I'm not an audiophile, but I am upgrading the speakers that came with my HTIB and was wondering...?

Question

if it's wrong to mix speakers. I currently have some Polk towers, but I'm looking at this Energy center channel.

Answer 1

If you are trying to get 7.1 or 5.1 surround, then its okay to mix speakers provided they are coupled together. Like so

1=speaker 1

2=speaker 2 ect

1        1          1

     2         2

But if you do this

2         1         1

      1         2

You would get unproportionate amounts of volume and quality that could annoy you.  Of course, you would'nt mix stereo speakers for the same reason you would'nt set up your speakers like in the diagram above.  I am not an audiophile but I can't stand low quality music.

Answer 2

It's not "wrong" in the sense that you'll go to h**l for it, but it's definitely sub-optimal. Each speaker manufacturer "voices" its speakers differently. Differences in timbre - some subtle, some not - will result if you mix different brands of speakers. In a home theater, it is most important for the center speaker to be timbre-matched to the left and right front speakers. Otherwise, distracting changes in timbre will occur as sounds move across the sound stage.