Matching 5.0 speakers to my existing right/left - Give me some info.

[Buffman]

hey all some pretty basic Hifi queries below... my existing set up is

Pioneer VSX-920
Tannoy Eclipse 3 floorstanders front/right
Mission (cheapo) centre speaker
Mission (cheapo) rear surrounds

I'm considering upgrading the rear/centre if I can get a good deal on ebay/similar (already got my eye on one for the rears!)

Am I correct in saying it will sound best if I get the same brand?
To be honest the main reason I would be upgrading is for boredom and physical looks but I want it fairly future proofed!

If I bought new Tannoy eclipse speakers for centre and rear would they later improve if I bought a new amp? Also would a subwoofer purely just increase bass? I could consider one but as you can see from the photo theres not huge amounts of room at the front, and having already hidden the cables I CBA putting one round the back!!

Pic of current fronts

 

[Buffman]

New rear speakers to match the fronts. (cheapo off ebay! Shame they were packaged terribly!)

I assume I should get a matching centre to match?

Also there doesn't appear a way to tie them to the bottom of a speaker stand? Are they generally not screwed in? I was gonna buy one for the back left.

Also I've seen some q acoustics 2070s subwoofers that are slim and would fit adjacent to the fronts, are they any good and does it matter the brand doesn't match?

 

[Buffman]

Ideally you'd match the centre to the fronts, but that mission speaker looks like it fits your cabinet really well!

You will notice the difference with a sub in movies, but you run the risk of muddying the bass if you go for a cheapo one. Your floorstanders should be doing a reasonable job of bass while you have a think about what to go for.

Yeah it fits nicely but there's a fair bit of room on the underside behind the front wood plinth in that shelf so it could be changed. Does the height of the centre speakers sitting at make a big difference? (ie better on top of the unit?)

And yeah the fronts do give off a fair amount of bass. Im not sure if I need more, as it's easily overdone in some cinemas and movies.

people use blu tack to put speakers on floor stands. this is why i opted for wall mounting as it clamps the speakers in place. plus gives you more floor room. wall mounts cheap off amazon

Ah, my only concern was knocking them off the mounts tbh!

Don't want to wall mount as they're fairly deep speakers, and currently don't overpower the room (note the room has about 2m length behind where the photo was taken)

 

[Buffman]

I wouldn't waste my time with the 8" ported Gemini, you need to step up higher than that. As for ported versus sealed that depends on many factors, the sub, and the room. Ported doesn't mean it's boomy, nor that sealed is better for music.

But in my case I did choose sealed, as it works better than a ported subwoofer- in my room.

Cambridge audio minx any good? Ideally if I did get a sub I'd hide it from plain view between the right speaker and TV unit.

Any recommendations for subs that aren't huge for circa £200 or less (2nd hand is fine)

 

[Buffman]

You have fairly decent, and decent sized speakers. Why are you interested in the minx (unless for a second room, or ambiant sound, or maybe Atmos ceiling speaker?)

Would fit neat in the hole beside the between the speakers and TV cabinet (I don't want it to come forward of the cabinet/become a feature)

 

[Buffman]

Yeah I got the matching tannoy rears (for £30!). What so a centre would be better prior to the sub? I'm gonna get the centre too.

The subwoofer can only go at front as I need to hide the cables (the rest are hidden in scotia)