# Speakers for Large Dedicated Theater



## wraunch (Apr 18, 2012)

Ok,
I am working on which speakers I should be looking at for my dedicated theater. Drywall goes up in a week or so and things will move quickly from there. The room is 18.5'x 30' x 9'. I will have two rows of theater chairs at 11.5' and 17' with bar seating behind the last row. There will be a wet bar in the back of the space. This theater is on my second floor. I do plan on making some acoustic panels after I get the room finished. The screen will most likely be 130" in this room if that matters. I plan on doing 7.2 and wiring the room for 11.2. I have an older Elemental Designs A2-300 that I would like to use as well as my Onkyo 707. I know those aren't the best long term but I hope they are a stop gap for a year or so.

So far I have been looking at a few different DIY options, Chase SHO-10, Ascend Acoustics CBM-340SEs, and others. What do you think I should look at? I would prefer to stay at or under $1K for LCR.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Given your going to continue to use the Onkyo 707 and your room is a decent size your going to want to use fairly efficient speakers. Look for speakers that are above 89db and preferably towers not bookshelves. You will also need a decent subwoofer. What is the budget for the sub? 
I would suggest two of these Klipsch F-30s and this C-20 centre channel on clearance!
Used is always another good option as well.


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## wraunch (Apr 18, 2012)

I am open to using used sets. havent set a sub budget yet.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

For your room a decent sub is a must, I highly recommend at least this SVS PB12 NSD


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## wraunch (Apr 18, 2012)

Link is for the Klipsch center. Aren't those Klipsch speakers a little undersized, especially that center?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Sorry, this sub
Not at all, those speakers are very capable of producing reference levels even in your size room. Particularly if you get a good sub as that takes all the load off the mains.


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

I have the Chase HT Sho10 for a center and Pro10's for my L+R and they are very efficient. I have had them for a year now and for the money they are well worth it, IMO. Dale did a review on the Sho10 and their subs that was very positive. You can check it out here... 
http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...e-theater-dual-vs-18-1-sho-10-3-2-review.html Good Luck.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

Depending on what you want you might consider JBL pro audio speakers, guitar center handles them new and used and just for pricing purposes I found them online here http://www.idjnow.com/StoreModules/...SubDeptID=--CategoryID=JBL PRO--DeID=0--SRCH= 
Three of these across the front would work well.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

chashint said:


> Depending on what you want you might consider JBL pro audio speakers, guitar center handles them new and used
> Three of these across the front would work well.


Driving those with an Onkyo 707 would prove to be very difficult.


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## wraunch (Apr 18, 2012)

Just talked with Craig from CHT and there's a strong possibility I will use his new stuff for my setup.


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

wraunch said:


> Just talked with Craig from CHT and there's a strong possibility I will use his new stuff for my setup.


Craig was a great help to me when I was in your position. He was alway's available when I had any questions. If you decide to go with CHT I think you will be happy. Like I mentioned before for the money they are a great value. :T


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

tonyvdb said:


> Driving those with an Onkyo 707 would prove to be very difficult.


Why would you think the Onk 707 would have any problem driving these speakers???
It really doesn't get much better than this.
Copied from the JBL spec sheet....
Sensitivity : 98 dB SPL (1w/1m)
Nominal Impedance : 8 ohms


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## pddufrene (Mar 14, 2013)

Let me make another suggestion, for under $600 you can get the pioneer Andrew Jones series speakers that's all 7 and get at least one PSA XV15 for right now for $400 dollars more than your budget for your C.L.R speakers. Then add another XV15 when you get the finances to do so. For the price u won't find a better set of speakers, and your Onkoyo 707 will pair up great with them. Just throwing that out there. Food for thought.


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## wraunch (Apr 18, 2012)

Are those Pioneers really adequate for such a large space?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

chashint said:


> Why would you think the Onk 707 would have any problem driving these speakers???
> It really doesn't get much better than this.
> Copied from the JBL spec sheet....
> Sensitivity : 98 dB SPL (1w/1m)
> Nominal Impedance : 8 ohms


They are PA speakers and as such are meant to be used in a large venue like a club or gym not in a home theater room. Imaging on them would be poor and they dont even come alive till fed at least 100watts.


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## pddufrene (Mar 14, 2013)

wraunch said:


> Are those Pioneers really adequate for such a large space?


