A little bit confused with Front and Surround speaker

[MetalHead84]

I want to build my home theater with seperate pieces instead of a HTiB.
But I'm a little bit confused with the front and rear/surround speaker
Can I pick up any speaker and just connect it to the surround on my receiver or in the front part and it will do the same job? Or is there any speaker dedicated to do surround and front ?

And another question, I just buy a receiver (yamaha 6150) and want to start to buy speaker, but don't buy them all at the same time to make a hole in my budget, so in which order should I buy the speaker to be able to use the receiver and have some decent sound ?

Thanks again for all the help you people give, and sorry if it sound newb

[zedd_117]

Well, You can buy any speaker and hook it up as a front left or right, center, or surround left or right, but it's usually not recommended.
What you'll see most is a center channel speaker in front center (don't worry most companies will actually label it as a center channel), usually (depending on budget) tower speakers for the front left and right (they look just like the name implies, tall speakers). Then you'll usually have what are known as "bookshelf" speakers for the surrounds (again, just like the name, small enough to fit on a bookshelf). This is a typical set-up. Oh, don't forget the subwoofer too.
My advice to you is: check out the home theatre in a box, in store. That way you'll at least have an idea for the parts and perhaps even the price range you'll be looking for.
The best way to start out is to buy your center channel first, then front left and right (at the same time!), then the surround left and right (1 pair if your having a 5.1 set-up, 2 pairs if your having a 7.1 set-up), and lastly your subwoofer.
Do not be afraid to ask some sales people in stores (preferrably in Home theater stores ) This is there job after all!

Hope this helps and welcome to the wonderful world of surround sound!

[MetalHead84]

Will this setup will be ok for now, I will probably not be able to use it at his maximum since I leave in my parent's basement (but looking for a house probably by the end of the year) and with the house I will not be able to buy something to expensive, so I need something that I will be glad to have for a couple of year:


Front + Surround : Polk Audio Bookshelf Speakers: R150 ( I can have 1 pair at 198$ CAN) so I was thinking of buying 2 pair

Center : Polk Audio TSi CS10 (198$ CAN too)

Sub : Polk PSW10 (258$ CAN) or perhaps the PSW110 for 310$ CAN

[kpkelley]

For your surrounds you may want to consider the RM8's for about $250/pair. This is a design specifally for the non-directional surround effects of side and rear surrounds. Usually these are either bipolar or dipolar, some including a switch to select between the two, I am not sure of which these are supposed to be.

[zedd_117]

Originally Posted by MetalHead84

Will this setup will be ok for now, I will probably not be able to use it at his maximum since I leave in my parent's basement (but looking for a house probably by the end of the year) and with the house I will not be able to buy something to expensive, so I need something that I will be glad to have for a couple of year:


Front + Surround : Polk Audio Bookshelf Speakers: R150 ( I can have 1 pair at 198$ CAN) so I was thinking of buying 2 pair

Center : Polk Audio TSi CS10 (198$ CAN too)

Sub : Polk PSW10 (258$ CAN) or perhaps the PSW110 for 310$ CAN

Looks good. Hope you enjoy them! Forgot to mention you could do both front and backs with bookshelf speakers if you don't have the money/space for towers. (Like Me )
Talk to Sirius389 on here, I think her set-up is pretty close to the same as what you have here. She may have the next step up in Polk's (and I know she has a 7.1) but she can probably help you out if you have any questions)
She has a HT thread on here just search the forums for Sirius389, it'll pop up.

[aramis109]

I would suggest timbre-matching the fronts and the center. Since you've picked the CS10, I'd suggest your fronts be from the TSi line rather than the lower R line.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by aramis109

I would suggest timbre-matching the fronts and the center. Since you've picked the CS10, I'd suggest your fronts be from the TSi line rather than the lower R line.

To follow up on what aramis said, I can recommend the T90e's as a timbre match for the CS10. The sound is outstanding!

[MetalHead84]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

To follow up on what aramis said, I can recommend the T90e's as a timbre match for the CS10. The sound is outstanding!

