[MarkScrivener]

I've been using a pair of Emerald's with a Force sub driven by a B&K AVR305 in my bedroom for years and love it.

Downstairs, the family room/HT setup is all Cambridge SoundWorks - Towers for mains, Center Stage, "The Surround" for sides, and PSW1 sub. Amp is HK AVR80II, but will soon be replaced with another B&K AVR305 (man these things are cheap now!). The "room" is aprox 15'x15', but there is no rear wall - so the area behind the room is open for another 25' or so...opens into another room.

For me, the music of the sound track is very important - and I've noticed my bedroom setup is more musically pleasing than the current downstairs setup. Some of this is probably the room, some the amp (soon to be the same) but I keep wondering how much is the speakers.

If I were to upgrade this setup would you recommend the Emerald XL's or the Sapphire XL's across the front? Will going from full towers to satellites be a problem in a room this size (basically a ~50' deep room with the listening area only 15' back)?

Thanks,
Mark

[Mike Dzurko]

Emeralds across the front do a fine job, but three Sapphire XLs across the front are absolutely superb. We happen to have three B-stock Sapphire XLs available that will save you a bunch of money if you're interested. PM me . . .

[MarkScrivener]

Well, it looks like the new front lineup is going to be 3 Sapphire XL's and a Titan XL sub.  Thanks Mike!

I was going to replace my surrounds with the wall mount Emeralds Marty listed here, but I have a slight fitment problem. My current surrounds are up high and I wanted to get them down at ear level. On the left side this means the speaker has to fit between the fire place and a window. The space is 10" wide, but the wall mount Emeralds are 16" wide. Not sure what 6" of window overhang would do for appearance or sound. The standard Emeralds (or Emerald XLs) would fit, but can't be flush mounted to the wall. Guess I'll temporarily use my Emeralds on stands here to get an idea of the sound and go from there. Anyone have some Emerald or Emerald XL's they want to part with in Cherry? Man I wish Mike still offered this option.

Oh, I did consider in wall for this area, but the stud finder says that doesn't look like an option. I did pick up some B-Flats for the kitchen though. At that price why not.

BTW - speaking of Cherry, I went to the local lumber yard to price some wood. 1" thick solid Cherry board, 15" wide was $36 per linear foot! I know you don't need 1" thick for most applications, but man that gets pricey fast.

[MarkScrivener]

New speakers arrived on Friday......

Sapphire XL2 mains - these are a new version of the XL Mike is playing with that doesn't have the side punch outs. Otherwise identical to the XLs.
Sapphire XL center
Emerald XL mains
Titian XL sub

Still letting the system break in. I haven't even tried to tune the system or set speaker levels yet - but so far I am very impressed. I think one of the telling moments was when my wife commented "wow, that sounds nice". Given she is a non audiophile and noticed the improvement says something. Granted, the old system wasn't a set of high end panels, but it was far above your average home system.

I'm also waiting on a set of sound anchor stands - so the XL2's are temporarily on stands from my bedroom setup. Once everything breaks in, the new stands arrive, and I get the system tuned up, I'll give a full report. But at this point I can't  see shipping the system back to Mike. "From my cold dead fingers..." is more like it.

[MarkScrivener]

The sound anchor stands are now in place and the speakers are broken in. Source is an Oppo BDP-83 Blu-Ray player and a B&K AVR 307 receiver. In addition, zone B of the receiver is connected to a B&K ST-1400 stereo amp driving 2 of Mikes "B-flat" 8" coaxial in-wall speakers located in my kitchen.

To say I have been enjoying this setup is an understatement. While movies were certainly a driving factor in this arrangement, 2 channel music listening was what I valued most, and the Sapphire's don't disappoint. The clarity and detail far surpasses my prior setup.

I am a big fan of acoustic music - particularly stringed instruments and minimal arrangements. I'm also a guitarist, and have spent countless hours playing various stringed instruments - so when a recording or sound system fails to accurately reproduce these sounds it is painfully obvious. The Sapphire's combined with the Titian sub allow me to close my eyes and imagine I'm witnessing the original performance. Equally important, I can listen to the Sapphire's for long periods of time without my ears growing tired. Unlike some other speakers I've heard, they don't sacrifice musicality for accuracy.

Of course, given the history of the Sapphire series and the endless stream of glowing reviews, this is hardly a surprise (come to think of it, I don't think I've ever read a bad review of the Sapphires). Still, hearing it for myself, I can't help be amazed. Somewhere deep in my brain is the notion that one has to be in a highly engineered listening room with a pair of $50,000 electrostats driven by a rack of amps listening to a 24bit 192kbps stream to hear something that sounds this good. Yea, for 10x the money I'm sure I can get something that sounds better, but I doubt it would significantly increase my enjoyment. And given I don't have 10x the money.....

But it will get even better. My listening area is still in need of acoustic treatment. I have a few holes (due to connections to other rooms, open stairways, etc), and a nasty resonance somewhere around 50Hz. I have yet to apply any remedies, either physical or electronic. I have played a few sweep tones and can clearly hear some problem areas, but I'm still debating how I want to tackle these problems. My strong preference is for room treatments over attempts to eq my way out of the problem. Next step will be to make some measurements and pinpoint the offending frequencies.

On a separate note, the 8" B-flat coaxial in-wall speakers are nothing to sneeze at. I installed these for background music in the kitchen/dining area - a shameless ploy to make my wife happy as she slaves away cooking for the family. Given the acoustics of the room and the fact these were relatively inexpensive in-wall units, I wasn't expecting much. The sound, however, was much better than I imagined possible. No, it isn't on par with the Sapphire's - but it is a pleasing, relatively full range sound. I just got these hooked up yesterday, so they aren't broken in yet, but they are a significant enhancement to kitchen.

[stereocilia]

Congratulations on the setup.  I ultimately moved my Sapphire XLs and Titan upstairs to the larger room where both music and movies happen--absolutely superb for both.  I've found that you can drive yourself nuts (not a far drive for me) with frequency sweeps, and the big peaks and dips which slap you in the face mean far less when you actually have something you want to listen to running.  Happy listening.

[Bill-99]

That's a great point about driving yourself nuts. I also spent a lot of up front time trying to move as close to the ideal as possible. Eventually, other things started demanding my time and tweaking activity dwindled.

Shoot. Now you've motivated me to restart the tweaking cycle. Gaaa!!!