Mixing speaker brands in 5.1 or 7.1 ?

[mlunde]

Hi,

I currently have a 5.1 setup consisting of B&W 603s, 601s, LCR60 and an ASW650.

I am thinking of moving to 7.1 since I'm upgrading the fronts to either 604s or 703s, and my question is:

Can I use some cheap JBL E30s for SR+SL+SBR+SBL? Or will it screw up the entire 'picture' / soundstage in 5.1 and 7.1?

I'm asking because im 30/70 movies/music, and I don't feel the B&W surrounds are earning their worth being used as little as I currently do. And I got offered 4 of those JBLs at a very very low price up at the local whatchamagooever electronics store, as well as a 100% store credit for the 601s at my hifi store.

Thanks.

[csuzor]

Should be fine, just make sure the L/C/R are well matched (or identical), everything else is mostly for non-musical effects... There are some exceptions, especially on SACD or DVD-A, and then the music will not sound coherent.

[Kent Turb0]

Deleted

[mlunde]

I am planning on getting 4x JBL E30 for surround and back, and probably going with 604s3 for fronts and an LCR600 for center.

The 601s I have for surrounds in my 5.1 setup right now just do not earn their price, at all. Mainly because I don't use them.

It won't bug me at all to know that I have a mix-n-match HT system, as long as it sounds like I want it to. I auditioned the JBLs about a week ago, they don't sound too bad in 2ch, and I figure since they'll be surrounds and back speakers in my 7.1 setup, they won't exactly be working overtime on those channels.