Is it OK to mix and match speakers?

Question

I've started to build up my audio system and i currently have 2 large sony and 2 bookshelf speakers that i bought from best buy 2 years ago. They shound great but i don't use them much and i want too. I also have a KLH center speaker i bought at a audio store that went out of business. Will having the klh with the sony's look bad? I also need a receiver... any recomendations?

Answer 1

Don't worry about looks, it's sound that matters.

The Sony, KLH and the other brand will work.  No, they won't sound as good as speakers from the same family (it's called timbre matching). But you don't need to worry since it's one of those secondary factors ... i.e. less important than frequency response, balancing output, speaker placement, etc.

That said, you can compensate for certain differences (e.g. speaker sensitivity) by calibrating the speakers for differences in loudness, etc. When you get a receiver it's important to setup (wiring, placement) and calibrate (adjust volumes, delay, etc) the system. See the first link.

Use whichever pair of speaker you judge to be the better ones for the right and left front, and the other pair for the surrounds. Note the larger ones are not necessarily the better speakers.

The centre is important since more than 50% of dialog in movies comes from the centre. So place it correctly. See the second link for some guidance on speaker placement.

Now you have some decisions to make. Since you are "building up your audio system" develop a plan for where to put emphasis (i.e. your money). What components will give you the maximum improvement -- functionality first, performance second?

You could buy a basic receiver and maybe have money for some other component (e.g. subwoofer, DVD player) or buy a good receiver now and wait on other things. You decide, but consider that receivers, while important, don't need to be great to give you good sound. On the other hand a DVD player plus low - mid level receiver gives you more capability than a high mid level receiver alone. See the idea?

It might be useful to consider that anything less than 50% difference in power isn't worth worrying about in choosing between two amplifiers from the same family. It takes twice the power to give a 3 dB difference in volume .. noticeable, but not much more. You can save a lot of money buying a lower model than the one up from it in a lineup.

Onkyo, Pioneer, Yamaha, NAD, Harmon Kardon are all good name brands.

If you decide to go with an interim receiver (trade in a year or so) I'd suggest you look for a used 5.1 receiver from a good manufacturer. Don't worry too much about HDMI switching (unless you have an HDTV you don't need it).

If you decide to go for a "keeper" receiver, have a look for a 7.1 model with HDMI switching and about 70 watts/channel minimum power. Make sure it has a subwoofer output, and built in calibration capability.

Well .. that's it. Have fun.

Answer 2

yep that should be fine

Answer 3

Your first concern is symmetry, so even if the middle speaker is a different brand and has a different sonic "flavor" than your other speakers, having it in the middle actually makes any acoustic mismatch fairly unnoticeable. Whether you like the looks of it or not is entirely a matter of taste.

You'd have to be more specific about what kind of receiver you need to get recommendations. They come from 3 inputs to a zillion, a dozen different types of surround sound, etc. etc. As far as brands go, you generally get what you pay for. That said, most people really can't tell the difference between the sound of one receiver and the next - most of the sonic flavor of your system is determined by the speakers. Look for reliability, power (don't underpower your speakers), and a configuration of inputs and outputs that make sense for you (and for the future - give yourself some room to grow!)

Hope that helps,

Mark

Answer 4

yes it should be