Thoughts on Hafler Circuit/Pseudo-Surround Sound

[Stratomundo]

Hi everyone,

I recently cobbled together a poor man's surround sound out of two channel stereo, and I wanted to share my thoughts on it. I used the Hafler Circuit, which has been discussed on this forum before.

The speakers I used were my Pioneer BS22 computer speakers for the fronts and an old pair of Onkyo mid-tweeters I had laying around for the rears. The rears were wired in series, out of phase and then wired to the left and right positive terminals on my amplifier.

I found the sound stage they produced to be very immersive, though the stereo image was more diffuse. To me, the Pioneers on their own sound very flat and one dimensional, no front to back imaging at all. The addition of the rear speakers definitely added another dimension to the sound.

I'd say the intelligibility of vocals was as good, if not better than regular two channel stereo. Maybe not the best thing for critical listening, but I found it quite enjoyable, some tracks came right into the room.

Who else has tried this set-up? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

 

[charles 1973]

I never thought of operating my Realistic Minus 7 rear speakers I once used for surround sound effects out of phase with my Front speakers, But I did utilize an inline L pad to lower their volume enough to add a bit of presence without diluting the imaging for music, and turned them up louder for movies.

I use an old Onkyo HT receiver for that now that offers more good options for casual music.

My Energy RC R surround speakers operate on the principal you discribe with a switch to allow either bi pole or di pole operation. Basically a stereo wide function when the rear speakers are spaced closer than ideal.

 

[ceylon]

Hi everyone,

I recently cobbled together a poor man's surround sound out of two channel stereo, and I wanted to share my thoughts on it. I used the Hafler Circuit, which has been discussed on this forum before.

The speakers I used were my Pioneer BS22 computer speakers for the fronts and an old pair of Onkyo mid-tweeters I had laying around for the rears. The rears were wired in series, out of phase and then wired to the left and right positive terminals on my amplifier.

I found the sound stage they produced to be very immersive, though the stereo image was more diffuse. To me, the Pioneers on their own sound very flat and one dimensional, no front to back imaging at all. The addition of the rear speakers definitely added another dimension to the sound.

I'd say the intelligibility of vocals was as good, if not better than regular two channel stereo. Maybe not the best thing for critical listening, but I found it quite enjoyable, some tracks came right into the room.

Who else has tried this set-up? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

i know im 2 years late to this thread, but i came across the hafler circuit by accident on youtube out, then went lookin for discussions of it. im luvin it so far. on one of my systems im usin 2 salvaged and restored KLH 319's with tweeters at ear seated level as mains & a radio shack 2-way (cant remember what model) as the rear. whats makes this even cooler is the KLHs have a rear tweeter not connected to the L pads so i got it bouncin off the wall. it turns the music into something like a fragrance that fills a room but comes from no direction in particular. its really cool. havent tried it with rear speakers yet.