Upgrading a 25 years old 7.1 speaker set?

[Timmy]

It’s a low-level, 25 years or so old Canton set, which I was never really happy with, I’ve have to admit. And that did not get better with time, unfortunately.

This is why I’m thinking about replacing 5 elements of that set:

1 center speaker
2 front speakers (should be wall mountable)
2 surround speakers (should be wall mountable)

• Source is a Denon AVR-S970H
• Room is about 16 sq m
• Budget for those 5 units should be well below 1,000 €

Any suggestions? My main objective with this would be to improve the center speaker’s performance, because there lies the biggest weakness of the current set.

No Cantons please, thanks

 

[Vacceo]

Centers based on coaxial designs tend to give a quite even dispersion, so a single Source Point, a Genelec or a KEF would serve you well.

Given the budget, KEF Q series, especially now that the updated versions will be releasing, could be discounted.

 

[staticV3]

Other budget 3-way centers are available from Elac, Infinity, and Monoprice.
https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/elac_uc52/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s/infinity-rc263-center-speaker-review.12442/
https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/monoprice_thx_center/
https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/kef_q250/

Since the center speaker is the main objective, I'd say figure that one out first, then see how much of your budget is left and how to best allocate it.

 

[AnalogSteph]

Any suggestions? My main objective with this would be to improve the center speaker’s performance, because there lies the biggest weakness of the current set.

How much space do you have for the center (and where)? Would using a "normal" speaker be an option? (If sideways, it would almost certainly have to be a coax of sorts.)

Sub-1000€ for 5 speakers is not what I would call an outrageous budget, but there should be something to be found. For example, 1x KEF Q250 + 4x Q150 just about fit.

BTW, Canton make some decent speakers, they probably shouldn't be measured by a crappy 25-year-old surround set. Back in the day I had a JBL SCS-75 set, man that was some dreadful garbage. My old 9 m² room really wasn't good for any decent speaker options.

 

[Vacceo]

There is also the second hand market.

 

[Timmy]

Thanks for your input!

It makes me wonder if I should replace the center speaker only, as a first approach. Maybe that will solve the problem altogether.

(Discounted) KEFs seem to be a good idea, as I experienced their (2 ch setup) speakers to be quite nice. Which is true for Wharfedale, too.

The current Canton center occupies space of appr. 450 mm wide, 210 mm deep and 170 mm high, located on a shelf under the TV set. So a

Wharfedale Diamond 12.c (480/208/180 mm)

should fit quite flawlessly, and even a reasonable wider

KEF Q250c (525/214/180 mm)

won’t be a problem, I guess.

Prices seem to be 199 vs. 295 €.

 

[AnalogSteph]

In that case I would strongly prefer the KEF over the Wharfedale. 2-way MTM centers always have really wonky horizontal dispersion, you could consider them broken by design.

(My parents have two identical MTM centers horizontally next to each other, which doesn't sound like it should work but it kind of does. I guess the large tweeter to tweeter distance makes for a high density of lobes.)

 

[Roland68]

In that case I would strongly prefer the KEF over the Wharfedale. 2-way MTM centers always have really wonky horizontal dispersion, you could consider them broken by design.

(My parents have two identical MTM centers horizontally next to each other, which doesn't sound like it should work but it kind of does. I guess the large tweeter to tweeter distance makes for a high density of lobes.)

Actually, something like that is called a soundbar, and they work somehow

 

[Timmy]

OK – in the meantime I tend to consider a downgrade rather than an upgrade of any sort ...

Reason for this: I realized that I actually don’t care for any super duper 360° »space audio« around me any more. I don’t need that helicopter from back right or the X Wing fighter from back left as much as I need a clear and easy to understand »midst« with all the dialogues and news speakers’ voices.


So I decided to kick out my Surround Speakers and the Center Speaker too


I’m thinking about eventually reaching at a 2.1 setup, featuring two bookshelf speakers and a subwoofer right under the TV shelf. The available space there is about
80 cm wide,
50 cm high,
45 cm deep.

So there would be room enough for maybe two Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 and a subwoofer in the middle between them. The latter would my heavy-vintage Canton AS 15 SC, at least for a first shot.

All three of them would be sitting on the floor, more or less ...

Any ideas to consider a different cast of speakers are highly welcome!