They don't have it on visions.ca, that's probably the only place where I will be able to order polk speaker on the net

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by MetalHead84

They don't have it on visions.ca, that's probably the only place where I will be able to order polk speaker on the net

OOOHHH Canada! I feel for you my brother. Well, that does create an issue. How about the 300,400 or 500 line? I am pretty sure these will timbre match as well.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by MetalHead84

They don't have it on visions.ca, that's probably the only place where I will be able to order polk speaker on the net

TSi or Monitor if you can find 'em then.

[MetalHead84]

Yes I will probably go with the TSi line, I just need to look at what space I have available when I will be at home to measure the space around the TV

[MetalHead84]

Does somebody what connection the polk speaker have ? Will I be ok with just some speaker wire and banana plug ?

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by MetalHead84

Does somebody what connection the polk speaker have ? Will I be ok with just some speaker wire and banana plug ?

Normal speaker wire is fine, or you can use plugs or spades. I use plugs and they work great and look very nice.

[Siri]

Originally Posted by aramis109

Normal speaker wire is fine, or you can use plugs or spades. I use plugs and they work great and look very nice.

agreed, I bought all of my speaker wire and banana plugs from Monoprice, I chose the closed screw type plugs because to me it just looks cleaner than the open screw, but the Polk TSi's are great

[jomari]

i would suggest tho, instead of going bookshelves all around, id rather allot more of the money towards a better frontstage and compromise the budget for the rears. better to have an outstanding LCR speakers than a set that you'd end up upgrading later on. distinctively tho, you want those surrounds to be tonally matched to a certain level with your fronts, to get a better spatial experience.

[Hammie]

The ideal situation is to have 5or 7 of the SAME exact speakers. Big Daddy recently wrote a write-up on horizontal versus center speakers. Also, if you look at some of the multi-channel audio setups they usually have 5 of the same towers plus a subwoofer.

Although this may not be ideal for most room situations, it is proven to be the best from an audio perspective.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by jomari

i would suggest tho, instead of going bookshelves all around, id rather allot more of the money towards a better frontstage and compromise the budget for the rears. better to have an outstanding LCR speakers than a set that you'd end up upgrading later on. distinctively tho, you want those surrounds to be tonally matched to a certain level with your fronts, to get a better spatial experience.

I agree with this. I also wish someone would've drilled it in my head a little more when I started at this site- I went first with the Polk RM6750, then the Polk Monitors all the way around, and now I am finishing up some low-end Def Techs. I could've saved quite a bit of money by doing it right the first time.

[DonRSD]

www.newegg.com

^^thats your friend for good speaker prices^^

and

www.monoprice.com

^^thats good for any cables, wires, etc^^

[DonRSD]

Originally Posted by aramis109

I agree with this. I also wish someone would've drilled it in my head a little more when I started at this site- I went first with the Polk RM6750, then the Polk Monitors all the way around, and now I am finishing up some low-end Def Techs. I could've saved quite a bit of money by doing it right the first time.

wanna ship me your 40s for 50 bucks?!
uill gladly take them off your hands.

and what happened with the monitor 60s? dod you trade them in or sell them?

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by DonRSD

wanna ship me your 40s for 50 bucks?!
uill gladly take them off your hands.

and what happened with the monitor 60s? dod you trade them in or sell them?

Hah, it's not that I hate them or think that they're bad speakers. In fact, the 40's are staying as my surrounds for now. I'll go bipolar later. I actually really like the 40's but with my sort of weird setup I think bipolars will work better. And no, I won't sell them to you for $50.

I sold the 60's this weekend and got my BP6b's. I'll have pics once the center comes in. Again, don't take my changes as saying that the Monitors are bad- they're not at all. What I am saying is that you should buy what you want the first time around (even if it takes longer) rather than just buying what you can afford. In my case, it was a little different because I never knew this whole world of audio would be so appealing to me. I'm usually an eye-candy kind of guy.