Revising/upgrade system help...

[Justinian]

I am brand new to this forum and a newbie in general to home audio. My current system consist of the following:

Mirage Omni Center Channel - 250W
Omni Series 60 Front x 2
Omnisat Micro speakers x 2
Hsu Research VTF-2 subwoofer

These speakers are paired with a Yamaha RX-V657 receiver and a Panasonic 50in. plasma TV.

Our living room is very large and spacious (24'x15'). We moved last year and now we live in a town house where the living room, foyer and dining area are all on one floor. This makes it tough to do room treatments and as a result, I am thinking about upgrading or changing my system. By that I mean adding two floor standing speakers with greater power, speakers that are better suited to the kind of room we have. My questions are these:
(1) Do I have to stick with Mirage or is it OK to add a different brand speaker?
(2) If it is OK to add a non-Mirage speaker, which ones would you recommend? I have been looking at Mirage V2 FS (for Mirage) but also Polk Audio RM40T; Athena AS-F2.2 (I read on one of these threads that Athena speakers do not match well with Yamaha receivers - true or not?); Klipsch FS-1; Yamaha NS-777; Infinity Primus P360 or 362; Infinity BETA 50 or 60; etc.
(3) You will notice that all of these models are tower/floor standing speakers which I prefer for their design and power.
(4) In your opinion, should I keep the Mirage Front speakers in addition to these floor standing ones or replace them?
(5) Budget: around $600.00 for the pair so that's in the budget range, I guess.
Any and all advice from experienced audiophiles most welcome and appreciated!

 

[rnatalli]

In general, you should stick with the same brand all around, but in reality, it's mostly important for the front 3 speakers. Since you have Mirage already and like them, I'd probably head over to Crutchfield and check out some of the Mirage towers they have. Some good deals over there right now. I don't recall the amp specs of your Yammie, but you may also want to consider adding an external amp. I don't recall if the 657 has HDMI, but something else to keep in mind.

 

[Justinian]

That helps

I am now looking at the Mirage Omni 550 floor standing speakers that put out 200W and are on sale at Vann's for $400/pair. They may fit the bill nicely. Thanks for your help. Anyone else??

 

[rnatalli]

I am now looking at the Mirage Omni 550 floor standing speakers that put out 200W and are on sale at Vann's for $400/pair. They may fit the bill nicely. Thanks for your help. Anyone else??

Be careful with your terminology. Speakers don't "put out 200W", in fact speakers resist the current coming from the amplifier.

 

[j_garcia]

Yep, unless a speaker is powered, it has ZERO watts. You can almost ignore the wattage rating of a speaker, since it is a maximum figure.