Satellite speaker suggestions

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SumnerBoy

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#204757 16-Oct-2016 09:32

So I have some pretty reasonable Paradigm Monitor 7 fronts, a Paradigm CC370 centre and a couple of Paradigm Atoms for surrounds. Plus a good sub to compliment them all. Whilst these are top-of-the-line they are a very good set of speakers for both music and 5.1 movies.

We have just welcomed our first baby and the wife is concerned that the fronts and centre (which sits on a stand) will become a danger to the little rugrat as she starts to crawl and climb and pull things over. I am not convinced there is much of a risk but my life would not be worth living if something did happen...

Anyway, when I built the house I made sure I ran all the speaker wires from the ceiling straight down the walls so that I could easily replace the speakers with satellites if required.

My question is what would you guys/gals suggest for good quality satellites. I will be keeping the sub so will have that covered, but will need the 5.0 speakers.

I am well aware this will be a significant downgrade in terms of sound quality. But at this point I don't have much choice. The other alternative is maybe some smaller fronts/centre which would be more child-friendly.

Any suggestions welcome!!

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#1651820 16-Oct-2016 09:47

Congratulations on the new addition to your family. Floorstanding speakers are pretty stable IMO and in the extremely unlikely event something did happen, little ones are a lot tougher than people generally think; anyway, we never had any issues with my floorstanding speakers when the kids were at that crawling\grabbing\pulling things stage. I would honestly try and convince Mrs SumnerBoy not to worry so much... ;-)

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SumnerBoy

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#1651830 16-Oct-2016 09:48

Cheers @sidefx, I have tried and will continue to do so!

Jase2985

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#1651855 16-Oct-2016 11:00

could you not just attach them to the wall some how so they wouldnt fall over?

SumnerBoy

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#1651858 16-Oct-2016 11:06

Jase2985:

could you not just attach them to the wall some how so they wouldnt fall over?

Not really, not in a way that would pass the WAF test anyway.

JimmyC

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#1652132 17-Oct-2016 09:57

Have you seen the SVS Satellites from Rapallo AV?

SumnerBoy

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#1652135 17-Oct-2016 10:07

I have not - would you recommend them?

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Blanch

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#1652287 17-Oct-2016 12:40

I’m looking at wall and ceiling mounted speakers.

We did a similar thing when our son started crawling, replaced large floor standing speaker with Sony satellites and sub, (get ready to fish foreign objects out of your subs port hole).

JimmyC

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#1652335 17-Oct-2016 13:51

SumnerBoy:

I have not - would you recommend them?

I haven't actually heard the Satellites in person, but along with the matching sub they get very good reviews as a small yet effective 5.1 package. I have the Prime bookshelves and am impressed with SVS overall at their price point.

Dunnersfella

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#1652411 17-Oct-2016 16:59

Stick with Paradigm if you can:

http://www.listeningpost.co.nz/Products/Speakers/Speakers-Stereo-Surround-Bookshelf/Paradigm-Cinema-100-Home-Theatre-System-__I.58021__C.27310__N.27756

Obviously you could Trademe some of your existing speakers, or keep them for a little further down the track... but I've heard these and they are good.

networkn

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#1652420 17-Oct-2016 17:25

We got fireguards and put them round my floor standing speakers, and my stereo rack. My son only had to be told once, my daughter 40 times, not to touch them. They have spikes into the carpet so very stable but fingers in tweeters... Fireguards mounted into walls for 3 years was worth it, and now we just removed them!

SumnerBoy

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#1652426 17-Oct-2016 17:48

Fire guards, nice idea, hadn't thought of that one. Not really practical for us unfortunately. The room is a bit small and one of the other reasons for moving to satellites is to free up some floor space. Don't think adding fire guards would get approval.

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SumnerBoy

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#1652428 17-Oct-2016 17:53

Yeah have had a look at the paradigms at The LP. That is where i got my original speakers from so they were my first port of call. They also had some Q something satellites with NYC better mounting options which sounded ok.

Just wanted to check with the GZHive for any other options. The SVSs look good but no where to hear them in ChCh.

jonathan18

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#1652749 18-Oct-2016 10:58

I'd agree with some of the posts above regarding trying to hold on to what you've got. My bet is you'll end up regretting getting rid of them.

I've got a similar set of fronts (Paradigm 9SEs) which I've had for well on 15 years. They've completely survived the arrival and growing up of two sprogs (old enough now not to pose any risk) - and, possibly more importantly, the sprogs have survived as well!

I assume yours are spiked into carpet? This makes them pretty hard for a kid to shift/knock them, I reckon. While the centre on a stand may be more vulnerable, it's easy enough to train kids to leave stuff well alone (and I'm sure there'd be a way to more securely fasten the centre to the stand.

Are the 7s rear- or front-ported? If the former (which my 9s are), can you get away with bringing them closer to the back wall?

SumnerBoy

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#1652765 18-Oct-2016 11:19

Yeah I am working hard on trying to keep them. I love these speakers, they have given me 10 yrs of great service and have never disappointed! The fronts are front ported and yes, they are spiked. The missus is most worried about the sprog attempting to climb up the side of the floor standers and pulling them over on top of her. I have tried to convince her this is not very likely but she is a bit of a worry-wort.

jonathan18

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#1652766 18-Oct-2016 11:29

By the time your child's tall enough to reach the top of the speaker or strong enough to grip the sides to even attempt to pull it over (as opposed to push it over) they'll be old enough to reason with!

I'm not sure what version you've got, but v7 is over 1m tall and weighs 19kg - I really don't see that as an object a young kid learning to walk etc is going to be able to pull over. As I say, by the time they're able to do any damage you'll be able to explain to them not to touch the speakers.

Parents-to-be and new parents can easily be somewhat overly cautious with these kinds of things; I know we were definitely more careful with our first than our second. But, in reality, things like this really aren't an issue.

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