Surround Speaker Question

you all make valid points. there are many factors to proper speaker set up. i think that matching your surrounds are the way to go. i agree that unmatched surrounds will compromise proper timber matching.

as someone else stated...direct and dipole speakers are options. with my experience, using direct firing is really crucial on placement. they must be behind and above your listening position. if positioned on your sides, they will fire directly in your ear and it will probably bother you as it will be easy to localize the sound. you want surround to be non localized. so depending on where you are gonna set up your surrounds, that tip may help you chose.

my room is small so dipoles works best for me as it spreads out the sound better than directs.

these are the best surrounds i have ever used but i am selling them because i changed speakers and dont use them anymore. i held on to them because they are so special, but they have been in my closet too long and its time to let someone else enjoy them. they are a bit out of your price range but they are well worth it.

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/649019681-mampk_ss150thx_surrounds_best_ever/

i do recommend matching your fronts.

good luck

To nineballg's point,

Having direct-radiating surrounds works very very well now with lossless codecs. I use direct radiating surrounds an point them all directly at the listening position. I've put my sides at a 110 degree angle. My anthem preamp allows me to specify dipole or direct radiating for all surrounds. I chose that instead of 90 degrees based on reading Floyd Toole's book and reason the spec for DTS and Dolby lossless setups.

Now, my surrounds are all 9 feet from the primary listening position. If your surrounds are foing to be 3 feet away, then it may be a different situation. :-).

But my serious point is that direct firing surrounds work incredibly well and I actually prefer it to dipole.

Best
Theo

to theo, i totally agree with you. you have the perfect set up which is why i think directs will work well. 110 degrees is a bit behind your listening position and it is highly recommended.

also, having all your speakers positioned the same distance away is key.

not everyone has the perfect set up, and if someone had to live with surrounds 3 feet away with front channels 9 feet away for example...i think directs would not work well.