KEF T101c centre speaker with different other speakers?

[admin_exported]

Hi All,

Just had the new TV mounted on the wall and am now looking to buy surround sound. For aesthetic reasons I like the idea of the KEF T101c centre speaker, but don't really want to spend £1,200 for the complete set. Is it possible to use the T101c with less expensive front, back, and sub without tonal issues? If so can people recommend decent matches tonally? Would I be best sticking with KEF for example? Can the sub be a different brand?

Lots of questions, but I'm new to surround sound, so don't want to mess up overall sound by being hung-ho here.

Thanks

EDIT: Forgot to say, budget for speakers is £750-£1000 and amp will most likely be Sony STR-DN1030 or an Onkyo

 

[The_Lhc]

It's not generally ever considered a good idea to have a different make of centre speaker to the front left and right.

Personally I don't think there's much wrong with with having a different brand of surrounds, particularly for home cinema and it really doesn't matter for the sub but you should try to match the front three as closely as possible.

Something from KEFs other ranges would be a good start, they'll at least share similar drive units.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for quick reply. Very useful info.

I might look at getting the KEF T series at the front, possibly rears from a cheaper KEF range and finally a decent value sub.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Hi All,

Just had the new TV mounted on the wall and am now looking to buy surround sound. For aesthetic reasons I like the idea of the KEF T101c centre speaker, but don't really want to spend £1,200 for the complete set. Is it possible to use the T101c with less expensive front, back, and sub without tonal issues? If so can people recommend decent matches tonally? Would I be best sticking with KEF for example? Can the sub be a different brand?

The sub can be a different brand as there's no particular 'characteristic' associated with them other than that which is down to their design (ported/sealed etc). It is normal to choose the sub based on the required capabilities and room size.

The centre speaker should be from the same range as the front pair. The ideal is to produce a consistent front soundstage that 'disappears', rather than having speakers of differencing capabilities/tonality/dispersion etc. if this isn't possible, sticking to the same manufacturer is highly recommended.

Rear speakers are arguably less important. On one hand, they should ideally be the same characteristics as the fronts to complete the existing soundstage. On the other hand, there is generally less going on at the rear, and many users prefer smaller, more discreet speakers. Sounds behind you generally sound different behind you as they do in front of you too. So the rears are less important, but it depends how exacting you want to be.