Which surrounds to match 800Ds and HTM1D in 7.1 set-up

[William]

One potential benefit of using 803D's as surrounds (as I am doing) is their height factor. In my case, the 803D tweeters are able to direct sound over the back of my couch. My previous surrounds (N804) could not achieve this.

Same hear :B . I had 804's but they were below the back of my recliners and didn't timbre match my 802D's

...
Don't get me wrong, I think any of the 800 series 805S and above would work fine as surrounds for the 800D....Probably it would be difficult to hear any significant difference in timber between the 800Ds fronts and the 803Ds rears as well, particularly with home theater...

Disagree with the former and agree with the latter. I had 804' as my rears and the aluminum tweeter has a distinctly different sound signature from the diamond. I found it distracting when listening to DVD-A/SA-CD's.

However I find the 803D's to be a near perfect timbre match as rears to the 802D's (and 800D's too). Also the 1" hight is a definite advantage in the rear. IMO: the Marlan head will not be a big a benefit to the rears as it is to the mains. You just don't need that laser focused midrange in the rears as you do up front.

[KyaDawn]

Same hear :B . I had 804's but they were below the back of my recliners and didn't timbre match my 802D's


Disagree with the former and agree with the latter. I had 804' as my rears and the aluminum tweeter has a distinctly different sound signature from the diamond. I found it distracting when listening to DVD-A/SA-CD's.

However I find the 803D's to be a near perfect timbre match as rears to the 802D's (and 800D's too). Also the 1" hight is a definite advantage in the rear. IMO: the Marlan head will not be a big a benefit to the rears as it is to the mains. You just don't need that laser focused midrange in the rears as you do up front.

I just got my 802Ds and 805Ss delivered today :B, but will let the installer do all the hook-ups when he comes on Monday when he also brings my new projector.

So I will see be able to comment from experience in my own home about that come Monday, but demoing the 804S and 802D as fronts, I definitely heard a huge difference. Not only in timber, but I found the bass response of the 804S seriously lacking in comparison, as well as imaging and soundstage. I actually prefer the 805S in overall presentation to the 804S, though the 804S has fuller bass.

For surrounds, however, I suspect the 805S would make a good match for 802Ds for home theater, though I'm also interested in hearing my multi-channel music discs on this set-up, particularly those mixes that seriously utilise the surrounds channels, not just with atmospheric effects, but with discrete instrumentation.

I can imagine a sub, which I don't have at the moment, would better improve the "seamlessness" of the soundstage, allowing the 805S to better match the dynamics of the 802D, but bar that, I'm also curious about how much difference I can note between the diamond tweeters firing from the front and the aluminium tweeters firing from the rear.

[JargonGR]

My 803Ds will be with me next week so I will let you know know how they sound with my 800Ds/HTM1D. As I said earlier amplification is going to be a problem though since they will have to be powered by my AV (Onkyo 905) but I might try since it is not driving many channels anyway.

[HedgeHog]

Congrats...PIX! (as is customary on forums) What amp did you decide on? I was told my stuff arrived at the dealers and will be delivered to me soon....802D-based system here we come.

On topic: I'll be using CCM 818 for surrounds. *fingers are very crossed*

I just got my 802Ds and 805Ss delivered today :B, but will let the installer do all the hook-ups when he comes on Monday when he also brings my new projector.

So I will see be able to comment from experience in my own home about that come Monday, but demoing the 804S and 802D as fronts, I definitely heard a huge difference. Not only in timber, but I found the bass response of the 804S seriously lacking in comparison, as well as imaging and soundstage. I actually prefer the 805S in overall presentation to the 804S, though the 804S has fuller bass.

For surrounds, however, I suspect the 805S would make a good match for 802Ds for home theater, though I'm also interested in hearing my multi-channel music discs on this set-up, particularly those mixes that seriously utilise the surrounds channels, not just with atmospheric effects, but with discrete instrumentation.

I can imagine a sub, which I don't have at the moment, would better improve the "seamlessness" of the soundstage, allowing the 805S to better match the dynamics of the 802D, but bar that, I'm also curious about how much difference I can note between the diamond tweeters firing from the front and the aluminium tweeters firing from the rear.

[garak]

I just got my 802Ds and 805Ss delivered today :B, but will let the installer do all the hook-ups when he comes on Monday when he also brings my new projector.

Congrats! I'm sure you'll be very happy. There are lots of new or soon to be 802D owners on this board.

I think you guys are starting to feed my upgraditis. :twisted: I do have thoughts festering in the back of my mind to do an upgrade similar to ShadowZA - getting 802Ds and moving my 803Ds to surround duty.

[KyaDawn]

Congrats...PIX! (as is customary on forums) What amp did you decide on? I was told my stuff arrived at the dealers and will be delivered to me soon....802D-based system here we come.

On topic: I'll be using CCM 818 for surrounds. *fingers are very crossed*

Thanks! I'll be putting up pics soon after the installer puts everything together next week. My furniture is all over the place right now as I had to make space for him to put the ladder to install the projector, so once all that is done and I can tidy up, I'll definitely put up pics. Been looking forward to it actually... :B

For my amps, I'm going in easy and hope to improve them in the years to come. For my 802Ds, I got the Rotel 1092. For my HT processor, I'll be using the Denon 4308, and it will drive my 805S surrounds as well. Later on, if/when I get the HTM2D center, I'll probably get the Rotel 1091 so I have a balanced front three.

