Can I use bookshelf speakers as rears?????

[chris21adan]

I have a choice of using some pretty small Cambridge Soundworks The Surround II rear speakers or 2 brand new Sony bookshelf speakers (Model SS-MB215) which are about 5 times the size of the rears. The Sony bookshelf speakers also handle 140 watts. I'm not sure how many watts the rears can handle but I'm pretty sure it's nowhere near 140 watts. I have yet to try either of them in my surround sound setup since I'm waiting for my optical cables to arrive but would like some info. Btw, I'm using a Sony amp.

 

[CalvinHobbes]

You can use any speaker you want for the rears as long as they don't put undo stress on the receiver. I have large bookshelf speakers as rears in my setup.

Will the speakers be behind the listening position or to the side?

Direct radiating speakers are not always the best for rears depending on the configuration. Bi or Di-poles tend to give a more enveloping sound.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

What does the rest of the system consist of as far as speakers? (and sub I suppose)

You probably don't have to worry about the wattage ratings on things. Most of the time you'll be using less than 1 watt anyway, especially on surround speakers. Are you worried about giving the cambridge speakers too much power to keep up with your fronts / center? What are you running up there?

 

[chris21adan]

The fronts are Digital Pro Audio Slim Line Towers (250 watts), Cambridge center speaker (center channel plus) and of course, Cambridge (The Surround II) or Sony bookshelf speakers (140 watts) as my rears.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Hmmm... did you get those fronts from some guys selling them out of a vehicle of some kind?

You might be better off running the Sony speakers up front.

 

[chris21adan]

I bought the speaker set off of my uncle. I listened to them before I took them home and they sounded great. Btw, my receiver is a Sony STR-DE545.

 

[chris21adan]

Btw, here are the specs for my front speakers.

Rear Ported Bass Reflex Cabinet Design
Rich Black Finish
Minimum Power: 10 Watts
Maximum Power: 250 Watts
Dual Polypropylene 8? Woofers
Titanium Tweeter
Sensitivity: 91dB/1 Watt @ 1 Meter
Frequency Response: 35Hz. ? 20kHz.
Impedance: Eight (8) Ohms
Gold Plated Binding Posts

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

This is why I'm questioning your front speakers
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2057437&enterthread=y

That's a "White Van" brand, and the specs would be bogus on those. Components would be very low quality as well. Some speakers like these have been known to present very difficult loads to receivers / amps.
This kind of concern is a lot more dangerous to consider than the rated wattages of the various speakers you have.

 

[chris21adan]

I now realize that folks were probably paying hundreds for these "ripoff" speakers but I only paid 100 dollars for the whole setup including the receiver. Anyways, they sounded pretty good so I'm hoping they won't give me any problems. Thanks for the tip btw.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: chris21adan
I now realize that folks were probably playing hundreds for these "ripoff" speakers but I only paid 100 dollars for the whole setup including the receiver. Anyways, they sounded pretty good so I'm hoping they won't give me any problems. Thanks for the tip btw.

No problem, I would just consider trying the Sony speakers up front instead to see what you like better. Sound is a personal preference thing so you might like the Digital Pro Audio ones better, but with the kind of materials they use in these scam brands, the Sony set could be better even with specs that don't look as good. White Van speakers often don't even have crossovers etc.

When CalvinHobbes mentioned "undo stress on the receiver", these are some speakers that could have this effect.

I run floorstanders as fronts and rears with dipoles for surrounds in addition to my center, so it's not really a matter of size of the speaker, but more the impedence and the sensitivity of the speakers. Since the specs on those fronts you have are basically BS, it's hard to say what you're asking your receiver / amp to do.

 

[chris21adan]

I guess it would be smart for me to try both the tower speakers and Sony bookshelf speakers as my fronts. It would suck big time if the bookshelf speakers sounded better than the fronts though. Wish the optical cables I ordered would arrive any minute now. One last thing, would I notice an improvement if I were to use an optical cable to hook my components up to the receiver instead of regular rca's???

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: chris21adan
I guess it would be smart for me to try both the tower speakers and Sony bookshelf speakers as my fronts. It would suck big time if the bookshelf speakers sounded better than the fronts though. Wish the optical cables I ordered would arrive any minute now. One last thing, would I notice an improvement if I were to use an optical cable to hook my components up to the receiver instead of regular rca's???

Do you have a subwoofer too?

A good bookshelf speaker / sub combo can really give you good results. I realize this is a budget setup and you're not looking to buy new stuff etc., but eventually if you want to improve on this system, you should consider getting a new set of front three speakers. The center channel is going to be doing the majority of the sound from movies and such. Having a good one will make a big improvement in things. Having the front three speakers matched is also a very good way to go.

Good bookshelf speakers and a good subwoofer to go with it can offer you great performance vs. floorstanders for a similar price. There are advantages to having floorstanders, but a bookshelf/sub combo has some strong advantages to it.


For optical vs. RCA, what is your source? If it's a DVD player or something, then a digital connection is totally the way to go. You'd only get stereo sound from a regular RCA connection (unless you're doing multichannel analog). DD and DTS tracks will get decoded by your receiver and you'll get true surround sound from your movies.

In other cases, you may actually be better off with an analog connection. For example, a multichannel analog connection from a computer soundcard has advantages over digital in some cases. Also, if your receiver is of low quality, your source devices may have better conversion to analog from digital sources so an analog connection may be superior. In most cases though, I think a digital connection is probably what you want to do.

For future reference, monoprice, cablesforless, and partsexpress are some great places to get good cables for cheap.

 

[chris21adan]

The sources will be a Playstation 3 and a DirecTV HD receiver. Also, I purchased the optical cables from Monoprice for about 4-5 dollars each. Not bad at all. =)

Almost forgot, I do have a sub. I'm not sure what brand it is but it's pretty huge.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: chris21adan
The sources will be a Playstation 3 and a DirecTV HD receiver. Also, I purchased the optical cables from Monoprice for about 4-5 dollars each. Not bad at all. =)

Almost forgot, I do have a sub. I'm not sure what brand it is but it's pretty huge.

With the sub taking care of the lower frequencies, then the main advantage the Digital Pro speakers would have shouldn't really matter much.
Do you have the bass management for the receiver set up already?

For PS3 and your HD receiver, digital is the way to go :thumbsup:

 

[chris21adan]

I have not set up the receiver just yet. I have yet to even power it on. I'm still waiting on the optical cables which should be arrive either tomorrow or Thursday I'm hoping.

Anyways, so since I have a pretty big sub the Digital Pro Speakers should be fine correct? Also, do optical cables elminate any "hissing" noise that come from speakers at high volume? Is "hissing" caused by cheap rca's? Thanks for answering all of my questions.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Any sort of writing / model info on the sub?

You'll probably be fine running the digital pro speakers. Even with their "35Hz" spec, you'll probably want to run the crossover setting on the receiver at around 80hz for them and probably higher on the center if you can do that individually. With 3" drivers as the largest ones in the center, it's probably not going to handle lower frequencies very well.

Hissing on the speakers could be caused by noise coming from the source, interference along the cables connecting components, and your receiver itself. A digital connection could potentially help you out in each of those areas. It may or may not make a big difference.