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Deciding on whether I'll be happy with a 2.1 vs. a 5.1 HT setup?

R

RDAVID

Member
Trying to simplify and wondering if it is going to work well.

Would love to use my primary 2ch system for movies.

For those of you who have (or had) your audio systems doing dual duty with movies, that is, with only Left & Right speakers in a 2 channel or 2.1 channel configuration:

Have you been satisfied with this setup?

Any downsides?

Any suggestions or advice?

My major concern is how well the center channel will be down mixed to 2 channel since most movies, now, are not offering a 2.1 channel mix.

Thank you.

- david.
 
I did that for ages but eventually got some rear speakers when the room was redecorated and re floored.

I have to say that movies are a lot better with rear speakers, though I still use a virtual centre speaker and sub.

The rear speakers don't really have to be in the same league as the front pair to get satisfactory results.

My fronts are active SBL's and they also carry virtual centre and sub.

my rears are linn kans driven by an expo super viii.

I strongly suspect I'd be equally happy with a pair of mission 760i's driven by an old Nad or something for the rears.
 
you will probably be able to run a 3.1 system ie a centre channel with most processors.

I have three good speakers at the front and kEf eggs for the rear. I did use a KEF egg for the front, but I found speech just didn't work well. A good centre is very useful.
 
Thanks Colasblue and Mudlark.

My primary concern, at this point is getting the front correct.

I agree that I do not need to be as finicky about the rears.

In your case, Colasblue, I am reading that you've been ok without a centre.

Are you watching latest releases in this setup? I find that the older movies were generally mixed well for a 2.1 ch presentation, but not the newer releases.
 
I think a 2.1 would suffice if you are not using a projector,

The rears can and do add to the experience some small similarly voiced to the fronts will be fine

Regarding the centre this is fundamental for good film replay if you have the front left and front right far apart. if you have a good solid central image across all the listening positions then a poor or okay centre will be worse, in a 3.1 or 5.1 set up the centre is listened to for 99% of dialogue.

The .1 is worthwhile as the LFE channel is very much part of the film audio mix, you may find slugs of 40hz in explosion scenes flounder your main speakers and you end up a little muffled or boomy
 
IWC,

I'm using a current release Samsung 3D 58 inch plasma monitor.

Gemme Tanto V2s for the front. Their low frequency response has been so good that I ended up removing the two passsive subs and one active (w/ external crossover and amp; an NHT W2 system and PRO S-80 system).

Lost the pure shake the house power and visceral-ness of the LFE dedicated effects, but am trying to move to a (livable) system that doesn't dominate the room, cosmetically.

Sold my OPPO BDP-83SE since I wasn't using it enough for 2ch playback. Have been waiting for the '93' to be released. It just went live yesterday, direct through OPPO.

Mainly attempting to simplify since I have too many speakers. Less clutter on the front rack(s) , fewer speaker boxes, and less wiring on the floor would be nice.

The audio and ht consolidation occured recently, and the OPPO 83SE sold within an hour of listing it, so I didn't have time to test things out.

Once I get the newer OPPO in system, I'll be able to play around with the options.

Mainly looking for feedback from those of you who may have gone this route and are satisfied with, and can live with keeping things simpler.

Your feedback and suggestions are appreciated. Thank you.
 
I got a Linn Classik Movie 5.1 system in 2002 and enjoyed watching films and gigs on it.

The weirder the sound FX the better.

I then moved flat and reverted back to using a two-channel system.

Life has never been the same, especially without a sub or centre speaker.

It doesn't matter how good the two-channel amp and speaker system is that I use.

I am moving home again in the not too distant future and a surround sound system will be sought.

I am going to try and set it up with EAR amplification, as opposed to Linn, if this is possible.

I've thought about Naim, but valves are definitely better than solid state.

Jack
 
To recreate the film as the director intended,the front three speaker need to be,idealy the same,failing that the centre speaker needs to be at least as good as the front pair,the rears also,especially playing uncompressed material should again be at the very least matched to the others.
The difference can be staggering when the system is set up correctly,using correct speakers,different criteria also applies,when playing THX material,the front three then MUST be identical,and all surrounds must be timbre matching.
 
