Adding presence speakers to 5.1 system

[mikeintexas]

I have Sony 5.1 speakers and just bought a Yamaha RXV-779 7.1 receiver.
my house has one great room that includes living, dining and kitchen. It is about 28'x28' altogether.
The listening area is in one quadrant and my surround speakers are mounted slightly behind my listening area from the ceiling.

I wanted to try out using the two extra speakers for a virtual rear/presence arrangement.
trying to decide between a pair of Fluance XL7S and Klipsch Synergy B-20's.

is anyone using this kind of arrangement and any recommendations on which speakers.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

Best-case choice would be a bookshelf version of whatever speakers you’re currently using. However, these speakers don’t require anything special. I used to have a pair of matching speakers, but now I’m using a pair of old Realistic Minimus 7’s, mainly because I wanted something small and unobtrusive after we moved to a new house. Can’t say I could tell a difference.

Bottom line, if you can’t do “best case” for some reason, just pick something.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Latent]

Yamaha presence speakers actually don't output any low frequency sound at all meaning small micro satilite speakers that most audiophiles would shudder at the thought of can work well. I would look for the smallest speaker you can find that has a similar tweater design to your main speakers if possible. However there is a dialog lift function yamaha has that can be helpful if your tv is higher than your center speaker and this may require slightly fuller range speakers ideally.

Also consider how you will wall mount it as standard sized small booshelves are often over the 10 pound limit of most small wall mounts and require much bigger mounts. Smaller speakers often have built in keyhole or screw holes for connecting wall mounts.

And finally note that presence speakers have a differen't mounting position than atmos front height speakers if you were thinking of upgrading to this at some point. And atmos needs fuller range speakers.

 

[herbu]

I wanted to try out using the two extra speakers for a virtual rear/presence arrangement.

Mike, I'm a little confused by the wording of your question. Let me say it another way, and please tell me if I'm right...

"I have a 7.1 AVR, but am only using it for 5.1. I want to add the Rear Surrounds for a 7.1 setup."

Is that right? Your use of "virtual rear" and "presence" has me confused.

With what you have now, if you're going for traditional 7.1 with rear surrounds, either of your choices are adequate. The rear surrounds usually get sounds of a dog barking, creaking door, doorbell, etc. Compared to your Front Left/Right & Center, the rear surrounds are just sound effects.

I would spend little on them at this time. Better to start savings for a L/C/R speaker and subwoofer(s) upgrade.

 

[mikeintexas]

herbu,
the Yamaha 779 has a virtual rear configuration where the 2 rear speakers are mounted to the front wall.
I was reading the manual and trying to decide if it was worth it as my listening area is about 12 feet from the front speakers but it is another 20 feet to the rear wall.
thanks

 

[Latent]

That feature has nothing to do with virtual rear. The avr can power 7 speakers. You can connect surround back and front presence speakers ar the same time but the unit will only power one set. By default the surround backs are used and then if you enable a cinema dsp mode and then it switches to use front presence instead.

If you are close to the back wall then rear speakers just don't work so front heigh or presence speakers give you an alternative.

Virtual rear is a different feature the uses a dsp to simulate rear speakers from your front speakers.

Also note yamaha front presence is just to output dsp calulated early reflection sound to give the room more spaciousness or some such or to simulate bigger alternative listening environments. As well as this they have a dialog lift feature to redirect sone center channel to these speakers to lift the sound to your high mounted tv.

Other AVR makers have front height speakers instead as an option and they do sort of similar things but use different dsp modes to generate this audio like dts neo:x and audyssey dsx and prologic IIz. Each sounds a little different. And then there is atmos and dts:x which are more advanced and their is real data for these channels if the source has it.

 

[herbu]

herbu,
the Yamaha 779 has a virtual rear configuration where the 2 rear speakers are mounted to the front wall.
I was reading the manual and trying to decide if it was worth it as my listening area is about 12 feet from the front speakers but it is another 20 feet to the rear wall.
thanks

Mike,
Latent is on the right track. Many 7.1 AVRs have standard/fixed 5.1 outputs, and let you decide how you want to use the remaining 2 amps. You can choose Rear Surrounds, (which is traditional). Or you can choose Front Wides. Or you can choose Front Heights.

I think 20 feet to the rear wall is an advantage, not a disadvantage.

1) You can adjust the volume of each speaker individually to "balance" differences in distance. Yamaha's YPAO will do it automatically for you.

2) Rear Surrounds are for sound effects that are intended to come from behind you. A bigger distance helps them sound like they really are behind, not beside you.

3) Most movie soundtracks are in 5.1. Any other channels are artificially created within your AVR. But some movies are produced in 7.1. The sound engineers specifically put what they want in the Rear Surround channels. If you have configured your 2 amps for Front Heights or Wides, you will trade the intended rear effects for artificial front effects.

If it were me, I'd use the Rear Surrounds.

 

[Latent]

Rears can work a long way back. Just be aware that to compensate for the longer distance they will run louder. If there is going to be someone near to them while you watch they could be a pain. You can run front presence speakers as well which allows you to switch between the two options depending on the situation. If you did this I would spend more on getting ok matching rear speakers and presence speakers you can find a cheaper mini wall mountable speaker or get something second hand even.