Totally Confused about home theater


I have been many years in audio, but video is an alien field to me...I recently purchased my first TV ever (27" Sony WEGA) and I'm 39!

I was wondering just how critical it is to match the surround speakers. I bought a pair of Swans M-1 satellites with ribbon tweeters and have a pair of Mirage MBS bipolars with polycarbonate dome tweeters.

This has become very confusing, for I have an extra pair of Wharfedale Diamond 7.1's with the same polycarbonate tweeter. Definitely, I have enough gear to have two separate systems (including an old Proton 600T Preamp/Video Tuner I picked up at a pawn shop and an Audio Control 5 band EQ with knobs).

Should I go for two channel HT? Should I keep them in separate rooms or as two separate systems in the same room? Is there any real difference between 5.1 and 7.1?

For the record, I *do* appreciate the simplicity of my Melos SHA-1 hybrid preamp: just On/Off, 3-input selector and volume--that's it. Not even balance or a tape loop. Straightline design...and extremely musical.

I would appreciate any suggestions, since after e-mailing several members here they are all 100% audio and could not help me...and when I go to stores the HT systems sound so awful I just have to leave! Salesmen knowledge is nonexistent, also. Have you ever heard those dolls that you pull a string and it says a sentence? That's exactly how those kids sound to me!!! They just repeat the same things over and over and over...no reasoning power whatsoever.

Thanks.
psychicanimal
What I was trying to say was that for modest HT, the exact configuration of your surrounds is probably not critical. Many use various methods of diffusing sound for rears. Its a real kick to have DD/DTS in your LR with any decent HT receiver. So I would say just enjoy what you have, esp. if your means are modest. You can probably get a used HT receiver for $200 or so, add a used sub for another $200 and away you go. With respect to multi-channel audio, I was talking about SACD, etc. There you would probably want 5 carefully matched speakers and a music-oriented sub. A typical HT set-up would probably not be near as good for that source as equivalent $ invested in 2 channel. BTW, I've probably got 4-5x as much in my 2 channel as my HT; its just for fun (use NHT superzeros all the way around for speakers in the HT).
Guys, I'll wait for the custom stands for the Swans to arrive sometime next week and I'll take it from there...

Steve Deckert (an imaging freak himself) told me over the phone that I could use a 'reasonable sized' TV and still have decent imaging. Since the Swans have a controlled dispersion (15 deg vert, 60 deg hor) I'll audition carefully. The stands place the center of the tweeter at a height of 37.5 inches. It might just work.

A friend of mine used to have a 27" TV with two ProAc Super Tablettes and a 12" Janis sub in a very small room. It was rigged with a Linn Sondek, a Klyne SK-5A pre and a CJ tube power amp. It sounded REALLY good...
psychic, yust unload all the periferal stuff ya have & take the proceeds to buy that vmps larger sub i emailed ya about. set yer tv on that, & w/yer new swans, it will give ya the best h-t possible, on yer limited budget. will also give ya a huge audio upgrade as well! :>)

regards,

doug s.