Should I mix Polk with other brand Speakers?

[therockman]

Hello,
This is my first post here at this forum, but I have lurked around here for a while. I did a search for an answer to my question and I could not find one. I would appreciate any and all responses to my question.
I have been into home theatre for a little while, but I am now upgradeing my system. Unfortunately I do not have the money to buy a complete Polk set-up at one time, but I just bought my first Polk speakers today. My purchase was a Polk powered subwoofer, model PSW505. I took advantage of the Polk offer and recieved a "FREE" Polk center channel speaker, model CSI 3. So my question is, should I hook-up this free Polk center channel speaker, which is way better than my existing center channel speaker, or should I just leave it in the box untill I can afford other Polk speakers?
In addition to my Polk subwoofer, I am running full sized KLH speakers all the way around. (Don't laugh, my friends and family and I really like these old KLH speakers.) I am aware of the rule of thumb that says to stay with the same brand speakers all around, but I now have this free center channel speaker that I would like to use.
Also, I am running a Sony STR-DE895 and a Sony multi-channel SACD player. I listen to a lot of 5.1 SACDs, including rock and roll and jazz, but I don't feel that I have any real bass management issues. (With a fairly nice subwoofer and full range speakers all the way around, I just don't mess with any bass redirection circuitry.)
I know that this Polk center channel speaker will not be timbre matched to my KLH speakers, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

[Pauly]

I say hook it up and you dont like the way it sounds with the KLH's....back in the box she goes, but i doubt it. BTW Welcome to Polkville


Spaz

[therockman]

Thanks for the reply. I have frequented a few other audio/video forums, and I really enjoy them, so I am looking forward to a long and fun-filled experience at the Polk forum.

[shyne4life]

i'd agree with spasticpitbull hook it up see how it sounds and make your decision. I too have a mix of speakers, I have polk rti 28's as my front's, a pair of harmon kardon HK4's for my surrounds and a HKC as my center, they suprisingly sound well together, and will last me till I get more polks to finish the system.

[Early B.]

I used to have a mix of speakers, but once I got all Polks, I understood why timbre matched speakers are recommended. Much smoother and more realistic sound.

You said the Csi3 is much better than your exisiting center channel speaker. Is your existing center channel a KLH? If so, imagine how well your system would sound if you had Polk floor standing speakers all the way around.

[VR3]

There is no identicle(sp) speaker in my system.

Mains - Polk Audio RTi70 (Silk) stacked with a RT5 (Polymer)
Surrounds - Polk Audio RT35i (Tri Lam)
Center - Klipsch KV-3 (a dome, with a piezo type covering over it)

Does it sound good? No better than when I had all polks They all sound respectively the same, to tell you the truth. *yes* even the Klipsch sounds similar in the top end.

Now the KLH, I've had KLH and Polk running together before and uh...the KLH sounds absoltely zero like Polk. Infact, KLH plays MUCH hotter than Polk speaker, and is tangy. I just dont see the match.

[therockman]

Thank you for all of the great advice guys. It all sounded pretty encouraging except for Mr. NADCOM's post, but what he said was also helpful. Like I said, I do plan on getting rid of the rest of my KLH speakers and get Polks all the way around as soon as I can afford it. In the meantime, I will go ahead and expierment with the Polk center channel speaker that I have and I will post the results when I am through, (about a week).

[Ceruleance]

I used to run polk's in the back and infinity's up front. the timbre mismatching was noticable and multichannel music didnt sound that great, but it was harder to tell when watching movies. I say run the center, it will just make you that much more anxious to upgrade the rest of the system