I have a question about Klipsch surround speakers. Along with a subwoofer and center channel speaker, can I use surround speakers for the two front AND two back sets of speakers? I'm not sure of the difference between the surround speakers and bookshelf speakers...plus, the house I just moved into has speaker attachments already on the walls from the previous owner's setup and I'd like to use those, if possible. Thanks for your help!
Needless to say there is probably a reason why they are billed purely as surrounds and not as mains. Surrounds of that type typically have poor bass response and subpar imaging. They probably would throw a large soundstage though. Try the surrounds and if they don't work out, exchange them for bookshelf models.
Maui makes them sound as if they are bad speakers. But really it's simply that dipoles are not meant to to used as mains (unless your "surrounds" are RB- series rather than RS- series).
Peter- In comparison with most bookshelf and floorstanding speakers, surround speakers do have worse bass extension and imaging. Its not a bad thing, it's just that they are designed to give enveloping sound, not pure accuracy.
I agree with you if the surrounds are dipoles. You can use bookshelf speakers (RB- series) very effectively as surrounds. I was just trying to convey that, but I wasn't thorough enough (it was too late at night to post).
klipsch surrounds are NOT dipoles, as they radiate sound in a really unique pattern. They have two horns that flare out at the sides of the mid-woofer. Kind of an Isosceles trapezoid per say with no drivers on the back of them. The pic at the bottom is how the speakers look. If you can point one of the horns at the side walls, with the other directly at you, it may give a pleasing, bose-like (I know, I know) spaciousness. Due to the design of klipsch surrounds this IS possible, but they advise against it because it isnt really accurate.
