7.1 surround sound question

[Nicholas Mosher]

I say either go for seven 340's or seven 170s. Even though they're voice matched, they inevitably will have sound differences.

That sure doesn't leave you much for a receiver and source though...

I would get seven 170's, and Outlaw Audio's new Model 1070 AVR (soon to be released).

Seven 170's with shipping would be $1,038. The new 1070 is expected to debut at "under a thousand". Add the SVS PB12-Plus/2 (as you mentioned), and you have the exact setup I'm currently recommending friends/family who are looking to build a killer bang for the buck setup.

Next you have to replace that Plasma with a Projector and 120" screen.

[Mag_Neato]

The Outlaw 1070 will debut for $899.....not sure about shipping. When I bought my 1050, the price had dropped from $599 to $499 and shipping was about $50 through DHL. The unit weighs about 36lbs., and the 1070 is somewhere around 40. I'll second Nicholas' 1070 recomendation. I'd say you could get away with 6 170's and a 340c if a horizontal center better suits your layout. There shouldn't be any noticable difference. I'm running 170's for the mains with an older B&W 600 center and have no problems. I'd like to get a 340c just to have the same breed accross the front

[tinytool]

I already have a Denon 3805 reciever, I think I'm probably going with the 340's Fronts and center, and the 170's surround and back.

I was thinking projector but because the way my wall is set up, (built in shelf about 4ft up from wall to wall) I just decided on getting a 50" 500u panny.

If I were to buy a 3rd party stand for the front and center which one would you suggest, I notice a lot of people prefer the stand to be a little taller than the ones ascend have 24" vs. 30". How do the speaker mount on third party stands does it just sit there or do you have to actually drill into the box and does that hurt the sound of the speaker?

Thanks appreciate the help

[bikeman]

If I were to buy a 3rd party stand for the front and center which one would you suggest, I notice a lot of people prefer the stand to be a little taller than the ones ascend have 24" vs. 30". How do the speaker mount on third party stands does it just sit there or do you have to actually drill into the box and does that hurt the sound of the speaker?
Thanks appreciate the help

I've experimented quite a bit with speaker height with the 340's. The Ascend stands are that height for a reason. I have gone as high as 28" without noticing any difference when compared to the 24" height. Going higher appeared to be a waste of time (to me). I'm reasonably tall (6'3") and sit higher up than most folks in my perferred listening position so if there was going to be an audible advantage to a higher stand, I should be a good candidate to have found it. I didn't. I can appreciate going with a different stand for aesthetic reasons but not for acoustics.

David