Speaker upgrade

markwilliams82 said:
Thanks, sorry last minute look around caused the questions

Think I’ll still go with the Q Acoustics bundle and put up with the questions / moans from the missus
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Honestly for the price you're paying it's worth the moaning for what you'll be getting.

You could always put the saving towards something she wants to keep her happy, half a grand would even do for a bit of a holiday/long weekend somewhere. Send her to a spa retreat or something so you can marathon a few movies with your new setup. :p
 
markwilliams82 said:
The Denon X2700H I have currently is only a couple of years old and works well with the media setup I have

The sub is active and 100w, probably not that great but at least will tide me over until I find a new one

I’ll use that thread recommended to look for one
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I got a BK XLS300-FF (forward facing) for my 5.1 setup and it's a great sub for the money. It was a b-grade one, refurbed by them (British company and great customer service). I think it was about £370.

It's in my living room, which is about 64m³ and I've only got it set at half power and even with that I've got it turned down to -1.5dB in the Denon app. Lots of punch for the money, frequency goes pretty low (claims to be 20Hz) to where you feel it vibrating through you.
 
I think I will go to Richer Sounds to check them out against my Musical Fidelity MC1s. My hearing is a bit duff so I will only buy if I can hear the difference.
 
hornetstinger said:
You could use those cantons for atmos heights. Small and light enough, and you've already got them.

I have a 9.3.4 av pre power system, with 3010i used as atmos heights ( x 4)
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Picked the speakers up today and will connect up tomorrow

With my denon, would it work if the 3050s were set up as Front L and front R either side of the TV / chimney, the 3090 as the centre, the 3010s as Surround Back L and R (both position just to the rear of the sofa where we sit) and then with the cantons, keep 2 connected in the front corners of the room as Surround L and R?

Just an idea to utilise them and do a further upgrade
 
markwilliams82 said:
Picked the speakers up today and will connect up tomorrow

With my denon, would it work if the 3050s were set up as Front L and front R either side of the TV / chimney, the 3090 as the centre, the 3010s as Surround Back L and R (both position just to the rear of the sofa where we sit) and then with the cantons, keep 2 connected in the front corners of the room as Surround L and R?

Just an idea to utilise them and do a further upgrade
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backs & Surrounds shouldn't be in front of you, you want one pair to immediate sides, and the other pair behind you. Correct termnology / connection will be in the manual.

If your denon supports atmos, and something like 5.1.2 you could use the cantons as front height, rather than going 7.1

If sides and surrounds are all close to you (for example on the sides of sofa arms, and behind the sofa, and say 1.5m distance between them) there probably isn't much benefit of 7.1, so it might be better using 5.1.2 instead.
 
i had a read of the manual and it does support setting up speakers as atmos

So the 2 cantons I leave in place I can plug in as surrounds but configure in the AVR as front Dolby atmos speakers

Would mean running an extra couple of cables but it would be easier for me to do at the front
 
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markwilliams82 said:
i had a read of the manual and it does support setting up speakers as atmos

So the 2 cantons I leave in place I can plug in as surrounds but configure in the AVR as front Dolby atmos speakers

Would mean running an extra couple of cables but it would be easier for me to do at the front
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If you want a atmos system you'd set it to 5.1.2 follow denon instructions on placement, settings and connections

For 7.1 then you'd use the cantons as sides or surrounds..

Connecting 7.1-channel speakers AVR-X1700H

manuals.denon.com manuals.denon.com

You can't have 7.1.2 on yours
 
That's with atmos main speakers, they have the upfirers built in, that's different to front height. But you could try that, and angle the cantons upwards. Perhaps get some thick foam on the top front edge of the speaker, with the canton behind that, pointing 60 degrees upwards and towards yous, so the foam blocks direct sound .

I found the upfirers a bit crap, although the system I used had a low ceiling so probably not ideal. The sound was coming from slightly above the fronts.

You could setup them as ceiling and front height, where you have speakers in the ceiling and on the wall as high as possible (I have the latter) 9' ceiling in mine so heights work well.
 
