What is the optimum HT speaker setup - sub/sat or towers?

[Jmac]

Greetings All

This is my 'inagural' post, and I was wondering which is the better setup generally as regards HT speakers; matching floorstanders all round, or a matching sub/sat system all round.

Space is not a prime concern, I'm concerned mainly with performance, and the two setups I have in mind are either an M&K 750 THX select setup, OR a matched set of B&W 704s (with the HTM7 centre channel).

Would anyone who has had experience with high quality sub/sats v's high quality floorstanders all round be able to comment please?

Obviously if that happens to be the aforementioned M&K setup, or the 700, or 800 B&W speakers that I'm interested in, then so much the better..:-)

All comments appreciated.

Many thanks

Cheers

John... :T

[saurabh]

READ the thread "Placement of Speaker is "THE" important aspect in HTS.......read on"

I have recently posted a thread "Placement of Speaker is "THE" important aspect in HTS.......read on ". This will answer all your questions and more.

I am sure it will help you.

[Nick M]

Of the time I've spent playing in hifi stores, I think for most people this is an issue of cash available and diminishing returns. When set up right, monitors/subs can sound pretty damn close to towers/sub at alot less of a price. Its also an issue of what you prefer. Some people like the diffused sound from bipole speakers high up on the walls, while others (like myself) prefer direct radiating speakers at ear level. Bass is omnidirectional, so with the correct placement, crossover, and equalization the difference in sound from towers/sub to monitors/sub should be minimal to nil. If you plan to go with THX standards (with an 80Hz X-over), I'd be willing to put money on the fact that you couldn't tell the difference. Then again with an unlimited budget, I'd have towers all around! :B

EDIT: Reading your post again, I'm wondering if you were asking about towers without a sub vs monitors with a sub. In this scenario the monitors/sub combo wins my money everytime. Some people enjoy towers with built in subs, but from the few I've heard they still need an independent sub to hit the lowest of lows.

[Chuck G]

I like towers because music is the most important aspect for me. I had a sat setup and never liked it, even with a good sub. The integration and music performance just made it subpar for me. If music is not as important, SAT setups are better at that.

[George Bellefontaine]

My HT is a movies only setup so the sub/sat arrangement works perfectly. I have 7 Boston Acoustics sats plus a BA sub, plus a bigger 12" sub that Andrew Pratt made for me. The movie soundtracks are amazing on this system. Music ain't too shabby either, but I do my 2 channel music listening in another room.

[Shane Martin]

Movies: Sub/sat works good
Music: Towers

If you mix both of those, then Towers
If you do HT only: Sub/Sat
Music only: towers

[Bruce]

IMO, at least towers for the mains plus a sub, so when listening to music the crossover to the sub doesn't get screwed up because the acoustic rolloff of the main speakers doesn't really add to the crossover unlike sats whose rolloff is usually too high and does add to the crossover (unless you are using THX speakers).

[Jmac]

Greetings All

Many thanks for the replies guys - it's a real help.

I figure there are many ways to configure an HT system. I tend to favour towers, as I've always had them for 2 channel; I get the impression that towers all round are the preferred choice in high-end recording studios such as Abbey Rd, and Skywalker ranch etc. (OK, I'm probably being sucked in by B&W advertising.. :-)) but I also have read articles, and experimented myself with bass - management in an amp/receiver/processor, and the signal filtering involved definitely has a deleterious effect on the sound. Full range speakers all round avoids that.

Also, and I have no idea why, none of the sub/sat systems I've so far heard have quite the sense of richness of a similar quality floorstander.

Annoyingly it is impossible for me to do a direct A/B comparison between the M&K sub/sat 750 THX system that interests me & the B&W 704's, despite hearing them separately. Which is where I hope you guys may be able to help me out. I'd love to hear from M&K sub/sat owners, and hopefully some B&W owners as well, as to what they feel are the strengths and weaknesses of their setups with reference to the sound and presentation of movie audio.

And of course if that relates to the sub/sat question, v.'s floorstanders, I'd really appreciate hearing more of peoples experiences/learning curves etc.

Best Regards

John... :T

[FSonicSmith]

I figure there are many ways to configure an HT system. I tend to favour towers, as I've always had them for 2 channel; I get the impression that towers all round are the preferred choice in high-end recording studios such as Abbey Rd, and Skywalker ranch etc. (OK, I'm probably being sucked in by B&W advertising.. :-))

Actually, if you visit most recording studios, you will find bookshelf monitors in use. I believe Sir Martin used B&W M805s (the predecessor to the N805s) when he remastered many of the Beatles Albums. The original LS3/5a and the later Spendor, Harbeth, and KEF versions of the same speaker and close derivatives of same became standard in most recording studios (sure, there were studios in New York and LA that continued to use full size JBLs here and there) in the mid 70s. Of course, the preference of sound engineers to listen near-field to monitors placed directly on the mixing board of just in front of it accounts for mcuh of the popularity of mini monitors in sound studios. But more to the point, if you read a magazine like Stereophile with any regularity, you will see that minimonitors have their respective camps of advocates right up their with towers and horns and planars and refrigerator-sized sky-is-the-limit priced "statement" speakers. The advocates of minimonitors espouse that all bass below 50hz or so tends to sound less than life-like, so why screw it up rather than omit it, and that trying to replicate true bass comes at the expense of soundstaging, imaging, and midrange purity.
Now it so happens I prefer the B&W N803s, a tower, to my current M805s all said and done (I also happen to favor a steering investment towards the best possible source and amplification-it's amazing what a good source and amp can do driving a "lesser" set of speakers) but the simple truth is that far too many entry level hobbyists buy so-so towers when their resources would have been better spent on very good minimonitors. But, music reproduction and particularly speaker selection does not favor steered guidance.
Back to what you saw from B&W; yes, most speaker manufacturing and recording studio *showrooms* tend to be large and feature the refrigerator-sized "statement" speakers. After all, a statement is being made.

[gd]

I would hesitate to make any generalization on whether one type of speaker design is preferable to another for a given application... speakers vary so greatlly from one make to the other that one is certain to find pleasing solutions in a variety of configurations.

I would suggest auditioning beyond the usual suspects (B&W, Paradigm, Klipsch)... they are good and reputable makes, but further investigation might likely yield a new listening experience that can change your mind... you're likely to discover things you didn't know about minimonitors and floorstanders alike.

Try: Totem Acoustic, Monitor Audio, Vandersteen, Dali, NHT... and there's a bunch more.

[FSonicSmith]

I would hesitate to make any generalization on whether one type of speaker design is preferable to another for a given application... speakers vary so greatlly from one make to the other that one is certain to find pleasing solutions in a variety of configurations.

I would suggest auditioning beyond the usual suspects (B&W, Paradigm, Klipsch)... they are good and reputable makes, but further investigation might likely yield a new listening experience that can change your mind... you're likely to discover things you didn't know about minimonitors and floorstanders alike.

Try: Totem Acoustic, Monitor Audio, Vandersteen, Dali, NHT... and there's a bunch more.

I couldn't agree more, and that was my intended point. And I agree particularly with your recommended suggestions, and would add Dynaudio and Triangle to the mix.