Consolidating HT and 2-channel? Nope.

Early B.

Today I took my Jolida tube int. amp and tube CD player into the den where the HT rig is set up, hooked them up to the Soliloquy 5.3's and popped in a few CDs. I was shocked by what I heard. The Norh 5.1 bookshelf speakers on my 2-channel system totally spanked the Soliloquys in every category -- detail, presentation, articulation, bass clarity, etc. In fact, the Soliloquy's sounded dry and slow compared to the Norhs. The bass on the Soliloquy's sounded absolutely fantastic, at times, but generally, they added a muddy residue to the music. The same speaker cables and interconnects were used.

I didn't experiment with placement because of the limitations of the room, but the difference was so significant that I don't think it would have changed the outcome. When I first got the Soliloquys, I hooked them up to the 2-channel rig and got a similar result. At the time I blamed it on placement constraints.

The reason I tried this is because I considered consolidating my 2-channel system into the HT system (sharing fronts only). That way, for HT I could use the Jolida to power my fronts and pocket some cash by selling a few things. Now I have changed my mind. If I ever want to play music in the den, I'll just use the DVD player. Sounds pretty good, actually.