 5 towers but not for ported subs?!

 

[Verdinut]

Agreed. How many sealed subs would it take to match the output of a single ported? Isn't it 4? In that size of a room I'd want 4 if going sealed.

Wait... you have room for 5 towers but not for ported subs?!

Four ported ones would even be better than 4 sealed ones with that room size.

 

[lovinthehd]

Yeah tend to agree the two sealed subs in that sized space aren't going to do it, four maybe If you're talking two Deep Sea Sound Mariana 24's, maybe two of those.

I did build some risers for my towers for surrounds to get them up above ear level, too.

 

[SimplyEpic]

Building Risers is easy. I have a friend who does woodworking and would enjoy making some matching risers. I will need to look into the ported subs. Maybe the PB series from SVS instead of the SB. So many to look at. Good thing is anything will be a massive improvement over what I have now. Makes it to where my expectations can be low and higher appreciation factor. Closest thing I have been able to do with the Stay at home order is listen to some demo's on Youtube so I am doing this setup all on a leap of faith in reviews and some specs provided by the manufacturers. I know the videos aren't a good representation since each has different setups including the mics used for recording, recording settings and many other factors. t best it gives me a slight representation of certain characteristics which I still take with a bucket of salt. An example is most of the video's I see make the Klipsch RP series sound like they are lacking in mid range (at least on my PC setup). I can tell from the videos that they do seem to have more bass than the Martin Logan's but I will be using Subs so that is less of a concern. From what I can tell (again with a bucket of salt) it feels like the ML have a more rounded or balanced sound in the higher portion of the low frequencies to the lower portion of the high frequencies than the Klipsch as well as softer highs on the upper frequency bands.

Either way I could go with a theater in a box and it would be a great improvement for both movies and music compared to what I have.

 

[Pogre]

I would prefer ML over Klipsch based on what I've heard in stores, tho I haven't had a chance to listen to the latest and newest yet.