Page 1 of Looking for advice on rear speakers

I am trying to decide what back speakers to get, and would appreciate any comments or suggestions.

I have a Yamaha DSP E800 & Marantz PM-66SE as the amps, and a pair of Acoustic Energy 109 floorstanders as the front speakers. Currently I don`t have a sub or centre.

I need to be able to wall mount the rears.

My short list currently includes the Acoustic Energy Compact speakers, which may be well matched, the Mordaunt Short 302 (from the Premier set) and the egg-shaped KEFs, from the KHT2005 range.

Regards,
Thomas

Thomas,

In response to your above thoughts;
The Acoustic Compacts aren`t really cut out for rear channel duties - i had a pair many moons ago on my rear centre channels and they sounded very boxy and popped and squealed when pushed, the Mordaunt Short are very good speakers, however they will not voice match very well with your AE speakers, although surrounds don`t essentially need to be voice matched, the MS had a different sonic character to the AE sound i`ve become accustomed to over the last year [i have AE Aegis 3`s and a centre up front].
As for the Kef`s? Even more off the track! The Kef`s use Uni Q technology, and partering them with `standard` speakers will mean a huge imbalance in the system.
Put simply, you can`t go wrong with the Mission 77DS dipole rear speakers. I`m not sure if they are still £99.99 at Richers, but they should be, and if you can get a pair - there is simply no better surround speaker at £100, and they even scare off some speakers in the £300 brigade. I bought 2 pairs to go on the rear channels in my 6.1 system, and even when pushed to the max, they just keep going and going. Plus the `wraparound` effect you get from the `push-pull` driver configuration is brilliant.
If you are looking for a centre, then look no further than the Acoustic Energy Evo centre, which is an updated version of the Aegis Centre i use. I heard this as part of the AE Evo cinema pack and it`s extremely polished and open sounding - plus it will match the 109 floorstanders very well indeed.
For a sub, look at either the Yamaha YSTW320, seen for as little as £289, or the MJ Acoustics PRO50 subwoofer at £299, which i believe would suit your system better as it has a smaller amp [not to the detriment of quality though], than the Yammy, and is more compact, and will blend with your 109`s better, as they don`t need as much reinforcement as a standmounting speaker.

Hope this is of some help, have a look at http://www.area450.com/homecinema.htm for some tips on buying and recommended kit.

Westy

This item was edited on Thursday, 9th May 2002, 11:37

Thanks, Westy, I will definitely give the Missions a try.

Thomas