|   All bookshelf vs. mix/match tower and bookshelf speakers | picsob
Dec 5, 2002 11:15 PM | | Seems like all home theater spkr pckges are for bookshelf Front/main and Rear/Surr. I was planning on getting towers for Front L/R, bookshelfs for Rear L/R and center spkr for front and back, sub. But does using tower in front, bookshelf in rear compromise the acoustic matching, timbre matching that the packages all tout when they bundle 4 identical satellite spkrs?
txs |
| re: All bookshelf vs. mix/match tower and bookshelf speakers | jeskibuff
Dec 6, 2002 7:15 AM | | I have towers in the front (Contour 3.3), matching center (T2.1) and bookshelf surrounds (Snell K-IIIs) and am very pleased. The important speakers for timbre matching are your mains and the center. The surrounds carry very little information most of the time. In fact, I have a third Contour 3.3 that I'm currently using as my left surround and I find it doesn't make a whole lot of difference, despite the fact that it is ear level and the Snells sit close to the ceiling (upside down, so the tweeters are lower, but the grille also inverted, so they don't look like they're upside down) |
| re: All bookshelf vs. mix/match tower and bookshelf speakers | picsob
Dec 6, 2002 9:26 AM | | So, if I stick w/same family for front and ctr -- I should have 'acoustic/timbre matching' where it really counts?
What about subwoofer? I have an older 80W sub. Will I get out of whack if I've got 100W rated front towers and 100 W rated ctr with an older, diff brand, 80W sub?
txs |
| re: All bookshelf vs. mix/match tower and bookshelf speakers | jeskibuff
Dec 6, 2002 10:19 AM | | <B><i>"So, if I stick w/same family for front and ctr -- I should have 'acoustic/timbre matching' where it really counts?"</i></b>
Theoretically, yes. The quality of the speakers has a lot to do with it. Prior to my current speakers, I had Vandersteen 2Cs and a Vandersteen VCC-1 center channel - all timbre matched. I never thought the Vandersteens did well with movie soundtracks, but I liked them a lot for music, especially orchestral. Although I've heard many glowing reviews about the VCC-1, I always felt I had a problem with the way it handled dialog. I don't have that problem with my current setup. What I'm saying here is that just getting timbre matched speakers up front may not solve everything, but it's probably still better than having non-timbre matched speakers. You really ought to try to demo the units in your home to determine what to buy. Bring two center channels home and swap them in and out, playing some difficult source material through them and comparing their results. I'm sure many people on this site will be more than happy to give you chapter numbers on DVDs that would be good to test with.
As to the subwoofer, I wouldn't put a lot of weight on the power ratings of your mains compared with the sub. It really doesn't correlate. The focus should be on how it sounds and you'll probably do well to experiment with speaker placement and crossover frequencies. 80 watts sounds slim to me for a sub, but if it does well until you can upgrade it, it'll help. |
| |
