surround speakers must match the front?

**punman** · **02-20-09, 10:00 PM**

I got a flat screen TV in October, HD TV in December, then I caught the Home Theatre bug and bought a new receiver and speakers. I bought KEF iQ5s for front and iQ2 for centre. I have a cheapie subwoofer that I want to upgrade in the summer but that is another issue. Harmon Kardon 146 AVR.
I have been using my 25+ year old EPI 100s for the surrounds.

I was thinking of KEF iQ1s for surrounds. I can afford to do that but maybe it is wasting money if I can evaluate my EPIs. But maybe EPIs are so radically different that I should not put them to use in the KEF scheme of things even if they are functioning properly. Maybe my EPIs are "too much" speaker for surrounds with the KEFs and I should use the EPIs for something else?
Even if you know nothing of EPI or KEF please respond to how important you think it is that the surround speakers match the front by the same brand/line.
The KEF iQ1s are on sale for $248 Canadian ($200 U.S.) for the next week instead of thier usual $400 a pair ($320 U.S.) so it would be a good time to make the move if I am going to. I have only had the EPIs hooked up as surrounds for two weeks. They seem pretty good when hooked up as regular speakers but as surrounds I have to set the AVR to +6 decibels to get proper sound, even though they are closer to the listener than the fronts.

**drdoan** · **02-21-09, 10:16 AM**

Hi Dwayne, welcome to the Shack. The surround speakers are not nearly as important to match the system as the front and center speakers. If you place them correctly, level match them, and they have similar efficiencies, you should be ok. The main thing is: do they sound good? Have fun. Dennis

**eugovector** · **02-21-09, 10:38 AM**

Ditto.

**nova** · **02-21-09, 10:56 AM**

Hi Dwayne, here are my thoughts;

I like all my speakers to have the same drivers and be from the same speaker line from any particular manufacturer. I think you get a fuller more enveloping sound, with hopefully seamless pans as the sound travels around the room. It should also make it easier to set up properly and take one more possible issue out of the equation.

Do I think it's terribly important to have all matching speakers? No. Many people set up systems with mix-n-match speakers and they sound great. Now to contradict my previous statement, I'd also think it's possible for mix-n-match to work better in a room, there could be placement issues, resonant room modes, or other acoustic issues that may cause problems. It's possible that different speakers could actually help.

I think there are enough variables that the only way to really know is to listen to the speakers in your room and decide if you like or can hear a difference from one to the other.

**Prof.** · **02-21-09, 06:12 PM**

Quote:

nova wrote:

It's possible that different speakers could actually help.

That's a good point..
Even with identical speakers around the whole room, you would hear tonal differences from the fronts to the surrounds, just with the different speaker locations and room acoustics..

**eugovector** · **02-21-09, 07:41 PM**

Quote:

Prof. wrote:

That's a good point..
Even with identical speakers around the whole room, you would hear tonal differences from the fronts to the surrounds, just with the different speaker locations and room acoustics..

But this would really only be a big problem with front to back pans, which aren't as frequent as left to right. Ambient music and effects wouldn't reveal tonal differences as easy as pans.

**Prof.** · **02-21-09, 07:50 PM**

Quote:

eugovector wrote:

But this would really only be a big problem with front to back pans, which aren't as frequent as left to right.

Totally agree..

**PT800** · **02-23-09, 02:31 PM**

Quote:

Prof. wrote:

That's a good point..
Even with identical speakers around the whole room, you would hear tonal differences from the fronts to the surrounds, just with the different speaker locations and room acoustics..

With identical speakers all around, there will be very difference in timbre match, to the point of not noticing a difference. Even if the LCRs are free standing and the surrounds are all wall mounted. The main difference, in that setup, would be the freestanding mains would have deeper soundstage, and the surrounds would have a slightly more pronouced mid-bass due to boundry reinforcement.

**tonyvdb** · **02-23-09, 04:59 PM**

In some cases this is simply not possible as if you have towers for example it would be very tough to mount the same towers on the rear walls as required by Dolby specifications due to the weight. Generally as has been said matching the fronts is best but again most can not make a center tower speaker fit there system due to it blocking the screen or display.
I think the so called matching is more getting a speaker that is from the same line of speakers.
Its all about compromise and of course the WEF.

**PT800** · **02-23-09, 06:09 PM**

Quote:

tonyvdb wrote:

In some cases this is simply not possible as if you have towers for example it would be very tough to mount the same towers on the rear walls as required by Dolby specifications due to the weight. Generally as has been said matching the fronts is best but again most can not make a center tower speaker fit there system due to it blocking the screen or display.
I think the so called matching is more getting a speaker that is from the same line of speakers.
Its all about compromise and of course the WEF.

No one ever said all speakers work at all positions, but many will. Any speaker that is 24" tall or less will generally fit between the floor and bottom of a rptv or a flat panel mounted at the same elevation. Something like this.

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