I currently have a set of Klipsch RF-5 front L/R, an RC3 II center, and a pair of RS3 II L/R surround speakers. I've never been very happy with the surrounds. IMHO they don't deliver all that much and I'm looking for something better.

I love the Klipsch sound and I don't want to replace the fronts or center channel, but the surrounds gotta go. I've heard nothing but glowing reviews of the QS4's and QS8's and I'm seriously considering them as replacements for the RS3-II's. I know this goes against conventional wisdom, but I'm wondering how much of a difference in sound I'll actually notice, especially in the surround channels, by mixing and matching.

I'm leaning towards the QS8's for the L/R surrounds. If that works out well, I may add a pair of QS4's as rear surrounds for my 7.1 set up.

Is this a really bad idea. Anyone think it might be a decent match? I'd appreciate any advice/thoughts/opinions on this. Thanks in advance.

Unless you do a lot of music listening in 5.1 you won't notice much. There is not that much critical info being sent to the surrounds where your ear will pick up a huge difference. With surrounds you get a little leeway with non-matching speakers. The biggest thing you will notice is trying to get the levels to match as the horns are pretty efficient.

As Sean said, not much comes from the surrounds unless you listen to music in 5.1 or 6/7channel. I hear your complaint numerous times and while watching movies unless its action packed not much comes from the surrounds. You could always try the QS's, they really do spread out the sound and fill the room, and if you don't like how the match the Klipsch then ship them back. But then again you may find you like the sound better and end up buying Axioms!

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I appreciate it. I do listen to a lot of music in 5.1 and the Klipsch surrounds are very good for that. I like the way they fill the room and they are a great match with my Anthem AVM-20. I imagine the QS's will do at least as well because they are almost as efficent as the Klipsch's. I'm pretty sure I can adjust the sound levels on the Anthem so the QS's match the rest of the speakers. What I can't do anything about is the possible tonal differences between the horns and the QS's. I'll have to give it a little more thought. Thanks again for your ideas.