[Dain Bramaged]

I’ve never had anything better than run-of-the-mill speakers so I know very little about really good ones. From what I understand, “Monitors” are near-field speakers designed and engineered for use in studios and the like. Correct? I'm in the process of building a dedicated home theater/music listening room, so I’m wondering if there are any plans for a model similar to the BMR Monitor that could be used for surrounds, or would that be overkill?

[JonnyFive]

I’ve never had anything better than run-of-the-mill speakers so I know very little about really good ones. From what I understand, “Monitors” are near-field speakers designed and engineered for use in studios and the like. Correct? I'm in the process of building a dedicated home theater/music listening room, so I’m wondering if there are any plans for a model similar to the BMR Monitor that could be used for surrounds, or would that be overkill?

IMO BMRs are *way* overkill for surrounds in a HT.  I run L/C/R Salks (well, I will once we get the SS 9.5s ordered) and fill in the rest of my immersive system with NHT C3 and C1s bookshelves. No problems at all as far as my ears can tell, although some would say mixing brands is heresy.  Put the main effort in your L/C/R and don't sweat the rest so much (all my opinion).

[jsalk]

I’ve never had anything better than run-of-the-mill speakers so I know very little about really good ones. From what I understand, “Monitors” are near-field speakers designed and engineered for use in studios and the like. Correct? I'm in the process of building a dedicated home theater/music listening room, so I’m wondering if there are any plans for a model similar to the BMR Monitor that could be used for surrounds, or would that be overkill?

As far as I know, there is no exact definition of what constitutes a bookshelf speaker or monitor speaker.  We use the term bookshelf to refer to smaller 2-way speakers, while monitor speakers are larger 2-ways that are normally used on stands.

Any of these would be fine for surround sound duty.  In fact, you could use monitor speakers as left and right mains if you are using a subwoofer.

Personally, I use WOW1's for surround duty in my dedicated home theater and are very pleased with them.

JonnyFive is correct in that surround speakers are not all that important.  For the most part, they handle ambient sounds and sound effects.  Any timbre mis-match between the mains and the surrounds will not be all that noticeable if at all.

- Jim

[BluesDaddy]

But I would say, a multi-channel surround system of all BMRs WOULD be killer for music. "Overkill", probably - but the kind of overkill I wouldn't mind experiencing! (As long as someone else is paying for it). 

[ccotenj]

i have ht2-tl's. 

jim made me a pair of custom surrounds to go with them.

yes, it was massive overkill.  i don't regret it.

[Dain Bramaged]

Thanks for the info. I plan on using the room for music listening as well. Normally we’d only be talking 2 channels, but I’ve become addicted to SACD where there is signal going to multiple surround channels. Would the WOW1s still be a good choice, or would something else be better?

[jsalk]

Thanks for the info. I plan on using the room for music listening as well. Normally we’d only be talking 2 channels, but I’ve become addicted to SACD where there is signal going to multiple surround channels. Would the WOW1s still be a good choice, or would something else be better?

I use WOW1's as surround speakers in my dedicated home theater and they work just fine.

- Jim