My room is 20x18x9 and they have no problem in it what so ever. I bought them on the assumption that they would just get me by for the time being, but turns out these speakers are a lot more capable than what I was expecting at that price. They actually sound like they would cost a lot more than they actually do. My buddy has the klipsch speakers and they sound just as good and the klipsch cost a whole lot more. If you read the professional reviews on them they shock even some of the most critical critics. They aren't the prettiest speakers but they make up for it with sound quality.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Yes, those Pioneers would do just fine if a room that size. Nice speakers for the price.


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## wraunch (Apr 18, 2012)

To be honest Pioneer was not even on my radar. So you are using the bookshelfs for your L&R and surrounds?


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## pddufrene (Mar 14, 2013)

wraunch said:


> To be honest Pioneer was not even on my radar. So you are using the bookshelfs for your L&R and surrounds?


Yap, I have the center, two towers, and 4 surrounds. To mount the surrounds I'm using these speaker mounts:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000X9O8SI/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1374671191&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX110_SY190


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

The local Frys regularly sells the Pioneer FS-52 for $77 each and the rest of the 'package' at similar discount, at that price they are OK, but IMO nothing special.
These speakers are very entry level. IMO they have a muffled sound that lacks clarity and definition and separation.

The JBL Pro speakers may not be real pretty, but the idea they do not image or do not 'come alive' until you get to 100 watts is silliness.
I am not championing what I own or what is popular on the forum, the OP asked for suggestions for LCR for under $1K and there will be a subwoofer to handle low end extension.
It is a fairly large room (not huge cubic feet though compared to an open floor plan home) with a 130" screen. Going with entry level speakers is not a good idea (IMO).
I have heard the JBL Pro speakers in a living room environment many times, and they are truly impressive.
When I found out how reasonably priced they are I was stunned.
The biggest issue, which can be fixed with an adapter cable is connecting them to a consumer grade AVR.

They are 8 ohms nominal and 98dB SPL @ 1 watt, seriously a transistor radio could drive them.
Size of the speaker does not indicate if it is hard to drive.
Those Pioneer speakers are nominally 6 ohms and something like 89 dB SPL @ 1 watt, that is much worse to drive than the JBL.

Every city has plenty of places that sells guitars and drums, that is where you can find the pro speakers, most also deal in used equipment.
It is much better to listen to something and pick it out for yourself than to simply choose from what you read on the Internet or in magazines.

The Chase speakers get good reviews on the forums, I have never had the pleasure to listen to them, hence I have no opinion on them. Lots of people buy speakers without hearing them and are happy, that is a leap of faith I cannot yet make.
Yes you can usually send speakers back if you don't like them, but it costs you money.

Good luck OP, please let the forum know what you pick and what you think about its performance.


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## wraunch (Apr 18, 2012)

What would you pair those JBLs with for surrounds?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

chashint said:


> The JBL Pro speakers may not be real pretty, but the idea they do not image or do not 'come alive' until you get to 100 watts is silliness.
> 
> I have heard the JBL Pro speakers in a living room environment many times, and they are truly impressive.
> When I found out how reasonably priced they are I was stunned.
> The biggest issue, which can be fixed with an adapter cable is connecting them to a consumer grade AVR.


The frequency response of the JBLs is horrible to say the least, Its specific design is for vocal and live music not home theater, imaging would also suffer because of this. From the JBL website:
Frequency Response (±3 dB):
50 Hz – 12.5 kHz


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

I do not want to be tik-4-tak about the JBL speakers, if anyone has heard them and does not like them that is all good. Simply describe what was found lacking, but please do not just make up stuff.
There are lots of these charts on the internet, not all are the same, I cannot vouch for the accuracy or lack of for any of them so look them up and compare for yourself...
www.offbeat.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/eq-chart.pdf 
Pro gear is certainly far from perfect...it looks industrial and it is not consumer/home user connector friendly (make sure you know how to adapt to an AVR before you buy it).

The JBL is just an option I threw out for consideration since IMO it offers good home theater bang for the buck for a LCR under $1k and I have heard them in a living room environment.

I don't know what to recommend for surround speakers, the ones I have personal experience with are either dirt cheap and not very good or kinda expensive and also kinda nice. Most of the Klipsch RS series would work, with bigger = better.

