Looking for small speakers for surrounds

[bansalp]

Hi
I have recently started setting up my first HT in my open plan living room.

The primary area is about 18' x 12' with walls on two sides (18') and a Glass door/window on aluminium frame on one side (12').
The fourth side is open to a small area thats roughly 8' x 12' which further opens up to a narrow passageway.

The plan is to go to 5.1. Dual subs is not really an option as of now.

Equipment i have and am planning to get: -
AVR: Denon X2700H (Already have this)
LR: Kef Q350 (Already have this)
Centre: Will get another Kef Q350 for the centre sometime next month.
Subwoofer: Ascendo SV-12 (Ordered, will receive in 2-3 days)

For surrounds, i need something relatively small and discreet.
The options I'm looking at as of now are: -
1. Cambridge Audio Minx Min 12
2. Monitor Audio Mass Satellite
3. Monitor Audio Radius 45 - Leaning most towards this. The only concern here is that placement might be tricky due to rear firing tweeters.

I will be mounting the surrounds on the back wall as the back of the sofa is flush with the wall. I will make some kind of a wooden wall bracket to properly angle the speaker towards the listening position.

Which of these would be my best option? All three are prices similarly between 16-20k/pair.
Open to other recommendations under 20k/pair.

 

[manek]

Hi
I have recently started setting up my first HT in my open plan living room.

The primary area is about 18' x 12' with walls on two sides (18') and a Glass door/window on aluminium frame on one side (12').
The fourth side is open to a small area thats roughly 8' x 12' which further opens up to a narrow passageway.

The plan is to go to 5.1. Dual subs is not really an option as of now.

Equipment i have and am planning to get: -
AVR: Denon X2700H (Already have this)
LR: Kef Q350 (Already have this)
Centre: Will get another Kef Q350 for the centre sometime next month.
Subwoofer: Ascendo SV-12 (Ordered, will receive in 2-3 days)

For surrounds, i need something relatively small and discreet.
The options I'm looking at as of now are: -
1. Cambridge Audio Minx Min 12
2. Monitor Audio Mass Satellite
3. Monitor Audio Radius 45 - Leaning most towards this. The only concern here is that placement might be tricky due to rear firing tweeters.

I will be mounting the surrounds on the back wall as the back of the sofa is flush with the wall. I will make some kind of a wooden wall bracket to properly angle the speaker towards the listening position.

Which of these would be my best option? All three are prices similarly between 16-20k/pair.
Open to other recommendations under 20k/pair.

Wouldnt kef have something for you ? Perhaps the kef eggs or the cheaper rectangular ones ?

 

[sandeepmohan]

Which of these would be my best option? All three are prices similarly between 16-20k/pair.

The Monitor Audio Mass satellite is going to be hard to wake up. Their sensitivity levels are really low.
That leaves you with just one option from your list, the Cambridge Minx.

In the end, its a surround or effects channel loudspeaker. I don't think you can go wrong with any respectable brand.

 

[vikas pathak]

Polk audio owm3 will be a good option. With wall mountable & angling options.

 

[Barun7]

Sonodyne Sonus 3540.

 

[bansalp]

Wouldnt kef have something for you ? Perhaps the kef eggs or the cheaper rectangular ones ?

I did look into the Kef egg (E305) but was not able to find it anywhere.
By rectangular one's, do you mean the T101? I'll look into these.

 

[bansalp]

Polk audio owm3 will be a good option. With wall mountable & angling options.

Will check these out.

 

[bansalp]

The Monitor Audio Mass satellite is going to be hard to wake up. Their sensitivity levels are really low.
That leaves you with just one option from your list, the Cambridge Minx.

In the end, its a surround or effects channel loudspeaker. I don't think you can go wrong with any respectable brand.

I was told that sensitivity will not be that big of a factor for surrounds, specially after calibration.
Is that not so?

 

[bansalp]

Sonodyne Sonus 3540.

Will look into these.

 

[irv]

Consider the NHT super ones on sale. They are sealed speakers and are wall mountable. They are very compact too...

 

[bansalp]

Consider the NHT super ones on sale. They are sealed speakers and are wall mountable. They are very compact too...

Will check these out and get in touch.

 

[chander]

Cambridge Audio minx are pretty good for the job. I use them for height and they do a great job. Experimented with them as surrounds as well and I have no complaints.
**Advantage - they are pretty small, so they pretty much disappear if that is a concern.

