While resarching receivers & speakers I was given two opinions about speakers and I would like some suggestions from this forum.

I have a pair of Energy 22's dating back to the mid 80's. I would like to use them with my new setup. I was told by one store that I should buy a complete set of matching speakers from the same manufacturer for the fronts, center & rear speakers. Another store said that I could use the 22's but I should get an Energy center speaker to go along with the 22's. They sales person said that the rear speakers don't have to match the fronts.

If I could use my 22's then I would have more $$ to put into the A/V receiver. Any thoughts & suggestions would be appreciated.

You may be able to use your Energy 22s but you should listen to any prospective center channel speaker you are trying to match to them. After 20 years they probably won't match that well as Energy has made significant changes in their speakers but it is a good place to start. Be open to other brands. You need to match the timbre. Matching the rears and surrounds as a rule are not as important but if you are a surround music afficianado it will be a more significant factor. The easiest thing to do would be to buy new matching speaker across the front and use the Energys for rear speakers.

It is recommended by most industry experts that you use all matching drivers, meaning in a perfect world the actual drivers in each of the speakers is identical (make, model, sensitivity, impedance.....) since that is most likely not to happen for most people, I would suggest at least matching the front three, since they will be the most noticable, if they do not match. If you use your exsisting speakers for your fronts, and get a new center you will have a high likely hood of a non tone matching front sound stage. The example I like to give is the scene in Terminator 2 when the Harley comes across the front three speakers, well if you do not have matching fronts and centers, it will sound like a Harley from the left speaker, a honda from the center, and back to the Harley in the right speaker. In a 5.1 or higher surround sound system, the encoded sound that comes out of the left and right speakers will carry the "off screen" information and the center speaker carries the "on screen" information. Most would also say in a 5.1 system, it is best to have the surrounds on the side walls (dipole/bipole) beside or slightly behind the listening postion, and about 18" to 24" above ear level.

My 02 cents worth.

Trey

Thanks Shoe and mr2channel for your suggestions. I have posted an email question on the Energy website to see what they suggest. Chances are their latest channel speakers will not match very well, but one can hope. One of the problems I am dealing with is a wife who doesn't like to see the technology (speakers, wires, receivers, etc.) only to enjoy the technology.