I was always under the firm belief, except for a few select DVD-A discs, that having large rears was a waste unless your room was large and you really need to distribute the bass.

When I upgraded my front 5500's to 6000's I tested replacing my DSP-33's rears with the 5500's. I really didn't notice much difference. But I had already made up my mind (or my wife did for me) that I was not going to keep them back there.

I finally decided to try a pair of DSP5000's back there. The DSP-33's were a fine speaker but I really like having displays on them giving me feedback that all is ok. A few times a DSP-33 was not running for one reason or another (sometimes an X10 fluke and sometimes a DSP-33 fluke) and the only way to tell was to put my ear up to them. That was the main reason I upgraded them. I crossed them over at 35hz (if I recall correctly, what ever the spec is on the DSP5000's is what I crossed them over at). These are the only "Small" speakers in the system.

Oh my god what a difference. Both movies and Trifield sound so much better. I feel low frequencies pan across the rear of the room like never before. Maybe those frequencies are above 80hz but it sure sound and feels better than the DSP-33 did.

It's so easy to make a final judgment on one experience and lock that into your head. Like side firing woofers are difficult to deal with, lossless movies won't sound much better, large rears are not needed, too much speaker for a small room is bad. I keep conflicting old beliefs. Perhaps my current belief that 7.1 can't work in small rooms, power conditioning, cables etc. is wrong too. Who knows (I've certainly tried).

I'm convinced that 5 DSP8000's would sound great in my "small" room and wouldn't be over kill assuming I could afford them.

- Fiddler (IMHO)

If you think listening to music is fun, try learning an instrument.
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