Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Better to add sides or upgrade rears ?

Just wondering what people think about this ?
Is it a better idea to add sides and go 7.1 or stick with 5.1 and spend the money on better rears ? I have 5k rears and am debating whether to add 5k sides or switch to 5.5k rears. thanks in advance for your input.

What are your fronts?

6000 front, 5500hc center, 5000 rears. trying to decide if it's better to go 5500 rears to match the center or get another pair of 5k for a 7.1 setup. thanks

Using 5k5 Rears would be better than your current D5k's certainly. The D5k5`s would be better able to handle the lower ranges.

However, I think that the most obvious benefit would come from having sides in a 7.1 system. Many soundtracks are somewhat limited in the amount of information and frequency range that they put in the rears and more benefit can be had from expanding the soundstage

With the correct speaker placement and calibration a 7.1 system (with 4 by D5k's) will provide more obvious benefits and a more expansive soundstage than a 5.1 system with 2 D5k5's at the rear.

Definitely go to 7.1. I use DSP 5000s on both sides and rears. The difference between five channels and seven is a very big improvement.

Steve, just my two cents, but adding a pair of M33's to the sides made a huge difference in the rear sound stage. The rest of my system consists of 5500's across the front and a pair of 5000's at the rear. Like the others, I think your best bang for the buck would be to go 7.1.

Rudy

Would the answer to the question be different if considering music first then movies? How about MCH DVD-A vs. Trifield? In a nutshell, would a stronger 5.1 work better for music applications then a so-so 7.1?

Thx, Rod.

great thread!

my setup is identical to yours SteveF. i have a pair of D33s i keep threatening to set up in 7.1 mode to see how it all sounds, but i just haven't gotten off my rump to do it.

maybe this'll juice me to make it happen.

thanks everyone!

doody.

I had the same setup but went in a different direction - I changed my 6000 fronts for 7000s.
I found that since the 7000 and 5000 are pretty much the same height I didn't have to fiddle with the axis so much as when I had 6000s.
I'd like to go 7.1 but my room won't really accomodate another pair of 5000s and I'm not sure how well DSP33s would work - maybe I can convince she-who-must-be-obeyed that DSP420 in-wall speakers would be acceptable!

Graham

If you upgrade your rears, don't you know have sides as well?

ie purchase 5k5 rears and then you can move the 5ks to the side.

Of course if purchasing 5k5s means selling the 5ks, then that is another story.

I personally prefer dipolar speakers on the sides. I picked up a pair of Paradigm Active Dipoles. (Now if only Meridian would build a pair of DSP dipoles.)

thanks all! sides it is!

stacey... I thought about it but I'm a cheap bastard and elected to compare the two scenarios given a strict budget.

assuming you have the room for the sides- I would do the sides. They will make a big difference- especially on movies.