Jack and Stevie,

Thanks for your perspectives on this.

Based on the feedback so far, it seems that ht via a 2ch or 2.1ch is doable but far from ideal, And it would be minimally best to have a 3.1 system, if I cannot do 5.1.

Jack,

Go EAR. Definitely. Any thoughts on which speakers you will be matching the EARs with?
 
I really like 5.1 for film and have a pretty reasonable set up for film, Sonus Faber Extrema, cremona centre, amator rears, gravis sub. All driven by naim 135's with the Extrema's biamped with four.

I have spent 20 minutes watching a film on more than one occasion before realising that it was only 2.1. On one occasion I watched a whole film....... And thought it was sounding good.

Put on a centre not up to it and I would notice straight away
 
IWC Doppel said:
I really like 5.1 for film and have a pretty reasonable set up for film, Sonus Faber Extrema, cremona centre, amator rears, gravis sub. All driven by naim 135's with the Extrema's biamped with four.

I have spent 20 minutes watching a film on more than one occasion before realising that it was only 2.1. On one occasion I watched a whole film....... And thought it was sounding good.

Put on a centre not up to it and I would notice straight away
Click to expand...

IWC,

Are you saying that if the speakers and system is of good quality, I can probably live with it?

Nice setup, you've got! I'm familiar with Sonus Faber but not Naim.

Not too long ago, I was happy listening to TV off the TV speakers.... now these darn dilemmas.
 
RDAVID said:
Thanks Colasblue and Mudlark.

My primary concern, at this point is getting the front correct.

I agree that I do not need to be as finicky about the rears.

In your case, Colasblue, I am reading that you've been ok without a centre.

Are you watching latest releases in this setup? I find that the older movies were generally mixed well for a 2.1 ch presentation, but not the newer releases.
Click to expand...

I watch pretty much anything ranging from te latest blue rays to fairly ancient DVD's.

I've never felt the system was lacking due to lack of a centre speaker, and the bass goes down to the floor without a sub. I'd need a really big neighbour annoying sub to get more bass.

In reality I don't have the room to accomodate any more boxes of any size so its not really an option to do anything else.

For you I suggest try it without a centre and see how it goes. You can always add one later. I strongly suspect a cheap centre isn't a good idea if you have decent front speakers.
 
Essentially, yes I am. The problem with using a centre that is lower quality than your fronts or voiced very differently is the fact that using a centre places all the dialogue to this centre. So if you fit a poor quality or poorly matched centre you will find better imaging and voice tracking (usually) but dreadful steering and integration and the dialogue making most of most films will sound poor.

If you use an equivalent quality centre then you gain all the advantages and lose nothing.

You should probably not say you don't know naim you risk being hung by some !

Naim make good kit but are not cheap and are in my view a little too expensive tbh
 
RDAVID said:
Jack,

Go EAR. Definitely. Any thoughts on which speakers you will be matching the EARs with?
Click to expand...

I am using Shahinian Arcs with an EAR V20 at the moment and I have got a pair of Naim Credos I could use as rear speakers.

I don't know how good the Arcs would be in a 5.1 surround sound system.

Plus the Credos might be too large.

I haven't yet seriously looked into a 5.1 system using EAR amps.

I've got a feeling that it will probably involve selling the V20 and getting a new EAR pre and power amp combination.

Jack
 
You can integrate a 2ch and 5.1/7.1 system quite successfully,i had such a system for quite a few years,combining a four pack active 2ch system with 7.3 system for av duties,this was when LD was king and even dvd was a long time coming,in my relatively small lounge 16ft x13 ft peaks of 116db were easily achievable!!
 
Colasblue:

Definitely not going the inexpensive centre route (for me, though that is relative - I know!).

I would much rather have a vertical floor stander, that is, the three LRC speakers being exactly the same and swallowing the extra cost of having one unused speaker.

Keeping my eyes on used Gemme Tanto V2s. They are not very tall, have a small width profile and footprint. Integrate easily for me, in my room and system.

IWC:

I better not admit I don't know Linn gear either...oops.... Sure to be hung now.

Thanks to the other posters as well. This has been helpful.

- David.
 
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