Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Large vs Small surrounds

So is it worth going with large rears or not.

I have a pair of DSP33's that are coming that I can use for sides.

Wondering if I should go for DSP5000 for rears or another pairs of DSP33's?

I see lots of talk about recommendations of setting DSP-5000s to small when used as surrounds. Although I know some of you run them large.

Also what about the heights with regard to small (which can usually be mounted high) as opposed to large which must usually be floor standing.

What's your thoughts?

There's an interesting debate from a thread here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4473259#post4473259

Regards

Darryl

Ps. If you PM me I can send the entire article from where his comments appear.

George.

Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of DSP5000s for rears,
so here are my comments upon the DSP33s.

I have DSP5000 L/C/R & DSP33 rears, (in a Type 6/'G' Layout).
They are fed a 598 through a 568.2, via MHR.

My rears are placed at a height of 1.6m from the floor to the DSP33 treble units. (approx' .75m higher than the L/C/R tweeters.)
They are vertically mounted on 'OmniMount 75 Series' brackets and each bracket is secured to the brick wall with 3 x 150 mm 'Rawl-anchors'. Each DSP33 is 'toed' to an angle of 21 degrees towards the listening position.

Imaging, width and depth of effects have a fine quality that is ideal for the smaller room and I feel that this works best, for me.
However, in a much larger room this layout may not suffice.

Hope this helps.


Holtz'.

George, when I had my 5000s I always wished the rears were set higher. I generally felt I was missing clarity and detail when sitting to listen. Someone on the forum wrote fairly recently about sourcing some stands to raise his rear 5000s - I'm not sure about the aesthetics of that but it's a thought for you.

I guess you're familiar with the DSP33 vs 5000 debate: some folk here reckon the 5000 is Meridian's "weak link" and the 33 runs it very close. Personally, I prefer the idea of matched fronts and rears - especially if DVD-A and/or SACD are a part of the equation.

Regards,
Steve

I don't have the 5000s yet. I have 5500s now, 5000c on the way and should pickup pair of dsp33's today.

I wasn't sure if I should consider a 2nd pair of dsp33's or a pair of 5000s. I know 5 5500s would be sweet but I still need that income from my wife for all the toys and need to keep her

I'm glad you commented on the height concern.

I would say that for multichannel DVD-A's and SACD's there's really a bonus with full range speakers all over (although there's always a question about how good the multichannel mastering really is and if all that sound spinning around is going to have a positive or negative impact on music perseption; some titles are ok, some are a disaster ...). For movies I'd rather say it doesn't really matter that much if you have fullrange or small as rears.

I think it comes down to room accommodations + budget. Im not sure the 5000s will play much deeper than the 33s so that you could set the 5000s to large whereas the 33s have to be set to small. Therefore I would go with the more economical 33s. I would recommend full range speakers all around as the optimal setup, but this is not realistic for everyone. JMHO.

best regards,
Jerry

If you have the space, the money and the will - the 5ks at the back would really be the way to go. Probably more noticable in a largish room - or at high volume.

I've only heard 33's at the back once and I wasn't too impressed - they noticably lacked the depth of the fronts. (Starwars Epi. II Demo, 5.5k's F/C/R, 33's at back)- this was in an open-ended room though, and they only had the 33's hooked up as they had sold their demo 5k's.

My 2p's - No refunds!.

I had 5k's at the rear and they were very good, i changed them for 6k's and that was amazing, everything just sounds so much better, i would say get the best speakers you can at the rear, try to match the fronts if you can.

goodolddog

I agree that there are a few 5.1 music titles that push the rears far more than movies do.

However, that's actually the problem...there are so few.....

yeah ...