# Can I mix speakers?



## askrobo (Nov 21, 2012)

TopTen says their best bookshelf speaker is the Klipsch B-20, while their favorite Center Speaker was the Yamaha NS-C310....I'd rather get the best of everything but I've heard you should keep all 3 front speakers with the same people. 

Also:
The Klipsch center channel was way down on the list. The their favorite speaker system was the Blackstone TL1600, not the Energy Take and the Pioneer wasn't even on their list....It's Polk but thats about as much as I know


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## PT800 (Feb 19, 2008)

Its always best to use LCRs from the same brand/series. Within a given brand, you can match speakers from different series, if they have similar drivers, or at least the tweeters.
Recently I upgraded a pair of old speakers with Ti tweeters. My other speakers in the same system have all Ti drivers. Also the old/new speakers are of the same type; 3-way, 24" tall with similar XO points.
Using the upgraded pair as the mains, and the newer speakers for the center/surrounds, I can tell NO difference in timbre. They sound as if they were all the same model.


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## koyaan (Mar 2, 2010)

I usually try to stay eithin the same manufacturer and driver size ,especially for the front 3. That being said, I've used unmatched centers with mixed results. About the only way to see if they'll work is to try them.
As far as going with the "best", remember that such designations are pretty subjective.


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## Wardsweb (Apr 2, 2010)

Technically you can use whatever you want and you will get sound, but for the best sound, you should have your LCR matched for timbre or at a minimum, similar voicing.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

askrobo said:


> TopTen says their best bookshelf speaker is the Klipsch B-20, while their favorite Center Speaker was the Yamaha NS-C310....I'd rather get the best of everything but I've heard you should keep all 3 front speakers with the same people.
> 
> Also:
> The Klipsch center channel was way down on the list. The their favorite speaker system was the Blackstone TL1600, not the Energy Take and the Pioneer wasn't even on their list....It's Polk but thats about as much as I know


Hello,
I am not familiar with the "Top Ten" which you are citing as a source, but especially for the Mains and Center Channel using the same brand is quite important and ideally using the same Tweeter for the Front Stage (Mains & CC) Especially if considering using Klipschs for Mains that utilize a Horn Loaded Design and a Yamaha CC that uses a Dome Tweeter. 
Cheers,
JJ


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Jungle Jack said:


> Hello,
> I am not familiar with the "Top Ten" which you are citing as a source, but especially for the Mains and Center Channel using the same brand is quite important and ideally using the same Tweeter for the Front Stage (Mains & CC) Especially if considering using Klipschs for Mains that utilize a Horn Loaded Design and a Yamaha CC that uses a Dome Tweeter.
> Cheers,
> JJ


I agree, particularly with Jacks last comment. Using a horn tweeter and a dome tweeter is not going to work well at all no matter how good the speaker is on its own. When you have pans across the front if they dont match they will seem very disconnected and even sound strange. Its very important to have a seamless image across the front.


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## zieglj01 (Jun 20, 2011)

Not easy trying to follow you in 3 different threads.

I take the top ten, with a few grains of salt - however as others have stated,
you need to timbre (voice) match, the front 3 channels.


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## JoeESP9 (Jun 29, 2009)

I would take any TopTen review of audio gear with several large grains of salt. They seem to be a collection of mostly computer geeks with not a lot of audio experience. Being overly concerned with specs as their reviews are isn't IMO the best way to review speakers.

A speaker review that tells little or nothing about how a speaker actually sounds isn't very helpful as far as I'm concerned.


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## bluemax_1 (Feb 14, 2011)

While it is usually recommended that you use the same brand (and optimally, the same model line) of speakers across the front three (especially when they use the same drivers), it is possible to get great results with different speakers, even with different types of drivers if you happen to be using an avr with powerful automatic room correction like Audyssey's XT32.

I have actually tried just that, mixing speakers from different manufacturers and even different driver types (metal dome tweeter vs. Heil AMT ribbon tweeters etc.). As long as the speakers don't have serious non-correctable frequency response anomalies (in which case, those should be replaced anyway), the Audyssey XT32 Room EQ in my Onkyo 5008 actually does an excellent job of making them sound the same.

I would hesitate to use the term 'sound identical', as I've found that even with speakers from the same line (using the same drivers) and in one instance, 3 identical speakers, the placement can still alter the way they sound so they don't sound exactly identical without room correction. 

In fact, that was the case with the 3 identical speakers, where the L&R were placed at ear height but the CC was placed below the display. A sound panned across the front with all 3 speakers at the same height sounded smooth, but when the CC was placed below the TV, it sounded different compared to the L&R.

So yes, optimally, you would want your front 3 to match, whether you use identical speakers or at least speakers from the same manufacturer and line within the manufacturer that use the same drivers, but it IS possible to use different speakers and still get a pretty seamless soundstage if you have something like XT32.


Max


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## Blake90 (Mar 25, 2012)

TopTen is NOT a good source of info on audio gear. You should NEVER mix and match your speakers.


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## bmakel (Jan 26, 2013)

I have a pair of b&w 685 bookshelves with a Kef q200c center. They are both laid back speakers (British style). Can't tell a difference when it pans to each sparkler. Maybe xt32 has something to do with that. Had a matching b&w htm61 center but it sounded terrible. Point is that is you mismatch it can work but also you have to be REALLY careful or it will sound like two totally different sounds coming out.

Sent from my iPhone using HTShack


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## Andre (Feb 15, 2010)

I beleive the the same speaker brand and size driver for the front end (LCR). The only centre channel I have heard that seemed (to me) to mesh nicely with other front left and rights was a Maggy MMGC, however, the Maggy is a power pig and to get it to sing properly (again to me) it required a higher end AVR or separate


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## bmakel (Jan 26, 2013)

I got my information from this. Conclusion...couldn't tell a difference in the midrange between these two.Still not the BEST idea to mix and match but this setup seems to work better than b&w own. I guess the best setup would be go with all Kefs but I just love B&Ws sound. 

http://audiovisualinfo.com/british-bookshelf-battle-royal-bw-685-vs-kef-q300-vs-ma-rx2-2/


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## goodears (Jan 2, 2013)

Mixing and matching can sound fine. But you have to listen to know. I don't know that most people would know unless you told them...unless things are *way* off.


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