help with surrounds

[audiophied]

I'm looking for surrounds for HT purpose to complement my N802s and HTM1. What would be the best alternative to N805 and SCM-1?

Any thoughts on the old SCM8s? Other potential candidates are 705/704 or the CDM SNT,CDM 1nt,CDM 7nt

What would be the best match with my fronts & center? I'm looking outside the 800 series as I've heard that for HT purpose spending $$s on matching rear speakers isn't worth it.

Thanks!
Audiophied

[audiophied]

Scm8

Just found out that the SCM8s are dipoles, so that rules out those. What about the others. Does anyone have suggestions? Thanks

[Clepto]

If they're diploes, why don't you want to use them, especially for surrounds...?

[LikeCoiledSteel]

I'm looking for surrounds for HT purpose to complement my N802s and HTM1. What would be the best alternative to N805 and SCM-1?

Any thoughts on the old SCM8s? Other potential candidates are 705/704 or the CDM SNT,CDM 1nt,CDM 7nt

What would be the best match with my fronts & center? I'm looking outside the 800 series as I've heard that for HT purpose spending $$s on matching rear speakers isn't worth it.

Thanks!
Audiophied

Another set of N802's would be the "best match" but unless you have a huge room, probably not as cost effective or needed. Then are the N803's, 804's... The 805's would be next as far as bookshelves. First you must decide whether you want to go with bookshelves or towers. I use the CDM1NT's with my 7NT's for the front. I would go with the 1NT's over the SNT's. More bass and more musical.

I agree that for HT only, exact match of the surrounds is not needed. As long as the bass is good for the room, bookshelves should do fine.
Steel

[Camelot]

Agree with Likecoldsteel that another pair of N802's would be the best match.
I have the N805 and SCM1's. Previously I used the SCM1's as rears but now I have switched the SCM1's to the front and use the N805's as rear.

Both the SCM1 and N805 are very capable as rear speakers. However, I would prefer SCM1 over N805 for both front and rear. I am even considering to sell my N805's and buy another pair of SCM1's. The xover frequency of the SCM1 matches better with N804, 803 and I believe even the 802.

It's true that the surrounds only produce "sound and effects" when playing movies. In that respect it is not so important to have a high quality surround speaker. However, for DVD music in 5.1 setup I would recommend to use the 800 series for surround purposes.

[RobP]

Audiophied, you should consider auditioning the 805's for your surrounds if you are going to use a bookshelf style speaker, first they will be timbre matched with your mains, secondly the dispersion characteristics of the top loaded tweeter make for a much more convincing surround field.

[audiophied]

Thanks for your responses!

Thanks everyone for your input... This whole time I thought no one had responded! For some reason I had to refresh the thread to see everyone's comments.

Clepto - I just prefer monopoles over dipoles for surrounds. I know many prefer dipoles for HT but to me the directional sound you get from monopoles is more engaging than the sound-field dipoles create. I bet a combination of monopoles & dipoles would be awesome in a 7.1 setup - you would get the best of both worlds... though I have never heard this combination.

LikeCoiledSteel & Camelot - You're right N802 would be the best match but this would be too expensive and would not go by well with the wife. Plus my living room isn't square, its rectangular. The N802s are facing the shorter side... This also means that there isn't much room behind me.

For this reason, is it better to have a bookshelf or SCM1s hung on the wall? I ask this because I've read on this forum that for the best surround experience all speakers should be equidistant from the sitting position. The N802s are about 8.5 feet away from my listening position. So for me to get surrounds 8+ feet away they would have to be on the side walls. (A floorstander would have to be along side the couch and this would make it very close to where I sit). Should this be an important factor in deciding between floorstanders and bookshelves?

Soundgravy - Would you go with N805s over SCM1s?

By the way, is there a massive difference between the bass of an N804 vs N805s and SCM1s?

Thanks again for everyones thoughtful suggestions!

[LikeCoiledSteel]

For this reason, is it better to have a bookshelf or SCM1s hung on the wall? I ask this because I've read on this forum that for the best surround experience all speakers should be equidistant from the sitting position. The N802s are about 8.5 feet away from my listening position. So for me to get surrounds 8+ feet away they would have to be on the side walls. (A floorstander would have to be along side the couch and this would make it very close to where I sit). Should this be an important factor in deciding between floorstanders and bookshelves?

Soundgravy - Would you go with N805s over SCM1s?

By the way, is there a massive difference between the bass of an N804 vs N805s and SCM1s?

Thanks again for everyones thoughtful suggestions!

I would go for the 805's for a few reasons;

I find it usually advantagous to go with a bookshelf stereo speaker as a surround, rather than a speaker made just to be a surround. If you do someday decide to listen to multichannel music, the 805's will probably sound better. Surround speakers are designed usually with compromises for placement. Not so with a bookshelf.

The SCM1 cabinet is shallower so that it can be mounted on-wall with the minimum of intrusion into the living space. An on-wall application will exentuate the bass reinforcement from the wall.

The cabinet is smaller for minimum intrusion. This will compromise the sound more than the 805's. Bass reinforcement from the wall will most likely be boomy, slow, more sloppy.

Please note that I am not knocking these speakers, in fact I have never listened to them before. I just think that you will be better served with the 805's. Your 802's should be providing all the bass you need at 8 ft. away. A sub will also solve your bass needs.

The 804's will have the best bass, the 805's next and then SCM1.

[RobP]

Soundgravy - Would you go with N805s over SCM1s?

I actually had this same choice in my setup and went with the N805's for surrounds rather than the SCM1's. For one, I wanted my surrounds at the same ear height as my mains, second: the N805's play lower and IMO had a better tonal quality, and third, I did not want to mount a speaker to the wall that may excite the surrounding structure causing unwanted resonance's.

My listening area is not optimal and we seem to share a similar problem in the placement of the surrounds in lieu of seating. It took me almost as long to get the right angles and levels set as it did to get my left and right mains in order. My N805's sit at either end of my seating toed in and back just a bit and are about 9 feet apart. I am extremely happy with the surround image that is created with these speakers, the surround field has rear depth beyond the walls, excellent wide surround field and height that matches the front soundstage.

One other thing to consider, if you ever decided to sell your equipment for any reason,the 805's would be much easier to move than the SCM1's.

[Race Car Driver]

And on that note, anyone with some N SCM1s in cherry complete, feel free to offer them to me FS, im looking for a pair [/shameless plug]