Speakers for a bedroom surround sound setup

[Chris1725]

I’m from the United Kingdom and I’m on the hunt for a speaker package suitable for use with a 5.1 channel Yamaha RX-V475 AV receiver in a small bedroom around 3x2 metres in size. I’m not sure of an exact budget, but am not after a massively expensive package. I currently use the Yamaha NS-P110 package which came bundled with my first receiver around 11 years ago, but find the sound a bit disappointing. I’ve since switched the front two speakers to a pair of Tannoy Mercury M3 floorstanders which were purchased as part of a stereo setup back in the late 1990s, and these add more depth and detail to the front soundstage, with richer sounding movie dialogue achieved by deactivating the centre channel. Aesthetically, since the NS-P110 setup is silver, it no longer matches the rest of my AV gear which is now black. The two rear satellite speakers are beginning to come apart at the sides which are badly scratched and holes are starting to appear in the speaker grills. The subwoofer is placed on a shelf to the right of a Samsung 32 inch UE32F6800 TV at the front end of the room, and I also have a Sony BDP-S790 blu-ray player. When the current setup is in use, the right rear speaker is placed on the bed which is against the back wall of the room, while the other rear speaker is on the windowsill just in front of the bed. A lot of the time I find it difficult to hear much from the rear speakers even with their level set at maximum, unless sitting very close indeed to them.

Although my movie watching includes some blockbuster titles, I’m not a huge fan of adrenalin fuelled sonics, and am considering replacing my current speakers with a package that works well with film and TV material along with music both in stereo and multichannel, favouring subtlety over a big of scale of sound and a tremendous amount of bass. I've been checking out speaker reviews online recently, including the Tannoy and Q Acoustics mentioned below, but am finding that whittling down a shortlist isn’t easy, and I’m wondering if these or any other packages currently on the market in the UK would meet my requirements.

Tannoy TFX 5.1

Tannoy HTS-101 XP

Q Acoustics 3000 5.1 cinema pack

Q Acoustics 7000i

 

[RobinKidderminster]

I recon before further expense it would be useful to rearrange the room. A sub on a shelf and a speaker on the bed????

 

[Chris1725]

Aside from the speaker and subwoofer placement which I know is not exactly ideal, I'm looking for advice choosing a speaker package, which would be suitable for use with my Yamaha RX-V475 receiver in a small 3x2 metre size bedroom, according to the second part of my post above.

 

[Leeps]

Really, you need to consider placement as a chief part of any upgrade to your system's equipment. Spending lots of money on good speakers can be completely negated by poor placement.

Can you consider wall-mounted speakers? That could at least sort the satellites out. I'd take a look at Monitor Audio Radius, particularly the R90HD satellites with the R180HD centre. There are plenty of these that come up on Ebay and they're fantastic speakers. The build quality is excellent, their tweeters are really detailed and have a nicely struck tone and they're fast and punchy. But only if they're placed well. When I bought mine, they came with wall-mounts included. If you're looking for used, double-check with the seller that the wall-mounts are included.

The biggest issue is going to be with your subwoofer. If it really must go on a shelf, try to isolate it somehow with some foam. There are products out there that can help with this. Auralex make bases that subwoofers can stand on to help with this.

But placement can't be over-emphasised. Your AV receiver will set the timing during set-up so the sound seems correct from the listening position. If you subsequently move the speakers slightly, it'll affect this timing so won't be making your system play to its best. If you really can't wall-mount rear speakers, I wouldn't bother with them at all and I'd concentrate efforts and resources on the front 3 speakers and their placement (along with the sub).

 

[Chris1725]

I haven't condsidered wall mounting speakers, but I'm looking into the possibiliy of a shelf along the back wall on which to place the rears when I eventually change my Yamaha speakers.

I've been checking out reviews for speakers that work well with movies and music. The biggest difficulty I'm having in choosing speakers is that while my movie watching includes some blockbuster films, I'm not a big fan of adrenalin fuelled sonics, and I am looking for a package which works best with the subtler aspects of a surround mix rather than the more bombastic moments. The highly rated Q Acoustics 3000 seems like a great looking package particularly as its speakers are ultra compact, though I suppose finding speakers with a similarly detailed sonic performance without such a big scale of sound, is a tall order.