Browse around here http://www.sounddistributors.com/index.asp to see other options.
If you put TV15 code in the shopping cart it knocks 15% off the total.
Some of the prices can be beat, others are pretty good.

If Newegg still has the F30's on sale that is a very good price for those speakers.


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## needspeed52 (Aug 2, 2008)

I kind of liked your first suggestion, The Ascend Acoustics 340SEs LCR, the 200 surrounds and a PSA XV15 sub. The Pioneers are also a good option, gives your more $ to spend on sub(s), a XV15 will make both of the above speaker setups shine, just my opinion as I have owned the 340SEs and PSA subs, extreme value to performance ratio.
Cheers Jeff


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## wraunch (Apr 18, 2012)

Thanks for the feedback Jeff. So do you guys like the psa sub over say a hsu?


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## needspeed52 (Aug 2, 2008)

wraunch said:


> Thanks for the feedback Jeff. So do you guys like the psa sub over say a hsu?


You're welcome my friend, do I like PSA subs?, check out my system under the sig. :hsd:
Cheers Jeff


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## pddufrene (Mar 14, 2013)

wraunch said:


> Thanks for the feedback Jeff. So do you guys like the psa sub over say a hsu?


The main difference between the two are: 
Price the HSU subs are more expensive but are more tech savey as you have many options for tuning via the sub and they have a 8 year warranty on the woofer but only 2 years on electronics.

PSA on the other hand is pretty well tuned from the get go and has a 5 year bumper to bumper warranty and top notch customer service. Which is the main reason I went with the XV15 over HSU's equivalent offering.

That's just my two cents. 

The others will fill you in on the technical side I'm pretty sure.


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## wraunch (Apr 18, 2012)

Thanks I'll look into PSA further.


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## needspeed52 (Aug 2, 2008)

wraunch said:


> Thanks I'll look into PSA further.


My take on this subject and I believe Jim and Tom's is that a vented or ported subwoofer is to be used exactly as designed, as a vented subwoofer and is tuned in that regard, and the DSP is top notch, no need to plug ports and experiment. Sealed same way, used sealed and don't cut holes in the enclosure to experiment with a vented sealed sub.


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## wraunch (Apr 18, 2012)

So I guess I just need to decide if I want a sealed or vented/ported sub setup.


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## pddufrene (Mar 14, 2013)

wraunch said:


> So I guess I just need to decide if I want a sealed or vented/ported sub setup.


With the size of your room, and the fact that it is a theater your setting up. I'm assuming your gonna be watching more movies than listening to music on this system, your best bet would be to go ported.

Now that I assumed  what will be your percentage music to movies?


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## wraunch (Apr 18, 2012)

I would say 60% movies/30% sports/10% video games


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## pddufrene (Mar 14, 2013)

wraunch said:


> I would say 60% movies/30% sports/10% video games


The ported sub would work perfectly for those applications. I'm sure others will chime in with some more feedback, but that's what I would do. If you were mire of a music person I'd say sealed. But movies, games, sports definitely ported.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Defiantly go with a ported sub, particularly in a larger space there is no comparison.


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## needspeed52 (Aug 2, 2008)

I agree with your room size and listening preferences go with the ported sub XV15, try corner placement with rear port about 12" from front wall if you can do this, you will impressed with the room gain of this sub with corner loading.
Cheers jeff


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

I vote for the ported sub too.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

Did you make any headway on picking speakers?


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## wraunch (Apr 18, 2012)

Not yet. I need to call Craig at Chase back. Spoke to the guys at Ascend yesterday. Still need to go listen to Paradigm, PSB and a few others. Rough in inspection the beginning of next week then drywall so the pace should pick up quickly.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Have you changed you budget? I would also seriously consider these SVS Ultras


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## wraunch (Apr 18, 2012)

No budget change. PSB and Paradigm are probably above the budget but I need to atleast hear everything in my area.


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## a|F (Feb 10, 2013)

I have 3 SHO-10's for sale now. They are 1.5 years old and in great condition. Chicago area. Let me know if you're interested. 

For as large as your space is and the intended use, I would be searching for high efficiency designs. The dynamics are a necessity. SHO-10 and most other high efficiency speakers should outclass the pioneers for movies. The pioneers are still a good deal, just won't give you the immersion you're probably wanting, and definitely not in a room that size.

Good luck.


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