What speakers for my room size.

[John_H]

I'm a college student living in a little one bedroom apartment. My living area is roughly 10'x10'.

I was thinking that 3 cbm-170s for the front and 2 htm-200s for the rear would be good. I will be graduating in 1 to 1 1/2 years, at which time I will more than likely move into some place bigger. I figured I would get the above setup and then down the road when I get a house I will get 340s for the front and move the 170s to the rear, and use the leftover 200s for computer speakers.

Do you think the 170s would be overkill for a room this size? I'm using my Klipsch pro-media 5.1 ultra computer speakers in my living room with a denon 2806 receiver right now. Would I notice a huge difference over the Klipsch with 5 200s or would I be better off with the 170s in the front?

[Grayson73]

Depends on whether you will eventually move to a bigger room.

You could get get 2 170SEs and 1 340SE center, then buy 2 340SEs and move the 170SEs to the rear when you move to a bigger room.

If you're going for 6.1, I suppose you could do as you suggested (3 170SEs, then buy 3 340SEs). I've heard that HTM200s are fine, but 170SEs will match better with the 340SEs for multichannel music.

[audibleconnoisseur]

With your small room, what you suggest is perfect since the 170SE's extend down to 53Hz (S22-1000: $718 + $56 = $774). However, think longer term and you will be better satisfied with the 170SE's for main, "340SE center" for center and the two 200's for surround (S23-1000: $828 + $60sh = $888). Thus, when you move, you pick up the 340SE mains and leave the 340SE center, move the 170SE's to the rear and the two HTM200's could go anywhere else. They would be the nicest computer speakers your own! Also when you move, I would suggest looking into a VTF-2 MK 3 or something like this depending on if they are still available and if your room warrants it (up to 4500^).

The sound will be loud and proud with 170, 170, 170 & 200, 200 in rear in your current room but I think for expansion and ease, the 340SEc would be best for future. Or, you can do all three 170SE's up front now, 200's rear and when you move, pick up the 340SE mains & 340SE center and move the 170SE's to the rear and the 170SE to the 6.1 rear position & take the 200's to the computer room or even make a 7.1 setup! Yea, more than you bargained for but that is what you get when you ask for opinions!! :D

You could make up your mind today and beg Dave to extend the holiday deal to you and you might get lucky and pick up an extra $110 off (difference in the 170SE center and the 340Se center :rolleyes: ) - good luck!

Oh, one more thing... have you considered an HTM200 x 5 surround system with an STF2 HSU sub? If you can grovel with Dave for the holiday discount, that is a damn nice setup for the money and you get the 25Hz extension that will annoy your neighbors ;) not that I condone this...... :cool:
That is package S11-1000: $608 + $56 - $140holiday sale = $524. So if you did this with a $319 STF-2 HSU sub, that is $843 + HSU shipping cost...

You have some thinking to do but I would do it today by 6pm PST if you want to hope Dave MIGHT let you extend... tell him AudibleConnoisseur sent you (Kevin). It won't help you, but it never hurts! :p Really, good luck... we have all been where you are now!

[John_H]

So basically, If I go with 2xCBM-170SE, 1xCMT350SEC, and 2xHTM-200, in my small room I wouldn't really NEED a subwoofer. I thought I would go ahead and keep using my Klipsch pro-media 5.1 ultra subwoofer until I get a house. I don't want to piss the neighbors off too much.

You raise an interesting point though, the sound quality of the Klipsch sub may be such that I would be better off with no sub, especially since the Ascends will go to a considerably lower frequency than the little Klipsch satellites I have now. The Klispch sub is only like 8" I think, and it's a PC sub, so it probably wouldn't do the ascends justice anyway.

[curtis]

I woundn't say you need a sub, but I would recommend something like an STF-2....even the STF-1 would be nice.

[ebh]

do you definitely want to go with 5 speaker surround right away? for such a small space you might be happier going 2.1 or maybe 4.1.

i assume this is mainly for movie watching. in my opinion having even a small sub (stf-1 or stf-2 or pb10 or something) would give you more than doing the full surround setup, at least initially.

i started 2.1 (2 170s) then got a center (340SE) and finally surrounds (200s). the 170s are great speakers and will serve you a long time, even in a bigger room.

the center is nice if you have multiple people watching but phantom imaging can also work, especially perhaps in your smaller space. i like having the center, however. the surrounds are fun and help fill out the experience, but i think the sub is even more important (and i would say yes you need a "real" one).

