Upgrading 5:1 to 7:1 recommendations needed

[lagirl95]

Hello All,

New here. Lurk every once in a while, but never post.

We presently have 4-Infinity ERS 210IIs ceiling speakers 2 for LR and 2 for surround, using ERS HV250 as center. Subwoofer I'm not sure the brand or any of the specs. We would like to upgrade the speakers to 7:1 but we can no longer find the ERS 210IIs.

How do you know what speakers will pair well with the above speakers. It don't have to be the same brand. Any recommendations appreciated. Budget wise like to stay under 150.00-200 for a pair.

Would we do better moving the surround 210IIs to the side and putting the new speakers as surround back or would it be ok to add the new speakers to the side. Hopefully the latter as may be hard to find exact size speaker to fit where the 210iis are presently.

Thanks in advance.
lagirl95

 

[j_garcia]

That's a tough one since different speakers are not going to be a perfect timbre match for your current ones. I'd try to stick with Infinity to get a close match, you can look at the tweeter and midrange driver materials to get an idea if they will be close, but likely won't be a perfect match to current models. Surrounds are less critical, so a little mismatch is OK, but a big mismatch will be noticeable IMO. Worst case, you'd want to replace the current ones and put in 4 matching new ones.

 

[agarwalro]

Add the back surrounds only if they will be 5-7ft. behind the seating position. If not, they will take away from the experience than add to it.

 

[Crackerballer]

Add the back surrounds only if they will be 5-7ft. behind the seating position. If not, they will take away from the experience than add to it.

I added my back surrounds on my wall literally right behind the sitting area and I really like them there. I know where they are *suppose* to go, but for what they do as far as surround (wind and snow blowing in Captain America, fire crackling, etc) they really add some uniqueness.

 

[agarwalro]

I added my back surrounds on my wall literally right behind the sitting area and I really like them there. I know where they are *suppose* to go, but for what they do as far as surround (wind and snow blowing in Captain America, fire crackling, etc) they really add some uniqueness.

In a living room theater the possible speaker layout/locations frequently get limited by convenience, decor, wives and toddler safety needs, all mastering and reproduction standards (Dolby, DTS, THX, Audessy) come with strict speaker placement instructions. Example, THX locations are specified as,

while, DTS locations are specified as,

and, Audessy DSX 11.1 specifies,

 

[GranteedEV]

My setup is identical to the DTS locations.

I was playing some uncharted 3 and you'd swear people were talking behind me.

 

[lagirl95]

Our room dimensions are 18X23 with 12 ft ceilings. Speaker locations are sub directly behind tv with center above and right and left in line with center. Surrounds are directly above the listening area.

Would it be any benefit to add two side speakers between the Center,FR,FL and the Surrounds. Make the sides the surrounds and above the listening area SBL,SBR. If I go 6-7 feet beyond I will be in my kitchen.

Do they have small bookshelf speakers that I could mount on my cabinets that would pair with our exsisting speakers. This would match the DTS diagram above.

 

[j_garcia]

I would fill in the ones that are currently there in and move them a few feet back for the rear surrounds, then add the side surrounds a few feet to either side of the listening position. It should provide a decent effect. NONE of them should be directly over the listening area IMO, because surround is supposed to be diffused, not direct. My rears are stand mounted about 4ft behind the listening position and it works very well.

 

[agarwalro]

Our room dimensions are 18X23 with 12 ft ceilings. Speaker locations are sub directly behind tv with center above and right and left in line with center. Surrounds are directly above the listening area.

From what I gather, the speakers have been placed in a manner contrary to their intend use. The preferred in wall locations (when seated, tweeters as close to ear level as possible) will be like this...

No speakers are shown in-ceiling. That is not an accident and no ceiling locations have any use in a good home theater. That said, in ceiling speakers specifically for home theater use are made and people are happy with them.

Would it be any benefit to add two side speakers between the Center,FR,FL and the Surrounds. Make the sides the surrounds and above the listening area SBL,SBR.

Nope. That will completely ruin the sound. The sides should never be ahead of the seating position and likewise the SBL/SBR need to be behind it.

If I go 6-7 feet beyond I will be in my kitchen.

The 6-7ft. distance depends on room size and what is more necessary is them being behind. If the room doesn't have the requisite size, don't force the upgrade. Instead, focus on getting the 5.1 optimized.