950 Speaker Configuration

Hello All,

My apologies upfront for what may be a simple question. I am seriously considering a 950+7100 combination as the foundation for my first multichannel system, so I am new to [5-7].1 audio.

My listening room will likely require that I place one surround speaker further from center than the other. Is the 950's "Speaker Distance Delay" and/or "Channel Calibration" setting used to compensate for this problem? In practice is this too much of an issue to overcome with electronics?

If it makes any difference in your response, I am currently considering Paradigm's ADP-170 (System Two - dipole) or Energy's Take 2.2 (Take 5.2+S8.2 - monopole) for the surrounds. To me, listening to music (Rock, Blues, & Jazz) is far more important that watching movies. Also DVD-A and SACD have me the most interested.


------------------
Namaste,
McE

[This message has been edited by OscrDGrch (edited March 22, 2003).]

the 950 does not allow seperate distances for each surround speaker. It only allows you to set the distance for front/center/surround. In the case of the surround speakers, the set distance applies to all 4 surround speakers (if so equipped).

Some receivers/processors do allow seperate distances for each individual speaker.

With a dipole speaker the distance setting is unimportant. Properly installed, a dipole should surround you with a diffused sound. If one speaker is closer than the other, simply matching the output levels will be enough to compensate.

[This message has been edited by chris3g (edited March 22, 2003).]

From research here and personal experience ADP's and other dipoles really shine with movies and not so much with multi-channel music. For music most people prefer mono's Both the Paradigm and energys are fine speaker though. Audition a lot and have fun!



------------------
m-mmeyer
GO TWINS
My DVD's

If you are thinking about a 5.1 system, you can go either way: dipoles, bipoles, or direct radiators. But if you are considering 6.1 and especially 7.1, I's start to more heavily recommend monopoles. The reason being, real theaters use monopoles (obviously, lots of them, far away). Dipole speakers in the home were always an *attempt* to mimic the diffuseness created in a theater. Now, as you increase the number of speakers, it is less likely that you'll be able to localize any one speaker anyway. Dipoles work by delivering mostly *off-axis* sound to the listening position. The problem being, ever seen an off-axis freq response of any speaker? Atrocious. The high freqs are rolled off like you wouldn't believe. So more speakers, less localization, but much much better imaging if you use direct radiators. *And*, they *do* work much better for multichannel music. I have used Energy's in the past and really liked them. But Paradigm also makes some nice monopoles too.

Excellent feedback thus far! Thanks and keep it coming!

Since audio is my primary concern, and I plan on moving from 5.1 to 7.1 in the future, I'll keep with direct radiating surrounds.

I have a new question about the 950 and specifically the Energy Take 5.2 system. The 950 employs bass management on its analog inputs at a fixed 80Hz. The lower limit of the Take satellite's frequency response is 80Hz (the subwoofer and it overlap between 80Hz and 100Hz). Will this close gap present a problem for playing DVD-A's and SACD's?