Help with layout and choosing surrounds/rears

[Bloodstriker]

Hi everyone,

I recently came across a chance to purchase a pair Totem Accoustic Lynx at a pretty decent price.

I was thinking of using these as either rears or surrounds in my setup. Currently, I am using a pair of PSB T4s for my surrounds in my 5.1 system.

With the Totems being di/bi-poles, would it make a difference if I swapped out the PSBs for these in a 5.1 arrangement?

Or should I get these and use them in conjunction with the PSBs - Leave the PSBs as surrounds and use the Totems as rears in a 7.1 setup, or have the Totems as surrounds and PSBs as rears?

Any sugguestions would be much appreciated!

 

[3db]

Hi everyone,

I recently came across a chance to purchase a pair Totem Accoustic Lynx at a pretty decent price.

I was thinking of using these as either rears or surrounds in my setup. Currently, I am using a pair of PSB T4s for my surrounds in my 5.1 system.

With the Totems being di/bi-poles, would it make a difference if I swapped out the PSBs for these in a 5.1 arrangement?

Or should I get these and use them in conjunction with the PSBs - Leave the PSBs as surrounds and use the Totems as rears in a 7.1 setup, or have the Totems as surrounds and PSBs as rears?

Any sugguestions would be much appreciated!

Are you using your 5.1 system for multichannel audio formats such as DVDA or SACD? This and your room layout will dictate which speakers you are going to put where.

For multichannel audio formats, its better to use direct radiators (PSB) instead of the di/bi-poles but the problem now is that you won't have a timbre matched sound field in the back.

If you are using your system strictly for 7.1, I put the di/bi-poles as the surrounds and the PSBs in the back.

Hope this helps

 

[jcPanny]

Speaker placement

I agree. The dipoles need to be mounted on the side walls for the proper effect. They will also be a better tonal match for your other totem speakers.

 

[Bloodstriker]

I just wanted to give you guys an update. I bought a pair Totem Acoustic Lynks and tested them in a 5.1 setup last night with the rest of my Totem speakers and the SVS sub.
I compared the differece between the Lynx and the PSB T4. I know this isn't a fair comparison, as the PSBs are towers (much greater range) and the Totems are just surround speakers. I thought this might help with anyone considering running full towers or using di/bi-pole surrounds.

While the Lynks definitely sound different, I can't say that it sounds better than the PSB towers. Here are the details:

I first tested a selection of 2CH music played on Dolby Prologic. with the T4s, the rear channels had more of a pin-point accuracy (in regards to positioning). I could tell exactly where the speakers were and the sounds were more clear. On the other hand, the Lynx setup had more of an enveloping sound bubble, but less subtle. I couldn't tell exactly were the speakers were, but at the same time the sounds were not as clear.

Next I tested 2CH music using 5 Channel Stereo. The PSB setup made it sound as if the sound coming from all 5 directions were equal. With the Lynks, the front and centers became more apparent and the rears felt like they were again trying to create a sound bubble.

With DVD audio, the PSB wins hands down. Instruments from the surrounds sound like instruments in the surrounds. With the Lynks, it seemed like an instrument in the back covered the entire rear quarter of the sound bubble. It was really strange, as it felt like the instruments were floating in the air. Well, that's the best way to describe it.

With movies, it was a bit of a wash and it really depends on personal preference. Again, the Lynks created a much wider soundfield and really gave the illusion of the sound bubble. But they don't have the same pin point accuracy of the towers. I played the drum/pebble game of The House of Flying Daggers, and listened to when the stones hit the drums. With the PSBs, it sounded like the stone hit a specific drum at a specific location behind the listener. With the Totems, I could not tell where to drum was other than just behind/beside me somewhere. On the other hand, the Totems gave more of a feeling of ambience. Right before the Drum scene, a crowd gathers to watch. You can hear footsteps and people quietly talking. The Totems gave the illusion that I was actually in the room with them, and I could tell that the room had hard surfaces and was quite large. With the PSBs, it just sounded like a room. I will have to say that I don't know what was intended with the recording - maybe it was the sound guy was trying to make it sound like "just a room."

Once I have a chance to test these in a 7.1 setup, I will let you guys know. I just need to buy a ton of speaker wire now.

 

[3db]

I just wanted to give you guys an update. I bought a pair Totem Acoustic Lynks and tested them in a 5.1 setup last night with the rest of my Totem speakers and the SVS sub.
I compared the differece between the Lynx and the PSB T4. I know this isn't a fair comparison, as the PSBs are towers (much greater range) and the Totems are just surround speakers. I thought this might help with anyone considering running full towers or using di/bi-pole surrounds.

While the Lynks definitely sound different, I can't say that it sounds better than the PSB towers. Here are the details:

I first tested a selection of 2CH music played on Dolby Prologic. with the T4s, the rear channels had more of a pin-point accuracy (in regards to positioning). I could tell exactly where the speakers were and the sounds were more clear. On the other hand, the Lynx setup had more of an enveloping sound bubble, but less subtle. I couldn't tell exactly were the speakers were, but at the same time the sounds were not as clear.

Next I tested 2CH music using 5 Channel Stereo. The PSB setup made it sound as if the sound coming from all 5 directions were equal. With the Lynks, the front and centers became more apparent and the rears felt like they were again trying to create a sound bubble.

With DVD audio, the PSB wins hands down. Instruments from the surrounds sound like instruments in the surrounds. With the Lynks, it seemed like an instrument in the back covered the entire rear quarter of the sound bubble. It was really strange, as it felt like the instruments were floating in the air. Well, that's the best way to describe it.

With movies, it was a bit of a wash and it really depends on personal preference. Again, the Lynks created a much wider soundfield and really gave the illusion of the sound bubble. But they don't have the same pin point accuracy of the towers. I played the drum/pebble game of The House of Flying Daggers, and listened to when the stones hit the drums. With the PSBs, it sounded like the stone hit a specific drum at a specific location behind the listener. With the Totems, I could not tell where to drum was other than just behind/beside me somewhere. On the other hand, the Totems gave more of a feeling of ambience. Right before the Drum scene, a crowd gathers to watch. You can hear footsteps and people quietly talking. The Totems gave the illusion that I was actually in the room with them, and I could tell that the room had hard surfaces and was quite large. With the PSBs, it just sounded like a room. I will have to say that I don't know what was intended with the recording - maybe it was the sound guy was trying to make it sound like "just a room."

Once I have a chance to test these in a 7.1 setup, I will let you guys know. I just need to buy a ton of speaker wire now.

The 4T's in a 5.1 setup will not give you nearly as much of a diffuse sound field as the Lynks because they are monopoles. For movies, you want your surrounds to layer out a diffuse sound field where as (what the Lynks are designed to do) with multichannel audio like your DVD-A, you want the beaming of monopoles (4T's strength) . It all comes down to a personal preference thing in the end.

Thanks for the update

 

[Bloodstriker]

The thing is that I like both the diffuse and direct effect of both speakers. Wouldn't it be nice if we had the technology to have separate channels for diffuse for ambience and direct for localization? That way we can have our cake and eat it too!!