How Bad Is It To Use Srurrounds Up Front...Really?

[rnw124]

I have a pair of Klipsch VS-14s I'm using as mains. They are powered by a Denon AVR391. I think they sound pretty good, though I'm fairly new to this hobby. I have a Dayton Sub100 on the way and I'm confident this will be an OK 2.1 setup for my small apartment.
Recently, though I've become concerned about possibly damaging these speakers or shortening their life by using them up front...Is that possible? Are there any measures I can take or warnings to heed?

 

[markw]

It's not "bad" in the physical damage sense of the word but, due to the dispersion pattern of the sound, it won't present the best listening experience possible.

Front speaker should be "monopole" speakers that fire in one direction. That maintains a sense of directionality. The ones you have are "dipolar" (or "bipolar") speakers, which are designed to fire in multiple directions.

Some bi/dipole speakers can work fine if they are designed for mains use (Mirage, Magnapan, or Martin Logan come to mind) but the ones you have are designed purely for surround purposes to provide a dispersed, unfocused, sound.

 

[rnw124]

It's not "bad" in the physical damage sense of the word but, due to the dispersion pattern of the sound, it won't present the best listening experience possible.

Front speaker should be "monopole" speakers that fire in one direction. That maintains a sense of directionality. The ones you have are "dipolar" (or "bipolar") speakers, which are designed to fire in multiple directions.

Some bi/dipole speakers can work fine if they are designed for mains use (Mirage, Magnapan, or Martin Logan come to mind) but the ones you have are designed purely for surround purposes to provide a dispersed, unfocused, sound.

Well I guess that's good news...perhaps I'll look at some VB15s or RB51s to go with these surrounds. VB14s look really nice mounted on the wall up front though!