help with family room setup

Hello,

We moved into a house that forced me to relegate my listening setup to the basement. Since we mostly live on the main floor, I purchased some Boston CR77s running through a Yamaha RV 1105 receiver with the whole system on a built in shelf in our family room. The way our room is set up, the only logical place for my speakers is on this shelf which is less than ideal. The Bostons have a 6 1/2" woofer, 1" tweeter and are rear ported. They sit on an adjustable shelf (solid wood, I think) and are approximately 30" apart and 15" from the back wall.

My question is two fold: can I use some baffling to reduce the bass rumble from the shelf or would front ported speakers do better? Secondly, will this setup benefit much from a dedicated stereo amp (Cambridge, Rotel or similar) rather than the Yamaha HT or am I stuck with poor logistics?


I would describe the sound as decent. A bit boomy on the bass, a bit harsh on the highs. My basement setup of Boston T930 towers and a yamaha receiver is far superior in richness and clarity.

I've listened to B&Ws and Paradigms and was taken by the Paradigm reference 20s. I also like the NAD and Cambridge stuff, but wonder if I'd be "putting a gold ring in a pig" by placing this better equipment on the bookshelf, close together.

any advice appreciated,

thanks

Steve

Is the back of your entertainment center open? If so, the rear ports are probably alright. If the back is enclosed, even some, then front ports would be better. Front ports are better for placement close to back or side walls. You can try an experiment by stuffing the rear port, maybe with gym socks, to see if the bass reduction helps. You can also place the speakers on thick rubber mat of some kind or foam to try to isolate it from the shelf. You may even try some isolation feet under the speakers. Don't use spikes of anything hard, it will still couple the speaker to the shelf, you want to separate the speaker's cabinet from the shelf.

I personally thought Paradigm sounded much better than Boston. If the downstairs system is just background, I wouldn't spend much more money on the system. But if you can sit in front of it and enjoy it, and work out some placement bugs, it might be worth further investment.

One other thought, is using a subwoofer that would allow you to take the low end out of the Bostons and give the job to the sub. A sub can easily tucked away or placed out of the way, and still do it's thing.