Mixing brands on receivers and speakers -- bad idea?

[Chordata]

I have an old school HTIB. Want to upgrade, but probably can't do speakers and receiver all at once.

Would anyone not advise hooking up my HTIB's speakers to a new Sony receiver? It appears the connections match...


Thanks!

[jeff92k7]

You should be just fine. Just make sure the HTIB speakers don't have a lower ohm rating than what the receiver can safely handle. For example, if your speakers are 4 ohm and your new receiver is only rated down to 6 ohm, it's probably not a good idea.

[s0nIc]

My opinion first replace the front speakers then move to the reciever you will hear a diffrent with better speakers then replacing the reciever..Sombody tell me if im wrong!!!!!but then again what do i know i have my tv on 2 nightstands

[ozzman]

Mix away,Keep all speakers the same.

I Really wanted a Nice CD player I was going Yamaha,But i went Marantz.It sounds good and looks good sometimes going another brand can be beneficial for the system

[wdhays]

I agree with all answers so far. If you want to take advantage of the newest audio formats & connectivity features, go for the receiver. If you're more focused on improving the sound quality of your system, change the speakers first.

[joegs300]

I'm in the same boat. I have an HTiB but I want new speakers.. I'm not sure if I should go receiver or speakers first.

[Kai Winters]

Were it me I would start with the receiver, then fronts and move on from there. It depends on your budget, short term future purchases, desires, wife's approval/acceptance, etc.
Generally you may be able to use the htib speakers as surrounds and just maybe the sub but as has been said it depends on ohms.

The 2 most highly recommended receivers on this forum seem to be the Onkyo 606 and Yamaha 663. Both are highly touted and deserve the praise while also being fairly inexpensive if you shop carefully.
I would start with a decent receiver...I prefer Yamaha and would choose the 663...and a good pair of fronts. I am a Paradigm fan, feeling they give you some of the best sound for the money. I would probably start with the Atoms if budget were critical. They are an amazing speaker for the money. As budget allows I would move the Atoms to be used as surrounds, etc. replacing them with better fronts in the future.
The receiver and Atoms will set you back $800ish at 6ave right now. For a bit more you could upgrade the Atoms to the Titans for $50 more. Both speakers are the version 5...the latest Paradigms are version 6...You can do better if you ask for a deal and/or shop around.

My advice for speakers is to take a compilation cd of your favorite listening material and several favorite movies and go on a listening trip. Everyone's ears hear differently and you buy based on what is most pleasing to your ears. However quality will always out. You will be best served by buying the most speaker you can afford at a time as they will last the longest, have the biggest impact on your listening experience and do not change as much as electronics, such as receivers do.

Good luck, as questions as needed and keep us informed.

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by Kai Winters

Were it me I would start with the receiver, then fronts and move on from there. It depends on your budget, short term future purchases, desires, wife's approval/acceptance, etc.

Oh, well, I'm screwed then.

Originally Posted by Kai Winters

Good luck, as questions as needed and keep us informed.

Man what a great forum this is. I used to visit DVDTalk.com and the majority of responses were less than helpful, and even less welcoming.

[Lucy Diamond]

Unless the Ohm rating is completely different, just start with low levels and work up from there.

You'd be surprised what one component will change.

[primaz]

To me the critical speakers to match are the main speakers and the center; the other effect speakers do not have to be the same brand but something close in sound quality. If you get subs and plan on getting multiple ones I would get subs the same size.

Electronics are not critical to match and most good brands for speakers do not make electronics.

[Canada]

Not at all I guess you could theretically have all the speakers in your set up be from diffent companies. I do not recommend any one does this as it would sound really bad. The only thing you have to worry about is if the speakers and receiver runs on the same amount of ohms.

[Rob J in WNY]

The speaker ohms concern is important factor to consider. Most home stereo receivers (including home theater receivers) are made to run speakers with an 8 ohm load. Some will do as little as 4, but check specifics first on your desired receiver.

Also, many HTIB speakers have undersized wire (sometimes as little as 24 gauge) and small-sized speakers. It's likely that a new home theater receiver will produce considerably more "clean" watts at rated power than your HTIB system does. Pushing the new, higher power through undersized wire into the smaller speakers can be problematic, especially when you want to crank up the volume. 16 gauge speaker wire is generally considered a minimum with most entry-level dedicated receivers. And, because the speaker systems associated with most HTIB systems are usually very small, they are likely not going to be rated to handle the power of even most of the entry-level systems. Something to consider there as well.

Lastly, most HTIB systems do not feature "active" subwoofers. In other words, the sub on most HTIB systems is usually driven by speaker-level outputs on the HTIB amplifier. Dedicated home theater receivers provide a line-level subwoofer (or LFE - Low Frequency Effects) output RCA jack, which will not be able to power a "passive" HTIB sub. You will likely need to purchase a new, active (internally amplified) subwoofer to go with a new receiver, assuming you have a sub of the passive type. You can spend less than $100 for one, or go well above $1000 (and higher).

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

The speaker ohms concern is important factor to consider. Most home stereo receivers (including home theater receivers) are made to run speakers with an 8 ohm load. Some will do as little as 4, but check specifics first on your desired receiver.

I just looked at this today. My existing receiver says, I believe, 7 ohms.

The back of the Sony STR-DG720 says "Impedance use 8-16ohms".

So should I not simply connect my existing speakers to the new Sony?

[joegs300]

I have 3 ohm speakers from my Sony HTiB HT-SS2300... wanted to use a couple for 7.1 but I don't want to fry anything...