Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Music Listening via 2 Speakers vs multiple speakers

Like I have said before, this is my first venture into high end equipment or any sort of decent hi-fi.

I see that a lot of people have a 5 speaker setup, is this for home cinema only?

Do people listen to their music, generally, from 2 speakers only?

Please excuse the ignorance and thanks again.


Music Listening via 2 Speakers vs multiple speakers

IMO the best way to listen to music is with 2 chan's only.

I have tried the various Meridian Music modes like Trifield etc. with 3 speakers (L/C/R) and with 5 speakers and albeit they are impressive at first and are good for multiposition listening, if you have a dedicated "sweet spot" you listen from and can position the speakers and the listening chair properly, simple 2 chan works best.

Your mileage may vary in this respect, there are plenty other folk who do like listening via the music modes.

Before spending money on a centre or rears, assuming you aren't into HT, I would get 1 or 2 decent subs with the system.

You may think the 7200's have enough bass, but adding subs has a big effect in that they increase the scale of sound and improve ambience cues as well as filling in the last octaves.

I'm with Rodney. Love the Trifield option, as it makes the image more stable and adds more 'body' (I guess due to extra conus surface) in some music.
However, for dedicated listening from the sweet-spot I switch back to stereo as his adds more precision.

The 818 you are getting only does 2 channels. You'd need a 861/G61/G68/G65 for more.


I would not fret about it. If you set it all up correctly you will be surprised about the soundstage you get in stereo!

I have 7.1 for cinema but find stereo for music more accurate, realistic and involving.

Mat

At first I thought you were from New Jersey..

According to some pretty convincing research sound reproduction is more realistic in a multichannel setup compared to stereo - for instance the that's the conclusion from the experiments carried out in Canada by Floyd Toole The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms

One of the most important advantages is that sweet spot expands from a small area to much more of the room.

The problem, of course, is that this increases the cost of the system significantly. But the advantage is you can use the same system for movie as well as music.

Disclaimer: I have a stereo setup at present and am saving money to expand it to multichannel.

It's Trifield all the way for me, if it's set up correctly (IMHO) it is far better. Having said that, the centre speaker makes a big difference. I couldn't get away with a DSP5000 centre - it had to go!

Agreed. This, of course, is in reference to discrete multichannel music sources which, imho, are readily distinguishable as superior to the same recording in stereo. Synthesis/decoding by Trifield is not quite in the same realm but, generally, an enhancement. The only issue with this is the availability of the music you want in multichannel and...

Agreed, again. Cost and space are real considerations.

Kal,

Wouldn't you agree that similar sized center channels are also essential. I think you have also suggested in the past, that anything but mtm centers are better (which M does), with a vertical center the best.

I prefer a center that is identical to the L/R speakers and do not like MTMs unless the "T" is a coax because of off-axis interference. Otherwise, a regular vertical array is better.

I'm extremely glad to have a VC, as the majority of my listening is music - is in Trifield. But I'm unusual in being able to fit it in domestically without issues.

Music is generally 2ch for me as well, 5.0 (in my case) is movies and TV only.

It's all about personal choice though Trifield and other surround modes can be very impressive and can offer benefits as explained above.

Kind regards
David