Old speakers -v- new sub/sat packages ?
 

Having finally got a widescreen TV, I now need to sort out some
speakers. I've got some old speakers I can bring out of retirement,
and was wondering how these would compare to the new sub/sat packages
that seem common nowadays. My existing speakers a

Celestion 7's Mk1 (front)
Canon S-C10 (centre)
Yamaha NS-E80 (rear)

Anyone remember these ? I just need to add a sub-woofer to get 5.1
surround. I've saw lots of sub/sat packages for about £150. Whilst
these packages look nice, would the tiny speakers give much poorer
sound compared to my old speakers ? I don't really want to spend £500+
to get decent speakers if my old ones are still up to the job (even if
they aren't all shiny and silver!).

Any thoughts ?

Cheers,
Andy Mackie.

A.Mackie likes big butts and he cannot lie:

Having finally got a widescreen TV, I now need to sort out some
speakers. I've got some old speakers I can bring out of retirement,
and was wondering how these would compare to the new sub/sat packages
that seem common nowadays. My existing speakers a

Celestion 7's Mk1 (front)
Canon S-C10 (centre)
Yamaha NS-E80 (rear)

Anyone remember these ? I just need to add a sub-woofer to get 5.1
surround. I've saw lots of sub/sat packages for about £150. Whilst
these packages look nice, would the tiny speakers give much poorer
sound compared to my old speakers ? I don't really want to spend £500+
to get decent speakers if my old ones are still up to the job (even if
they aren't all shiny and silver!).

Any thoughts ?

Cheers,
Andy Mackie.


I'd keep the old ones man, if you have room. 150 quid for 6 speakers.. you
know they are going to be fuking appaling!!
Just get yourself a 5 or 6.1 amp or receiver and then get a subwoofer.

In message , A.Mackie
writes
Having finally got a widescreen TV, I now need to sort out some
speakers.
I just need to add a sub-woofer to get 5.1
surround. I've saw lots of sub/sat packages for about £150. Whilst
these packages look nice, would the tiny speakers give much poorer
sound compared to my old speakers ?

Probably.
You'll get better tonal matching from the new package..... but this
might just mean that they all sound equally naff :-)
If you listen to music, they are unlikely to be acceptable.

You're going to need a sub anyway, so personally, I'd get a decent one
of these first and try it. You'll really need to then listen to your
system and possibly compare it to a friends who has a good matching set
of speakers and make up your mind whether your setup sounds ok to you.
If not - people like Richer sounds sell loads of speaker packages
without subs anyway so you won't have wasted any cash.

The question of subwoofers is always brought up here (and elsewhere!) so
you might want to go some googling.
If you do - you'll probably find some stuff from me and others
recommending that you're gonna have to spend a min of £250 on a sub
worth having :-(
Depends what you want it to do!


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"A.Mackie" wrote in message
om...
Having finally got a widescreen TV, I now need to sort out some
speakers. I've got some old speakers I can bring out of retirement,
and was wondering how these would compare to the new sub/sat packages
that seem common nowadays. My existing speakers a

Celestion 7's Mk1 (front)
Canon S-C10 (centre)
Yamaha NS-E80 (rear)

Anyone remember these ? I just need to add a sub-woofer to get 5.1
surround. I've saw lots of sub/sat packages for about £150. Whilst
these packages look nice, would the tiny speakers give much poorer
sound compared to my old speakers ? I don't really want to spend £500+
to get decent speakers if my old ones are still up to the job (even if
they aren't all shiny and silver!).

Any thoughts ?

Cheers,
Andy Mackie.

I don't know the speakers you mention, but you will almost certainly be
better off using large old speakers rather than tiny / tinny new ones.

Issues: -

Tonal matching

This is a chimera raised by hi-fi shops who want you to buy a complete set.
Decent speakers should be acoustically flat (+/- 3dB or better) from lower
resonance (~35 - 50Hz) to upper audibility (~20kHz). If you get this jive
ask them if they can show you some speakers they currently sell that are not
flat over this range (other than sub-woofers obviously).

Sensitivity matching

This is an issue (more sensitive speakers will sound much louder) however
any half decent amp allows you to adjust the relative levels of the rear and
centre speakers. You need to do this anyway to compensate for your room /
seating position (you are usually nearer the rears).

Music / Film

Music should be listened to relatively unprocessed, although the ambience is
better if it also comes out of the rears with a little delay. Put it
through Pro Logic for instance and you will ruin it.

Sizes etc.

