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Would you mix brands in your setup or would you just go for one brand? I'm not aware of a single brand that would be top in every component in your theater.
Absolutely. Some brands do things in a way a lot of people like and are preferred over brand loyalty. Some people will only buy a ________ brand amp or speaker or whatever. If it is a stand alone component sold by itself there is no reason another brands products would be any less compatible with it. There are always exceptions, but there are also standards that if not followed will not make the mfr much money. If you own a Sony amp, it would very limiting to only consider Sony speakers. It would be counterproductive. People goes with what sounds best. Things are sometimes built to work with another product thought, so there is no clear answer here. I don't care what brand it is as long as it is good. But when they sell an entire home theater system of 6 really good speakers with an amp for 3000 bucks, I would bet they sound best together.
I can't see a problem with mixing the different elements but suggest you stick with just one brand for all the speakers or you risk messing up the sound. (Even two models within the same range can be problematic).
I like the "look" and "feel" of having everything be the same brand, but honestly, it just doesn't guarantee the best quality. It can get more expensive than necessary, too, depending on the brand.
Actually we didn't acquire all pieces at the same time and kind of added pieces through the years as we could afford them. But it all turned out pretty nice anyway. We've got an assortment of Technics, Sony, Bose, and even Panasonic (oh no, where did that come from?) Anyway, quality is still great. I guess it's just an individual judgement.
There is something...nice...about having all the same brand, but it really limits your options. I mix and match everything in my system, although I need to replace some speakers so they are all the same.
GoodVibrations wrote on Tue, 30 November 2010 19:01 Actually we didn't acquire all pieces at the same time and kind of added pieces through the years as we could afford them. But it all turned out pretty nice anyway. We've got an assortment of Technics, Sony, Bose, and even Panasonic (oh no, where did that come from?) Anyway, quality is still great. I guess it's just an individual judgement. Panasonic, unless it is antique stuff is usually junk for one reason. Technics was the audiophile division of panasonic. Technics put their good name on some crap themselves,m so if Technics wouldn't brand it, there is a major problem. Not really too much related, but it's interesting. 80's + Panasonic brand + Audio ~ bad idea. It's a shame Technics got away from being the higher end of audio and mor einto consumer electronics, but that was probably the plan...coast off the reputation. The founder of Panasonic was nuts about audio and created Technics to devote his time to working with audio, rather than worrying about microwaves and televisions and such.
On a related note, there's TAD - Technical Audio Devices - who is what I would consider the ultra high-end arm of Pioneer. They used to make some really great speakers but I'm not as impressed with what they make today compared to just five years ago, I must admit. Price tag is still pretty impressive though. On the topic of mix and match, I'm sort of in agreement with everyone here, that you can't really get the best stuff all from one company. I do like the aesthetics and interoperability of staying with one brand though, so it is sometimes a difficult decision. But in the end, my systems have always been a mix of brands with amp from one company and all the sources from different companies. I have a Rega turntable, Audio Note amp and Denon BluRay in my main system, for example.
Right now I have a mixed brand but I am working to make it all one brand. I have not had any problems with mixing the brands, but I want it to look a bit better so I'm switching things out little by little to be 1 brand.