Matching Speakers to Components

Wrong way around...you match components to speakers

Stringreen. Believe it or not I have had far better luck buying speakers after acquiring other components prior to the speaker purchase. The first two systems I purchased in the 1980's I did purchase speakers and then shop for the other gear afterward. Ended up first with the Yamaha NS4 speakers and later the Klipsch Heresy's. Didn't like either speaker. Got rid of all my gear both times and started fresh.

I purchased a cheap Yamaha receiver and Technics CD player in the mid 1990's along with a pair of cheap JBL 2500 speakers to tide me over while I shopped for new speakers. In late 1999 I ended up buying a pair of new Mirage OM 10 speakers. Sounded great. Two years later I bought a new Cambridge Audio integrated amp and Cambridge Audio CD player. Worked out great. Added a pair of Castle Conway 3 speakers shortly afterward. Again, a fine purchase that matched well with the system.

Had to box up the OM 10's after I sold my house a couple of years ago because I was going into a smaller apartment. Kept the Cambridge gear but went out and bought some new Jamo C 601's to tide me over until I could get some better speakers. A year ago I gave the Castle speakers to my brother along with some vintage Yamaha gear that belonged to my mother .

It turns out the Jamo's are a great match for the current system that I own. I would still use them except they need to be two feet off the rear wall in the home that I bought to sound right. Room size is the problem. In the apartment that I live in presently I can get by with having them 15 inches off the back wall and it presents less issues.

I do not have the luxury of being able to throw away all of my gear and start over from square one. That being the case I have to find a pair of speakers that will work well with my present gear. Fortunately since my previous track record in that respect is good, I am confident that I will find a suitable pair of speakers that will match well with the current gear. Won't do it the other way around again because both times I ended up with a system I didn't like.

I don’t believe there is a single “way around” when assembling an audio system. As long as the chosen components are compatible both electrically and sonically toward ones sonic preferences, one can assemble a system ’source to sink’ or 'sink to source’. I have upgraded speakers to an existing amp, and electronics to existing speakers. No problem, always enjoyed the quest.

Good luck in yours.

Mesch. Agree completely. I've done far better with matching speakers after buying them after assembling the amps, tuners, tape decks and CD players.