macnorton

Ok here is my deal. A while back I bought a home theater system, moved, and finally now getting ready to set it up.

In the process I wanted to add two more speakers to the 5.1 setup, but they have gone out of stock.

I know not to mix and match, but what do I do at this point? Here is what I have:

Klipsch Synergy C-2 (Center)

Klipsch Synergy F-2 (Floor standing, pair)

Klipsch Synergy S-3 (surround, pair)

Klipsch Synergy KSW-12 (12' sub)

I wanted to add another pair of S-3's, but as I said, they are no longer available.

My question is, is there something I can do to add to the surround sound without throwing the balance off? Meaning, I can't use two more floor standing speakers as surround sound or bookshelf speakers. And I can't go with another brand...or can I? I really don't know the answer.

SoSpacey

Just get a pair of the B-3 bookshelves.

Brian Shannon

The most important part of the soundstage is the front three speakers. If you can't find the ones you want on the net or craigslist etc., get the closest thing. Rear effects wont suffer from not being exactly matched.

macnorton

Thanks for the tips both of you.

Brian, can you elaborate a little further on your response.

SoSpacey

i think what Brian is saying is that Timbre matching is most important in the front.

surround mixes are front heavy. and the transition between the left-center-right front speakers is important to sound seamless. the only way to do this is to make sure the speakers are not only from the same company, but the same family within that company (the same "line" of speakers). Those speakers are made with similar materials and harmonically matched to one another.

surrounds are used for fill and it is not as important to match them identically.

your S-3s would work well as surrounds in a 7.1 set-up, especially because of the dual tweeters. the bookshelves i recommended would be good as rears, set up behind your listening position.

so is your room set up to properly handle 7.1 or are you just going through some upgraditis?

Brian Shannon

The front three speakers left/center/right create a sound stage that needs to be matched in order to sound correct as the action pans from left to right. If the center is too mismatched (or vice versa) the dialog may not match, the off screen sounds may not sound right etc.

From front to back, or more specifically the rear speakers are reproducing effects and music that are designed to be heard but not necessarily localized. Therefore the matching of the "tonality" of the speakers in this direction is not as critical.

macnorton

Gotcha. I know to some degree how that all works, but that fills in the blanks I had...thanks.

macnorton

Yes my room is setup to handle 7.1. Thanks to a heating duct, it gives the room a "square" feel and it allows for 4 surround speakers in that square. Kind of difficult to describe without images (pending), but the room does allow for it. The problem was I only bought the 5.1 setup...I knew I would grab additional speakers, but I was shocked the S-3 where not available anymore. The B-3 are available a lot of places, so I will go with those.