Surround speaker purchase and placement

[MatrixDweller]

Shortly after Christmas I will be adding to my HT speakers. Currently I have 4 x Klipsch RB81's a RC62 center and a RW12d sub. The room they will be in can be seen in the DIY Home Theater Project area.

I plan on upgrading to 7.1 surround. So I have a few options.
1) Should I get another pair of RB81's and mount them as the rears?
2) Go with RF82's for fronts and use the RB81's for side/rear surrounds?
3) Go with RS62's for side surrounds and use the 81's for fronts and rears?
4) Go with RS62's for rear surrounds and use the 81's for fronts and sides?
5) Sell 2 of the RB81's and go with RS62's for side and rear surrounds?

I'm also in a weird situation on where to place the side and rear surrounds. There will be two rows of seating, the rear one being on a platform, and eventually a table with bar stools at the rear. I don't care about that listening position though.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[salvasol]

MatrixDweller wrote:

1) Should I get another pair of RB81's and mount them as the rears?
2) Go with RF82's for fronts and use the RB81's for side/rear surrounds?
3) Go with RS62's for side surrounds and use the 81's for fronts and rears?
4) Go with RS62's for rear surrounds and use the 81's for fronts and sides?
5) Sell 2 of the RB81's and go with RS62's for side and rear surrounds?

I'm also in a weird situation on where to place the side and rear surrounds. There will be two rows of seating, the rear one being on a platform, and eventually a table with bar stools at the rear. I don't care about that listening position though.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Somebody is having fun building this HT

I like options 2, 3 and 5... but on 5 instead of getting 4 RS62's, I think 2 RF82's (front) and 2 RS62's (surround) and RB81's for the back

But this is just my opinion ... you have to decide what it will work better for you ... ... I saw the specifications on their website and all your options are excellent.

I'm sure you're worried about the placement because anybody can hit the speakers when they stand up from the seat, Right??? ... if this is the case, don't worry, surround speakers can be mounted high (near the ceiling about 6' - 7') they don't have to be at ear level as the fronts ....

[MatrixDweller]

I'm not so much worried about people hitting the speakers. I'm more worried about the quality of the surround sound field.

Putting the speakers in between the two rows makes the second row suffer. Putting them perpendicular to the second row, or just behind and angled at 110°, seems to be the only options. This would make the second row the "sweet spot". The front row would suffer slightly I think.

Would bipoles help mitigate that problem a bit?

[jackfish]

What is wrong with #2? I'd just go with maximizing your present investment and use the RB-81s as your surrounds and purchasing the RF-82s or possibly RF-63s for your mains. The RB-81 is a great surround speaker and you would only get marginal improvements trying to replace them. You will enjoy a 7.1 system of two RF82s, a RC-62, four RB-81s and the RW-12d. I would just put the surrounds between the first and second rows, the RB-81 has enough dispersion that both positions should adequately incorporate the program material. You don't seem worried that the front row will be missing something from the rear speakers.

[MatrixDweller]

I think the 82's would add a lot of punch to 2 channel listening, but I do that maybe 10% of the time. Funny thing is the RF82's are not that much more expensive than the RB81's. I like the RB81's as surrounds in my current set up, but that will change. I guess the only thing I can do is wait to hear how they sound when the room is complete. Maybe I could borrow a pair of RS62's, by putting down a deposit to show intent to purchase, to hear how they sound. Then do the same with a pair of RF82's.

I've never had bipole speakers before so I'm just going off of what I've seen on the internet. From what I've read people say they create a more diffuse sound field and can mask poor speaker placement slightly. I've also read that good monopole speakers placed correctly can yield very good results. It's a very hard choice.