How to match stereo speakers with surrounds
sloggy420 -- Sun, 07/16/2006 - 11:26
I am about to purchase a surround system and I am having trouble. Is it OK to mix different "level" speakers in a surround system or should they all match? For example, can I use Paradigm Monitor 7's along with the Paradigm Atoms or should I Replace the Monitor 7's with the lesser Focus?
There is much to be said for uniformity of voicing in surround speaker systems, but even so I think you can safely get away with using a lesser grade of speaker for your surround channel applications.
This is actually a fairly common practice. Some reputable speaker manufacturers, for example, offer bundled surround systems configured with high-end speakers up front, and not-so-high-end speakers in the surround channels.
I do recommend that you go with high-quality, voice-matched speakers for your L/R main and center channel applications. My experience has been that even very subtle front-channel voicing discontinuities tend to be noticeable and distracting. For obvious reasons, it's best to avoid those discontinuities if you can.
Best,
Chris Martens
Audio Editor, The Perfect Vision
Senior Writer, The Absolute Sound
Chris Martens
Editor, Avguide.com/Playback/The Perfect Vision
Although Chris' point is generally a good one, and I heartily agree that the speakers should be voice-matched as closely as possible, I would like to add that many people make the mistake of choosing dynamic- and frequency-limited surround channels. THis will be a problem, particularly if you listen to a lot of surround music and action-film soundtracks.
Most people don't listen exclusively to multichannel music but if they did I would go for matching speakers all the way around. The one thing I would avoid are surround speakers with any kind of rising treble. The last thing you want playing back music in a surround system is to be conscious of the rear channels. They should add ambience and texture but only as a component of the performance. If you're tempted to look around then the rear channels are either too loud or too peaky.
In that vein, you should never be afraid to modify the placement of the rear channels even to the extent of rotating the speaker (monopole-type) away from the listening position.
Neil Gader
TAS
Neil Gader Associate Editor The Absolute Sound
Follow on to Wayne and Neil's excellent points.
1. If you can afford to do so, going with a voice-matched system is always the best way to go from a sonic perspective. But one consideration is that, if you choose really high performance speakers for your front channels, duplicating them for your surround channels can become prohibitively expensive.
2. Wayne and Neil are right that, if you like multichannel music (and I very much do), then voice-matching becomes even more critical. One reason why this is so is that you'll occasionally run across really well done "stage mix" recordings, where the "soundstage" isn't just in front of you, but also to the sides and even behind you.
3. As a general rule, people turn their surround channel volume levels up way too high. I secretly suspect this is because, have shelled out for surround speakers, they want auditory confirmation that the surrounds are "doing something." But for most surround mixes the optimal setting is one where you aren't consciously aware of the surround speakers at all.
Example: I sometimes demonstrate surround systems in the Absolute Multimedia listening lab, and newcomers to the hobby almost always ask "Are the surround speakers even playing?" Only when I turn the surrounds off, and the 3D soundstage suddenly collapes, do listeners realize the surround speakers had been playing an important, albeit subtle, role right along.
Best,
Chris Martens
TPV, TAS
Chris Martens
Editor, Avguide.com/Playback/The Perfect Vision
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