Have heard some Classe amps and loved them, particularly the Omegas 500Ws, but way to pricey for me now and in this economy. As I intend to have my speakers for years, I can definitely see a jump to Classe or other amps in the future. :P

Congrats! I'm sure you'll be very happy. There are lots of new or soon to be 802D owners on this board.

I think you guys are starting to feed my upgraditis. :twisted: I do have thoughts festering in the back of my mind to do an upgrade similar to ShadowZA - getting 802Ds and moving my 803Ds to surround duty.

Thanks as well! Wow, 802D fronts with 803D surrounds, that would be a KILLER combo! :T

[kmcheng]

Thanks! I'll be putting up pics soon after the installer puts everything together next week. My furniture is all over the place right now as I had to make space for him to put the ladder to install the projector, so once all that is done and I can tidy up, I'll definitely put up pics. Been looking forward to it actually... :B

I am definitely looking forward to seeing your pix once you have everything set up. If I remember correctly, you are located in Hong Kong, right? I have always wondered how the gigantic 800-series speakers can fit in a typical Hong Kong condo and how often the neighbors would complain.

Congrats on your new purchase!!

[wettou]

You are so right! It's very hard to combine stereo and multichannel in one system. If you do listen to 2.0 a lot, then your 800D's are really the best choice. To create a HT sound without stress, I think all speakers should be towers.

About the HTM1D. The price gives a hint: the speaker hangs between a 802D and the 800D. But...the big difference is: the 800D is a no compromise design. The rest of the 800 line-up are downsized products. The biggest difference betweens the 800D and the 802D/HTM1D is: FILTERING.

There is also the problem of speaker alignment. Even when you tilt the center, the sound will never be the same as from 3 identical towers. All tweeters should be at the same height. When you have to lift the center (stand or table), you can even use a tower, not (mind the projection screen)?

That is why I did three 802D in the front and moved the 802N in the back multichannel is more important than 2 channel stereo. If I could afford it I would have done 5 800D with five CA-M400 maybe if the market ever recovers

[JargonGR]

haha Wettou you are my excuse for spending! I like your plan and this is what I will do. For now 803Ds as side surrounds and 805s as back surrounds. Then I can get an extra pair of 800Ds and move the 803Ds as back surrounds and sell the 805s and repeat this over the next years until I am all 800Ds and 7 Nemo monoblocks.

But it takes a damn lot of money to get there! You do realize what we could have if we only wanted 2 channel?

[KyaDawn]

I am definitely looking forward to seeing your pix once you have everything set up. If I remember correctly, you are located in Hong Kong, right? I have always wondered how the gigantic 800-series speakers can fit in a typical Hong Kong condo and how often the neighbors would complain.

Congrats on your new purchase!!

Thanks! Yes, I live in Hong Kong, and as you know, the living spaces here on average are MUCH smaller than most places, especially the US. So there are challenges to be sure! :B

Will post up pics in the photo thread in a few days, thanks again!

[wettou]

haha Wettou you are my excuse for spending! I like your plan and this is what I will do. For now 803Ds as side surrounds and 805s as back surrounds. Then I can get an extra pair of 800Ds and move the 803Ds as back surrounds and sell the 805s and repeat this over the next years until I am all 800Ds and 7 Nemo monoblocks.

But it takes a damn lot of money to get there! You do realize what we could have if we only wanted 2 channel?

Yes we could buy the new Focal Grand Utopia III whoa may be two channel is best after all:B

[JargonGR]

Well my 803Ds surrounds are going to be with me this week (by road so its taking some days) and the issue of amplification is haunting me. As I said earlier, I can't get a proper power amp right now but I want to use the speakers and I am sure my Onkyo 905 won't cut it so I found a temporary solution.

I managed to get a Crown XLS 802D (2x500 Watt RMS @ 8 ohm) through my dealer at a very low price (500 Euros) and I was wondering if there is any danger of causing damage to the speakers with this amp which is actually for professional use.

I do not want to waste money in an interim amp since I plan to get a third NEMO for my HTM1D and move the Bryston14BSST to the 803Ds so this solution sounded cheap for the time being. Yet, since I also plan on buying a pair of 805s for rear surrounds to complete the 7.1(2) system this amp could also be used temporarily for them as well in the future.

I already installed the amp and using it on my KEF IQ9s and no problem so far. The only issue I had was the terrible noise the amp made coming from its two fans but after some soldering and a simple mod (7V to the fans instead of 12v) they are quiet now.

What do you think?

[Marco Lisi]

That is why I did three 802D in the front and moved the 802N in the back multichannel is more important than 2 channel stereo. If I could afford it I would have done 5 800D with five CA-M400 maybe if the market ever recovers

I completely agree with you wettou. Last week I was a guest at the Marantz Europe HQ in Eindhoven (NL). Ken Ishiwata did a 5.1 setup with 5 identical Mordaunt Short speakers (perfect speakerplacement). It all started with a multichannel SACD-player. We used the internal DAC's and went out analogue to 3 linked pre-amplifiers. Each channel was powered by a Marantz mono-amp.

This was the best performance I've ever heard. In fact it was a "real live/life experience". It was just like sitting in the concert hall, church,...

Main points for multichannel music:

1. 5 identical speakers
2. perfect speakerplacement
3. do the set the "traditional" way, using normal pre-amplification instead of processing.
4. use mono-amps for each speaker

You'll get the best result ever :T

[JargonGR]

I just received my 803Ds today and been burning-in. I will set them up as side surrounds and start testing tonight. I will post some pictures later.