Hi guys!
Glad to hear your interest in the Neo Max package! It's a pretty formidable set-up and should be enough for all but the most extreme Home Cinema enthusiasts, should you have the room for it!
In terms of ideals with regards to matching surround speakers, THX would recommend all channels being the same speaker crossed over at 80Hz in-line with the sub (or subs). This works well, though the next best option is the one-brand multi-speaker package as is very common from most major manufacturers - hence the Neo Max system.
It would be hard to squeeze seven Neo 4's in a conventional living room but they do offer massive power handling and volume capabilities so are especially handy for main channel work where most of the strain is taken in heavy movie track use.
This type of system would therefore compromise the size of the centre and surround channels for domestic considerations but in keeping the same tweeters and woofers across the range, integration is retained as surround effects move around the room. Tuning of individual speakers is also important as you can obviously affect the sound greatly with crossover design so the key information frequencies, usually mid/bass and tweeter level are designed to be very similar on all models in a well designed multi-speaker package. When levels are adjusted correctly there should be no obvious change in a sound effect passing through all channels on a Neo Max package and this is something we test for in use subjectively by ear as well as by measurements.
With regard to amplification - One of the myths of Hi-Fi is big speakers being hard to drive, the opposite is generally true! A pair of Neo 4's will be far easier to drive than most stand-mounts! The Neo 4's are 91dB sensitivity with minimum impedance of around 5 Ohms - they will be very loud even at relatively modest amp volume settings on nearly all modern amplifiers.
The thing large speakers with many drive units need is good current supply, every drive unit has to be controlled and a good power supply works akin to torque in a diesel engined car - it may not have the flashy figures of a high-revving petrol engine but can pull a caravan far easier! Watts in this respect don't mean that much, far more important is a substantial power supply - the more recent Onkyo's have been pretty good in this regard from memory and one thing about having a 7.2 set-up is that you're much less likely to drive it as hard to get to high SPL's compared to what you would on a smaller 5.1 system. The more clean current your amp can deliver the less likely you are to drive your speakers into distortion.
If it was my personal choice for front stereo speakers then it would depend on the room - the Neo 3's are very decent speakers and enough for most UK living rooms, the Neo 4's however easily go an octave lower and add real "meat" to the low frequencies with kick-drums and the like having impact you can feel - mid-range detail is also improved as it's a true 3-way design. They aren't actually very difficult to position either, not causing as much "boom" if placed near a rear wall as you would expect.
I've never been keen on adding subs for stereo, I find the speed and integration is rarely as satisfying as the bass from a well designed speaker on its own, often having an impact on timing which is crucial for musical enjoyment. In a Home Cinema set-up I'd go the opposite route and suggest two subs are generally better than one as they fill out dead spots in a room (those areas where bass seems to get sucked out) better than one sub ever can - it doesn't necessarily mean going louder, you'd usually set each sub a little lower in volume than you would with one big sub, but the room integration is just far more satisfying with two!
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any specific questions!
Cheers,
Jim.
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