Mix and match speakers in HT

[Vivek]

Hi,

Anyone know some tips on mixing and matching speakers--some specs I should compare?

I've got a 5.1 spread all monopole from Acoustic Research (AR). 310 HO pair for front L&R, 308 HO pair for rear surround L&R, CS 25 HO for center and S12 HO subwoofer. Bought all of these about 5 yrs ago and have been pining for a pair of dipoles for back surrounds for some time.

I couldn't find the AR website (they used to have swell website that's now defunct; seems Thomson/RCA have taken over marketing AR accesories.) I couldn't find AR dipoles anywhere on the web either.

So, I'm thinking about getting either Klipsch RS-7 or Atlantic Technology 4200 SR Dipole/Bipole. Or should I just get another AR 308 HO pair?

 

[Unregistered]

I would never mix and match HT speakers. Further more I would chose very carfully the manufacturer for the best "family" sound for all speakers to get the best sence of envelopment.

 

[Mudcat]

Vice Versa

I have all mismatched. What was left of a home studio that got turned into my home theater left me with some oddball stuff that I did not want to part with. Sapphire SBs and very old DBx Soundfield Vs (one has had two drivers replaced, and the other has had three out of five drivers replaced) for fronts (If the wife is out of town, I'll move the Mirage Omni 7's in to replace the DBXs), Mirage Omni Center, Two Yamaha YST-SW315 subs, and six Yamaha NS10-MMT for Surrounds (SL, SR, RSL, RSR, PL, PR). It took a lot of testing and tweeking on my RX-V1400 to balance them (each pair is powered by a seperate Alesis RA-150/300 amp - another holdover from the studio).

You can do it, just be prepared for a lot of extra work in balancing the system. Not only am I using the RX-V1400 paramatric equalizer on all but the front channels, but two ART 351 graphic equalizers on the Mirage or DBX front speakers to make the system sound smooth.

As I said it will take a lot of work, but when I put in a Test tone CD, it sound the same in all speakers.

 

[Rob Babcock]

It can be done, but IMOHO the best solution is to have all the speakers voice matched. Short of that, try to at least match the front three.