I have B&W 683 front speakers. Can anyone recommend a good rear and center channel speaker to match. I'm told I should stay with the same brand. Is that true?
True. I was using a Monitor Audio center channel with my Ascend fronts, and when I replaced the center with a matching Ascend the dialog and effects transitions were seamless.
I agree with the others here. There are two centres in B&W's 68x range. Both match the 683s of course, but the bigger more expensive one has the same midrange drive unit that the 683s have which is particularly beneficial since this is where all the vocals come from.
That said, both centres are big, and I mean really quite large. You may find it difficult to accommodate them so check the sizes before buying anything.