Suggestions/thoughts needed on Surrounds & Center

[sengert]

OK.

This year I was given the "go" and budget of $4000 to upgrade our home entertainment center. For background... Room = 14x18 w/ two larger "door" openings (I'm working with what I got in an older Bungalo and we use the living room for our entertainment center). The current set up is an Older Sony GA8ES w/ CD player and a non-descript DVD running an RCA Old Tube 32"... The gem of my system is a set of Magnepan MMG's and a Velodyne 10" to back them up. Yes, I know I've been underdriving them for years, but it was the best I could do over time. So!

I am now the soon to be proud owner of a Yamaha RX-V1800 and DVDC961 courtesy of Audioholics excellent pricing! We will be adding a 42-46" HD television soon although the debate is still on... I plan to add HD service to the DirecTV and a PS3, but those will be in the fall and won't be included in the budget. I've also spent the money for a Harmony One remote so that the wife can have confidence in running the whole shebang...

So, Now I'm in the conundrum of what to put in for the Center and Surrounds.

I really liked the idea of calling Magnepan and getting their MMG-C & W's and be happy about having a unified sound field being represented, but after looking at the size of the MMGW's, they are just to obnoxiously big for mounting in our relatively small room (Note, the Wife is not overly pleased as it is with the MMG mains sitting up front! but does admit that they sound amazing...)

So my question is, does anyone have any suggestions or thoughts on my predicament? I'm still leaning on the MMGC as that would make the front all in the same arena, but then what can I put up on the wall as surrounds... Oh, and I guess I failed to mention, that 5.1 will be just fine, our room is just too small for full 7.1 and I'm realistic about that. The real challenge is that if I want to keep budget open for a NICE TV then I can only afford to spend $600-800 on these three speakers.

Cool. Thanks in advance for the thoughts!

Sengert

 

[bandphan]

Staying with a ribbon/planer speaker would be the best idea. Knowing that you were not providing them with enough power before(w/sony) adding the mmgc is gonna ask the yama for more power(the center is rated at 88db), and the size could be an issue. When i matched my center with my mains, the difference was quanifiable. If you step outside of mg, you may want to do some in home auditioning. Martin Logan atf drivers http://www.us.martinlogan.com/technology/atf_theory.html might be applicable, but i would want to stay the same for LCR if all permits. As for the surrounds, matching isnt issue. FYI consider adding a second sub, which will make a huge difference in the overall sound especially with the mmc rated at 100-16 kHz.

 

[sengert]

Cool Thanks...

Hey Bandphan,

Thanks again for the response!

The Sony was only rated a 80-90W at 8 ohms, the Yammie is 130W at 8 ohms, so I'm banking on the bigger engine to help me out here. I hope it is enough, but for sure it will be better than the Sony. The Sony's were always good, so nice and clean, but the Yamaha was always my 2nd choice way back then... So far the only audition I heard from the 1800 was outstanding in clarity, so I think I'm solid there.

The Martin Logans are amazing pieces, but the price starts getting out of reach... I think I'll be staying the MMGC for the center. The size shoudl be alright too, as they are 9" high, and the leading options on TV's have a minimum height of 8" with the stand, wo worst case I have to elevate the TV by an inch maybe...

So, the surrounds you don't think will matter?!? I was on the fence on that, as I didn't know if lag or crossovers would be an issue creating interference with the front sound field. But I was thinking that they are a completely independant sound signal in most cases and most systems use these speakers in as wide a dispersion mode as possible.

So, it just comes down to best bang for the buck at around $300-400 for the surrounds... I've been looking around but am unsure of the brands to consider. Found some deals on Klipsch RS-42 & RS-52's, Polk FXi4's, a used set of B&W DS6's, KEF iQ8ds, and ...? I had even seen a set of Wharfendales on Craig's list, but the guy pulled the posting down.

hhhhmmm... Surprised that I didn't get more opinions from my question, guess it was my novel of an initial post.

Sengert

 

[bandphan]

unless your into sacd or dvd-a the surrounds shouldnt be an issue,and then minimal. Spend money saved on them towards a second sub