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Suggestions for surrounds to match w Kef LRC?

tifune

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Currently using R3 + R2C and its plenty loud for my use case of Auro upmixing. Would like to setup the remaining surround and height channels, but now that I hear how little sound emanates from these channels I'm hesitant to do something like upgrade to R5 in front and move R3 to surround.

I've often read that it's important to match "tonality" etc. when implementing surround. Anyone have suggestions on cost effective surrounds to mate w R series? Q series fails WAF tests due to unnecessarily large cabinet not to mention poor performance in general, R8a's are quite overpriced, LSX have ~48ms delay on the analog in and I'm not sure if Audyssey can compensate for such a large gap, and the LS50's are slightly more than I'd like to pay but I'd be OK w it given all my constraints except there no grill and I have small kids so it's a no-go on surround/surround back.

Currently I'm using LS50 Meta as rear height, thinking to myself surely they'll be safe up there, but 2 days ago I walk in on my 4 year old shooting his plastic bow and arrow "at the bullseye" so now even that idea is in doubt.

KH80/120 fits the bill in every way - active, excellent performance, fixed metal grille, lots of refurb/open box deals to be had, acceptable WAF due to compact size (she was on the fence but came around when I told her about target practice).

But am I making things difficult by mixing these different designs? Never ventured into HT until now and I'm still getting my head around 2ch room integration much less the 7.2.4 that I'm targeting as the end goal. Thank you in advance
 

alex-z

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Timbre matching only makes a significant difference for the front LCR.

For surround duty I would go as cheap as the KEF Q150, which are pretty much the same size as the Neumann KH120. The KH120 are obviously nicer speakers, but actually noticing that quality difference when watching a movie is tough.
 
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tifune

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Timbre matching only makes a significant difference for the front LCR.

For surround duty I would go as cheap as the KEF Q150, which are pretty much the same size as the Neumann KH120. The KH120 are obviously nicer speakers, but actually noticing that quality difference when watching a movie is tough.

Thanks! Can you recommend any good reading around timbre matching for multi-channel? I feel like everything I've found is either too vague or written more like an advertisement so you buy 2x as many speakers of same brand.

Does it make a difference if my use case is stereo upmixing? Movies are not nearly as important to me
 
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