Minimum room size for 5.1 cinema?

hornetstinger

hornetstinger

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Have you heard the Monitor Audio or Q Acoustics with your Denon? Have you listened to what I recommended a,b,c,d?
The Q Acoustics sub doesn't look anything amazing. Two 6.5" drivers.

Have you demoed a pair of bipole speakers? Standmount 6.5" driverand center with 6.5" driver
 

ghutchison14078

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hornetstinger said:
Have you heard the Monitor Audio or Q Acoustics with your Denon? Have you listened to what I recommended a,b,c,d?
The Q Acoustics sub doesn't look anything amazing. Two 6.5" drivers.

Have you demoed a pair of bipole speakers? Standmount 6.5" driverand center with 6.5" driver
Click to expand...
No I haven't had the time to go listen to any kit demos yet. I've just been trawling through reviews of speakers that fall within my budget, on that basis the Q Acoustics kit he offered seems like a winner.
Musical performance isn't particularly a priority, my A/V use is probably going to be about 70/30 movies/console gaming. I've always preferred music through headphones, I've got a nice DAC and Philips Fidelio X2's and that keeps me happy with music listening.

But I take your point regarding demoing the speakers, I'll ask the installer if he can arrange a demo of the Q7000's on my Denon receiver.
 

hornetstinger

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ghutchison14078 said:
No I haven't had the time to go listen to any kit demos yet. I've just been trawling through reviews of speakers that fall within my budget, on that basis the Q Acoustics kit he offered seems like a winner.
Musical performance isn't particularly a priority, my A/V use is probably going to be about 70/30 movies/console gaming. I've always preferred music through headphones, I've got a nice DAC and Philips Fidelio X2's and that keeps me happy with music listening.

But I take your point regarding demoing the speakers, I'll ask the installer if he can arrange a demo of the Q7000's on my Denon receiver.
Click to expand...


If it sounds great in music (whether 2 channel from CD, or concert DVD's) It'll sound great in movies. Music really does show up weakness in a AV system, for example L/R speakers, and subwoofer.

Try watching a 5.1 concert DVD or Bluray, or put a few CD's on and play in 2 channel. Compare that between the Kef Egg and Q7000, to those Q Acoustics 3000 range speakers, and the same for a sub, for example the Q Acoustics "sub" to a decent 10"/12" sealed box.

Sealed box subs will probably work better in your room. In larger rooms and for bass that you want waves of ultra low bass during movies then go ported.
 

hornetstinger

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Also when listening to a multi-channel concert, pay attention to the center speaker, is the center a weak point for singing, how well does it pan across, as typically small centers underperform when it comes to musical content (and the same for L/R of course) So if it sounds nothing great in audio concert then the same applies for movies. Little speakers have limited frequency response.

Having owned several center speakers I now settle on 4 driver, as I think they offer the best sound quality. I've owned Kef Q center which is treble and mid/bass, a B&W with treble and two mid/bass drivers, and another Kef and Celestion with treble, midrange, and two bass drivers. These can be bought for pretty much the same price as a Q Acoustics 3000/7000 center.

I'd like to try out the Kef 204C!
 

sprite-

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The Q7000i is a fantastic 5.1 set bud, you can't really go wrong with it. As you've already seen by the reviews, it's right up there in terms of delivering on both price and performance. Its pretty much gotten top marks from every professional audio review site, it's also a cracking stereo music performer which is typically the main weakness of a style satalite set. Below is a good analysis.

https://www.avforums.com/review/q-acoustics-q7000i-review.9691

As your split is more much of the movies / TV nature, a satellite style set like that is particularly suited for your room size and listening habits. From by experience, baring in mind I've owned the Q Acoustic 1000 and 2000 series bookshelf 5.1 sets previously, I experience a much more "attacking" sound from style satalite speakers. Really shines in a big action movie. Then again, the KEFs and Uni-Q drivers have a reputation for that.