 

[Leeps]

Well the MA Radius HD's are excellent at low-level detail, so aside from being punchy in the more dynamic moments of a movie, they unearth plenty of the more subtle moments too.

I've not heard their successors the Radius 90 and Radius 200 centre, ao it depends on your budget and how many speakers you want to purchase at once as to whether you comsider new or used, but either way, the MA Radius come very highly recommended by me at least.

 

[Chris1725]

The Radius R90HT1 package is around £1.5k which seems rather steep, so it would have to be used if i do decide to go for this.

I've been considering the Q Acoustics 3000 which has received glowing praise. and am wondering if it would be suitable for a small bedroom, or would it be sonic overkill.

 

[newlash09]

They are small and designed to be wall mounted as well. They literally disappear into the room. And have good bass for their size, which is important for movies in my opinion. I have one and very happy with the sound as well as the looks

 

[Chris1725]

The Q7000i is one of two Q Acoustics packages I'm considering. I'm hoping it's a good performer with a variety of music genres, including classical music.

I notice that, depending on the finish, the 3000 package can be had for several hunderd pounds less.

 

[newlash09]

Iam running the qacoustics q7000lri left and right speakers with a bluesound power node. And I think they are decent for music. I don't know what classical sounds like. But in my time with them, I've played a lot of different genres. And below are my observations.
1. They have a narrow sweet spot. And off axis listening is just not a option.
2. Voices and mid range is very good.
3. The treble is sweet. And in my opinion a little laid back. Will probably suit matching with a bright amp.
4. The sub is good.
5. The scale of the sound , vanishes quickly as you go out of the sweet spot. But I guess this will be the case with most style packages of this size.

Over all i am not blown away by their performance at music. And iam presently looking for book shelf speakers to pair with my power node. But if your budget permits, I would suggest buying the concept 20 or 3020 for fronts, to do music duties in 2 channel stereo.

 

[Chris1725]

While I've heard a few sat/sub packages over the years, I have been somewhat disappointed with their music performance. However, as reviews of the Q7000i including What HIFI's own seem to praise its music performance, I'm hoping it is a good sounding package in this regard.

 

[newlash09]

The q7000i's musical prowess could be true. The limitation I have is that the power node has fixed crossover settings to pair with their own bluesound duo setup. So I presently can't tweek it to exactly match the cross over settings for the q7000i. So I might be doing injustice to them there. So I take back my initial verdict. But may be you could audition one in a store with a av amp setup and listen for yourself. But whichever way it goes, please do lemme know. And on a different note, qacoustics are also launching a dedicated hi-fi system based on the same model. So maybe their musical prowess is true after all.

 

[Chris1725]

I woner if an audition is possible as it could make choosing a speaker package easier, as it is a little tricky going by reviews alone.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Mordaunt Short did some rear surround (corner) speakers with two sets of cones per speaker arranged to fire along each 90 degree wall. And you can hang them on a screw. Not immensely powerful but probably enough for your room.
Have a look on EBay for a pair.
My stepson has mine.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mordant-Short-Surround-Sound-Corner-Speakers-MSB20-/322094691338?hash=item4afe56f40a:g:LEIAAOSwiylXCRPG

Not mine I hasten to add.

 

[Chris1725]

i hadn't really considered corner speakers, so I wonder if such speakers would be worth a look.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

But them used on EBay.

Dirt cheap to start with and if you don't like them sell them on.

Mordaunt Short speakers were good to excellent in their price bracket, great cabinets. Historically they weren't too sensitive which made them difficult to drive at lower volumes.
(For the record I bought my first pair of MS-15 bookshelf speakers for my bedroom at Uni, back in 1986 - gulp!)

 

[Chris1725]

I'm planning on going for new speakers rather than second hand.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Fairy nuff.

But the more you spend on surrounds the less you have for mains.

 

[Chris1725]

Thanks everyone for all your advice so far.

While on the look out for replacement speakers, I'm not sure if i should ditch the old Tannoy Mercury M3 floorstanders I currently use for the front Left and right channels of my 5.1 setup, given how well I feel they perform.

