hello all, Configuration question?

[locomk]

Hello everyone,


I recently bought some parasound amps at the good guys closeout sale, but wasn't able to get a c1/c2, so i'll be using my yamaha rx-v3300 as a pre/pro. I bought a A21 and two A23's. currently hooked up the A21 to my fronts (Energy Veritas 2.4 towers) and the sound difference was amazing. so now i have two a23 amps, and was thinking of doing a six chanel system using the four channels available with the two a23's. will the levels and definition be completly off with my center and rears, i'm planning to use this for both HT, and 5.1 dvd-a and sacd.

[wildfire99]

I would consider selling the A23's and getting a used A52 or A51. But that's just me, because I wouldn't sleep well at night without 7 channels.

If I was gonna keep it, I'd run the rears on one A23, then bridge one A23 for the center, so the front stage (where a lot of action is at) is all relatively equally powered. Then you can always pick up another A23 off Audiogon if you want 7.1.

[Peter Nielsen]

Hmmm... I think 6 channels is fine as long as you have 2 rear speakers. The two rear speakers may share the same channel & amp.

The rationale is that 2 speakers (wired as mono) will disperse the rear sound more than one single speaker can. "Full stereo rear sound" is a true luxury that can be done without IMHO. Also, it's worth pointing out that there are only a handful movies out there that utilize stereo rear speakers. 99.99% of all movies will sound the same with only one channel for the rears...

So, if yo go with 6 channels you'll be fine: A21-front L+R, A23-surround L+R, A23-center+rearL&R

Hope this info helps.

Peter

[locomk]

thanks, peter and wildfire99

thanks for the reply guys, i've been selling parasound stuff for years at good guys before the company closed and laid us all off. when good guys got the halo stack back in '02, i was very excited and wanted the gear but my budget didn't call for it at the time but when we closed the doors, i got a a21 and two a23's for 400 bucks. I was originally thinking of just bridging two a23
's and using them as mono's for my fronts, but after calling richard from parasound, he recommended i use the a21 for the fronts because of the higher current and less distortion. so i'd love to get a a52/a51 if possible. but for right now i might just do a six setup, it's in a small room for now anyway.

and peter, awesome system, 9 jc1's, i don't think my building i live in can even handle that much draw from the ac.

[phansson]

locomk

I am running a 7.1 setup. I have the front three speakers powered by two A21's. One channel not being used. I am then running the sides and rears with two A23's. The A23's have no problem driving my surround speakers. I, like yourself, thought I would run the fronts with A21's because of the increase in current.

Now, I did do the bridged A23 for my center for some time (while I was searching for another A21) and I thought it didn't match the front L/R very well. It was a little harsh.

Don't know where to tell you to go from here. I would just run it with the A21 for the front L/R and the A23's running the C/Sides/Rear. You can level the speakers with your pre pro.

[Peter Nielsen]

phansson,

Did you try to set aside one of your A23s and instead run both your rears with the last A21 channel that currently is unused?

Just an idea. If you think the A21 sounds better for your center, then using the other channel of your amps for the two rears might result in the same kind of improvement...

Peter

[slayer]

How do you like the Veritas? You have the center and surrounds as well?

[locomk]

slayer, i love the veritas. recently bought the matching center and i'm going to buy the rears or bookshelves for the rears soon. i have the veritas that came out right before the "I" series, but the model i have had notorious problems with the drivers freezing, so i called API (Audio products international) and they sent me six brand new "I" series drivers, and apparently the tweeter, mid and crossovers were the same from model to model. these speakers are amazing and i was just running them for the past two years using my yamaha av receiver, when i connected them to the A21, they became alive and the bass response on these speakers are amazing. what i like most about the veritas is the imaging. i have them roughly eight feet apart. i also got a great deal on my center and fronts, due to a sales contest at a former employer, so no complaints here

[wildfire99]

The rationale is that 2 speakers (wired as mono) will disperse the rear sound more than one single speaker can. "Full stereo rear sound" is a true luxury that can be done without IMHO.

The major rationale is that the human brain is not capable of localizing a sound from directly behind. It will instead appear to come from in front of you. If you bounce the rear or use something other than a direct radiator then it's ok I guess, but you still have poor imaging from your "built-in" audio hardware.

I do agree with the 'true stereo' rear channel, it's a bit silly at this point in time given the limitation on sources. Mono split over 2 speakers is fine. But if you have the capability for the whole hog, it's nice.

[slayer]

The drivers are not the same. They are an upgraded version for the non-i series. I am a dealer for Energy and used to have the older series of Veritas. I had a couple of the woofers lock up on me so I had the replaced. I had talked to the guy who runs their Warranty dept in New York several times so I had a bit of history with him. When I talked to him about my speakers, he informed me that they were going to need to upgrade all the drivers on them to the new models. He made it very clear that they are the upgraded versions but are not the i series. They stock both models for warranty. Either way they were better than the originals. The veneer started coming loose a couple months later on one of my fronts so they ended up shipping me out the new i series. They had to replace my center channel as well saying it would no longer match the new fronts, so they replaced it as well. The bass performance is night and day over my old ones and overall they are sound far improved, at least they do in my room. The x-overs are a bit different as well. They are no longer mounted to the back side of the binding posts like on the older models. I don't care for their center channel all that much. It needs to have the same mid range as the rest of the line. If I ever find a singel 2.2i for sale, I will replace it with that for the center. Or just buy a pair and run a 6.2 system. I need the rears as well, I just don't have side walls or room on my rear wall to mount them.

[Chris D]

loco, for your first question, yes, you can certainly use your A21 for the mains and the two A23's for center, side surrounds, and single rear surround in 6.1. With that equipment, that's exactly how it should be used, and it will give you great sound. For better power and matching, you would upgrade to an A51 from the two A23's.

As for this side discussion of 6.1 vs. 7.1, here's my personal input:
1. I agree that rear channels are by far the least important of a home theater, for more than one reason. HOWEVER...

2. I do NOT think rear channels are useless. Adding one or two rear channels very much increases your soundfield, pulling it from only in front of your body, around and behind to to put you IN the sound. Instead of sitting at the rear edge of the sound, where you're just an observer, you sit in the middle of the sound, with things happening all around you. It very much enhances the experience.

3. Yes, it is true that very, very few pieces of media are encoded with 6.1 channels, and no media is (currently) encoded with 7.1. However, note that DPLIIx can matrix ANY sound format into 6.1 or 7.1--anything from mono to DD EX or DTS ES. That's exactly what I do--I like DPLIIx so much, that I always leave it engaged so I'm ALWAYS getting a matrixed 7.1 sound in my 7.1 theater, regardless of what I'm watching/listening to. It's not an original 7.1 sound, but I get 7.1 all the time anyway!