5.3.0 to 7.3.0 ?

IWC Dopplel

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Hi All,

I mistakingly placed this question in the wrong place, I m very sorry for being such a :facepalm:

So here goes for the third time .... I have been wondering how much better a 7 bed set up might be over a 5 bed, especially as a lot of recordings are 7.1, so less processing to do. I have been looking at location and realised if I use the back wall I could relatively neatly fit some rears at the same level as the remaining stand mounted speakers. I could move the surrounds further round to the x shown in the picture (there is a 3rd sub nearly in the way now, but easily relocated) and fit some rear speaker on the wall with the squares marked up. The angles would be in line for the recommended placement but due to the old fireplace and the RH cupboard the backs would be 155 degrees so just over the maximum recommended 150 degrees. The centres would be 4.5 foot apart across the back wall, so quite close ?

Any experiences of 5. vs 7. ?

And any thoughts appreciated. I am not sure which speakers to consider but will either buy another 135 is I can buy a single (unlikely) or a naim 250 to drive them so the have the same or very similar amplification. Sonus Faber did do a wall mount in the Cremona range, so possible I could find a pair, but unlikely. I know PMC, M&K, ATC and a number of other do well regarded slim wall mounted boxes as well as the current range of SF, just not sure of the voicing n how important that is



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Certainly when I moved from 5.1 to 7.1 it seemed to complete my soundstage nicely. Then 5.1 recordings were noticeably lacking something as compared to 7.1 recordings, so I'd say definitely go for it. Also, I wouldn't be too worried about them being too close together, Anthony Grimani, who was one of those responsible for the introduction of surround sound I believe, actually recommends closer placement still. You may find these clips of interest.



 
I think you should buy another 2 pairs of extremas! That would be quite something to behold :)
 
I went from a 5.1.2 to a 7.1.4 and the rear surrounds really do complete the soundstage. Panning of sounds is also so much more effective with the rear channels now. Well worth doing. Your room layout is similar to mine but bigger so I think it will really benefit from this. My rear surrounds are just over 1.0m from MLP.
 
I am in a similar situation as well, looking to go from 5.1 to 7.2 however. Unfortunately can’t put speakers in ceiling...
Sounds like a worthwhile upgrade...
 
I am in a similar situation as well, looking to go from 5.1 to 7.2 however. Unfortunately can’t put speakers in ceiling...
Sounds like a worthwhile upgrade...

I can't get away with that either as the house is grade 1 listed, I could fix to but not build in.
 
Certainly when I moved from 5.1 to 7.1 it seemed to complete my soundstage nicely. Then 5.1 recordings were noticeably lacking something as compared to 7.1 recordings, so I'd say definitely go for it. Also, I wouldn't be too worried about them being too close together, Anthony Grimani, who was one of those responsible for the introduction of surround sound I believe, actually recommends closer placement still. You may find these clips of interest.





Great links, I am at 0.68 from the front wall with the sofa and apart from the challenge with L and R being over 22.5 degrees, all other will come come in nicely they recommend 165 degrees for the back and 110 degrees for the sides the can be spot on
 
After watching those clips I moved my side surrounds back from 90 to 110 degrees and the rears in a little and I certainly think it has improved things, most especially with the sides.
 
Looks like I am committed to another pair of 135's, I know an ex naim engineer that does an excellent job of servicing amps he has a late pair he serviced last summer for sale, so I now have 9 amps and seeking a set of rear speakers, I do really like the idea of a pair of these as they will match in well as part of the Cremona range, an old model so its a second hand hunt....

My other speakers are wood but I do like the darker grey version as well. I know this is a bit OTT for rears but I don't think I'll lose any money on these when I come to see on If I ever build a cinema room from scratch

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Can you get hold of the Elipsa wallmounters? I thought they were like unicorn poo, unless you have access to some kind of rustic, charismatic dealer deep inside the olive groves of Tuscany................
 
Can you get hold of the Elipsa wallmounters? I thought they were like unicorn poo, unless you have access to some kind of rustic, charismatic dealer deep inside the olive groves of Tuscany................

The Elipsas came with wall mounts, the press said they deserve stands, they were rated quite highly new price 2009 £2,600. Second hand I think around £1,500 alternatives are non Sonus Faber unless I spend more than that, they do a nice pair of wall mounts for £7k which is silly. Im also thinking about perhaps taking an old pair of bookshelf SF's and seeing if I could make a wall mount, but this will involve screws in the back so damage to the rears.
 
I never realised the Elipsas came with wall brackets. Ive seen a few of the floorstanders on eBay over the last year but few of the monitor version. You could always go Il Cremonese for LR and Extremas for sides :eek:

I came very close to buying Olympica IIs 2 years ago. Their midrange was something very special.................
 
I found a picture I took in 2009 of one of my naim 135's with the lid off, thought I'd share they do run large transformers for 'only' 135 watts into 4 Ohms per channel. Proper old school ;)

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I went from 5.3.0 to 7.3.0. My dedicated room is much smaller than yours and I'm compromised on rear placement (they're mounted high in the top corners and angled down) but moving up to 7 gave an improved surround experience.

I recently moved my sides so that they're in front of the listening position by about a foot. This gave even better separation between the rears and the side surrounds.
 
I went from 5.3.0 to 7.3.0. My dedicated room is much smaller than yours and I'm compromised on rear placement (they're mounted high in the top corners and angled down) but moving up to 7 gave an improved surround experience.

I recently moved my sides so that they're in front of the listening position by about a foot. This gave even better separation between the rears and the side surrounds.

Conrad, thanks I’m awaiting delivery of a nice serviced pair of 135’s then fingers crossed I can find some wall mountable Sonus Fabers to match in. As I have a pair of concertinas in the office I might see if making some wall brackets and buying another pair makes sense, the thought of screwing into the back of a nice leather wrapped pair of walnut speakers does make me cringe though, there isn’t any room for stands !
 
Hmmm... Where to put them all, I might need to fit in the racks in pairs and not a shelf each :)
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I think I’ll have a good look at my Naim amps today and see which ones were serviced in 2017 and which ones are probably nearer 15+ years since a service (a bunch of components that perform well but do need to be swapped out ideally every 10-15 years are replaced and all bias etc reset)

I had the worlds most expensive cup of tea yesterday somewhere between £1.5k and £4.5k..... I won’t be able do any REW measurements until it’s been sorted. Seems nearly new 16” MacBook Pro’s don’t like a whole cup of tea across the keyboard

It’s reminded me to respond to the warranty renewal on the unlikely circumstance that I have an engine failure on a car I do less than 4K miles a year in. That’s another £1k 😥

How did I manage to get nothing and spend £thousands 🧐
 
Anorak therapy

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Love a good rack with Naim Lego😎
 
Saturday morning taken up with making my new rear interconnects, I just need to locate a suitable pair of speakers ! Cables amps all ready 🤓

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I have secured a pair of Signums that I’ll wall mount. The right era to match the surrounds a little smaller than the amators they are about 30mm shorter and shallower and about 5mm narrower

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Darn.... The seller has withdrawn after finding distortion problems, so still looking 😢
 
:clap: Picking these up on Sunday, hopefully will work out this time, I will wall mount and make some brackets they can sit above the racks, I'll rematch this videos now !

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