401s to be exact. And if you really want to laugh, they're sitting on top of some Infinity Kappa 5.1s which are accompanied by a Velodyne 907. Yes, I'm the Fred Sanford of audiophyles. I inherited all sets (which makes me more like Lamont), so don't get on me to hard, and have used the bose (don't seem to be deserving to a cap on this forum) for surround. The infinitys, (again I'm assuming lower case here) I used as my B speakers. The right speaker is located close to both my bathroom and bedroom doors of my rather small apartment, so the only time I used the infinitys was for occasional late night listening in the bed or tub (not as often as I would like). I would put the receiver on mono, B, throw the balance to the right and point the infiniy toward the appropriate door. Now, to keep your eyes rolling, these are just part of a plethora of speakers in my system. Fortunatley, here it gets a little better. I have a Paradigm CC-170 center and Toby towers circa 1980. Tobys are locally made in Fort Worth and if you were a young music-lover living in this area in the '70s & 80s, those were the speakers to own. In fact, I recently had my brothers B&W 704s for a few months, and am ecstatic to say that my Toby's more than held their own in comparison, at least they did on my (dare I say it here) sony STR-DE 915. Well, last week the sony died. I'm awaiting arrival of my brand new-factory remanufactured HK-335 which I bought via auction @ Harman Audio ($295) and figured it would be a good time to upgrade the surrounds. The infinitys will be used (for the time being) in the bedroom via zone 2 and I'll just have to sing to my gal while tubbing. Finally to my question-Besides money dictating and my ears being pleased with the set-up, the fronts and center will be coexisting for a while, therefore, should I match my surrounds to my center or the fronts. Mostly, I listen to my music in stereo, but am interested in trying out the 5-channel stereo on the HK. At the same time, my music DVD (5.1) collection is growing. I'm thinking 60/40 music to HT. If you happen to reply and feel I should go with the Paradigms, could I could get some opinions on which ones might match-up well with the HK. I'll be purchasing via Ebay or direct from Toby, either way, most likely used. I read one post that stated Paradigms and HK are not a good match, but since were talking surrounds only, I'm hoping...........well, you know. Thanks for anything.
Oh, I've got some Bose surrounds for sale if anyone is interested.
I don't know how much of a help I will be but I'll give it a shot.
If your doing any HT, the front 3 should match same company and same line. ie B&W 704's should have a 700 series center not a 600 series.
This would make upgrading your surrounds less important and more of a relocating item. Surrounds do not HAVE to match the front 3. I would be more concerned with Matching the front 3 and moving the odd man out to surrounds and eventually upgrade those to the same company as the front 3.
The real question is which do you prefer the sound of Paradigm or Toby's?
Option 1 If you like the Paradigms I would move the Toby's to surround and for tub listening. Then get a pair of Paradigms to match the center channel.
Option 2 I don't know anything about Toby's so that is why it's option 2. If you like the Toby's I would find a Toby center to match the fronts and use the infity's for surround and for tub listening. You could probably get another paradigm center and use paradigm's as your surround.
Also just because people say its not good to mix paradigm with HK doesn't mean not to do it. Some don't like the combination others don't mind it. With all speaker combos find someone that will let you sample in your home and decide if you like the combo. Most places will allow you to do an in home review or check the return policy to find out if you can return them if you don't like them.
Thanks, Chris I appreciate the info. Unfortunatley, upgrading any of the front three is not an option at this time (too much money). But, I will consider your advice for the future. Eventually, the Tobys could go in the bedroom and I'd love to have some big Paradigms up front. Option 2 also sounds interesting. I could sell the Paradigm and maybe find some sucker to buy the bose and infinitys and then get a nice Toby center. Anyway, good to know I can go either way with the surrounds. Tub speakers are not a priority by any means. Thanks again.