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Old 01-18-2013, 12:04 PM
citysoundman citysoundman is offline
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Default Looking for advice on rear speakers for 5.1

Hi everyone,

I'm working at a studio that is getting set up for 5.1 surround mixing for TV spots and promos (not film or music). The L, R & C speakers are Focal Solo6's and the sub is in the same family, it's a Focal Sub6.

They bought small Focals for the rear surrounds, the Focal CMS 40's. These are in a different, lower line of speakers, but are still considered professional.

My initial impression is that these CMS40's will not work because they are much lower powered monitors - their amps have only 25W per driver, rather than the Solo6's which have 150W for bass/mid driver and 100W for treble driver. Also the CMS40's have a max SPL of 97dB vs 113dB SPL for the Solo6's.

I have a feeling that the Solo6's would have to be calibrated down too far in volume to match the level of the rear CMS40's. And I assume bass management would always have to be used to get a more even freq response all around.

They bought these CMS40's thinking that the audio needs for the surrounds are much more minimal than that for the fronts (i.e. the surrounds will playback mostly ambience and fill). But from what I understand you really want matching monitors in the rear, or as close to matching as possible. That is what I have seen in most places.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
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Old 01-18-2013, 08:57 PM
EarHole EarHole is online now
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Default Re: Looking for advice on rear speakers for 5.1

Why not use the same you have for the LCR?
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Old 01-18-2013, 09:16 PM
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groundcontrol groundcontrol is offline
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Default Looking for advice on rear speakers for 5.1

They do more powerful versions in the CMS series, namely the 50 and 65. Maybe you should check them out.
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Old 01-18-2013, 11:12 PM
citysoundman citysoundman is offline
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Default Re: Looking for advice on rear speakers for 5.1

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Originally Posted by EarHole View Post
Why not use the same you have for the LCR?
They bought the CMS40's thinking that there was no need for full range surrounds. But I feel that these CMS40s are underpowered and are clearly inadequate when used with the Solo6's. I'm hoping to get some opinions about this - am I correct in my thinking? Or could these CMS40's work?
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Old 01-19-2013, 06:09 AM
Fokke van Saane Fokke van Saane is offline
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Default Re: Looking for advice on rear speakers for 5.1

If you consider your studio monitors as a reference for what is used buy the good majority of your audience, but then a bit better, then i would think your surround wouldn't matter that much. I usually set them quite low in volume anyway.
You should be able to adjust your monitors in volume, conform the Dolby norm. So, a lower rated amp/speaker will be corrected. It might not play the loud peaks, but that's ok for surround i think.
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Old 01-23-2013, 09:29 AM
budster budster is offline
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Default Re: Looking for advice on rear speakers for 5.1

The CMS 50 would be a really nice choice for the surrounds. They are fairly full range and a very high quality little monitor.

Buddy
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Old 01-23-2013, 09:55 AM
citysoundman citysoundman is offline
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Default Re: Looking for advice on rear speakers for 5.1

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Originally Posted by budster View Post
The CMS 50 would be a really nice choice for the surrounds. They are fairly full range and a very high quality little monitor.

Buddy
Hey Buddy,

Thanks for the reply. Yeah from the specs, the CMS 50's seem much more suitable than the 40's.

Do you have an opinion as to whether the CMS 40's are even usable, considering that they go to only 97dB SPL max? Here's the thing: If I'm listening at 78dB SPL (for a -24dBFS operating level average), then the speakers would (in theory) distort when levels hit -5 dBFS. But perhaps levels would never hit that loud in the surrounds...on the other hand the 25 Watt amps can't sound too clean at high levels...

I'd love to hear some opinions about this!
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Old 01-23-2013, 10:28 AM
Brandonx1 Brandonx1 is offline
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Default Re: Looking for advice on rear speakers for 5.1

Hi Bob,
You know the CMS series don't have the beryllium tweeter like the solos do. I haven't heard them but I would assume they sound different then the solos and shouldn't be paired together for surrounds with them. I would go with solos for the surrounds and twins for the LCR if it where me. I use twins for my LCR and love them!!
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Old 01-23-2013, 11:38 AM
citysoundman citysoundman is offline
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Default Re: Looking for advice on rear speakers for 5.1

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Hi Bob,
You know the CMS series don't have the beryllium tweeter like the solos do. I haven't heard them but I would assume they sound different then the solos and shouldn't be paired together for surrounds with them. I would go with solos for the surrounds and twins for the LCR if it where me. I use twins for my LCR and love them!!
Brandon -
I didn't realize the difference in the tweeter material, thanks for pointing that out. So you have the twins up front, wow that must sound amazing! Thanks for your input.
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