Mixing Speaker Brands (1 Viewer)

[chrisdoha]

Hello All

I am new here and had a couple of questions regarding a new home theatre that I am setting up. The following is my proposed setup.

Receiver- Onkyo TX-SR707 (175 watts per channel)
Front Speakers- Polk Audio RTi A7 (Approx 100 watts RMS)
Rear Speakers- Yamaha NS 50F (80 Watts RMS)
Centre Channel- Yamaha NS C325 (50 Watts RMS)
Sub Woofer- Yamaha YST SW315
Blu Ray Player- Sony PS3

Now the major doubt that I have is, would it be fine if I have different brands for my front and rear speakers. Will I get the proper surround sound? I would have gone for the entire polk audio speakers but it is way out of my budget.

Please advice me if the proposed arrangement is fine. This whole system is costing me around USD 3000.



Chris

 

I'm in the process of rebuilding my own HT setup and I had the same question. You can mix and match speakers but you have to be really careful to maintain similar tonal qualities across the sound field. This is especially important in the FR, FL, and C speakers. I would recommend getting same brand, same series of speakers for the front sound field. Or, if that's impossible, make sure they are constructed out of similar components (i.e., if your FR and FL have polypropelene or metal woofers and a silk dome tweater, then your center channel should also use these items). I'm not qualified (I'm still learning all this myself) to give you any more specifics but hopefully someone more knowledgeable will come along and either correct me or elaborate on what I started. Good luck with the project.

 

[gene c]

The fronts and center really should be as close as possible since the often are re-producing the same sounds. This is particularly important for vocals which might sound different with speakers from different speaker brands.

 

[David Willow]

For $3000 you can get a completely matched set. Is there a reason why you chose the brands you did? Mixing the Yamaha center and the Polk mains is probably not a good idea. Go with all Yamaha or all Polk. Perhaps get the Onkyo 607 instead of the 707. Put more of your budget in the speakers.

BTW - have you listened to the Yamahas? Yamaha is not known for the speakers.

You could get internet direct speakers as well and save some money. Check out SVS, Axiom, Aperion, and others. I would at least consider SVS for the sub. For just a little bit more money, you can get a whole lot more sub.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Also, Christopher, you should put less emphasis on wattage and pay closer attention to the impedance and sensitivity of the speakers.

For all intents and purposes, wattage numbers are usless in comparing speakers.

Look for speakers with high sensitivity (over 90dB is very good) and an impedance (measured in ohms) at or higher than what your receiver is rated (the Onkyo 707 can handle 4 ohm speakers, but the 607 is rated 6 ohms and higher).

 

[DaveF]

Definitely want matched Left, Right and Center speakers to match the timbre, or voice, or tonal qualities. In my recent speaker shopping, I listened to a set of Paradigm Monitor 7 Left and Right with a Paradigm Cinema 330 center. Same company, different product lines. I thought the mismatch between the speakers apparent. Definitely give it a listen if you've got your heart set on a mis-matched LCR set.

 

[chrisdoha]

Thanx for the replies.

@David- I wanna go for a mixed set, cos I hear they have better performance than HTIBs, secondly I stay in Qatar, thats in the middle east, i hav very limited options. Thers not much online shipping here plus amazon or none of the online sellers ship to this region. So I have only Yamaha and Polk Audio to choose from. I wanna go for the Onkyo 707 cos its THX certified and gt loads of other features plus here the price diff btw 607 and 707 is jus $130.

@Jason- the polk speakers have a good sensitivity and Onkyo 707 can take speakers with impedance range of 4-16 or 6-16 ohms,


I do have one other doubt. Now my receiver gives out 175 watts per channel, is it ok to use speakers with NOMINAL input of 50 watts and MAX of 200 watts without havin to worry if i do go a lil above normal volume? Cos speakers have to b haf of amp rite?


Anyways wat il do is go for polk completely in the front and yamaha fr rear

 

[DaveF]

If watching TV and movies is important, "better performance" should include the sound not changing tone during pans across the the front speakers -- which it might with mis-matched front speakers. If you're buying "sound unheard", conventional wisdom is to always buy a matched set for the fronts. Three Polks or three Yamahas, at least. As David noted, you can easily buy a 5.1 matched set on your budget. He's giving you good advice.

If you can listen to them, try your speaker selection. If it sounds good to you, great. And if not, you'll have avoided wasted money on a higher-end, but poorer-sounding system.

 

[David Willow]

Speakers are much more important than the AVR. THX is not a big deal and not a reason to choose the 707 over the 607. If the $130 savings allows you to get all one brand across the front sound stage, do it. You will most likely regret mixing speakers in the front.

Also, it puts out 100 watts per channel (on a good day). Most of the time, you will get much less.

General rule when purchasing HT gear... Spend more on the speakers then you do on the receiver. It is the speakers that make the sound. No amount of bells and whistles on the receiver will make them sound better.

BTW - When we say 'mixed speakers' we are talking about mixing brands (Yamma and Polk in this case). I agree the Polks will sound better than an HTiB setup.

