I am looking for a recommendation for using satellite speakers as main speakers for a system that includes a Klipsch KSW-10 sub, polk audio RC80i ceiling rears, and a polk audio CS2 center with a Yamaha RX-V661 receiver. Floorstanding speakers are not an option. Thinking of either placing the speakers on each side of a 50" plasma (ear level) or placing them at the top of the wall unit that houses the tv, 6' high, 8' apart.
For best imaging, the left and right speakers should be the same distance from their respective wallls. If the distance from one speaker to the listener is very different from the other it can effect the soundstage or stereo imaging. Therefore the ideal position is having the speakers equidistant to the listener.
A general guideline for placement is to setup the space between speaker and listener at aprox. 1-1/2 times the distance between the speakers, For example, if the speakers are placed a minimum of 6 feet apart then the best seating position woud be 9 feet away.
At 8 feet apart the best seating position would be 12 feet away. My opinion is ear level for these speakers is best as well as angling them toward the listening position to create a triangle.
Keith, this technology like others changes all the time and is dependant on your specific needs. I would make this decision on my own by researching the subject myself. Just google it and base your decision on what you want to spend and what you need. Any suggestions I would make concerning this would be biased to my needs. Just remeber that like anything else you get what you pay for. The only other thing I would suggest is to not get more than your receiver supports as this woud be a waste of money unless you plan to upgrade the receiver eventually.
Something to consider when researching this. In my experience sattelite speakers are typically sold in sets of 5,6,7, or 8 and 1 sub so I don't know what is going to happen with that. When you decide on the additional sattelites I would consider the specifications on the speakers you already have and try to stay within those limits with the new ones. There is no reason to get a 300 watt sattelite speaker if the rest of the speakers you have are 100 watt and your receiver outputs 100 watts per channel. You want to consider if the new ones are self adjusting for example because if your other speakers are not then that is a waste of money. I would try to get the new speakers not necesarily the same brand as your existing speakers but having the same specifications to make sure you are getting the best sound. Ultimately the ones you get are up to you but I would definitely want them to be the same specs as the sattelites you already have.
i just bought a panasonic surround sound system. i have everything hooked up. but i am having one problem. i have dish network satallite that has a receiver in one room and the other tv runs off that one receiver. i have the box in my bedroom and the livingroom does not have a box. my surround sound is in my living room and i cant get my satallite to play through the surround sound. i can get my dvds to play just not the tv. i have my video out hook up from the tv to the video in on my main box. what am i doing wrong?
You are probably going to need to get a sat box for the living room to connect the optical or digital coax from the sat box to your reciever for sound... Or you could change the location of the box from the bedroom to the living room. No matter what you do there will have to be a way to connect the surround sound to a sat box for sound.. If you decide to connect the surround system to the sat bax in the bedroom that also runs the living room tv then you should use optical to connect it but again it woud be easier to just move the sat box to the living room..