mix and match

Airplay355
Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
edited October 2002 in Speakers
I heard that mixing brands of speakers in your surround system was bad because when a sound transfered from one speaker to another the sound wasnt as good. Is this true? and is the difference that noticeable?
Post edited by Airplay355 on

Comments

  • TroyD
    TroyD Posts: 13,077
    edited October 2002
    Essentially each particular speaker has it's own sound. In a multichannel environment, the closer you can match the speakers, theoretically, the more seamless the sound.

    Whatcha got for speaks? Give us a rundown.

    BDT
    I plan for the future. - F1Nut
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited October 2002
    I have a Aiwa AVD57 for a reciever( 70 watts/channel w/surround on) Polk RTi100s as fronts, a CS245i as the center and two yamaha bookshelf speakers that i found, so im not sure what the model number on them is.
  • liv4fam
    liv4fam Posts: 311
    edited October 2002
    Hey Airplay,

    Good Question! Well to answer you honestly it's not that different speakers in your system sound bad, it's the fact they have a totally different tonally quality.
    When you set-up a Home Theater system your goal is to make a seamless and transparent environment that blends together so your ears cannot hear a tonal shift from speaker to speaker.

    You wil notice that when you watch movies with different rears than your mains or different center, your ears will notice the shift and the speaker will draw attention to itself which takes away the experience of being part of the movie.

    When you go to the movie theater you are so caught up in the movie due to the fact of the screen size and the total harmony of the speakers in the auditorium which do not draw any attention to themselves thus drawing you into the action and that is what you want to recreate in the home is the experience of being part of the movie so in the end it is very important to properly mate your speakers with the same brand and models if possible. If you have the RTI100's your exact match would be the CSI40 center and the FXI50's rears. That system is completely seamless across the front array and front to back.

    Good luck on your system and hope this helps.
  • jdavy
    jdavy Posts: 380
    edited October 2002
    Sounds like your front sound field is ballanced. You should add a psw250 for some bass to the system. You can then later improve your rear channel with a pair of fxi30 or fx300.
  • jdavy
    jdavy Posts: 380
    edited October 2002
    BTW I think Fry's has the PSW250 for $99 on close out today.
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited October 2002
    thanx for all the help, but since i just the rti100s im pretty much broke, and being 15 doesnt help either. so for now im gonna stick with what i have and try to add a nice TV and a dvd/cd player.....the ps1 jsut isnt so good for playin cds nemore, especially without a tv lol.
  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited October 2002
    Damn dude, that's a great system you got. I remember when I was 15. I had a Technics receiver, Kenwood mains and a Recoton wireless sub. I thought it couldn't get better until I bought my first pair of polks.

    What are you planning on upgrading next? If I may, I'd suggest you upgrade the receiver before anything else. All I know is that Polk speakers love "high current". My Polks didn't sound very good with my cheap Pioneer receiver I used to run them with. Give your RTi100 some good current and you won't believe how good they'll sound.

    Oh yeah, welcome to the forum. Stick around here often, you'll learn a lot from everybody. What made you decide to go with Polk? What other speakers did you audition?

    Maurice
  • jdavy
    jdavy Posts: 380
    edited October 2002
    Airplay, you can approach your parents with what I did once and ask for an advance on your allowance. Say you get $20 a week, tell your parents you will take only $10 a week until you pay back your debt to them for your speakers they buy for you. It will also be a good lesson in managing debt. Good luck.
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited October 2002
    yea i know i need to upgrade my reciever but i gotta get my priorities in order, im still usin a playstation for a cd player remember? and no TV so i have to guess what the buttons do. I dont owe my parents anything for the speakers they were a birthday and christmas present combined. I was told i got $500 for christmas and $200 for birthday. since these speakers were $1072 with tax i needed to pay the difference. and i had that money so im all cleared now.

    i walked into circuit city knowing i wanted these, just the reviews i read online and the specs were enough to make me buy them but i wasnt sure if the RTi70's would sound just as good so i demoed them both, and they both sound great but there is a big difference in bass from the rti100s the bass was much much deeper, thats what made me choose the 100's. the highs sounded better on the rti70's however but i figured most of the high notes would be coming out of the center channel(cs245i) that i already had so i didnt worry about that too much. jsut to be a good shopper i listened to a pair of MTX speakers with 12" woofers in them, they were only 299 a pair so i thought if they sounded good it was a great deal but listening to them was like listening to a subwoofer with the rest of ur speakers off, so there was no way i was buying them. there were a pair of bose towers there but they looked so dumb i didnt even bother listening to them, especially after i heard a review stating, no highs no lows must be bose. my mom aslo has bose speakers in her carand i guess they sound alright, if u have the volume really loud. so thats y i choose polk. and i am very happy with my choice.

