Surrounds for Be series?

[tifune]

Just setup f226be's,they sound great but given my main use case is 2ch upmixing and I don't really get into marvel movies much I can't rbing myself to spend m126be $ on surrounds. I don't want to totally forego them, because theyre kind of required to get that full sense of immersion. At least, to my ears

The obvious choice is M-series, which would be fine if they timbral balance is a decent match. I don't have a practical way to demo them, and of course my revel dealer (surprise) says they probably wouldn't be a good match. Unfortunately, I still haven't wrapped my head around how to determine that from measurements alone. I don't need extraordinary dynamics, details, etc. but if you've ever heard a mismatched surround setup you know what I mean when I say it can be distracting if multiple "versions" of the same sound is hitting you simultaneously with very disparate tonal qualities . Suggestions welcome!

 

[sweetchaos]

Surround and surround backs (especially) are overrated, since 90% of the sound comes from LCR.

Surround/surround-back/Atmos is mostly sound effects, like a wind blowing, rainfall, or gunfire in the distance.
From my experience, having them mis-matched from the LCR doesn't matter one bit.
When sound starts flying at you from 5 directions, you don't have time to process the timber mismatch from the surround/surround-backs.

Instead, spend the money where it matters...excellent LCR, good amplification, good subwoofers, good room correction and finally (if budget allows) room treatments.

 

[Haint]

Even 2 more pairs of F226BE's are unlikely to be a perfect tonal match as the reflections and bass response are obviously going to be wildly different given the radical placement disparities. The content you're most likely to notice would be an "all channel stereo" upmix and select mixes of native Surround/Atmos music. The Dolby Upmixer already colors (tonally) the effects it chooses to put in the surround/height channels, so you'd be chasing your tail in that use case. The Auro Upmixer is more similar to all channel stereo, but it runs the surrounds/heights down like -10dB relative to the mains, so you'd never notice (assuming it also doesn't color what it chooses to put there). If anything the M105/106's are themselves overkill for surrounds. Hell, M16's are probably overkill as surrounds. $10K (for 126BE's) would have to be as meaningless as a fast food combo before I'd even entertain the thought of using them as surrounds.