wanting to buy new speakers for 7.1 surround sound

[Justin Bass]

My 5.1 surround is setup.. Just wanting to add another 2 for 7.1.. question is Do I want tower speakers? I say tower speakers because of the full range of sound? I dont have any room for side walls, so I guess tower speakers. I have all klipsch speakers, Im looking at the Klipsch R-26F model. Do I want full range for 7.1. I set all my speakers to small. Is this speaker overkill for 7.1?

 

[herbu]

Do I want tower speakers? I say tower speakers because of the full range of sound?

Hmmm... "the full range of sound". Are you clear about what you mean? Let's look at some examples.

#1: 45-20kHz

#2: 48-20kHz

The difference between 45-48Hz is about 1 note, (F# to G), in the lowest octave of a piano. In other words, not a big difference. However, there is one big difference in the 2 speakers above.

Speaker #1 is the Aperion Verus Grand Tower. Winner of the 2015 Audioholics Top AV Gear Guide for High End Floorstanding Loudspeaker. https://www.aperionaudio.com/verus-grand-tower-speaker-825
They cost $1,000 each.

Speaker #2 is the Philharmonic Audio Affordable Accuracy bookshelf. It continues to receive rave reviews and support from the members here. They cost $195/pair. http://philharmonicaudio.com/aa.html

I have a 7.2 system. The 4 surround speakers are the Aperions above. I use towers for surrounds simply because as I replaced the front speakers, I moved the old ones to surrounds. If I was starting over, I would get the AAs for surrounds, and put them on stands. $400 vs $4k.

So, IMO, "full sound" is not a good reason to get towers over bookshelves. You can get more "full sound" from towers, but at a price. A significant price.

BTW, the R-26F is 38-24kHz, and cost ~$350 each. From what I hear, the sound of the Klipsch is likely to be sharper/brighter than the other 2 speakers above. Not more accurate, just brighter. Some people like that, and you may be one of them. But my point still stands. Towers are not necessarily "fuller sound" than bookshelves.

 

[Justin Bass]

ok... im going to look at klipsch bookshelf speakers. I need to buy stands then. and those would go on each side of the coutch(listening area)?

 

[markw]

If you're talking speakers 6 and 7, the rear surrounds, then these go a few feet behind your listening area, preferably above .

 

[KenM10759]

Those particular Klipsch can be a bit bright as compared to the newer and MUCH smoother RP series. I'd sacrifice R-26F for something like the RP-160M any day of the week if I was sticking with Klipsch.