Do my rears need to match my fronts?

Romo

Hi gang,

Ended up picking up one of the TX-NR807s during ShopOnkyo's 4th of July sale I've also got a pair of Monitor 70s and a CS2 waiting for me to pickup.

My question is do the rear speakers have to match the front ones? I'd really like to pick up another set of Monitor 70s, or even 60s, but both sold out (60s sold out yesterday :mad:) in black at Newegg, and I don't know anywhere else selling them reasonably. I'd pick up the cherry 60s from Newegg, but I'm not so sure it would look good mixing the black front speakers with cherry rears.

Would it sound best if I had matching Monitor rears, or would it be ok to use something else? There's someone selling a pair of RTi-A5s locally used, $400 for the pair which I'm debating if I should pick them up, they are black, which sounds good, and the RTi line is supposed to be significantly better than the Monitors?

Any advice?

Alex

apphd

It's not as important to have your rears matching your front stage speakers. Some will tell you it doesn't matter at all, others will say it does. It all depends on your ears and the rest of your gear. You might be able to find something that would sound terrible mixed with your speakers, but more than likely what ever you choose will sound anywhere from ok to great. The bigger question I think I would be asking is do I want, can I set up floor standers as rears and get them sounding good. Some rooms can be difficult to position floor standers to get the right tweeter height, and/or not have some furniture disrupting the output. Bookshelf speakers with stands/wall mounting gives you more ways around this. Sounds like you are well on your way to a nice set up. If Monitor 30's/40's do not work in your plans wait and Newegg will more than likely have more and on sale again sometime.
The A5's are nice. I would pass on them and go with something cheaper for rears and save up fore a sub if you don't have one. But that's just me.
Have fun and enjoy

Romo

Thanks for the advice - I was planning to pick up a sub after I found something to use as surrounds. I've been kind of toying with the idea of picking up a set of LSi7's from the Polk Direct eBay store, and using those as fronts and then sticking the M70s as surrounds. Only problem with that is the CS2 wouldn't match them, and I'd probably have to find some way to ampliy the LSi's

I picked up my M70s and CS2 today. My receiver hasn't come in yet, but I'm excited even just looking at them.

daboyz

Cowboys fan?

If your main interest is HT then stay with the series you're in.

Romo

Dolphins actually - Got the nickname Romo after #53, Bill Romanowski when I played highschool football. Same last name

I'm actually not just out for HT - I'm a college kid with some extra birthday money and some cash I saved up while working during the year who wanted some speakers. I'd say I'd be at least 50-50 between music and movies, if not more music. May have jumped the gun on the Monitors, but the price was right, and I figured better to pick them up and get rid of them than to wish I did and not have the option.

From the sounds of it, mixing LSi's and Monitors doesn't sound like a good idea. I realize it would be mixing an entry level speaker with something a little better, but thought it might be worth a try.

apphd

That Onk looks like it is stout enough to handle a pair of LSI7 but I don't think I would throw a full 5 LSi speaker set at it. The LSI and Monitors would not be a great match, and IMHO Mon 70's as surrounds is over kill. That looks like an AVR that you would be very happy with for some time, and very capable of getting good music from the 70's so you are doing great so far.

My advice is to pick something from the Monitor line for surrounds and call it a day. Unless things have changed drastically (I'm a Dolphins fan from the 70's) cash is not something college students have an abundance of. You are on your way to a great sounding budget rig that should give you lots of satisfaction for a good while. After school and cash becomes more disposable start to put together the killer system. There will be lots of new things to choose from, new technology, and if you stick around here you will have learned a lot more to help you decide.

ohskigod

mismatched rears are not too big a deal, though a goal should be to timbre match them down the road. The front stage (front, center, right) in my opinion MUST be timbre matched to get the best sound.

just my .02

Romo

Thanks for the input guys.

Apphd, nothing's changed really. College finances are just as you remember them But I've been saving for quite a while, and sold a bunch of my old electronic gear laying around. I'll pass on the LSi's as surrounds then.