    i'm hoping to get a TV next and then a nice CD/DVD player. after i have that taken care of i think ill ditch the yamahas for a real surround speaker maybe the f/x line. after that i gotta get a better reciever, but since my reciever was only $129 brand new it was a pretty good choice to start out with. if ur wonderin where i got it, it was a montgomery ward, right before they went out of business.
  • phuz
    phuz Posts: 2,372
    edited October 2002
    Dude, you are doing just fine for 15. You have better stuff than some of my 30 year old friends!

    Just immagine what your system will be like when you are 20! You sound just like me 10 years ago, but you've got a much better start then I did. ;)

    Welcome to the wonderful world of Polk Audio!
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited October 2002
    whats clipping? i keep hearing people talking about what if my reciever clips and kills the tweeters. what are they talking about? the only clipping i know is in football.
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited October 2002
    another question, i have noticed that turning up the woofer volume on my speakers causes less distortion them turning up the bass on my amp, why is this? am i gonna hurt nethin by doin this.....i have it 3/4 of full volume.
  • jcaut
    jcaut Posts: 1,849
    edited October 2002
    the only clipping i know is in football
    :lol:
    It's a bad thing in the realm of audio too!

    Without going into much detail, "clipping" is what happens when an amp is driven beyond its capability. It runs out of power.

    When this happens, the sound distorts, but more importantly it applies what is essentially direct current to your speakers. This is bad news for drivers with small voice coils, like tweeters. That's why it's easier to damage a speaker with a low-powered amp than with a higher-powered one. You can avoid harmful clipping by not turning the volume up to the point where you can hear distortion. Actually amps can clip at moderate volume on musical peaks and it might not be very noticable or harmful--- It's just something you want to avoid as much as possible.

    Same thing on the bass question: If you're getting distortion, turn it down. Generally speaking, it would be better to turn the sub amps on the speakers up rather than boost the bass excessively with the receiver. Turning the bass up really taxes the receiver for power if you're listening at high volume. The amps in the speakers are designed for bass and are probably better suited to handle it, current-wise.

    Jason
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited October 2002
    will i be able to know if my reciever is clipping?
  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited October 2002
    From my experience, when a receiver begins to clip it usually starts with the bass. The bass will sound thin and very weak. This is usually noticable and it's a sign to turn down the volume. If the volume is increased during this time, you will hear some very nasty distortion creep up to the tweeters and it usualy blows within seconds. I used to blow crappy speaers with a friend many years ago. If we find a crappy speaker, clock radio speakers, cheap PC speakers, we enjoyed frying them. The thing I noticed is that not every system will be the same. With some systems, the woofers may go first.

    I don't think you have to worry about clipping your receiver because your speakers are quite efficient, unless you listen really loud. I almost lost my RT5's 3 years ago when I listened to them quite loud with my cheap Pioneer receiver. When I heard the bass go away and a slight distortion in the mid-range, I immediately turned the volume down, unplugged the receiver and let the bloody thing cool down.

    Maurice
  • pgasus
    pgasus Posts: 4
    edited October 2002
    I have some venerable and serviceable S6s from oh, about a dozen years ago.... looking to upgrade finally but can't drop $1000 like airplay, even with birthday money! Suggestions on midrange offerings? My particular preference is squarely in the middle, if even a touch on the treble side for vocal clarity, due to a bit of high range hearing loss.
    thanks, troops!
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited October 2002
    guess what guys, my reciever just straight up died on me. i was listenin at a normal level and it just turned off....now when u turn it on again it turns right back off....stupid aiwa crap, now i gotta spend more money to have it fixed. :supermad: anyone think this happened because of my rti100s? or is my reciever garbage?
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited October 2002
    hey, my Zenith TV did that same thing about a year ago. it was a simple $30 part fix. it was some kind of relay switch... it sucks when it happens. but maybe your fix will be the same low cost.
    good luck.
    p.s. i don 't know anything about Aiwa receivers.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited October 2002
    :( my reciever is in the shop now getting a damage estimate.....if it not too expensive ill fix it but if its more the 100 it can stay broken and ill buy a new one, a nicer one