Thinking of new speaker system

[louhamilton]

I am thinking of upgrading my speakers to a 7.1 system within in the next 6 months and then my receiver within a year after that.

This is what I am thinking:

Fronts - LSi9's
Center - LsiC
Rear Surrounds - LSiFX's
Side Surrounds - LSI7's

I am also attaching my room diagram for speaker placement reference. Keep in mind this is where my current 5.1 speakers are located.

Thanks,

-Lou

[Dennis Gardner]

Welcome to CP Lou,

To be honest with you, you chose great speakers, but your room really does lend itself better to your current speaker placement. 7.1 has its place and that is in rooms that have space behind your seating area.

A great 5.1 beats a poor 7.1 anyday..........

[louhamilton]

Thanks for the quick response.

So, would you do away with the LSiFX's on the back wall and keep the LSi7's for the rear surrounds?

Also, how would you recommend placing the surrounds? Angled to the center of the room? On the side walls pointed inward towards the listener? Or on the back wall pointed outward towards the front wall?

Here is a dircet link to more pictures of my room set up today: http://louhamilton23.tripod.com/ht_gallery.htm

Thanks,

-Lou

[nellis8166]

Lou, if you are going to run all those LSI's I would strongly recommend separtes. LsI's are fantastic speakers but they take a ton of juice to perform to their potential. Hope this helps.

[Dennis Gardner]

I would place the LsiFX on the back wall bout 2-3 ft inside the back right corner and the same distance inside the staircase wall. This gives 8-10 ft between them and keeps the right rear from firing into a corner. Make certain you have seen how big the FXs are before purchase, they are rather large.

If you were to use the Lsi7s, I would stand mount them with the right rear in the corner and the left rear angled to the center. This isn't optimal, since there isn't a corner to load into, but adjustments are part of living room/den setups.

What you want to avoid in a 5.1 (rears) or 7.1 (sides) setup is the surrounds being in front of your seating.

[louhamilton]

I was thinking of a Denon 4306 (not the 4806) or Outlaw Separates. Since that component is a ways down the road, I was planning on crossing that bridge then.

However, I was thinking the Denon, because I can always add amps as an upgrade later. Outlaw only because I have yet to really hear anyone say anything negative about them and usually you hear more negatives than positive in forums.

IMO, I have really only heard the Polks sound good through a Denon. The Yamaha and Sony that I heard with them did not sound as good.

-Lou

[Dennis Gardner]

I will be bold and ask if you have thought of moving the entertainment center onto the wall between the fireplace and door. This would give you enough room to put the couch 3-4 ft into the room off the stair wall and mount FXs on the long side walls and put rears on the staircase wall directly behind the couch. The sub could go into the corner next to the door.

This is kinda "out of the box", but still gets the fireplace into view, gets 7.1 into this size room and might make the room feel a little more movie friendly.

[louhamilton]

Dennis,

I have seen the size of them. They do not scare me. :-)

My issue with using stands is that I have a 2 and 4 year old who share the room with me (Call it a kids playroom/dad's HT playroom combo) and they always pulled the speakers over when I had my current speakers on stands. That is another reason I did not go with towers up front. I was afraid the kids would pull them over, stick toys in any exposed ports or puncture a speaker surround.

So you would recommend the FX's. Good to know.

-Lou

[Dennis Gardner]

The FXs are brutes, but are still made to wall mount. The LSi7s can be mounted high also, but it takes a good bracket mount to get this to work, since they might need to be angled.

I agree that stands and kids are scary. Maybe end tables big enough to handle the 7s would work also. Decor items could make this look acceptable.

[louhamilton]

We had the armoire there originally, but when the fireplace is on, the side of the armoire got concerningly hot. Also, my wife doesn't like couches in the middle of rooms. She prefers them against the wall.

My goal is to have a built-in between the fireplace and door (I can build a cabinet that will house a 50-52" widescreen. And have rear access from my home office (that is what the door goes to on that wall). I would then have the couch like you said.

I planned on getting some hefty speaker mounts for the speakers. BTW, have you heard of anyone wall or ceiling mounting the LSi9's?

-Lou

[Dennis Gardner]

BTW, have you heard of anyone wall or ceiling mounting the LSi9's?

I'm sure that someone here has, but it would take quite a hanger. Another thing you might consider are using the LCi inwalls for surrounds. They timbre match the LSi line and are a great compromise if you own your own home and are certain of your placement.

Just a thought.............

[louhamilton]

You like to make things hard don't you? :-)

I'll look into them. I think surrounds will be last. I will probably purchase the Center channel first, then the fronts, and last the surrounds (Since I will probabloy stick with a 5.1 based on your recommendation due to my room setup.

Thanks for the help!

-Lou