T3+ in small Livingroom?

[rl]

I could go into detail of my setup and how far I want to evolve the setup in the future, but my basic question is regarding the T3+ those being purposed for large rooms and high power amplifiers and I have a small room wanting to run 5.2.4 with an Emotiva MR1. 

Will I regret the fact that I want to use a pair of Airmotiv T3+ as my front main right and left?

My living room is basically only a 13 foot square piece of carpet, but the room is open on two sides into the small dinning room and kitchen. 
My main viewing seat is only 8 foot back from all the equipment and they are spaced back about 1 foot off from the back wall. 
My current front towers (Fluance XL8F)(46" tall) are good for movies but lack high and middle range clarity when playing music, I want to move them to the rear channels and have something better up front. 
There is more details and plans but if these speakers don't sound good from around 8 foot away, then I need to change directions. 

Thank you.

[emotimmo]

I don't think I have heard of someone regretting getting a larger speaker. 

[gsand]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuU-GrirOXI

[rl]

OK, so if balance and sound imaging won't be a problem with large towers, how about if I add an Emotive Sub to go with the underpowered 12" sub I already have, maybe put the lower powered sub in the back of the room and a new one up front, will that ruin sound balance and imaging of music and movies?

[KeithL]

Nothing in what you've mentioned should negatively affect the sound balance or imaging... with one possible exception...

You mentioned "the underpowered sub you already have"...
There's no specific problem using multiple subs or mixing subs if they're all able to deliver reasonably good sound quality...
And adding a good pair of towers should make everything sound a lot better overall.
And you should be able to put a good quality sub pretty much anywhere in the room where it sounds good.

However...
If your current "underpowered sub" also has poor sound quality or performance it CAN cause audible problems.
(So, if it's "really bad", then you're probably better off retiring it.)

1.
Having multiple subs does offer more flexibility - but it also makes balancing and configuring your subs more complicated...
(So, if the old sub really isn't contributing much in the positive sense, then you might be better off not using it.)
(And, if you can barely hear it anyway, then it may be easier just to not bother.)
2.
If your old sub has lots of distortion or coloration it may make a negative contribution rather than a positive one...
(See #1.)
3.
If your old sub has a poor quality crossover, or makes port noise, or buzzes and vibrates...
If any of those is really bad then it may cause your old sub to "telegraph its location very obviously" at times...
And THAT absolutely COULD mess with your "imaging" by drawing your attention to it.
 

Sept 5, 2023 20:03:13 GMT -5 rl said:

OK, so if balance and sound imaging won't be a problem with large towers, how about if I add an Emotive Sub to go with the underpowered 12" sub I already have, maybe put the lower powered sub in the back of the room and a new one up front, will that ruin sound balance and imaging of music and movies?

[KeithL]

I wouldn't advise putting a pair of T3+ towers in a closet...
But they'll be fine in a room of that size...

The one thing you might have to be careful about is symmetry...
You said that "the room is open on two sides"...
Depending on the exact way that works out you may need to do some experimentation with speaker placement to get the best results...
In terms of imaging it is left-right symmetry that matters...
And specifically symmetry in terms of acoustics...
This sort of thing isn't really arcane... but good attention to detail can yield impressive improvements.

So, for example, if you have a tapestry on the left wall, and a big window on the right wall, your imaging will probably be poor.
(And, to fix it, you might want to put drapes on the window, so that "it's more acoustically symmetrical with the tapestry on the opposite wall".)

However, one thing that people forget is that both speakers, and sound, especially at midrange and higher frequencies, are somewhat directional.
So let's say that you have an asymmetrical room, with an open space on one side, and a wall on the other.
The reflections from the wall are going to be very different than the echoes from the open space.
The absolute ideal solution would be to build a wall on the open side - but that probably isn't practical.
You could hang a tapestry on the wall side, and put drapes across the opening, which would work really well - but, again, may not be practical.
However, even just putting a tapestry on the wall side would help.
Now you'll have no close reflections on either side, a dead space on the wall side, and a somewhat dead and somewhat echoey situation on the open side.
(And, if the open space itself is relatively dead, and so not so echoey, then that could work pretty well.)

HOWEVER, a much easier, and perhaps better, solution would be to toe your speakers in very sharply (maybe 45 degrees).
The reason this is a better solution is that, by toeing in the speakers, you have minimized how much the side walls matter.
Now you have fewer reflections or echoes from either side wall...
Most of the sound from the speakers will reach the listener first...
Then you'll hear reflections from the rear wall...
And, by the time sound reflects from the side walls, while it will still make a contribution, it will be far less obvious...
(And you can minimize that even more by making that rear wall more absorptive.)

Sept 5, 2023 17:35:21 GMT -5 rl said:

I could go into detail of my setup and how far I want to evolve the setup in the future, but my basic question is regarding the T3+ those being purposed for large rooms and high power amplifiers and I have a small room wanting to run 5.2.4 with an Emotiva MR1. 

Will I regret the fact that I want to use a pair of Airmotiv T3+ as my front main right and left?

My living room is basically only a 13 foot square piece of carpet, but the room is open on two sides into the small dinning room and kitchen. 
My main viewing seat is only 8 foot back from all the equipment and they are spaced back about 1 foot off from the back wall. 
My current front towers (Fluance XL8F)(46" tall) are good for movies but lack high and middle range clarity when playing music, I want to move them to the rear channels and have something better up front. 
There is more details and plans but if these speakers don't sound good from around 8 foot away, then I need to change directions. 

Thank you.

[rl]

I just received the shipment of Emotiva speakers that includes the T3+'s and 2 new subs as recommended, we will soon see if the MR1 has enough wattage left to drive the T3+'s in a 5.2.4 setup, it might be close to the lower suggested rating for the T3+.
I will setup the room this next weekend.
Thank you,