What's the best place to sit in a theatre?

Surround speakers for hi-fi home theatre? Audiophiles and speaker enthusiasts please.?

• I bought a set of hifi speakers with the centre speaker (B&W), main L&R speakers (JBL), rears (Kenwood diopole) and subw (B&W). I hadn't placed the Kenwood rears properly and rarely hear the sound effects. I am thinking of getting another set. I finally bought two stands to place the rear speakers but the ones I have are two heavy to be supported by the stands, the max is 2lbs. My Kenwoods are 2.3lbs and look too big to sit asthetically on the stands I purchased. Initially, I thought I could get any eg. Sony speakers but I found that today's market is all speakers one set with amplifier. The sydney hifi market is almost dead and all retailers are going for the all-in-one home theatre. I bought my set 3 years ago. Is it possible for me to buy a small mini compo and use those speakers as my back surrounds? I can check if they will accept 8 ohms with 89 db noise levels. Do you think this is better? I am only wanting to pay no more than A$200 for a pair. Will it work?

• Answer:

  Well you can. But it wont sound right. To produce the surround sound experience accurately, you need to have all speakers to have a same tonal balance and dynamic capabilities. And most of the time--that means you need the same brand/model for all the 5 speakers. Even if you use same brand but different range/class you will hear the imbalance between those speakers. Anyway, if you insist to do your way, just make sure it has the same wattage and sensitivity. And one more thing, go get some DVD calibration disc. Like Avia "Guide to home theater" or Video Essentials. You'll learn many good think from it. It's a worthy investment. Good luck.