# Best upgrade for my surrounds?



## KalaniP (Dec 17, 2008)

Hi, all. 

I have RF-35's for L/R, and RC-35 for center, as the core of my home theater system (Mitsu 65" CRT RPTV, 1080i). I also have a Polk PSW350 powered sub (10" ... and yes, I also plan to upgrade the sub at some point, but it's not a huge priority at the moment... I'm eying the SVS PB10-NSD for the upgrade.).

I'm pushing everything with a Sony STR-DA1000ES, if that helps. Overall room size is approx 15'x30', but only half of the room is the living room/TV area due to an open floor plan. Sofa-to-screen viewing distance is 11'.

I'm currently using a mis-mash of older Polk's for surrounds, in a 6.1 configuration, at the moment (just because I had them laying around).










I've been very happy with the overall sound of the system, but the weak point is definitely the rear setup as opposed to the front. I'd like to upgrade them to something that will give me better sound, and perhaps match the timber of the Klipsch's. (I don't know if this is as important for surrounds, but it makes sense logically.) I'd also like to reposition things, because I'm pretty sure moving the surrounds up will give me a better soundfield and a lot more distance from the speakers. I haven't wanted to screw anything into walls until I have a more long-term solution to the surround issue.

Question 1) Since I can't get the RS-35's anymore, does it make sense to go with something like the 42's to work my front 35's, from a sonic/timber-matching standpoint?

Question 2) How do these surrounds work in the context of a 7.1 system? It looks like the 42's and 62's are dipolar, and I'd think that would work well for the side speakers, but less so for the rear speakers. I don't see that Klipch makes any non-dipole surrounds, though, unless I was to use small bookshelf speakers... am I missing something?

Question 3) The viewing position forced by the shape of the room (and the WAF) puts the couch up against the back wall, unfortunately. As I said above, I'm kinda thinking I need to ceiling mount whatever I get. In that case would it make more sense to go to built-ins (assuming I can find a way to run the wiring without tearing apart swaths of drywall)? And if so, again, which [Klipsch?] built-ins would work best for the existing front speakers? I think (and please correct me if I'm wrong) the best set up I'm going to get, given the room and WAF constraints, is something along these lines (or in-ceiling speakers in similar locations):










(Note: If I don't do in-ceiling speakers, you can see the left side surround is going to need to be mounted in the middle of the ceiling, since that side of the room has no wall.)

If someone thinks I'd have better results going with a speaker other than Klipsch for all the rear speakers, I'm open to thoughts on the subject... I'm not married to the idea of an all-Klipsch system, but in my mind (which is certainly not the most informed compared to others here), a matched system often helps make things seem more seamless.










Any help is greatly appreciated!


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I understand your desigher to go with something that is similar all around. I dont recommend going with in ceiling speakers simply due to the fact that they cost several times as much to get anything that sounds decent and dont give you much flexibility and if you ever move things around you simply dont have any options in moving them. 

Timber matching the surrounds is not as important but given the new uncompressed audio formats on BluRay using the surrounds much more it is something to think about.


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## JCD (Apr 20, 2006)

1) I'm not that familiar with the Klipsch line, but as a general rule, I think keeping it as close to the same product line makes the most sense.

2) I have bi-polar speakers for the back -- I'd rather have a traditional front firing speaker. I think it's easier to set up and would work better with DD. Back in the ProLogic days, I think the diffuse sound field made sense, but with a discrete signal, I'd go with a specific sound source, i.e., a regular speaker.

3) Not sure if I'm going to be help you there. I'm not a big fan of in-ceiling/in-wall speakers. They're relatively expensive for a performance point, once in, they're rather hard to move, etc. Of course, given your layout, maybe this is the best that can be done. So, what can I offer? Not much -- I just don't know the right answer.

I think you're big problem is that your sofa is backed up flush against the wall. Very bad acoutically. Of course, I'm sure this is a WAF issue, so compromises must be made, but given this, you might consider just letting it be as you'll have a tough time getting a "good" solution for your room. 

Good luck.


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## KalaniP (Dec 17, 2008)

Thanks, you two.

That's an interesting point about new formats making timber-matching more important than before. I'll be looking more closely at Klipsch options, I think.

I understand the reservations about in-ceiling/wall speakers, but they'd certainly make the wife happy. From what I've seen, the Klipsh in-walls are a little more expensive than their other offerings, but they're not _that_ bad.

Glad to see I was right in my suspicions re dipoles for the rear channel. I'll have to look more closely at what Klipsh offers. Perhaps I'll see if I can find a dealer locally who is more familiar with their offerings and see what they have to say.

Sad to say, the sofa is not going anywhere... definitely a WAF issue. Ideally, I'd move it forward a few feet and get a little closer to the scree, and gain some space to the rear for the surrounds. It's not going to happen, though... my wife is an interior designer and would never stand for it. I'll have to wait until I win the lottery and can afford to buy a house with a room for a dedicated home theater, rather than redesigning the living room to fit my needs over my wife's aesthetic preferences. LOL


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## KalaniP (Dec 17, 2008)

Anyone know Klipsch surrounds well enough to say how well my existing RF-35/RC-35's would blend with a pair of Klipsch RSX-5's at the rear (directional) and perhaps a pair of RS-42 dipoles at the sides, from a timbre-matching standpoint? (or perhaps the RS-52's, which have 5.25" drivers like the RSX-5's... or, to go the other way, match RSX-4's with the RS-42's, all of which have 4" drivers)


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Can you scoot your couch forward even a foot or two? If you do that, it will help with overall acoustics at your listening position, and it will allow you to put your surrounds behind the couch firing upward (totally out of sight, out of mind). I just did this for my folks new setup (theirs is similar to yours), and it actually worked pretty well.


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## KalaniP (Dec 17, 2008)

eugovector said:


> Can you scoot your couch forward even a foot or two? If you do that, it will help with overall acoustics at your listening position, and it will allow you to put your surrounds behind the couch firing upward (totally out of sight, out of mind). I just did this for my folks new setup (theirs is similar to yours), and it actually worked pretty well.


Sadly, not a chance. Wife delivered an absolute veto. :huh:


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Then, yep, I'd go with the ceiling.


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