 

[bansalp]

Cambridge Audio minx are pretty good for the job. I use them for height and they do a great job. Experimented with them as surrounds as well and I have no complaints.
**Advantage - they are pretty small, so they pretty much disappear if that is a concern.

What surrounds do you usually use? Do you recall how the minx performed as compared to your regular surround speakers?

 

[chander]

I have DLS Flatbox mini for surrounds. I already had these before I added the height channels with Minx. My instructions were very clear, the rear speakers shouldn't be "ugly and large". Hence the DLS came into the picture as they disappear on the wall and do not protrude much.

There is not much wrong with MINX to use them as surrounds, in other areas the limitations can be apparent due to the size and form factor. The DLS are better in that regard that they are more versatile speakers, they are also double the price.

One of my favourite movies for testing effects currently is GreyHound. There are a lot of water splashing & rain effects in the movie, with a good surround system they are quite immersive. The DLS create a very convincing ambience of rain, that I have checked on occasion if it is actually raining outside. Minx do that too, they were convincing enough but not as realistic as DLS. BUT THEN I never changed the settings on my AVR when I connected the Minx and that could play a role. ALSO I DIDN'T fiddle with the position angle etc on the MINX, this was just an experiment, to check if they are decent enough to go through the effort to route wires to the roof etc etc.

For me they do a great job as the height channel and using my Xbox for games I can hear some very good atmos effects.

 

[bansalp]

I have DLS Flatbox mini for surrounds. I already had these before I added the height channels with Minx. My instructions were very clear, the rear speakers shouldn't be "ugly and large". Hence the DLS came into the picture as they disappear on the wall and do not protrude much.

That Flatbox looks good. How have you placed it? Is it on a back wall facing towards the screen or is it pointed towards the listening position?

 

[chander]

They are currently placed on the side of the seating area, 'about' a foot behind and above the ear level. They face the screen, the distance between the two speakers is around 9 feet. I had to work within a set of defined rules and the HT is not ideally setup in any way, but with a lot of trial and error and some luck, it sounds quite nice - given the compromises.

 

[bansalp]

They are currently placed on the side of the seating area, 'about' a foot behind and above the ear level. They face the screen, the distance between the two speakers is around 9 feet. I had to work within a set of defined rules and the HT is not ideally setup in any way, but with a lot of trial and error and some luck, it sounds quite nice - given the compromises. I got away with a QB12 in the middle of all that - I consider that a win.

I also have similar constraints. I have to put the surrounds on the back wall which is flush with the couch so maybe 6-8 inches behind the ears. I can either get slightly decent sized speakers like the Elac on-wall or your flatboxes and have them pointed towards the front wall or get a smaller cube shaped speaker and then mount it in a way that it can point inwards towards the listening position. CA sell a rotatable mounting kit for the minx.

It is my understanding that (in my budget) placement should be a bigger priority than speaker specs/quality.

 

[chander]

CA sell a rotatable mounting kit for the minx.

CA mounting kit is quite effective. You can get them in the body colour so they merge with the speaker and do not stand out.

It is my understanding that (in my budget) placement should be a bigger priority than speaker specs/quality.

Considering the rest of your setup is KEF - they do make these flat panel speakers if you haven't considered - T-301; though they might be out of the budget. These could be ideal for you. As far as I know they can be wall mounted as well.

Also in my 'opinion' - most speakers - (except the really bad ones) should be good enough for surround duties. I have run an array of speakers for surrounds and most of them do just fine. The rest comes to your - constraints. Dipoles are great for surround, however they need space on the side or they reflect off the side wall, creating a weird effect. Also pointing the surrounds right at you in such close proximity to your listening position - again in my opinion - might be worse then pointing them out to the screen; as it makes the effects directional instead of immersive.

 

[bansalp]

Considering the rest of your setup is KEF - they do make these flat panel speakers if you haven't considered - T-301; though they might be out of the budget. These could be ideal for you. As far as I know they can be wall mounted as well.

T-301 is 2 feet tall.
I am considering the T-101 which also quite tall at 13 inches but i guess it might make up for that by being less than 2 inches deep.
Will get a quote for this tomorrow morning.

 

[bansalp]

Also pointing the surrounds right at you in such close proximity to your listening position - again in my opinion - might be worse then pointing them out to the screen; as it makes the effects directional instead of immersive.

I did not know that.