[drewface]

my old room in college was, if i had to guess, about 10 x 8, with one corner of that being occupied by a closet. i had only a pair of 170s at the time and just those two alone were more than enough for that small room.

now i'm in a significantly larger room and i'm gonna try to get my full 5-speaker setup going. the only issue i have is if i do put surrounds up (my 170s are now on surround duty), they will have to be on a shelf very close to the ceiling, since the only space to put the right surround is above the doorway. i know being close to the ceiling is bad with reflections, but i would love to be able to hook up my full setup at school. (MORE POWER!)

speaking of which, is it ok to have the 170s lying on their sides?

[BGHD]

I'm using my Klipsch pro-media 5.1 ultra computer speakers in my living room with a denon 2806 receiver right now. Would I notice a huge difference over the Klipsch with 5 200s or would I be better off with the 170s in the front?
I have Klipsch promedia 2.0. I think the 200s would be noticeably better than the Klipschs. Although nice computer speakers, I doubt you're doing the receiver much justice with the pro medias.

[audibleconnoisseur]

I would PERSONALLY suggest that you hold your monies for later and get a simple setup at this time that will do a good job but is also capable of being upgraded later. Above it was mentioned that you can just get the simple setup now and more later. Since you have a mini-sub now, there is no need to get another unless it is not designed for movie use, i.e. a computer sub! The 170's go to 53Hz in room and the 340's drop to 45Hz! For your size room and what you are most likely looking for, both will do the job but the 340's will drop lower if you have no sub to speak of. Also they will sound a little better over the entire spectrum b/c of the dual woofers and size. The 170's are really nice though and will be a little smaller but the sound will still be quality! If the money is not an object, get the 5sp setup with an STF-2 (I recommend the 2 b/c of its 25Hz extension over the STF-1's 32Hz). If money is of concern, I would keep it simple and get what you can afford, looking to the 170's or the 340's only. The center channel will help in a larger room with more distance b/t you and the TV but still... keep it simple and in your budget. Many people buy to impress, use your personality for that and your money for what you need. Best bang for buck for you in your room for surround in my opinion is the STF-2, 170SE mains, 340SE 'center', 200 surrrounds IF Dave will extend the $110 holiday sale. If you want to keep it simple and get good quality for music and some tv but are willing to sacrifice the surround until you move out into a new home, get a B-stock CBM 170SE pair and you will have a great speaker for your room that will drop low enough for normal level music (which you seem to need b/c of neighbors) but don't expect the bass response of the 340's or with a sub.

Rambling, but it is all relative to what you need or really want. What is your Maximum budget for your speakers? Knowing this we can best help you.

[John_H]

At first I was thinking that I would get 2x cbm-170SE and 1x cmt-340SEC and then get the surrounds later. However, last night I turned off my center channel speaker and ran the klipsch's in phantom center mode and it actually sounded quite good. I'm sure the voicing and imaging of the ascends blows away those puny klipsch speakers too, so I think I could get by just fine w/ out a center speaker for now.

I'm thinking that I might get 2 cbm-170s for now (gotta figure in the extra $120 for stands), and do a phantom center channel with the Klipsch surrounds and sub. Then later I will get htm-200s for surrounds. After that it will be a toss-up between a new sub or a cmt-340 center.

My max is maybe $1500 for speakers and sub, but that is piecing the system together over time. I won't be able to drop that kind of coin at once. I'm a college student, but I am also a software developer intern at a bank, so I'm making decent money for a college student. I realize for that budget I could actually get cmt-430s all across the front, but in a place the size of mine, I would probably never crank those speakers up to even 1/2 of what they a capable of, so it would probably wind up being alot of unused power; that's why I'm thinking the 170s would be a better option.

What really appeals to me about ascends is that all the speakers are timbre matched, so I can get the smaller speakers now, and if I get the bigger speakers later I can move the smaller ones to the back as surrounds. It's not like most brands who have X speaker line and Y speaker line and it's not good to mix and match X speakers with Y speakers because they don't sound right together. With ascend, you can mix and match the different speakers models and the overall sound of your system is still consistent. That makes it easy for people like myself to piece a system together and upgrade parts of a system over time.

Edit: btw, I pulled out a tape measure last night at the room is actually 12' x 11'. Not that that really makes much difference, but...

[audibleconnoisseur]

get the cmt340se's if money is not an issue and you will be able to go lower if/since you have no sub. don't buy stands and you will save $ as well. you can use anything to set them on as long as it's sturdy. cost will be about as much as 170's w/$160 stands.