Surround speaker advice

So I am ready to continue building my system and need some advice. I currently have ELX ribbon horizons (love them) as my L/R on built in cabinets and a Duo running as my center above the fireplace. My room (wife) like many open floor plans doesn’t lend to freestanding speakers to be placed in a high traffic area where the family walks by countless times a day between the kitchen , living room and stairs to the second floor. I have wiring for ceiling rears but don’t think I would be happy with using ceiling speakers as surround duty, maybe for atmos in the future, but I can run new wiring through the crawl space below the living room to the media closet so not an issue. My thoughts are that I corner mount speakers but not sure what would work best for 75% movies 25% music. My first thought is vertical duos to match the center and have all ribbons but man I like the LX woofers on the ELX but not sure about the titan tweeter as I have never heard it and kind of like the idea having all ribbons because I like them so much. Currently I do not have a sub. I am sure I will get one eventually but figure the rears would be the next logical step for my home theater money as I feel I am missing a lot when watching movies, which is the majority of the systems use.

A smaller problem is an aesthetics issue that I would be running into with the wife. My duo is black satin and due to what Dave and Dina had available at time of purchase and the lost of the domestic cabinet maker, my ELXs are matte black. They are separated enough that it is not really something that is noticeable unless walking up to compare them and I don’t find my self regretting the decision in pulling the trigger when I did. The duos can still be had in the black satin on the website (unless something has changed locally) but it doesn’t seem the the LX or EX that is really an option anymore, unless my memory is failing me and it never was an option previously. So if I went the LX or EX route I would be looking at a third cabinet color option, most likely piano black. Not a huge issue to me but not ideal but the wife might find it a bit more objectionable.

So if the aesthetic issue was not an issue what would be the better option in this set up? Duo, LX or EX?

Thank you in advance!

Attachment 2669

LX and EX are rear ported - how much space will you have between rear of speaker and wall? I believe Dave would recommend at least the diameter of the port.

What about the Luna mini-monitor for the surrounds? They look to be available in satin black bamboo and black matte, per the website, if you want to keep ribbons all the way around. The other option might be the HTM200's - not ribbon, but not ported - work well as surrounds and would blend (timbre) well with your fronts..

I imagine if I went with one of the sierras, I would mount them at 6 ft up and slightly angled down with a mount so I am guessing in the neighborhood of 5-7 inches from the port tube. At that height the titan maybe a better tweeter not being at ear level. Haven’t really considered the Luna, maybe I should, just kind of discounted it due to room size.

You may want to call or email Dave/Dina to get their input/recommendation based on your needs.

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Originally Posted by Cdowney00

So I am ready to continue building my system and need some advice. I currently have ELX ribbon horizons (love them) as my L/R on built in cabinets and a Duo running as my center above the fireplace. My room (wife) like many open floor plans doesn’t lend to freestanding speakers to be placed in a high traffic area where the family walks by countless times a day between the kitchen , living room and stairs to the second floor. I have wiring for ceiling rears but don’t think I would be happy with using ceiling speakers as surround duty, maybe for atmos in the future, but I can run new wiring through the crawl space below the living room to the media closet so not an issue. My thoughts are that I corner mount speakers but not sure what would work best for 75% movies 25% music. My first thought is vertical duos to match the center and have all ribbons but man I like the LX woofers on the ELX but not sure about the titan tweeter as I have never heard it and kind of like the idea having all ribbons because I like them so much. Currently I do not have a sub. I am sure I will get one eventually but figure the rears would be the next logical step for my home theater money as I feel I am missing a lot when watching movies, which is the majority of the systems use.

A smaller problem is an aesthetics issue that I would be running into with the wife. My duo is black satin and due to what Dave and Dina had available at time of purchase and the lost of the domestic cabinet maker, my ELXs are matte black. They are separated enough that it is not really something that is noticeable unless walking up to compare them and I don’t find my self regretting the decision in pulling the trigger when I did. The duos can still be had in the black satin on the website (unless something has changed locally) but it doesn’t seem the the LX or EX that is really an option anymore, unless my memory is failing me and it never was an option previously. So if I went the LX or EX route I would be looking at a third cabinet color option, most likely piano black. Not a huge issue to me but not ideal but the wife might find it a bit more objectionable.

So if the aesthetic issue was not an issue what would be the better option in this set up? Duo, LX or EX?

Thank you in advance!

Attachment 2669

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I am thinking a pair of Sierra LX for your surrounds would be ideal. The Titan tweeter is fantastic and blends extremely well with our RAAL ribbons, plus you get the added benefit of much wider vertical dispersion, which in this setup for surrounds, is advantageous.

At what height would you be mounting the surrounds?

Also, are you using a subwoofer?