[cheapmonkeyz]

With surrounds should i stay with the manufacture of my fronts and center. Or is it not as important as matching fronts and center channel. Would i be wrong to choose a lower quality surround from the same vender, like there older model surrounds.

 

[zero the hero]

I'm using some cheap ($100/pair) indoor/outdoor Yamaha speakers for my surrounds because they came with wall mounts and they disappear in my room. My fronts are nice Mission V60 series bookshelves. At first I thought I made an awful mistake; the Yamaha's made everything sound like it was underwater compared to my Missions, esp noticable playing Call of Duty 2 with gunshots and grenade explosions. After about 4 weeks though, they opened up and now they sound just fine. I don't listen to music in surround, only 2 channel so thats not an issue. For movies and games, I don't think it matters.

 

[4DHD]



Quote:
For movies and games, I don't think it matters.

For movies it does matter. If the timbre of the surrounds are way different from the mains then when the sound pans front to back and viceversa you will able to hear the difference.

Years ago I had two completely different speaker systems one for the 3 fronts and another for the sides. The difference was very noticeable.

Some people may not care, but I do.

 

[louthewiz]

Yes it is very important to have a matching system all around to get a smooth blend and soundfield coming from the system so it will sound correct,

I used to have mismatched fronts and surrounds until I did a total makeover and matched all my polk audios and I finally realized what I was missing not having a good matching setup and it just came to life after the change and I was hearing stuff I never realized was there with different surrounds.

 

[Tnilsson]

It is imperative to have your center match your fronts. "Best" is identical speakers across the front. "Second best" is timbre-matched speakers from the same manufacturer across the front. I think you will regret anything less.


As to surrounds, more and more music and movies are in surround mode. If you listen to a lot of surround music, you'd want surrounds that are identical to your front and center speakers. If you mostly use them for movies, you could probably get away with cheaper surrounds.

 

[cheapmonkeyz]

Is it worth it to use the same fronts and surrounds.

For 90% movies 10% music


i was thinking of either:


Mythos 1's front

Mythos seven for center

Mythos 4's for surrounds


or should i try and keep the fronts and surrounds the same


Mythos 4s front and surround

Mythos 7 center channel.


Or would going with Mythos 6's for surrounds be ok with the Mythos 1's for front. Is it worth the extra $$$ and go over budget. I dont want to make a decision i would regret down the road. Will i hear a huge difference?

 

[louthewiz]

As long as the brands match and are from the same line you will be fine with any choice.

 

[JThiessen]



Quote:
Originally Posted by cheapmonkeyz /forum/post/0


Is it worth it to use the same fronts and surrounds.

For 90% movies 10% music


i was thinking of either:


Mythos 1's front

Mythos seven for center

Mythos 4's for surrounds


or should i try and keep the fronts and surrounds the same


Mythos 4s front and surround

Mythos 7 center channel.


Or would going with Mythos 6's for surrounds be ok with the Mythos 1's for front. Is it worth the extra $$$ and go over budget. I dont want to make a decision i would regret down the road. Will i hear a huge difference?

I just bought the 1's and the 4's - I'll be using my Polk center and yamaha sub for now. I'm guess I'll end up popping for a sub and a center in the near future. But, I should be picking up the system tomorrow, and hopefully will have it hooked up by wednesday. I'll let you know. In the Def Tech Thread, some are saying that even having different sized drives can make a difference.....not so sure about that in my wax filled ear, but we'll see.

 

[Davinleeds]

It's difficult, but my attempt is to have all speaker same brand/matching. Tweaking is the type of speakers, if you use smaller l/r/surrounds what is the correct sub and vice/versa.

 

[cheapmonkeyz]

thanks JThiessen, i cant wait to hear how they work. I think i may go with the ones for fronts and a 2 for the center and six's for surrounds. Odd that they dont have a match to the ones for a center. Only true match would be the fours with the 2.

 

[4DHD]



Quote:
Originally Posted by louthewiz /forum/post/0


As long as the brands match and are from the same line you will be fine with any choice.

That is true, but to get the best soundstage(quality being equal) using LCRs is much better.

 

[JThiessen]



Quote:
Originally Posted by 4DHD /forum/post/0


That is true, but to get the best soundstage(quality being equal) using LCRs is much better.

Refresh me - whats LCR?

 

[bulldog21]

How are you able to tell if the timbre matches?

 

[4DHD]



Quote:
Originally Posted by JThiessen /forum/post/0


Refresh me - whats LCR?

LCR means Left, Center, Right

And when someone refers to front speakers as LCRs that means three Identical speakers. Not a dedicated horizontal center, that maybe way smaller w/smaller drivers.


I use 24" tall LCRs, but being I have a 65" RPTV means having the center speaker below the screen, which is lower than the L/R that mount to 19" tall subs. So my setup is not perfect, but the speakers are Identical. And the center is tilted back to make up, in part, for being lower so the drivers are pointing to the ear level.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bulldog21 /forum/post/0


How are you able to tell if the timbre matches?

Put on a movie that has a lot of action going front to back, side to side, as with car chases or jets flying overhead.

As the sound goes from speaker to speaker, if the speaker's timbre is not a match, or at least close, then you will hear the sound's voice or timbre change. Maybe from low to high, or smooth to scratchy. Or what have you.

Of coarse having 5/7 identical speakers is a must for DVD-A or SACD multi-channel music.

 

[JThiessen]



Quote:
Originally Posted by 4DHD /forum/post/0


LCR means Left, Center, Right

And when someone refers to front speakers as LCRs that means three Identical speakers. Not a dedicated horizontal center, that maybe way smaller w/smaller drivers.

Ok, thats what I thought it meant. I couldnt agree more. I currently have a full 5 piece Polk set up with a Yamaha sub, and finally getting to the point of having a 5 piece fully matched set up, especially across the fronts, was a big improvment.

Can anybody weigh in regarding having a sub match? Being that they dont carry a big range of sound, maybe the sub isnt necessarily a requirement to have it match?????

 

[4DHD]

What counts for subs is how musical they are. Some subs aren't much more than a one note sub, ie boom for action movies.

Some subs, like my JBL sub1500s, are very low frequency units. On the other hand the LE14H-3 is more a low frequency sub and can cross over to the 8" mid-bass driver @ 130 htz when stacked with the PT800 tower to make a full range 4 way speaker.

So, no there doesn't have to be a matched sub.

 

[JThiessen]

Good, hopefully the Yamaha will work then. Its only a 200W, but its a good crisp bass sound.

 

[4DHD]



Quote:
Originally Posted by JThiessen /forum/post/0


Good, hopefully the Yamaha will work then. Its only a 200W, but its a good crisp bass sound.

A some point in time, you should add another sub, unless your room is really small.

If its 2000cuft or more it needs two subs.

 

[JThiessen]

Well, its about 30 x 15 x 8, so much bigger than 2000 cu ft. Its worked pretty good along with my little Polk towers, so I only assume the Mythos 1's will produce a better bass than the Polks did.

 

[4DHD]



Quote:
Originally Posted by JThiessen /forum/post/0


Well, its about 30 x 15 x 8, so much bigger than 2000 cu ft. Its worked pretty good along with my little Polk towers, so I only assume the Mythos 1's will produce a better bass than the Polks did.

The point of using powered subs is to lighten the load on the multi-channel amp. So if you're running the mains full range the power it takes to produce the bass is taking away from the rest of the system. Especially if the amp/receiver is only 100wpc. If its 200~250wpc, in a large room, then it might be alright.