Infinity Primus, Onix Rockets, or a Combo???

[bargainseeker]

1) I can purchase four Infinity Primus 150 satellites (2-way with one 5-1/4" woofer) and a matching Primus C25 center channel speaker (2-way with dual 5-1/4" woofers).

2) A somewhat higher cost option would be to purchase six Onix Rocket ELT LRS satellites (2-way with one 5-1/4" woofer) and use one of them for the center channel (and have one as a spare). Do these speakers have the necessary magnetic shielding and acoustic properties to be a good center channel choice?

3) I can purchase four Onix Rocket ELT LRS satellites and the Infinity Primus C25 center channel speaker for slightly less money than six rockets. Is this a bad idea? Is it likely that combining speaker brands in this manner would degrade surround sound effects or overall sound quality?

The Onix Rocket satellites would cost 25% more than the Infinity Primus 150's (based on the sale prices I found). The rockets are prettier and a bit smaller, but do they sound significantly better?

I agree that you have identified two excellent choices for a value priced home theater speaker system. Both choices are considered excellent values at their normal retail prices ($249/pair for ELT LRS and $198/pair for Primus 150). Both choices require a subwoofer for full range sound reproduction and for home theater use.

The Onix Rocket ELT LRS speakers are magnetically shielded. There is no reason whatsoever not to use a shielded satellite speaker as a center speaker. In fact, timbre matching between all of the speakers in a home theater system is best in this configuration. Most woofer-tweeter-woofer center channel speakers have serious lobing in their horizontal polar response. They are designed the way that they are to please consumers looking for a short but wide speaker to put on the telly and not because this layout is a good idea acoustically. I do not recommend mixing the Infinity and the Rocket speakers because you want all of the speakers to be timbre matched so that as sound within a movie pans from speaker to speaker, the sound quality does not change. Timbre matching becomes even more important for multi-channel audio such as SACD and DVD-A.

To aid in your decision process, you can read reviews of the Rocket ELT LRS speakers here, here and here and reviews of the Infinity Primus 150 speakers here and here.

Ultimately, you are the best judge of which of these speakers sound best to you with your equipment in your home. The Rocket ELT LRS speakers are not heavy and are not expensive to ship. I recommend that you order them under the terms of AV123's 30 day return policy before AV123 runs out of them. Then, I suggest you compare them to the Infinity Primus 150 speakers in your own home. Keep the speakers you like the best and return the other ones for a refund.

P.S. I am assuming that the deal you have found on the Infinity Primus 150 speakers is from a local dealer. If it is from an online dealer, then I recommend that you double check that the dealer is authorized by Infinity and has a 30 day return policy. Buying speakers online based on price alone is usually a bad idea.