Please Help... Too Many Options

[the hand of boredom]

Hey Guys,

If you've read my post below, The Story of My Servo 15s, then you know that I have just set up a pair of Paradigm Studio/40 speakers atop a pair of Paradigm Servo 15s in the living space of my new house. You should also know that we are planning to put the entire system in the basement once it's finished. We have a pair of Studio/100v.3 speakers set to arrive 24 November, relegating the 40s to rear duty.

You may or may not know that my house-mate and I each had our own systems before, and as it stands we are capable of having separate 2-channel and 5.1 systems; an audio enthusiasts dream come true. After looking at the way the stereo is set up at the moment, we really like the way it looks and sounds.

The DILEMMA lies in our speaker-subwoofer configuration options. Here are the speakers and subwoofers involved in our situation:

Studio/100v.3
Studio/40v.2
Mirage FRX-rear
2 Paradigm Servo 15s
Mirage SS-1500

There are countless combinations to try here. How would you configure if you could assign these to two separate rooms?

THOB

[markw]

.. one subwoofer assigned to each system would soom to be a wise choice. I am of the firm belief that one good sub (and these certainly are!) properly positioned can provide enough solid bass in most rooms.

Generally, the ideal placement for subs to output low bass is exactly opposite of that needed for the mains to do the upper bass, mids and highs properly. Mains like being out in the open, away from room boundariess. This emphasises (sp?) their imaging and spaciousness. Too close to a boundary and they can become boomy in the mid/upper bass region and tha highs become compromised.

Subs generally like being near one or more boundaries. This can allow them to reinforce their area of expertise, mainly low, low bass. Cross over at the lowest point possible. Subs generally should not be used for upper bass and, if possible, mid bass as well. Leave that to the mains.

Of course, proper positioning is essential to both mains annd subs.

The advantage of subs is that they allow placement independent of mid/high frequencies.

Just my opinion. YMMV.

[poneal]

For the home theater, I would use the Studio/100v.3 for the mains. The Studio/40v.2 for surround. The Paradigm Servo 15s (one only) for the LFE/subout. I would buy a center channel (CC570) if you dont have one. This way the home theatre speakers are timbre matched. The leftover can be for stereo listening. Have fun and enjoy listening throughout the holidays.