Tonal mismatch between Monitor Audio BX2s and B&W MT-25?

ChrisWaller

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Dec 18, 2008
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After having a B&W MT-25 setup for a while and being happy with it in every sense except it's reproduction of stereo music, I experimented with replacing the front left and front right speakers with my old Gale Hi-FI speakers. This seemed to integrate well and worked as a nice compromise between the crispness and response of the B&Ws and the richness of Hi-Fi speakers.

After a while I decided that a bit of an upgrade was in order. The Gales were fine, but were a bit wallowy in places and made some vocals seem a little muddy.

So after seeking advice here, there and everywhere I opted for a pair of Monitor Audio BX2s (mounted on sand-filled B-Tech stands).

Initially I was very happy with the integration between the two different sets of speakers. Stereo audio is fantastic and discretely separated movie soundtracks on the whole sound great too. However, on occasion I'm getting a slight jarring sensation with some people's voices. It seems to happen mostly on two channel audio soundtracks that are decoded to Dolby Pro-Logic (Dolby Pro-Logic IIx to be specific) and is more prevalent on live TV broadcasts or ones with narration.

Is this evidence of a tonal mismatch between my front-left/front-right speakers and the B&W M1s in my 7.1 setup? If so, does anyone have any advice on what I might do? Have I simply bought the wrong speakers to match my setup (which would be galling)? Would the replacement of my centre with a BX-Centre resolve the issue or simply create a mismatch between my fronts and rears (or is it harder to detect this kind of mismatch)?
 

The_Lhc

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Oct 16, 2008
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ChrisWaller:Would the replacement of my centre with a BX-Centre resolve the issue

Yes.

or simply create a mismatch between my fronts and rears (or is it harder to detect this kind of mismatch)?

Much harder, almost impossible imo.
 

ChrisWaller

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Dec 18, 2008
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Just to close this off, I added the centre and was massively impressed.

I've just replaced my rears and surrounds with four BX-FXs and the difference is amazing. Great surround speakers.
 

Big Chris

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ChrisWaller said:
So after seeking advice here, there and everywhere I opted for a pair of Monitor Audio BX2s (mounted on sand-filled B-Tech stands).

You should have come here sooner Chris. The popular consensus is to stick with a single manufacturer and B&W's 685s would have been the logical choice to partner your M1s.

Glad you're sorted now though.:cheers:
 

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