How critical is speaker sensitivity matching?

[Kilowatter]

I'm working on setting up a surround system. My main speakers are Tangent 5000s. I found a pair of Tangent 1000 bookshelfs for sale that I'm considering for the rears. My question is: The SPL for the 5000s is rated at 99dB while the 1000s are rated at 91dB. What effect will this have on setup? Will the mains overwelm the rears? Thanks

John

[ShapeShifter]

You should have no problem using the T-1000 bookshelf speakers as these are a recommended match for your T-5000's by Klipsch.

You'll need to use a good SPL Meter (Radio Shack has an Analog model for around $40.00, a Calibration DVD is also helpful), then enter your receivers Channel Balancing Mode. Your receiver may have On Screen Display (OSD)which displays the speaker levels on your TV/Monitors screen.

Once you calibrate fronts, center & rears (rear center & side surrounds if you have them), you'll have a totally balanced set up. Thus no problems with fronts over powering as they're all set up to the recommended levels, about 75db is usual levels for all plus sub.

Wes

[ShapeShifter]

John,

Thought I should add that you should expect to see that your rear volume settings are a bit higher than your front levels. This will be due to the difference in those efficiency ratings you cited in your post. The rears will have to run at higher volume levels to match those more efficient fronts. You may also want to consider using a pair WDST speakers as rears and the T-1000's as side surrounds. This will depend entirely on your preference for sound on movies and/or multi channel stereo of course.

Wes