Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Do Large vs Small rears/sides really make a difference?

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.

In my experience larger rears are extremely important for action films. Explosions, aircraft fly-overs, monsters, etc. all take on a whole new life with the added power handling. I highly recommend going with large speakers!

Ditto. I tried some spare B&W Matrix 802 floorstanders in place of wall-mounted Matrix 805s. Never bothered to swap back. What you heard and experienced George & Fanz is the same for me.

For anyone going for large analogue surrounds, don't skimp on the amp. I had been using an old integrated but when I had a spare 557 I slipped that in and once again, never looked back.

If/when I go back to 7.0 from 5.0 I intend to find space for some full-sized side speakers.

annnnnd, although my rears are not as large as my fronts, I do have them set as Large Speakers. Something like Transformers with large rears is just auralgasmic.

Dang - you got me!!! I'm a film director by day, and a spy for a Meridian competitor by night. Code Name ThetaHater ;-)

Honestly, if you want to see how much a G68 blows away everything else, play something like Transformers. It's AURALGASMIC!

I thought the sound track on Transformers was pretty amazing. Not my favorite movie by any means but it was ok. One of the most bass intense movies I've heard without it getting out of control.

George, assume the 5ks are 24/96 and you're running MHR throughout? thanks JimK

Yes.

a@a,

Bay and Bruckheimer films are something I grew out of years ago, but I felt compelled to see Transformers on the big screen in the theatre. I think it's his best brain-dead flick in years. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is quite entertaining. As for the audio engineering, few discs compare to it. If you want to see what your system is or isn't capable of, try it out. From beginning to end it is a full surround sound workout.

Ever since I bought my 5ks and threw my M60's at the back I was surprised the difference it made over my M33s on both movies and multichannel music!!! Love it!

Oh, and there is nothing wrong with Michael Bay movies, pure fun all the way and they always look and sound beautiful.

I think one major point when having large rears is that if you are running a .0 setup your LFE will get redistributed throughout the room. And I would also propose that this will positively affect even smaller room. We are effectively doing what Harman paper (5/7 subwoofers throughout the room with the same .1 LFE channel) is saying.

I will try switching my DSP5k's and DSP5.2k's to large today and see if this is working out for smaller speakers as well.