Matching (Paradigm) speakers

[pmeyer]

Ok, time to show my ignorance. Any help will be appreciated.

I know one should not randomly mix and match speakers. How does one determine is speakers are 'compatible'?

I have 4 Paradigm Mini-Monitors (circa 2000) along with a CC-370 and PS-1000 in a 5.1 configuration.

I'm looking to upgrade to 7.1 for my HT. I'm considering getting three good speakers for left/center/right and using the mini-monitors as surrounds.

Which speakers would work? Only Paradigms? Only a subset of Paradigms? What determines what speakers will work well as surrounds for a given set of main speakers? The LCR will be behind an SMX screen so I'm planning on three identical speakers there.

If this is a 'stupid question', please help me by pointing me to an FAQ somewhere that will get me started, or by giving me keywords to search for.

Thanks!

[pmeyer]

Whoops! I just realized I dropped this in the wrong forum. Sorry, moving to Audio...

[pmeyer]

Matching speakers

(snipped double post)

[Pez]

When it comes to surrounds its not nearly as critical as matching the front three speakers. If you were to listen to a lot of multi-channel music then matching the surrounds would be benefical.

That being said I try to match my surrounds to my front three but for a time they werent matched and I could not tell my surrounds were a different brand than the fronts. In your case I would get the best front three you can and keep you mini-monitors for surrounds. Eventually you could match the rest but upgrading things like a sub, amp, or processor should come before upgrading surrounds, IMO.

Since you have Paradigms now you could get the same brand for the front three. At the very least it could have the same "flavor" as your mini-monitors. And for surrounds more often than not that is enough.

[Pez]

I just posted a response in your original thread.

[Burke Strickland]

I've merged the threads, eliminating the one that was in A/V Chalet.

By the way, Pez gave sage advice. I've been down that same road, successfully using a "voice matched trio" up front and surrounds from a different manufacturer. Any differences between the fronts and rears were not all that noticeable with movie soundtracks -- in fact if you are listening real closely to the surrounds with movies, they are probably turned up too loud anyway. :>)

However, I did distinguish some difference with some favorite SACD and DVD-Audio discs that were mixed with instruments all around (as opposed to ambiance-only in the rear channels). So when my local dealer had a clearance sale on the front brand, I upgraded my surround system so that all the speakers except the sub are from the same manufacturer. Being of similar design they sound very similar -- the rears are now a much closer match to the fronts than the other brand had been, and differences in front vs. rear sound are more attributable to placement in the room than the speakers themselves.

Burke

[pmeyer]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

Is 'same manufacturer' typically considered to be enough when matching?

One thing I considered was getting a trio of Monitor 11's or Studio 40-100's for the front.

[Pez]

Is 'same manufacturer' typically considered to be enough when matching?

Same manufacturer is fine.

[Burke Strickland]

Same manufacturer is fine so long as the basic design of the two speaker models in question is somewhat similar. However, if one model (taking an extreme example) is a design based on horn-loaded dynamic drivers and the other model is electrostatic panels, then the sound is very possibly going to be a mismatch even though offered by the same manufacturer.

However, different models in the same series (model "family") by the same manufacturer will typically have similar tonal characteristics which make mixing more of a match. For example, just about any of the Paradigm Reference Studio speakers will work well together. Similarly, the NHT "Classic" series models work well together.

On the other hand, if I had some of the higher end NHTs, I'd probably go with a lesser NHT for surrounds to meet budget constraints even if it is a different NHT "family" rather than mix in another brand. Same for getting a pair of Paradigm Atoms or Mini-monitors to serve as surrounds with, say, a Studio Reference 40 pair up front if I didn't have the cash to swing Studio Reference 20s (or already had the Mini-monitors, as you do) for the surrounds rather than add, say, Def Techs (just as an example). BTW -- in my own comparative listening, I thought the 40s with a nice Paradigm sub sounded better than the 100s with or without the sub, and have the other great advantage of being considerably less expensive.

Also if the manufacturer uses the same basic design philosophy up and down their line, then the sound between models is typically close enough to use any "lower end" model for surrounds and the "higher end" models up front, such as the larger Magnepans up front working with other, smaller Magnepans for surrounds. Same for Vandersteen and other brands that use essentially the same design philosophy up and down their line.

Burke

[pmeyer]

Thanks! The black art of mixing and matching speakers has always been unclear to me and it is obviously difficult to audition a given combination.

I'll seriously consider the studio 40's, I'd love to save the money. I'll start looking for a local paradigm dealer and try them out...

[Chris D]

Yes, keeping all the same manufacturer is the first step. I do advocate the next step also, though, which is keeping them all in the same family of speakers within the manufacturer. Each brand can tell you if certain of their speakers are designed to go with others. For example, Klipsch has labeled their speakers into "series"--since I bought all my speakers in the "Legend" series, they're designed to go with each other.