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silly HT front/rear matching question?

Hi all. I'm new to this forum but so many of you sound so knowledgable I'm hoping you won't mind helping me with a dumb question.

I'm upgrading from a 2 speaker to a 5.1 speaker system. And be warned-i'm not an audiophile. My question is, why should I go to the bother and expense matching the rear surround speakers with the front/center speakers? When playing music with e.g., Neo6 the rears seem to be just for a little fill. And for movies, is it that important that they timbre match?

Oh, in case it matters in your answer, because my sofa is against the rear wall and the surrounds need to go near the sofa, I guess need to go with dipole surrounds.

I'm leaning toward the Paradigm studio line for the front and saving $500 by getting a more modest surround, also Paradigm, but of a different line that won't match the studios.

Thanks in advance,
Marie
marie_s
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,672 posts
 
Should work OK. The most important matching is across the front.
bomarc
501 posts
 
So what's your silly question? This is a sensible one.

Surrounds that are too different in sound from the main speakers will sound out-of-place (and, in particular, stand out more than surrounds ought to). There's a tendency among manufacturers to give all of their speakers a similar timbre. That's partly by design, because they know HT customers will want to mix and match, and partly just a function of the fact that whoever designs their speakers aims for a certain sound.

There's a good chance that the speakers you have in mind will sound fine together. That said, you cannot count on it happening. The only way to be sure is to take a pair of the surrounds home on trial (or with a money-back guarantee from the dealer), and see how they sound in your system. (Note: It is always important to try speakers out in your room, since speaker-room interaction matters a lot.)
dopogue
1,773 posts
 
Yes, you should do just fine with lesser speakers in the rear. Enjoy.
marie_s OP
6 posts
 
Thanks KR, Bomarc, and Dopogue. On the one hand it seemed like it should work okay, but what scared me was when I saw the HT packages recommmended by speaker manufacturers, they always, without fail, suggested matching their better front speakers with their better surrounds, never with their lower end surrounds. Thanks again.
Marie
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