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2.0 or 3.0 or 4.0 for HT Movie Audio?

I'm simplifying my life on the audio end. Consolidation of my separate HT room and 2ch room to one room has me doing some out of the speaker-box thinking.

Just to be upfront, I do love 5.1 and this is what I would prefer, and may end up there anyways.

My question only applies to Blu Ray and DVD movie playback.

Curious if Audiogon Members have lived with and enjoyed any of these configurations, i.e.:

- 2.0 (L/R) or

- 3.0 (L/R/C) or

- 4.0 (L/R/SrL/SrR) [no center]

What have your experiences and impressions been? Any lessons learned?

Note: I'm keeping things simple by eliminating the subs; I am satisfied with the lf performance and extension I'm getting from my current speakers on movie sound tracks.

Thanks,

- David.
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james63
501 posts
 
To answer your question:

Without the sub I would just to 2.0. The sub is what makes home theater. With a sub I would take 4.0 over 3.0. For what it is worth I have done 2.0,2.1, 3.1, 5.2, 7.2... back to 2.0, over the years.

Now my current setup is a little different. I run to separate systems in the same room. My 5.1 (Polk RTi A3 x5, 550wi subs x2) is mounted to the ceiling. I used their Key hole mounts and made mounts out of 2X4s/plywood (wireless subs in the back of the room behind the theater chairs). The rest of my room is "optimized" for 2.0 (currently thiel CS2.4 etc) music. Each system has its own electronics and they do not intermix.

My own thoughts:

To me the most important thing is keeping all the speakers the same. I don't mean the same brand or line I mean the same speaker. Now if you have a big budget you can put two systems in the same room and make the surround sound almost unnoticeable .

Use 5 Thiel Power point speakers and a JL Audio in-wall sub. It would make a very nice looking and sounding system that could be in the same room as your two channel room.

Just a thought.
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david_ten OP
2,509 posts
 
An update.

Still playing with 2.0 for movies and have been pleased with the results from two separate sets of speakers: the Vaughn Pinots and Gemme Tanto V2s. Need to get the Charios into rotation next.

Once I move some gear, I will make a final determination.

In the meantime, if other Audiogoners have some thoughts and their personal experiences to share, definitely post.

- David.
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dbphd
1,058 posts
 
As noted in my 2/14 post, I'm using 5.1, but have found 4.1 just fine, given we sit at the apex of a near-field triangle. I've tried to match the voicing of the five channels by using speakers with the same model tweeter, and it seems successful. But I've been thinking of 7.1, and wonder if 6.1 might be the way to go. I'd use the speakers that now provide the center channel instead at the rear of the room. I have my doubts about how important it is to match the voicing of channels 6 & 7, but it couldn't hurt.

db
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