How to setup a 5.1 while retaining ability to play pristine stereo?

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superczar

superczar

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As some of you (at least most of the the ones who are going to reply ;) )may already know,

My current Stereo setup consists of a Reference grade Marantz PM-17 amplifier and a pair of Phase Tech Velocity V-12 floorstanders

It is a fairly good system with a brilliant amp and fairly capable speakers

the phase techs are massive 40 Lb speakers (each) with an amazing frequency response ... (The Velocity is a critically acclaimed line, and the V12 are the highest grade speakers within the series)

The Marantz PM-17 is again a brilliant amp and I really love the way the setup currently sounds.

here is a pic of the setup


Now here lies the hitch:

The lady wants a 5.1 setup for movies! :(

Possible Options

A- Sell the amp and speakers, then get hold of something like a Crystal audio thx-3d12 and a mid-end 5.1 receiver

B- Retain the front speakers, sell the amp and get matching centers, surround and sub and get a mid-end 5.1 receiver

C- Retain both the amp and speakers, get a sub, surround and center and get a low-mid end 5.1 receiver
Then Feed the integrated amp with the front line out of the receiver while driving the surround, center and sub with the receiver

Each options has some pros and cons I can think of

A- I get a properly matched setup but the new setup will not perform as well on stereo as the existing one

B- I am not sure if I will be able to match the new speakers properly with the existing one..I also lose out on a brilliant amp :(

C- I get to retain my stereo setup as is :) but the cost goes up and also the question of matching the new speakers remains an issue..Also, I am not sure how many 5.1 receivers will provide for separate line-outs for each channel (though most should..isn't it?)

Expert advice and suggestions solicited
 
I saw this somewhere else, can't recall where?

Center channel needs to match the front channels. No way around this. Unless the lady has tin ears (I'm assuming you're cool to the whole 5.1 thing yourself).

Basically, you're screwed.

I solved this elegantly by picking up a little Sony HTiB (which I sold later) which had 5 tiny cubes and a small unobtrusive sub. That seemed to keep her and me happy, as she could watch movies in 5.1 and I still had my stereo thing going. You couldn't even see the HTiB speakers, they were that small.

As for trying to do it all on one setup, you can retain the Marantz for the front channels, but you'll need a similar set of speakers (at least the front three). One way to solve this is to pick up a larger bookshelf and place it under the TV. This will have some horizontal lobing issues to one side if you lie the unit flat. As long as you have space, you can keep it standing vertically. This should avoid any such issues. You may be able to select a single speaker from the Velocity line.

Surround channels are only ambient, and as such any small bookshelves can fit. Not critical to timber-match, and you can equalise the channels yourself.

As for getting a set of lineouts to operate your amp on, look for receivers with a lineout capability. Or if you are using a PC, an external 5.1 decoder would work but then you need amplification for the rest of the channels.
 
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dunno much of audio and speakers..m a total noob about all this..

thats why i wanted to ask ..u guys ...is a good 5.1 setup that bad for muzik ..

i mean doesnt 5.1 sound good if u have a 5.1 encoded original audio cd ?? and stereo speakers for the mp3 ??

also ..cant we have a a very good 5.1 system for movies ..which can be also used as a stereo setup by turning of da centre and rears ??..does it work as a good setup ??

sorry for all the noobish questions ..but i was very desperate to know about it

. hope u dont mind me asking all this in u r thread..as its kind of related to the topic.
 
Getting a 5.1 setup which gives a good stereo output is very difficult (unless you can dual amp and bi amp) so I'd say, retain your existing setup and get a cheap ass 5.1 system for the lady like sangram said.. this is the best way it would work.. IMHO.
 
i mean doesnt 5.1 sound good if u have a 5.1 encoded original audio cd ?? and stereo speakers for the mp3 ??

also ..cant we have a a very good 5.1 system for movies ..which can be also used as a stereo setup by turning of da centre and rears ??..does it work as a good setup ??
Click to expand...

You can indeed setup a 5.1 for music without issue if you are on an unlimited budget...

But since most of us operate within a budget, the problem boils down to this

On the Amp side: A 5.1 receiver requires at least 6 discrete amplification channels while an integrated stereo Amp requires 2

Now say 40K will get you a near refernce grade stereo amp with minimal distortion and interference issue while a 5.1. receiver in the same price range will have to rely on cost cutting measures like poor quality transformers (non-toroidal) or IC based amplification circuits in place of discrete MOSFETs

Not to mention the additional interference between multiple channels

Extend the same logic to the speakers and you have your answer

BTW has anyone heard of these speakers?

