5.1, 7.1, dipole?? (newbie)

[tparmer]

Hello everyone. I am just beginning to finish my basement which includes my first ever dedicated theater. I have a question for you guys... placement and types (direct radiator or dipoles) formy side and possibly rear speakers.

My room will be 12X22X8 with a 1 ft riser for second row beginning at about 12 feet back. One row begins at 9 feet (seat backs at about 12 feet) and the second row starting at about 14 1/2 (seat backs at about 17.

My goal is for the center chair in the first row to be the sweet spot, but I don't want the experience in the second row to be overly compromised to achieve this. I lsiten to a lot of music but movies will be the prioity.

Any suggestions? Not only for placement but also for type; direct radiating, dipole, etc 5.1 or 7.1?????? I love JM Lab Chorus S line, but I am afraid I ned to run dipoles on the sides and JM Lab has no voice matched dipoles. Help. Thanks

 

[flyv65]

I wouldn't worry to much about the dipoles/bi-poles for the surround speakers: yes, THX and the hard-core movie types will rail at you for not getting sufficient "diffusion"; but 5.1 music is much better with direct radiating (or mono-pole), and IMHO, I'm not sure that I don't like movies better with mono-pole speakers...sometimes I think the surround channels sound a little "fuzzy" with bi- or di- speakers. Pick a couple of movies you're familiar with and give a listen. I like the bi-/di- stuff for sweeping movement (like in the pod race in PM), but I prefer mono- for the lobby shootout scene in the Matrix...what do you guys think?

Bryan...speakers that are good for music will be good for movies ...

 

[tparmer]

thanks

all I needed was a little positive reinforcement to convince me to buy my favorite budget speakers; Focal-Jm Lab Chorus S 716s. Now, can I swing the Arcam AVR 250 or settle for the Marantz SR7500?!

really, thanks for taking time to reply.

 

[flyv65]

I really like the Arcam stuff, but a couple of points come to mind: one, the AVR is 75 watts into 7 channels driven (100 into 2); two, the AVR 250 doesn't have preouts, so *if* you decide you want more power for larger JMLab speakers (don't say the thought hasn't crossed your mind) you'll need and amp AND a pre/pro (can you say AV8 and P7?); and lastly, isn't the AVR250 about $700 more than the Marantz? Now, I don't know what the Marantz is rated at (although I think it has preouts), but $700 is a noteworthy chunk of change...I lean towards the Marantz and a separate amp in the future.

Bryan...but the Arcam stuff is SO nice...