# Rear Surround Speaker Selection



## sga2 (Nov 14, 2009)

I am putting together a 7.2 HT system. Room is 15' wide (side the projector screen will be) x 16' long x 8.5' high. Plan is for 2 rows of seats, one row ~10ft from screen and the back row will be ~15ft from the screen (~1ft from rear wall). I have a 5.1 setup consisting of Klipsch RF-3 towers, RC-52 center, RS-42 surrounds, and SVS PC12+ sub driven by an Onkyo TX-NR3007. I need an additional pair of speakers to complete the 7. I want to voice match the existing speakers - which I will not be able to uprade for many years - so I am looking at either a second set of Klipsch RS's or RB's. I've seen some threads mention that a direct-firing bookshelf speaker is preferred to dipole or bipole speakers; however, I like the soundfield dispersion of the RS's, particularly for the back row, and I do not believe the RS's are true dipole or bipole speakers anyway. 

My questions:

1. Should RS or RB work better for the rears?

2. If RS's win, is it likely better to have all 4 surrounds the same exact speaker, or should I upgrade to RS-52's to use for the side surrounds and relegate the existing RS-42's to the rears (I've heard that rears usually have much less programming than sides)?

Thanks for any input!


----------



## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Are the RS bipole or dipole? I'm assuming WDST is klipsch's fancy name for one or the other, but I couldn't find this info anywhere.

1) If Dipole, go RB, I'd prefer bipole or direct radiators on the back wall to make positioning/seating less of an issue.

2) If Bipole and you go RS, I'd keep costs down and spend the money elsewhere in my system, but there wouldn't be any problem with stepping up to 52s on the sides.


----------



## sga2 (Nov 14, 2009)

I honestly don't know and could not find any info on the website or in the literature. I'll post a question on the Klipsch forum and see what they think. My gut feeling is that the voice coils are wound as bipoles. Could I test by connecting a AA battery across the terminals and see whether the midrange speakers are in phase or out of phase?


----------



## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

I hate it when manufacturers make up their own trademarked terms for standard technology. It just confuses the marketplace.

I'm not familiar with the battery trick, but yes, if they are in phase, it's bi-pole. Out of phase, di-pole.


----------



## sga2 (Nov 14, 2009)

I was going to connect the speaker terminals to an AA battery and see whether the 2 midrange speakers travel in same direction (in-phase) or in opposite directions (out of phase). I'll assume the tweeters are wired in same configuration. I'll let you know how that goes.


----------



## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Please do.


----------



## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

Using the same surrounds is good practice for aesthetics and placement flexibility, but remember your head already changes the timbre of the rear surrounds to be different than the side ones so it's probably not required. You will want to make sure they are level matched though.


----------



## sga2 (Nov 14, 2009)

Well, I finally did the test and both of the mid's moved outward when I connected the speaker terminals to an AA battery. So I assume these are bipoles and will probably get another set of RS-42's for the rear.

I posted a question on the Klipsch forum and, as of this posting, nobody has come forward with an answer.


----------



## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

sga2 said:


> Well, I finally did the test and both of the mid's moved outward when I connected the speaker terminals to an AA battery. So I assume these are bipoles and will probably get another set of RS-42's for the rear.
> 
> I posted a question on the Klipsch forum and, as of this posting, nobody has come forward with an answer.


An excellent example of why manufacturers need to be more transparent with their features and specs...even their owners don't know dipole vs bipole.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## sga2 (Nov 14, 2009)

Agreed.

Thanks for the advice, by the way.


----------



## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

You're welcome.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------

