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Need Speaker set-up advice

post #1 of 3
6/18/08 at 8:35am
Thread Starter 
Hello,

I’m new to Home Theater and need some help with speaker selection. I’ve wired our house for HT in the living room. Anticipating a 5.1 system I’ve wired the ceiling for the rear speakers which my wife would prefer to be as small as possible and round. The front speakers are wired for wall installation and she’ll allow rectangular ones there. My question is can I use 2-way speakers for the rear and 3-way for the front? I’m making an assumption that the 3-way speakers will produce a better sound. I have a pair of Polk Audio RC80i 8 inch 2-way installed in the den ceiling and they sound fine. I should mention that after 20 years around jet engines and other loud noises – my hearing isn’t that great so I’m reluctant to pay for high fidelity I probably could not hear. Thanks in advance for any advice you folks might have.

Robin
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post #2 of 3
6/18/08 at 10:42am

Re: Need Speaker set-up advice

Quote:
Originally Posted by barrowsr
Hello,

I’m new to Home Theater and need some help with speaker selection. I’ve wired our house for HT in the living room. Anticipating a 5.1 system I’ve wired the ceiling for the rear speakers which my wife would prefer to be as small as possible and round. The front speakers are wired for wall installation and she’ll allow rectangular ones there. My question is can I use 2-way speakers for the rear and 3-way for the front? I’m making an assumption that the 3-way speakers will produce a better sound. I have a pair of Polk Audio RC80i 8 inch 2-way installed in the den ceiling and they sound fine. I should mention that after 20 years around jet engines and other loud noises – my hearing isn’t that great so I’m reluctant to pay for high fidelity I probably could not hear. Thanks in advance for any advice you folks might have.

Robin

Having your fronts differ from you surrounds is not that big a deal. Ideally, you'd have all your speakers timbre matched (timbre matched means they are all designed to give the same tone), but the matching front soundstage is much more important than matching the surrounds. Be sure to pick a center speaker that is timbre matched to your fronts, too. You can usually be sure a center speaker that is in the same model line as your front pair will be timbre matched. If you are pleased with Polk, I suggest the Polk TCi series in walls, matched with the TC265i center.
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post #3 of 3
6/18/08 at 11:18am
Thread Starter 

Re: Need Speaker set-up advice

Thanks very much for the help.

Robin
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