I'd just air on the side of caution with Hornets advice, discuss your options and room with your audio installer. People like that rely heavily on word of mouth and he's going to try and guide you down the best route to suit your room, listening habits, positioning and personal taste... Ultimately he's there to advise you pros and cons of any set. Which is likely why he's reccomended the likes of the MASS and Q7000i after looking at your room.
 
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FurryLemon

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No installer worth their salt will recommend floorstanders in that room. Most installers recommend a sat/sub system for any small to mid sized room. The likes of MK Sound do some great sat/sub systems that wipe the floor the standard 5.1 packages people buy like the QA, MA, KEF etc
 

hornetstinger

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FurryLemon said:
No installer worth their salt will recommend floorstanders in that room. Most installers recommend a sat/sub system for any small to mid sized room. The likes of MK Sound do some great sat/sub systems that wipe the floor the standard 5.1 packages people buy like the QA, MA, KEF etc
Click to expand...

Some floorstanders can work fine in a room of that size, just pick the right floorstander and use bass management (which you would use anyway) If you don't mind speakers taking up the room lol.

Those Celestion A3 sound great in a room similar to the OP's (It'll be moving into a large living room soon same for the Kef Reference 2.2's) The Celestion A1 standmount sound great too, but they need a sub and tbh for 2 channel music I do prefer stereo speakers only, no sub, no bass management running L/R in full range if possible. In the HT the processor doesn't have a "pure mode" so with floorstanders and sub, both set to 70hz in bass management it sounds great, sub isn't playing too high, floorstanders aren't playing too low (for the small room)

M&KS are good but I found them very clinical in sound, not sure if I'd like use them for many hours. There's a few K5 system second hand.

I would recommend buying second hand speakers as you'll get far more for your money, for example my 5.0 speakers retailed for £5000, and I paid around £1000 for them. High end speakers for low range price.

That Q Acoustics doesn't have bipole rears, I would recommend you try swapping out the rears with this type. Having a surround speaker right behind you, in a small room is very distracting (and that's even with the levels calibrated)

http://img.canuckaudiomart.com/uplo...initive-technology-bp1x-surround-speakers.jpg

Regardless this driver size (Q Acoustics 7000) can only do so much. You'll find you'll have to use an incredibly high crossover point. 95hz, and that's without any +/- 3dB figure, so that could be far higher (and probably is) Most likely 100-120hz. I would not recommend speakers, or crossovers this high. Basically high frequency some mid bass but lower mid bass being reproduced by subwoofer instead, which is bad.

  • LF Units: 2 x 3" Long Throw (Neodymium)
  • HF Unit: 1" Ring Radiator (Neodymium)

 

ghutchison14078

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First of two DPD deliveries arriving today...new toys!!!

Monitor Audio Bronze 2 Fronts, Centre and Bronze FX bi/dipole rears.

Denon receiver and Bronze W10 subwoofer arriving later.

24pl103.jpg
 

hornetstinger

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"Bronze FX dipole rears."

Dipoles should be used on the sides, not the rear wall. Also make you use the correct speaker as one side is out of phase.

I own a set of dipoles. If those speakers can be switched to bipole, do so (I see they can)

But try the following

7.1
Dipole side with bipole rears
Bipole side & rears

5.1
Bipole mode on rear wall
or
dipole mode on side wall
 

ghutchison14078

ghutchison14078

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hornetstinger said:
"Bronze FX dipole rears."

Dipoles should be used on the sides, not the rear wall. Also make you use the correct speaker as one side is out of phase.

I own a set of dipoles. If those speakers can be switched to bipole, do so (I see they can)

But try the following

7.1
Dipole side with bipole rears
Bipole side & rears

5.1
Bipole mode on rear wall
or
dipole mode on side wall
Click to expand...
Will do, thanks for the info.

It just going to be 5.1 for the time being.

I intend to add ceiling speakers in the future as I will be getting a 4k projector when they get a bit more affordable, at which point I'll have to relocate the projector ceiling mount, so I'll have the ceiling in pieces, perfect time to put the speakers in then.

Plus 5.1 only for the time being has kept me on budget...well, sort of!!
 
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