If u have a sub is it redundant to get towers & do I need a matching center?

[Biginnit]

So for my bedroom I have a Boston Asw 650 & Mordaunt Short- Alumni 2"s now I want to buy new fronts, do I buy bookshelves or towers? If I buy towers doesn't the subs on them not work when I have a sub??

Here"s my options buy Mordaunt Short Alumni 8 towers for the fronts & a matching Alumni 5 for the center or get Mordaunt Short Aviano 2 bookshelf speakers (The Avianos are there next step up series From Alumni"s) but this store doesn't have the matching center & may not be able to get it as they are closing. Now I have an old JBL center, will this be not as good a having a matching center or does a receivers calibration straighten it out?

 

[zieglj01]

I would prefer to series match the Mordaunt Shorts, with the front L/R
and center. If you do have a good subwoofer, then the bookshelves can
work nicely - I do prefer bookshelf speakers that play lower than 80 hz,
for matching up with a sub - the Aviano 2 does look good.

 

[Irishman]

So for my bedroom I have a Boston Asw 650 & Mordaunt Short- Alumni 2"s now I want to buy new fronts, do I buy bookshelves or towers? If I buy towers doesn't the subs on them not work when I have a sub??

Here"s my options buy Mordaunt Short Alumni 8 towers for the fronts & a matching Alumni 5 for the center or get Mordaunt Short Aviano 2 bookshelf speakers (The Avianos are there next step up series From Alumni"s) but this store doesn't have the matching center & may not be able to get it as they are closing. Now I have an old JBL center, will this be not as good a having a matching center or does a receivers calibration straighten it out?

Things to consider when shopping for speakers:

1. Audition, audition, audition!!! Speakers are one of those things that you shouldn't buy on reviews and test lab measurements alone. Speakers have characteristic "sounds" that can differ substantially from one to another, and just because a speaker produces a good set of measurements (please send all complains to my email address), doesn't mean you will like the resultant sound.

2. There are good audio reasons to build a system with towers up front AND a sub (or two): Firstly, tower speakers can frequently go deeper (again, all complaints, see above) than do their monitor (read: bookshelf) kin. This matters more if you're planning to listen to 2 channel stereo music. Why? Because most subwoofer settings that provide great, impactful kick-you-in-your-gut bass really overwhelm music and aren't natural sounding at all (unless you're listening to techno, rap, heavy metal, something with lots of pounding bass). And while, yes, you can change the subwoofer settings going from movies to music, usually doing so is more hassle than it's worth.

3. Have you picked a receiver yet?

4. Yes, you need to timbre match - at the very least - your three front speakers, if not all 5 or 7 (depending on how you build your system).

 

[sholling]

I have to agree with Z, bookshelves are fine when used with a subwoofer but I do prefer that all three front speakers be a timbre match (a must) and that the three fronts play down to 80hz or better yet 60hz. It's good to have some overlap so that the receiver's crossover can do it's job of blending the transition between speakers and sub.

The only time that you really need towers is for a large room.

 

[Biginnit]

Cool thanks ! Tell me what you think of what I ended up getting. - Mordaunt Short Aviano 6"s for the fronts, M.S Aviano 5 for center. Alumni 2"s for rears & Boston Asw 650 sub & a Denon 3312........ I might consider upgrading to either the 3313 or the Marantz 6007 so I have 4k capabilities. I got really good prices on everything i got. Does it sound like its a pretty good system???