Can you have too many drivers ?

[JAMS]

I have 28 total drivers including 2 10" subs!
Thats 4 pair of cabinets of spkrs set a 80hz.
It does sound v/good on music at all frequencys except im used too the unit sounding a little darker with less highs,but there very good highs and am reluctant too cut them on my audio presets till listening for a while!
Zepplin ll remastered was so dark on the spkr setting to large it was like matched that album nicely!
But overall setting all too 80hz really breathed a lot of life too the overall
sound i cant discribe it really!
A bit briter for sure,but v/good sounding so far!
Underestimating the subs ability too do the bass correctly at 80hz was due too my misconception that the beta 8" drivers wouldnt be doing any bass but alot of bass is 80hz and up! They found steve miller in range easily!
I added the extra pair of beta 20s too set on top the L&R beta 50s outputing from the pre out through a audiosource amp200 and they timber match very well i think,!
Does using the pre out split the audio information for the L&R spkrs ,because i wouldnt want that!
Stereo mode seems to have larger sound and closer image with more focas with the 2 pair playing together along with the 2 subs ,so is this ok??
Im 12ft away in listening chair,abit far i guess and l&r are 7ft apart!
But in surround the sides are perfect location and back also 6ft away and the sides are the bic ht-63 2-way horn loaded bi-polar units,wall mounted!
Beta 20s are new extended range tweeter upgraded bring up the rear back surrounds!
The avr is a nad t765 7.2 unit that took modest spkrs to another level my other thx certified 7.1 whiz box never did,cd music is incredible and not irratating above low vol like before!
Using sonicwave optical glass cables feeding bitstream from ps3 & motorola dvr cable tuner,no hdmi going near the NAD,no lip sync problem!
Some members might have even more spkr cabinets and drivers or opinions on this which is ok,thats what i was hoping anyway, it would be nice to think i didnt go completely bonkers!
Audioholic members helped me set this up really well,because i just didnt frankly know what i was doing, x/over setting is apparently critical, any ideas, questions are welcome! I might be a speaker addict,or does the sound do that! I only spent $1600.00 on subs and the 4-pair of surrounds and stole the cherry c360 beta center online,that msrp was like $389.00 for $229.00
Thats what i could afford over time and the NAD t765 was quite painful ,turned gleeful lately! Im on the low end scale on spkrs compared with other members im certain of that!
I have this feeling im not really crazy,but bumbling along somehow doing the right thing buying the affordable infinitys and NAD ,then listening too members ideas really helped more that i can say , my setups really sucked!
So is there a clinic spkr addiction forum or can i stop on my own, i do have 2 other zones left i could !!!!

 

[R-Carpenter]

You need to go to the "Audioholic rehab". Only Bose cubes there!

 

[Audioholics]

"Can you have too many drivers?"

Yes. More does not equal better. Time to sell some speakers.

 

[Robof83]

IMO, you can always have too much of anything.

I certainly wouldn't want 12 billion drivers laying around my house

 

[fredk]

IMO, you can always have too much of anything.

Two things I never have enough of: sex, money...

 

[Robof83]

Haha!!! Touche(can't type accent)

 

[add1t]

Two things

I never have enough of: sex, money...

ha ha
you make me spit my drink to my monitor

 

[Lordoftherings]

My main system setup has 33 speaker drivers, plus two 15" subwoofers.
I'm happy with that, but I know that I can also be satisfied with only 29 drivers plus my two subs. And I will even go further, that I can also be very pleased with 17 drivers plus my two subs.

So the moral of that story is; you don't really need to double the number of drivers to be totally satisfied. At the end, less is better, because it's easier to balance them together. So, to have too many speakers, is just a big ego.

Go for the simplicity of the right equilibrium, from 15 drivers to 20 drivers in a quite large room (say, 30' by 14' by 9') is a good number of drivers to cover all your assets and inhibitions (full coverage around your ears).

Bob

 

[jwhitakr]

I'll admit that I didn't read your entire post. It was ... difficult to read ... to say the least.

But to answer briefly: yes, you have a problem and yes you need to reduce the total number of speakers you are using. (unless I missed somewhere in your original message that your room size is approximately the same as a football stadium)

 

[Chopin_Guy]

Two things I never have enough of: sex, money...

This is probably the best and most important thing to come out of this thread...

Who cares how many drivers you have in your system...that is probably close to the very end (if not at the *very* end) of the list in terms of things that determine actual quality, accuracy, and impact of sound....

Glad to see the humer found in this nonetheless...

 

[JAMS]

I do exsperiment some

A bunch of spkrs,in a single cabinet can add up when theres 4-pair of speaker boxes and total for my 4-pair= 26 drivers!
So just because my front spkr has 4 drivers and my L&R front has 8 total drivers the amp is made for that,no problem !
All total surround drivers=10
So i did add a 2-way pair of beta 20 bookshelf speakers and pre-amped them from the L&R fr and they sit smack dab ontop the front L&R beta 50s,at the least i figured it might brighten up the nad t765 and it did alittle but i found my receivers setup wasnt right ,wrong x/over had the nad a bit warm sounding really!
During stereo listening and cutting the vol up and down on the bookshelf speakers they blended right in and out as if they were one unit,the 50s and 20s timber matched perfectly fine!
I like what im hearing here,i might be crazy but its seems more alive,i might be addicted to these thingys,nope no speaker auction here!!!!