Crystal audio thx-3d12
 
Czar you better keep that amp and speaker combo. Its good and way better than any 5.1 cheapo crap. One option is to get a phasetech center speaker to match the fronts. Get some cheap rears and a cheapo surround amplifier.

Then feed your surround amp thru SPDIF while keeping your current analog source for the marantz integrated. The surround amp will have preouts for the front channel. Just feed this into some other input into ur marantz integrated.

This way you can keep your existing two channel setup intact while switch the input on the integrated and use 5 channels when needed for movies. Quite simple.
 
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^^ hmm..thats quite an elegant solution actually...

But then I'll still need to get a decent sub/center and a semi decent HT receiver..any suggestions?
 
another option :ashamed: . If your DVD player has 5.1 analog outs. as chaos said , get a matched center , and some ordinary surrounds, and a cheap 5ch/ 2x stereo analog amps

from the DVD player's 5.1 out, send the front L/R to your stereo amp, and use the 3 channels of the 5 channel amp to drive the center/surrounds.

do you really need a sub with beasts like these for fronts ?

Its basically option C with an amp instead of a reciever , and the decoding done at the player's end
 
I don't have a DVD player :ashamed:

or rather, have one that hasnt been used for years so I doubt if it still works..I playback DVDs via the PC
 
superczar said:
I don't have a DVD player :ashamed:

or rather, have one that hasnt been used for years so I doubt if it still works..I playback DVDs via the PC
Click to expand...

oh , I saw the one in the pic , and thought that it was what you used :D

If the lady is fine with using the PC for movies, then why not use the onboard/a cheapo PCI soundcard for surround decoding?

alternately, why are you trying to mix these fronts with HT? you will end up

a) with a mismatch

b) overbudget

get some decent 5.1 multimedia speakers, unless the lady is that discerning about sound....
 
If you are using PC for this and your sound card gives 7.1 output (i.e. 4 stereo outputs), then connect our 5.1 speakers to 3 outputs and stereo speakers to 1 output...

Then select your output mode (6 channels or 2 channels) from your Audio driver software (like Realtek HD Sound Effect Manager in my case)

I do this to connect my 5.1 headphones and stereo headphones simultaneously to my sound card and swap the output mode for movies/music accordingly...

 
so Saiyan says (and Rahul too) get a Z5500

but from what I have heard , the z5500 has a fairly boomy sub..any comments?
 
superczar said:
so Saiyan says (and Rahul too) get a Z5500

but from what I have heard , the z5500 has a fairly boomy sub..any comments?
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hell no. dont go from your setup to a z5500. this coming from a z5500 owner :P

if the lady wants 5.1 for the movies , get her a dvd player & 5.1 system like the z5500 if you have the budget or any of those 5.1 logitech/altec lansing systems.
 
sangram said:
I saw this somewhere else, can't recall where?

Center channel needs to match the front channels. No way around this. Unless the lady has tin ears (I'm assuming you're cool to the whole 5.1 thing yourself).

Basically, you're screwed.

I solved this elegantly by picking up a little Sony HTiB (which I sold later) which had 5 tiny cubes and a small unobtrusive sub. .
Click to expand...
Sangram,
can u please elaborate on this Sony HTib thing. i need something for my living room and just dont have space for floor standing speakers. I need it for music but my kids want it for movies and gaming.
Thanks
 
puns said:
hell no. dont go from your setup to a z5500. this coming from a z5500 owner :P

if the lady wants 5.1 for the movies , get her a dvd player & 5.1 system like the z5500 if you have the budget or any of those 5.1 logitech/altec lansing systems.
Click to expand...

thats what i meant, keep the existing setup and buy a Z5500 :P

No way am gonna let superczar to sell his stereo setup :2guns:
 
Hehe, Puns, the idea behind the z5500 was for it to work in conjunction with the front speakers plugged out (front LnR handled by existing setup)
 
superczar said:
Hehe, Puns, the idea behind the z5500 was for it to work in conjunction with the front speakers plugged out (front LnR handled by existing setup)
Click to expand...

nope that will screw everything ..... wat i am suggesting it get a Z5500 for movies and use the uber stereo setup for music :)
 
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