Your best speakers should be the main front. You will also use these for
music. The centre is principally for dialogue, and you will have a
sub-woofer, so it does not need to be too large. Most amps have a large,
small and phantom centre setting that you can play with. The rears should
be decent, but don't need be in the same league as the fronts.

In message , R. Mark Clayton
writes
Your best speakers should be the main front. You will also use these
for music. The centre is principally for dialogue, and you will have a
sub-woofer, so it does not need to be too large.

Hmmm ...... I'm not too sure about this. For films, the vast majority of
audio comes from the centre, I'd almost be looking for this speaker to
be the best one of all!

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On the question of subs, is a Richer Sounds sub for a £100 going to be
a waste of money ?

My Celestion 7's have a frequency response of 52Hz-20kHz (+/- 3db),
and -6db at 43Hz (sensitivity 87db, power rating 150W). If they go
down to 43Hz, will a sub for £100 make any real difference, or is this
just money down the drain ?

Cheers,
Andy.

"A.Mackie" wrote in message
om...
On the question of subs, is a Richer Sounds sub for a £100 going to be
a waste of money ?

My Celestion 7's have a frequency response of 52Hz-20kHz (+/- 3db),
and -6db at 43Hz (sensitivity 87db, power rating 150W). If they go
down to 43Hz, will a sub for £100 make any real difference, or is this
just money down the drain ?

Cheers,
Andy.


Waste of money. Buy a subwoofer that does sub-bass, not a mid-woofer.

In message , Nath
writes
My Celestion 7's have a frequency response of 52Hz-20kHz (+/- 3db),
and -6db at 43Hz (sensitivity 87db, power rating 150W). If they go
down to 43Hz, will a sub for £100 make any real difference, or is this
just money down the drain ?

Cheers,
Andy.


Waste of money. Buy a subwoofer that does sub-bass, not a mid-woofer.

And its not just a question of frequency response. Even speakers with a
20-30Hz bottom end can't usually give you the oomph of a big sub.

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In article , A.Mackie
wrote:
On the question of subs, is a Richer Sounds sub for a £100 going to be a
waste of money ?

My Celestion 7's have a frequency response of 52Hz-20kHz (+/- 3db), and
-6db at 43Hz (sensitivity 87db, power rating 150W).

The above values may be those quoted for 'anechoic' conditions. It is quite
common for speakers in a room to have a low bass response very different to
that given in magazine reviews and maker's literature. This depends a lot
upon the speakers, their location, and the room acoustic.

If they go down to 43Hz, will a sub for £100 make any real difference,
or is this just money down the drain ?

I don't know anything about the specific sub you mention. However the use
of a sub makes a noticable difference with the systems I use. These are
based upon a hifi/stereo approach, and use just two old fashioned decent
speakers[1] as opposed to a modern surround package.

[1] was a pair of LS3/5A's. Now replaced with a pair of ESL63's. In each
case the measured response in the room was down to about 50 Hz without a
ub. Hence a sub covering the 20Hz to around 40Hz makes a noticable
difference.

With the cheaper subwoofers, it may matter a great deal how loud you like
to play music/films, what kind of music/films, and the size and acoustic of
the rooms. I find an MJ Pro 50 works fine in my case. However the room is
quite small, and I don't play at very high levels. Hence getting a low bass
response that matches the main speaker levels is much easier in terms of
power level than if I wanted realy loud heavy music in a larger room.

If you like you current speakers, then my own approach would be intially
just to use them and see how you get on experimenting with stereo, 4-way
surround, and 5.0 before deciding if you want to add a sub. If you decide
you do wish a sub, then try using a few hundred quid on a suitable unit.

Slainte,

Jim

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"Gareth Jones" wrote in message
...
In message , R. Mark Clayton
writes
Your best speakers should be the main front. You will also use these
for music. The centre is principally for dialogue, and you will have a
sub-woofer, so it does not need to be too large.

Hmmm ...... I'm not too sure about this. For films, the vast majority of
audio comes from the centre, I'd almost be looking for this speaker to
be the best one of all!

The vast majority of dialogue. Music comes out of the mains, but the
dialogue (if in centre shot) is directed to the centre for location.

Anyway if you select "small" centre, only the middle frequencies & up (where
dialogue is) for the centre will be directed there, the lower (and less
directional) frequencies will come out of the mains.


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Personal email for Gareth Jones can be sent to:
'usenet4gareth' followed by an at symbol
followed by 'uk2' followed by a dot
followed by 'net'
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