5.1 : To Stealth or Not to Stealth

[Zak33]

Simple question really: Me and Sair have a new house to move into in the new year.

Living room is bigger than we've had before. My Lowe 32" Xelos is perfect for it

But the speakers.....how to do the speakers?

I have a Video Logic DTS system already, but can afford to go for sperates instead. In fact I have a set of 5 speakers and an amp already for my PC.

But the question is:

Stealthy hidden speakers OR in ya face floor standers?

Try not to think sound quality: will ony install what I like the sound of anyway. BUT if both systems were perfect...what would YOU rather have.

Visible or Not visible?

[Alex]

Depends on the size of the room I think, and also what the speakers look like...

I'm really happy with my Mordaunt Short 904 system, which look really good with the frilles off and sound great too. I do think that if the KEF eggs or Mordaunt Short Genies would also look really cool. Small speakers would make it look more living-room like, and bigger ones would look more 'cinematic'.

Is that Loewe a CRT? I seem to remember that it is... I think that plasmas look better with wall mounted speakers, but a CRT looks good with larger ones, kinda makes the TV look larger somehow.

[Knoxville]

Personally I'd go for big floor standers for the main left and right channels and stealth the centre/sub/rear speakers

[steve threlfall]

Its Sairs choice hehe

Seriously though i would want everything out of view as much as possible. The centre and left/right need to be close to the tv so they are less of an issue. I would want the sub behind a sofa/chair and the rears in a good position for the sound.

I wouldnt mind seeying everything as long as the sound was good and the speakers looked alright. Its probably the wiring that will be the biggest bugbear.

[Howard]

The centre should be on top of TV, so whichever you think looks best for that. The left and right should NOT be as close to the tv as possible. Seperated as far as possible infact. And bigger floorstanding speakers will always be better than little tiny sattelites, so it's finding the decent trade-off between form and function

Kef eggs and the smaller Mordaunt Short speakers are indeed good

[Jonny M]

Pfft, the speakers should be shown off as much as possible

[Zak33]

you lot....make me laugh.....but its all good.

I think Knox has it right....2 big old boys for fronts ....good for music then, too

[Jiff Lemon]

On show without shadow of a doubt.

Biggest baddest buggers you can afford.

If they laydee complains, tell her you want the scented stuff OUT of the bathrooms straight away as it ruins the atmosphere.

Big rooms NEED filling.

[Zak33]

she wont complain...she likes her films LOUD and her AC/DC louder.

as said before....got lucky there

[Alex]

The only problem with 2 floorstanding fronts is that they may not match a small centre...

[Alex]

Though of course if you do do that, its really easy to go 7.1, you could get a 5.1 Genie setup and add in 2 Mordaunt Short 914s or 916s, or get the KEF eggs and add in 2 KEF Q5s, and use the rest of the speakers as satellites... not cheap though.

[Zak33]

Alex...good double post as your brain sorted it...just like mine

in FACT..I get to 4 or 5 posts before the turth comes out of my head

[TiG]

doesn't it depend on the colour of the speakers too tho???, i mean black speakers in a light coloured room may not be the best way about it?. You get to chose wood colour too?

TiG

[Rave]

I'd only be interested in sound quality TBH, so I lean towards 'visible'. Having said that though, apparently the best way of doing the rears is dipoles mounted pretty much flush to the wall, and I'm not a huge fan of intrusive rear effects anyway, so I wouldn't need anything monster.

As I understand it you can bung a sub pretty much anywhere if you adjust its phase properly.

Rich :¬)

[Howard]

Rave: Me too. Front speakers, certianly my centre, are quite noticeable in my room. But it's worth it for the sound

My rears are bipoles attached to the side walls too. Di/Bipoles are the future

[Rave]

Dipoles/Bipoles- what's the difference? Am I just getting the terminology wrong?

Rich :¬)