 

[Lordoftherings]

I never download pictures from a camera to a computer before, I'm just not there yet. But it will come eventually.

And if someone does not believe me that there is a total of 33 drivers in my main system, it's too bad. But what I can do next time, is to describe all the speakers that are set in that room. Would that be sufficient for the person that don't believe me?
And why on Earth, should I lie??? What is the benefit of lying on the Internet??? Can that person, that don't believe me, explain that to me, please?
I explained very precisely on my previous post, what my take was on this.
And I was totally honest and sincere.

It seems that it does not pay to be truthful with some people.
That makes me feel sad.

All right, I'll get over that one too, I'm getting used to it by now.

Cheers to everyone else,

Bob

 

[JAMS]

I certainly belive you

Hey i couldnt hardly belive 4-pairs of spkrs im using has 26 drivers so 33 is easily imagined,especially if you have a seperate stereo listening pair!
Weird,i didnt see a post questioning your honesty in the thread?
Who makes the center spkr bar with like 30-40 drivers using faze manipulation for simulated surround,boston acoustics or yamaha but it was like $700.00 when it came out!
Im waiting for a ht guy who has alot of bi-amped gear and like 8 pair of spkrs equaling like 50 spkr drivers,theres a guy with all kinds of setups possible!

 

[Lordoftherings]

Hey i couldnt hardly belive 4-pairs of spkrs im using has 26 drivers so 33 is easily imagined,especially if you have a seperate stereo listening pair!
Weird,i didnt see a post questioning your honesty in the thread?
Who makes the center spkr bar with like 30-40 drivers using faze manipulation for simulated surround,boston acoustics or yamaha but it was like $700.00 when it came out!
Im waiting for a ht guy who has alot of bi-amped gear and like 8 pair of spkrs equaling like 50 spkr drivers,theres a guy with all kinds of setups possible!

Hi Jams,

You did not see a post questioning my honesty, because it was from an unknown person through the wrong channel, if you know what I mean.
Not even a PM.
I know one system that used over 3,000 speakers, not drivers, speakers!
I thing the actual exact number is 3,084 speakers and 8 subwoofers with an 18" driver in each. And not only that, all the speakers are all discrete channels!
And including the 8 subwoofers too!
It is in Los Angeles, in a Theater.

Anyway, I'm not here to discuss this.
But it's very esay to have a lot of drivers in personal home theaters.
Take for example a home theater with 4 dipoles surround speakers that contain 5 drivers on each speaker (2 facing the front, 2 facing the rear, and one facing straight ahead, the woofer). That's already 20 drivers just for four surround speakers. Add another pair of surround for music only, with 3 drivers in each. We're now at 26, without any front speakers yet.
Add some RBH front side speakers (the big ones, with how many drivers on each? Seven or eight?). Add a Paradigm center speaker with 6 drivers.
We are now at about 48 drivers or just about.
Add two front height speakers, with 2 drivers on each.
Add two wide front speakers with 3 drivers on each.
We're now at about 58 drivers, more or less.

So, what's the bid deal with 33 drivers, or in the case of Jams, 29 drivers.
That means I got one more pair of speakers with 2 drivers on each, than you Jams.

But someone, ask me to show him some speakers, by penalizing me on my honesty!!!
Do you understand now why it was my only place, in this thread, to address this unknown person.

I decided that I got more important things to do, than try to convince that unknown person.

My regards to you Jams and all other posters in this thread.

Bob

 

[JAMS]

No Worries

Absolutely the spkr drivers add up,my total just surprized me and i posted that one too get a idea of whats out there being used on ht or music?
Im quite mystified why we havent seen 45 at least drivers being used by our members,seems modesty is making a comeback!!
Or maybe after seeing myself being advised too sell some spkrs, being critisized about there setup or even questioned hits too many nerves huh!

I found a link here on AHTF that shows how too play the new dolby true hd and dts ma lossless codecs without the 7.1 receiver having those upgrades using a ps3 which i have,coo!! set to multi ch lcpm for ps3 and i just put that page on favorites so i can get it right!!
I hate hdmi for audio but i want too hear the dts master audio for myself!
Do you use the newer lossless formats??

 

[Lordoftherings]

Absolutely the spkr drivers add up,my total just surprized me and i posted that one too get a idea of whats out there being used on ht or music?
Im quite mystified why we havent seen 45 at least drivers being used by our members,seems modesty is making a comeback!!
Or maybe after seeing myself being advised too sell some spkrs, being critisized about there setup or even questioned hits too many nerves huh!

I found a link here on AHTF that shows how too play the new dolby true hd and dts ma lossless codecs without the 7.1 receiver having those upgrades using a ps3 which i have,coo!! set to multi ch lcpm for ps3 and i just put that page on favorites so i can get it right!!
I hate hdmi for audio but i want too hear the dts master audio for myself!
Do you use the newer lossless formats??

Yes, you can get the newer audio codecs from your PS3. And you're right again: By setting your PS3 HDMI audio to Mult-ch LPCM (select).

Yes, I use the new audio codecs, I love it. And your PS3 will give you the same full high resolution audio through LPCM; you'll love it too.

Cheers,

Bob