a naive question about HT speakers
I'm on Audiogon for the two-channel audio discussions, not home theater, and I apologize upfront for this somewhat slacker thread. I've got a decent television (LG OLED 55") and I've been using an old Yamaha soundbar with a Yamaha subwoofer. It's fine. It's a small room and not one that could easily take a 5.1 sound system or anything beyond that, but I'm considering putting together a budget 3.1 system, just to see what it's like. I've got a pair of PSB Imagine Minis that are sitting idle and would fit in the room, and I was thinking of picking up a center channel speaker and a receiver.
I don't know much about how these things work. I can see that PSB makes an Alpha C10 for about $350. I also see plenty of positive reviews for center channel speakers by Klipsch and Elac that cost less and get good reviews. Does anyone know if the PSB would play nicer with the Minis, or whether that doesn't matter at all?
I should add this is just for movies, not music. And this is just for fun so I'm not going to think about different L/R speakers, a new sub, satellites, etc.
Thanks!
On your great 2 channel non-slacker music listening rig, use speakers from 2 different manufacturers for your left and right speakers. Svs for left speaker, psb for right speaker, for example...end the controversy. Also. get the cheapest wire you can find for your great non-slacker 2 channel apparatus. |
+1 to all of you. Thank you! I really know nothing about home theater and this is very helpful. I've heard excellent things about the SVS Prime speaker. "Timbre matching" seems as controversial on the internet as high-end speaker cable!
Erik, I appreciate your blog post. Maybe I'll do some experimenting with the two speakers before adding a center speaker.
Again, thank you all very much. |
I wrote about this here in my blog. |
I would add this. All speaker should be in tonality…in sync. The problem with mixing speakers is that sounds in HT tracks go from speaker to speaker and should not sound different. That’s what I would look for, same brand and model, built for HT use. And make sure you have proper power in reserve, plenty of HT receivers can do this. |
As the center speaker carries the majority of the load for HT it’s worth spending a little more to get that one as good as possible IMHO. This SVS center isn’t much more than the C10 but has a dedicated midrange that’s located below the tweeter that pays big dividends in midrange clarity, dynamics, and better dispersion. It’s a neutral speaker also with a metal dome tweeter so should be a good sonic match with your PSBs, and it gets outstanding reviews in its price range and would be hard to beat. I also included a link for a heavily discounted Yamaha AVR for only $269 that should be fine in a small room with a sub, and Yammy AVRs have a very good reputation for both sound quality and reliability. I think the combo of these with your very good PSB monitors will leave your soundbar in the dust. Hope this helps, and best of luck. |