One of a number of packages still under consideration is the 3000 package.one of two Q Acoustics packages on my shortlist. While the front and rear sepakers are described as being ultra compact, I'm hoping that the centre speaker and subwoofer are reatlivly compact as well. I'm wonderifng if the 3000 package would be easy to accomodate in my small bedroom and would not be sonic overkill, with the subwoofer hopefully not considerably larger than my current Yamaha SW-P130, though its weight is I gather, around 5 kg more. I hope this doesn't present too much of a problem, as limitmed floor space means my current sub is shelf mounted over to the right hand side of my 32 inch TV. As I'm not a huge fan of thunderous sonics, would this or any other package currently available in the UK perform well films and music, in terms of subtlety, at a low volume level, or when used with a Yamaha receiver such as my RX-V475 with Adaptive dynamic range control activated?

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Have you considered getting some breeze blocks from B&Q and using them to jack your bed up?
Then you could put your sub under the bed and have a load more space for storage.
Slightly less tongue in cheek, if you like your Tannoys keep them and invest a hundred / hundred and fifty in a 7.1 Atmos receiver for future expansion. You can always upgrade the Tannoys later.
And I would still recommend buying modest used bookshelf speakers for your rear surrounds, put the savings into the most expensive to upgrade later element - the receiver - as you're more likely to get better audio for.music out of it.

 

[Chris1725]

What a laugh. I would have thought that incfeasing the height of the bed off the floor with breeze blocks so that a subwoofer can be put underneeth is even less ideal than shelf mounting the sub. To be serious, I've discovered that since the bedroom has laminate flooring, some finsihes are prone to scratching, If I do change my sub, I'd probably be looking for one not much heavier than my current Yamaha, the weight of which is I gather, casuing the self to bend a little, so at least another 5kg to accomodate a Q aqustics sub - well I don't know if the shelf could take this extra weight. If i were to change the sub, I'd probably be looking for a black one with a similar spec. to my current yamaha in terms of dimentions and power.

Hadn't considerd upgrading my receiver, given my small room and the extra speakers required for atmos, but might look into doing so some time in the future. Not sure how well upward firing speakers would perfrom in such a small room. anyway. Speaking of atmos, I notice that the two latest blu-ray's I've acquired, the movie Everest and the most recent episode of the BBC drama Sherlock,- the Abominable Bride, feature atmos audio, the fact that the latter does is surprising since it was produced for television.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Subs need to be on a solid floor to work best. And better subs are generally much heavier than cheap ones. I'd say putting a heavy sub on a shelf is asking for trouble, and one night you might find the sub, and shelf, or the remains of each, sitting on top of whatever's below, or, more likey, the remains of what was below.. Any mechanical or structural engineering undergraduate can tell you beams (or shelves) deflect under load. The greater the load, the greater the deflection - until they break.

Theoretically, your ears can't detect where the sub sound is coming from, although I think I usually can, so placement anywhere on the floor is going to be better than on a shelf.

Atmos? You don't need upward firing speakers at all. Just use regular ones fixed at height near the ceiling, angled downwards towards your listening position if possible. Or you could just go for 7.1 surround later. I was thinking more of when you make it out from the cupboard under the stairs and head off to Hogwarts more than your current room, you see.

Protecting the floors? Cheap doormats or squares of carpet cut to size between breeze blocks, floor and bed. Simples.

Sherlock in Atmos? Huge following in the USA, like Doctor Who. That's probably why.

 

[Chris1725]

Protecting the floors? Cheap doormats or squares of carpet cut to size between breeze blocks, floor and bed.

Its not the floor that needs protecting, rather what's sitting on it, as depending on the fisnihes, certain items seems more prone to scratching than others. Had tired out with limited success, some pieces of A4 paper for this purpose at one stage, placed under the rear speakers, as my current Yamaha NS-P110 package was originally in even smaller room. The fact that these speakers are damaged - starting to open up at the sides which are quite badly scratched, holes appearing in the grills, and the wires at the back of one of thse sattelites work loose from time to time - is why i'm on the hunt for a replacement package.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

A4 paper???

Tsk. Tsk.

That's like using parcel string for a car seatbelt.

Use carpet tile squares, cut up rubber car mats, neoprene sheet (wet suit rubber)...