Problem is finding reasonably priced rears, as Newegg has sold out of the M30s, M40s, M60s, and M70s. I don't feel like buying M50s, the value/dollar doesn't seem to be as good as some of the other speakers.

ohskigod, my front stage is matching, good thing I ended up ordering the CS2 when I did, seems like they're hard to get ahold of now. Forgive me, I've got an idea of what it is, but can anyone clarify what timbre matching means in terms of home audio?

cheddar

For timbre matching, just match the tweeters in your speakers. I'm with others here that have suggested you go with non-floorstanders for the rears. Cheaper and much less trouble than bigger speakers and since they get maybe 1/10th the workout of the front 3, it's not that important that they EXACTLY match your fronts.

cheddar

I remember those student days when I put together my first surround system with whatever speakers I could scrounge. Had some vintage polk bookshelfs for the rears, some old AR floorstanders for the fronts. The center was the only one of the five I bought new and it was with the same thought as you that I'd some day build a new system around it. I still think it sounded great to my student budget ears.

If you're serious about the LSi series, the 7's would allow you to do some experimenting with them for two channel music listening. And you can just move them back to surrounds for HT duty. IMO, you won't miss the timbre match as surrounds, but you will get experience with different sounding speakers for music so you'll know better what you'll want for when you do get some money.

Romo

cheddar wrote: »

If you're serious about the LSi series, the 7's would allow you to do some experimenting with them for two channel music listening. And you can just move them back to surrounds for HT duty. IMO, you won't miss the timbre match as surrounds, but you will get experience with different sounding speakers for music so you'll know better what you'll want for when you do get some money.

My thinking is that a pair of Montor 60s will cost me close to $300 for the pair, a pair of 70s will cost me closer to $350. There have been some used 7s going for $300 lately, and a refurbished pair is $429 from Polk. Doesn't seem like that much of a jump to purchase them. I'm just worried they won't sound good as surrounds. Aesthetically the ebony doesn't match the black at akk, but I guess that doesn't matter.

cheddar

Romo wrote: »

I'm just worried they won't sound good as surrounds.

The LSi7 is the easiest LSi to drive, and as a surround, it just won't get that much action. Little enough that I really doubt you'd notice anything that would draw attention to it as not matching the rest of your system. However, moving them to the fronts for two channel music listening would be worth it IMO, just to give you a taste of what the LSi line is capable of. I only suggest this because music seems to be one of your main reasons for putting this system together. And since you're just starting out, it's a very cheap way to sample something outside of the monitor series to see what speaker qualities you really like.

cheddar

I'm not suggesting that this setup is ideal. Just to look at this more as a system 'in progress'. It gives you the flexibility to get 'comfortable' with music heard through an LSi speaker. And if you really like it, then you can strategize how to upgrade the system to a full LSi system when you get the funds.

The 7's big brothers in the line are much harder to drive, however, so it will take not only upgrading the speakers but probably external amplification as well. Something to keep in mind when thinking what kind of system you eventually want to have...

Romo

cheddar wrote: »

I'm not suggesting that this setup is ideal. Just to look at this more as a system 'in progress'. It gives you the flexibility to get 'comfortable' with music heard through an LSi speaker. And if you really like it, then you can strategize how to upgrade the system to a full LSi system when you get the funds.

The 7's big brothers in the line are much harder to drive, however, so it will take not only upgrading the speakers but probably external amplification as well. Something to keep in mind when thinking what kind of system you eventually want to have...

Thanks for the tips. I've always planned to go with external amplification down the road (Far down the road mind you, funds are limited right now) I really like the look of the Emotiva amplifiers.

You're correct on Music being a big reason for putting the system together. If I can figure banana plugs out (I'm not really handy :rolleyes:) It sounds like it would be straightforward to switch between the Monitors and the LSi's for 2 channel listening. Would it be better to go with stands or wall mounted in this case?

cheddar

Stands offer more flexibility and allow you to get them off the wall which can make them sound a little boomy. But, of course, they cost more than a screw in a wall stud.

Up on a wall above ear level is fine for a surround, but for fronts in two channel music, you want the tweeters at ear level aimed at the main listening position.