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All set up, now just waiting for the missus to come home to give her verdict

Took a while trying to get Audyssey showing to run the config but got there eventually

Set the new speakers up and left 2 of the old ones for Atmos fronts, all picked up and sounding good.
 
I have the buy now, I was going to use the Canton sub to get on with feel its not really supporting the speakers properly considering the jump in performance so I've ordered myself a SVS SB1000 to complete the new set up :)

Hopefully works ok
 
Certainly a better choice getting the 3050 over 3010 for the fronts. I upgraded my fronts to the 3030i and moved my old 3010 fronts to heights (have shelves either side so up at the top and angled towards the seat), had to go with the 3030 over the 3050 as they're still on the tv unit each side and there's a door in the way to get them wider.
 
Not sure how the cantons are performing as atmos speakers but when I put a quick film on to test earlier they were putting out some effects and the level of detail you can hear now compared to before is massive

Roll on the hobbit tomorrow night with Smaug - should be good
 
markwilliams82 said:
Not sure how the cantons are performing as atmos speakers but when I put a quick film on to test earlier they were putting out some effects and the level of detail you can hear now compared to before is massive

Roll on the hobbit tomorrow night with Smaug - should be good
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Glad you're enjoying them mate, they do take up more room but given you were looking at those entry level Wharfdale mini's it's an absolute night and day difference.

Shy of moving and lacking the space I'd call your 5.1 setup at the least end game, because otherwise it's a painfully expensive rabbit hole with minimal gains without mega money and a suitable room with proper audio treatments.

You've still room for improvement from your sub and possibly atmos/height speakers without breaking the bank, the sub moreso.
 
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Gray2233 said:
Glad you're enjoying them mate, they do take up more room but given you were looking at those entry level Wharfdale mini's it's an absolute night and day difference.

Shy of moving and lacking the space I'd call your 5.1 setup at the least end game, because otherwise it's a painfully expensive rabbit hole with minimal gains without mega money and a suitable room with proper audio treatments.

You've still room for improvement from your sub and possibly atmos/height speakers without breaking the bank, the sub moreso.
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That's kind of how I feel. To put Atmos ceiling speakers in my house would require a fair amount of work and I'm not sure I watch enough Atmos content to justify if. I would probably reserve it for a dedicated cinema type room because a nicely setup 5.1 still sounds awesome to me. 7.1 would be easy to upgrade to, but I don't think I'd get enough of a gain to justify the fight with the wife haha
 
ninjag said:
That's kind of how I feel. To put Atmos ceiling speakers in my house would require a fair amount of work and I'm not sure I watch enough Atmos content to justify if. I would probably reserve it for a dedicated cinema type room because a nicely setup 5.1 still sounds awesome to me. 7.1 would be easy to upgrade to, but I don't think I'd get enough of a gain to justify the fight with the wife haha
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Wasn't too bad for me to go atmos, I already had several spare power amplifiers. Went I upgraded the AV pre amp that was from 7.1 to 9.3.4

So just needed speaker cables and speakers so less than £500.

Added a minidsp hd as that does much better job in subwoofer alignment and subwoofer eq, and supports four subs which I have. 9.3.4 in the cinema with the second input and last output for a offshoot 2.1 system
 
hornetstinger said:
Wasn't too bad for me to go atmos, I already had several spare power amplifiers. Went I upgraded the AV pre amp that was from 7.1 to 9.3.4

So just needed speaker cables and speakers so less than £500.

Added a minidsp hd as that does much better job in subwoofer alignment and subwoofer eq, and supports four subs which I have. 9.3.4 in the cinema with the second input and last output for a offshoot 2.1 system
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It's the speaker wires that would be a problem, mainly from an aesthetical point of view but also the decor in the plaster would be at risk of damage. Ducting etc wouldn't suit the age of the house, nor would having speakers in the ceiling. It's just not the right kind of living room for it, which I have to accept.

Fortunately, for the 5.1 I could run all the cables under the floorboards in the copious space underneath, I guess that was one advantage to an older house.
 
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