Is this a good setup?

[craig@rewind]

Sony 1070 amp
Sony 725 DVD player
Wharfedale Diamond 8.2 Front Left and Right Speakers
Wharfedale Diamond Centre Speaker
Wharfedale Diamond 8.1 Rear Left and Right Speakers

This was all on recommendation of The Hi Fi Store. I have been using the 8.1 as my front speakers on their own for a few weeks and have been very impressed. Now I have got rid of my Digitheatre, The Hi Fi Store recommended Wharfedale for the whole set up.

How high above your head do the rear speakers ideally have to be? Does it matter if one is higher than the other? I ask because it is in my bedroom and on one side of the wall I have a wardrobe and one of the speakers is going on that.

Cheers.

[Bapapapa]

Sh1te. What does HiFi Store know, eh?

:p

Have a look at the Dolby site for some ideas on surround placement - Dobly Surround (http://www.dolby.com/ht/sound/)

Mine are on the back wall, six foot up, firing across the room.

[craig@rewind]

I take it you were being sarcastic about The Hi Fi Store?! :D On a related note, they have been excellent and would recommend them to ANYONE.

Cheers Baps, is that 6 foot above your head or the floor?

[Bapapapa]

Cheers Baps, is that 6 foot above your head or the floor?

Above my head.

If I'm lying on the floor.

[cjb110]

Baps, when you say 'firing across the room' do you mean toward the front, or toward each other ala dolbys guide??

[sideshowbob]

The Wharfies are certainly good value for money, but you might want to look at a dedicated surround speaker for the rear channels ... the Mission bipolar ones spring to mind ... they are about £180 or less. Although having the speakers up on the walls (facing eachother across the room) does de-localise the sound to some extent, you'll get a better (more diffuse) surround effect from a bipolar or dipolar design. However, from what I've read, it all gets more complicated again if you are really interested in SACD / DVD-A, because for that you might be better sticking with conventional speakers at the rear.

[Bapapapa]

Baps, when you say 'firing across the room' do you mean toward the front, or toward each other ala dolbys guide??

As far as I can, towards each other.

[cjb110]

cool thats what I've got my Tannoy mX1's doing.

BTW what effect would it have if they were pointing towards the front??

I ask because my rears aren't (and cannot be) centred with the rest of the system...and therefore one is closer and louder, and was wondering if turning them would improve things??

[Silent Bob]

Originally posted by cjb110
...and therefore one is closer and louder, and was wondering if turning them would improve things??

Best thing you can do is mess with the volume settings on your amp so each speaker sounds balanced from your seated position.

[cjb110]

um thats what a thought.

Is there a guide to how much difference +/- .5db actually makes?

I've read that 1db is equivalent to moving the centre ~1ft...is the it the same for speakers in general.

[Bapapapa]

cjb110 - Best way to balance your speakers is to get hold of a sound pressure level meter, run the amps test tones and adjust the volumes for each speaker until the db levels are all the same.

[lynx]

Originally posted by Bapapapa
cjb110 - Best way to balance your speakers is to get hold of a sound pressure level meter
I seem to recall about six months ago,some of you had difficulty buying one of these.Where did you end up sourcing one and at what price?Are they still available?

[Bapapapa]

Half a dozen of us co-bought them direct from the new distributor of Radio Shack stuff - RS - Rusk or summink..