mix and match

ringlert

New here. I've been spending a fair amount of time here the last couple of days. The amount of info here can be overwhelming. At this time, I'm just trying to set up a four speaker system, including a sub. I have the following:

pair of 10As 17X20 room, long end has TV and hallway
pair of RTA8TLs
pair of Monitor 40s
a csr center
a csi30 center
one PSW10

Onkyo TX-SR504
Onkyo TX-DS575

I'm figuring on matching up the SR504 with the RTA8TLs, csi30, and my sub. Is this a reasonable setup or is there something that could be better?
A question: it seems that having the three front speakers voice matched is important. If you are using bookshelf speakers for L & R, why not use three centers?

satguy08

Sorry was on phone

satguy08

I run a 7.1 set up with 11T's up front 5B’s in the back and as a center, all with RDO-194’s, with an infinity PS-410 sub driven by an Onkyo TX-SR 705 and couldn’t be happier. You could use 3 centers, but you would lose for a better term roundness. I have never ever ran a true center, I have always run a real speaker on it's side. To me it gives everything a fullness that a center just can't give.

StantonZ

That's quite a "grab bag" of speakers; I'm not familiar with the 40's, but am with most of the others (you can see from my sig I use 10's). Typically the key with mixing/matching is tweeters: try and match the same sound (often from the same era) as much as possible. For example, the 10's should match up better with the CSI center across the front; the RTA's may match up better with the CSR. You may run into to a "drive" problem with the Onkyo amplifiers at high volume levels (they are notorious for getting hot) with some low-impedance Polk speakers, but the only way to know is to try. Don't assume the newer model will drive any better than the older model (you'll also notice from my sig that I use a really OLD amp, but it's rated down to 4 Ohms); it all depends on if you HDMI switching, etc. (or if your Blu-Ray player transcodes to "legacy" DTS).
Happy listening!

ringlert

Thanks for your opinions. I did think about finding another 40 and putting it on it's side. The others are a little hard to put on their side under my TV:). I guess I could put the TV right on top. Right now I'm using the 504, the sub, and am swapping between the 40s and the 8TLs with "Blind Faith' in stereo mode. At this point the 40s sound better, I THINK. More testing. What Blu-Ray player?