Front and center speaker timbre matching

jwhitakr

One question I've run into as I'm looking at new front speakers (forgive me if this has already been asked and answered, but I didn't find it when I searched the forums..) - is there a complete listing of timbre matched Polk center / front speaker combinations, including all of the older Polk models?

I know that some of the speaker pages on the Polk site have the corresponding center / left-right that is timbre matched...but I'm confused as I see some speaker pages (such as the R15) that say:

"Timbre-matched to fit into any Polk Audio home theater or multi-channel music system for a more realistic, more seamless surround sound environment."

I can't imagine that the R15 will work as seamlessly, and sound the same, with a CS1 as it would with, say, a CSR?

surfntomm

i think it will be timbre matched so to speak compared to other non polk products but you are better off sticking with the same series of speakers, mainly the tweeter is what to look for. no point in mixing the rti and lsi series since the use two totally different tweeters. stick to something similar and you should be fine. i didnt hear a difference between the csi40 and csi5 while watching a movie so its not too bad if you dont get the exact model but try to get close to the recommended speaker.

Sansui

Excuse me here but what is "timbre matching"? I've seen this term before and I'm not sure what it really means. What does "non-timbre" matched sound like?

I bought the RM10 five speaker package so I guess I'm "matched"? I'm totally happy with what I have! I'm just curious.

cfrizz

Basically Sansui, all the speakers have the same exact drivers & tweeters & belong in the same series of speakers, so that they will all be the same or "timbre matched".

If you are really finicky about such things have at it. None of my speakers are timbre matched & it sounds just fine to me.

I have also noticed others here on the board have gotten away from the timbre matched mindset.

It's probably nice when you can do it, but don't lose any sleep over it.

mikesd

cfrizz wrote:

Basically Sansui, all the speakers have the same exact drivers & tweeters & belong in the same series of speakers, so that they will all be the same or "timbre matched".

If you are really finicky about such things have at it. None of my speakers are timbre matched & it sounds just fine to me.

I have also noticed others here on the board have gotten away from the timbre matched mindset.

It's probably nice when you can do it, but don't lose any sleep over it.

I discovered one of my surround M5's has been blown so I mounted a pair of Paradigm Atoms I had laying around along with my LS90's and a CS350 in front. I am quite happy with the way the Atoms fit in and at this time I am not going to worry about the Atoms not being timbre-matched. Sounds pretty darn good.:D

Sansui

cfrizz wrote:

Basically Sansui, all the speakers have the same exact drivers & tweeters & belong in the same series of speakers, so that they will all be the same or "timbre matched".

Thank you for taking the time to explain that to me. Nooow I understand.

If you are really finicky about such things have at it. None of my speakers are timbre matched & it sounds just fine to me.

I'm not all sick and nervous about that, I was just curious.

Burnt

Best to stick with the same series but I've mixed Polks and they worked ok.

beardog03

I have used "un-matched" speaks for HT before , and after I got used to it, it was fine...

I just found that at first it didn`t sound right, but kept it like it was for awhile and got used to the sound(s), and forgot all about it

you just need to give it time to blend for awhile before you pull it out and change to a different speak

Holydoc

Though I generally agree with most of the older members posting here, with respect to front stage timbre matching, I consider this a near necessity for clear home theatre sound. Nothing ruins the scene more than to recognize that the action has moved from one speaker to the next. With timbre matching speakers, you cannot tell that the sound has moved to the next speaker. You just know that the sound has moved across the room. It is seamless. A break in the soundstage caused by unmatched timbre draws one out of the movie and back into the room.

In some cases it is unavoidable that you will have unmatched speakers (i.e. finances, trading up in steps, or starting a new HT in steps). However if that is not the case, then you should strive to at least make the front soundstage match. You may be able to get use to non-timbre matching speakers. You may be able to live with non-timbre matching speakers. But if you do not have to then why do it?

Life is too short to have to learn to live with a poor stereo setup.

beardog03

Holydoc wrote:

You may be able to live with non-timbre matching speakers. But if you do not have to then why do it?

I agree...
That is sort of the point I was trying to make..

You just did a better job than I did

Holydoc

You said it great, Beardog. I just repeated it with more words because I like to hear myself talk.

beardog03

:rolleyes:

PSOVLSK

It's much easier to get away with unmatched speakers for surrounds, but I like having my front stage matched. As mentioned earlier, not a necessity though.

VSchneider

jwhitakr wrote:

(forgive me if this has already been asked and answered, but I didn't find it when I searched the forums..) - is there a complete listing of timbre matched Polk center / front speaker combinations, including all of the older Polk models?

For what it's worth there's this one. It matches current centers with older main speakers.

jwhitakr

Thanks VSchneider - that's very helpful!