 

[DaveF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Willow

Speakers are much more important than the AVR. THX is not a big deal and not a reason to choose the 707 over the 607. If the $130 savings allows you to get all one brand across the front sound stage, do it. You will most likely regret mixing speakers in the front.

Audyssey MultiEQ vs 2EQ is said by enthusiasts to be a good reason to buy the 707 over the 607. That's what swung me to the 707.

But if it's a choice between a 707 and mixed speakers and a 607 and a matched set, get the 607 .

 

[chrisdoha]

Thats a good point about the tone changin across front speakers and yea it is tru to spend more on speakers than AVR. Btw, the asian version of 707 gives out 175 watts per channel.

Ive run into a lil problem, the 707 over here costs just $630 here, but now they've run outa stock on 707 and 607. So my only option is to get the 807 from Amazon UK and get it shipped via my sis who stays there. So does anyone know how many watts per channel the UK one gives out?

Also, i wanted to know if ny1 cud englighten on Klipsch RF62 speakers, cos I can get a pretty good price on that. Also the RF62 is jus 2 way while the polk RTi A7 is 3 way, altho the klipsch is more powerful, does 3 way and 2 way make a big difference?

 

[DaveF]

The 807 is certainly a great receiver. But if you're challenged to get the speakers you want even while buying the 707, spending an extra $200+ on the 807 seems to work against your budget. Can you wait for the 607 or 707 to be restocked?

I doubt the Asian 707 model is any different from the US / UK version. The specs are probably using different ways of stating the same thing, which changes the apparent power output. For example, stating power at 4 ohms vs 8 ohms.

As for speakers being "more powerful" -- what do you mean? The Klipsch might be more efficient, producing louder sound for a given amplification. That may or may not have anything to do with their sound quality. I'm about to buy relatively inefficient speakers -- "less powerful" perhaps to some -- because they sound better than the more efficient brands I liked.

Buy based on what sounds good to you. You can't buy speakers just on specs.

 

[chrisdoha]

Actually there is a difference in the Onkyo models based on region. You can see it in any product manual. Its like this, for 707,

For US- 100 watts per ch @ 6ohms
For Europe- 160 watts per ch @ 6ohms
For Asia- 175 watts per ch @6ohms

As for waiting for restocking of 607 and 707, turns out wen 707 will be restocked its price is gona be $1050, and 807 on Amazon is gona cost me $870. So the choice is pretty obvious.

I havent given the Klipsch speakers a hear, will do that and let me see. And by more powerful i was implyin as more wattage.

 

[DaveF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisdoha

Actually there is a difference in the Onkyo models based on region. You can see it in any product manual. Its like this, for 707,

For US- 100 watts per ch @ [COLOR= rgb(255, 0, 0)]8[/COLOR]ohms [COLOR= rgb(255, 0, 0)](FTC)[/COLOR]
For Europe- 160 watts per ch @ 6ohms [COLOR= rgb(255, 0, 0)](IEC)[/COLOR]
For Asia- 175 watts per ch @6ohms [COLOR= rgb(255, 0, 0)](JEITA)[/COLOR]

I looked it up in my manual and I think you missed the crucial details, which I added in red above. These power ratings come from different ratings requirements for the different regions. It's almost certainly not different hardware in different regions, but different measurements of that power per the different regions' gov't agencies. It seems very unlikely Onkyo is producing three different 707's, with the Japanese model having 75% larger amplifiers than the US model

And by more powerful i was implyin as more wattage.

Speaker power ratings are just their min and max power inputs to function properly and without damage. It indicates the maximum possible output when considered against the speaker's efficiency and impedance. But doesn't say anything about its actual quality. What matters is that you don't provide more power than it can take, and so damage it.

 

[chrisdoha]

okk...understood abt the onkyo power output...

Dave, i do have another que for you. So basically the onkyo im purchasing gives out 160 watts per channel, and I have these old Sony tower speakers, SS-T561AV, the following are the specs

SPECIFICATIONS
Model SS-T561AV
3 way speaker system
Magnetically shielded type
Speaker Units
Woofer: 25 cm, cone type
Mid-range: 8 cm, cone type
Tweeter: 5 cm, cone type
Rated Impedance
8 ohms
Frequency Response
35 Hz - 20,000 Hz
Sensitivity
88 dB/m/w

Now its not written anywher about its nominal and maximum input wattage. Just the impedance of 8ohms is provided. The amp i used to use with this was a sony amp which gives 100W RMS. So can you tell me if i can you these speakers in my proposed arrangement so that i can make it 7.1. Basically my doubt is will my amp which gives out 160W, blow these speakers out evn at normal or slightly above levels?

 

[DaveF]

That's too technical for me Anecdotally, I've been using five cheap, low-end speakers for years with a ~100W per channel Onkyo receiver, playing at normal to loud volumes, and I've never had problems with overdriving and damaging a speaker.

I've been told by knowledgeable people that you're more likely to damage the speaker from distortion in the signal from running too high a volume on a mid-range receiver than you are to damage it from simply excessive power.