Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater For Multichannel sound, a few speaker brands used in setup, Okay?

Hi again:

Have my first AV receiver (advice appreciated as always from the MB members) and I will need a set of back speakers, a center, and a sub-woofer . Is it okay to mix speaker brands? And why do I hear that voice matching your speakers by buying the same brand/series line is important?

Does the sub-woofer have to be the same brand as the rest?

Thanks,

Intune

Of all the speakers in an HT setup, the subwoofer is the least important to brand-match. Look for the best bang for the buck and buy that. Many forum members here eschew Axioms subs for exactly that reason. While Axiom subs are fine products, many here believe Hsu and SVS deliver more performance for the money.

As far as the other speakers are concerned, it's a good idea to stick with one brand -- especially for the front 3 -- but even that's not a hard and fast rule.

It is much less important that the subwoofer match, possibly not at all important.

The center and fronts should certainly match, because you will hear differences in timbre quite easily as material is presented across the front sound stage. Likewise, as effects pan from front to back, they will not be nearly as seamless (possibly even distracting) if the voices of the front and back speakers are not consistent.

Is it OK to mix speaker brands? Sure. Is it better to match speaker brands?

I thought my mismatched former L, R, and center sounded pretty balanced. Until........my 22tis and VP150 arrived. I was watching a movie last night, and in one scene a couple, in bed off camera left, started talking. Their voices were only in the left channel front. As the camera panned left toward the bed, their voices moved slowly across into the center channel. I don't think I heard any difference at all, all the way through the pan. I was amazed, and delighted. It's even more remarkable when you consider that my front 3 are, at the moment, not exactly ideally positioned.

I don't think it's quite as critical to have the surrounds matched to the front 3. But, I'm getting a pair of QS8s anyway. I'm glad they'll be matched to the front 3, but my primary reason for getting them is because they seem to be considered fabulous surround speakers. I know of some who prefer speakers other than Axioms for their front 3, but they have QS8s for their surrounds, just because of their quality.

As noted above, the sub is the least important when it comes to matching.

yep...it's most important that the front three match. You can get by with non-matching surrounds, and a subwoofer doesn't need to "match" at all.

What were you considering?