Mixing speaker brands

[Chrono]

Does it matter if the sub is a different brand than your five satallite speakers?

[This Guy]

absolutely not, most of the time, the best sub in your price range probably isn't the same brand.

[nightflier]

I completely agree with ThisGuy. I auditioned many of the most popular and highly rated speakers on the web - Klipsch, Axiom, PSB, Energy, Polk, etc. - but none of these manufacturers could make a sub like Hsu, SVS, Earthquake, Velodyne, etc. If you really want the best bass, you really should audition other brands from your speaker manufacturer.

Just out of curiosity, what kinds of speakers do you have and what subs are you considering?

[Chrono]

I completely agree with ThisGuy. I auditioned many of the most popular and highly rated speakers on the web - Klipsch, Axiom, PSB, Energy, Polk, etc. - but none of these manufacturers could make a sub like Hsu, SVS, Earthquake, Velodyne, etc. If you really want the best bass, you really should audition other brands from your speaker manufacturer.

Just out of curiosity, what kinds of speakers do you have and what subs are you considering?

Lookning at Polk RM6005 satallites with a Yamaha YSTS015B sub. Both are priced very reasonably. The Polk speakers are well rated in Consumer Reports.

[Woochifer]

Agreed with the others. You're best off sticking with the same speaker family with the main, center, and surround speakers. But, since subwoofers are voiced in a completely different frequency range from the rest of the speakers, it's not necessary to stick with the same manufacturer.

I would expand your list of speakers to consider. Polks are decent speakers, but there are a lot of others out there that you might like better. Take the time and do your own listenings. And you don't have to stick with all-in-one packages. In fact, you got a lot more flexibility by trying out larger bookshelf speakers and building a system around those.

What kind of budget are you looking at? Yamaha's subwoofers are okay in the budget range, but if you're looking in the $400+ range, there are a lot of other options that you should look at before deciding on the Yammies. Yamaha makes solid gear all the way around, but speakers are not their strong suit.

[nightflier]

Have you considered bying just front speakers for now? I know it's tempting to purchase the whole surround setup at once, but you may not get the sound that you want. Onother thing, the RM6005 setup comes with a Polk sub, albeit not one that I would recommend. Are you buying this as an open-box buy? Also, what kind of receiver will you be using to drive the speakers?

[cam]

You can buy your 5 speakers from one manufacturer and your sub from another but the store will always give you a deal if you buy all 6 speakers, provided they have something you like. The savings that they offer you might be enough to make you buy from one manufacturer.

[slbenz]

Does it matter if the sub is a different brand than your five satallite speakers?

Like the other posters said, you can choose the best subwoofer for your Polks on your budget and that doesn't mean it will be a Polk speaker. I am using a Velodyne with my Martin Logans and Eminent Technologies speakers which blend extremely well. If I were to purchase the Martin Logan Descent subwoofer to match, I would have had to spend more to receive similar sound quality with my HGS-12 Series II. Just my two cents worth on this subject.

Ben