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Best center channel under $100

#1
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12/5/06 at 8:48pm
  • Joined: November 2006
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Hello all, as you can tell i'm new here but am in the process of finishing my ht system. Seems the last peice is a center channel. I'm Certaintly an audiophile when it comes to car stereo's and would someday like to be the equivalent in the ht spectrum..

anyways....


Can anyone of you guys suggest a " quality" center for about 100 bucks?

here are some i am considering......6-8 ohm

celestion f35c:

http://cgi.ebay.com/CELESTION-F35C-C...QQcmdZViewItem


celestion f48cbl:

http://cgi.ebay.com/CELESTION-F48CBL...QQcmdZViewItem

Cerwin vega ve5c:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cerwin-Vega-150-...QQcmdZViewItem


Klipsch synergy c2:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MakeTrack=true


pleaase help my ht noobx
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#2
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12/6/06 at 2:33am
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Re: Best center channel under $100

What are your other speakers? The best center channel for you is the one that matches your font speakers as closely as possible.
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#3
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12/6/06 at 6:02am
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Re: Best center channel under $100

Quote:
Originally Posted by SethH
What are your other speakers? The best center channel for you is the one that matches your font speakers as closely as possible.

I second this. You could spend $5000 on a center that sounds great, but if it doesn't timbre match your mains, it will sound lousy in the HT setting.
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#4
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12/6/06 at 7:55am
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Re: Best center channel under $100

When it comes to home theater, the center channel speaker is probably the most important speaker. Over 60% of the sound will be coming out of that speaker. I "third" the other suggestions.

Lawn Ranger Motto: You're only young once, but you can be always be immature.

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#5
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12/6/06 at 4:27pm
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Re: Best center channel under $100

o boy....it's mixed n matched

reciever is a phillips 5.1

then i have phillip rears and 2 3way 15" towers made by klh for the fronts...i have the phillip fronts but had nowhere to put my 15's so they took its place...( apt)
The center is a sh!tty pioneer that is horrid and extreemly old.

sooooo.....

phillip 5.1 reciever
klh 15" 3 ways for fronts
phillip rears
pioneer center
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#6
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12/6/06 at 5:48pm
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Re: Best center channel under $100

You want it to match your fronts. Your receiver is not really relevant to this particular conversation. It's much more important for your front soundstage to match than for the rear to match the front.
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#7
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12/6/06 at 6:23pm
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Re: Best center channel under $100

Quote:
Originally Posted by SethH
You want it to match your fronts. Your receiver is not really relevant to this particular conversation. It's much more important for your front soundstage to match than for the rear to match the front.

i know, just thought i'd throw it in there..


How would you match your front speakers and your center other then brand?
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#8
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12/6/06 at 7:51pm
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Re: Best center channel under $100

Brand is the first step. The second step is to try and get the center from the same series or line of speakers as your fronts. The final step, in some cases, is to get a center with identically-sized drivers to your mains -- obviously this final step isn't an option in your case because you're unlikely to find a center channel with 15" woofers
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#9
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12/6/06 at 8:20pm
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Re: Best center channel under $100

Quote:
Originally Posted by SethH
Brand is the first step. The second step is to try and get the center from the same series or line of speakers as your fronts. The final step, in some cases, is to get a center with identically-sized drivers to your mains -- obviously this final step isn't an option in your case because you're unlikely to find a center channel with 15" woofers


i cant do any of those
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#10
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12/7/06 at 10:18am
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Re: Best center channel under $100

Are you unable to find a center made by KLH? Quite often, even if it's not from the same speaker line/series, a manufacturer's speakers will timbre match very well from one line to another.

Here's a KLH CTR200 that can be found pretty darn cheap from H.H. Gregg. If you'd like something bigger, you can likely find a relatively inexpensiveone on eBay.

This will allow you to timbre match your center as closely as possible to your mains. The reason for this is when sound affects pan from left to right and vice-versa, the sonic characteristics don't change from speaker to speaker or if they do, it is minimal... -TD
My Home Theater
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#11
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12/7/06 at 10:39am
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Re: Best center channel under $100

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Donaghue
Are you unable to find a center made by KLH? Quite often, even if it's not from the same speaker line/series, a manufacturer's speakers will timbre match very well from one line to another.

Here's a KLH CTR200 that can be found pretty darn cheap from H.H. Gregg. If you'd like something bigger, you can likely find a relatively inexpensiveone on eBay.

This will allow you to timbre match your center as closely as possible to your mains. The reason for this is when sound affects pan from left to right and vice-versa, the sonic characteristics don't change from speaker to speaker or if they do, it is minimal... -TD

so it would be better to get a real cheap center channel by the same company than to get a good one from another?


hmmm..
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#12
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12/7/06 at 10:52am
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Re: Best center channel under $100

how about this 1


http://cgi.ebay.com/NIB-KLH-Platinum...QQcmdZViewItem
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#13
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12/7/06 at 10:59am
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Re: Best center channel under $100

Quote:
Originally Posted by sbcaprice305
so it would be better to get a real cheap center channel by the same company than to get a good one from another?


hmmm..

Unless you are going to upgrade all your speakers in the very near future and want to start off with the center, I'd stick with timbre matching the fronts by buying at least from the same company. If you are going to upgrade, the sky is the limit as long as you keep them matched at least across the front.
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#14
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12/7/06 at 3:58pm
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Re: Best center channel under $100

so it would be better to get a real cheap center channel by the same company than to get a good one from another?


With all due respect, the title of your thread states that you want to stay under $100. At that price point you should really just stick with KLH because you aren't going to find a really good center in that price range -- unless you're willing to buy used, but even then it will be tough.
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#15
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12/7/06 at 9:44pm
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Re: Best center channel under $100

Brad, I'm not so sure you're going to find a "good one" for $100 or less.

Either of the suggested centers will likely do the trick for now, but like Jeff mentioned, unless you're planning on upgrading in the near future and would like to start w/your center, this would be a pretty inexpensive way to "fill the gap" at your noted price point.... -TD
My Home Theater
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#16
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12/8/06 at 7:04am
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Re: Best center channel under $100

Since you have mis-matched speakers, you might consider looking into getting matching speakers all around. I suggest you start shopping around and look at different speakers. When you find a brand and model you like, buy that center speaker, first. When funds become available, start buying other speakers of that same brand and model.

I would suggest you look at Paradigm's Performance models. I don't think they have a center speaker as cheap as $100, but they are considered one of the best "bangs for the buck" in speakers. Just another suggestion for your consideration.

Lawn Ranger Motto: You're only young once, but you can be always be immature.

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#17
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12/14/06 at 12:18pm
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Re: Best center channel under $100

If you hold off for a while and save up some money, you can still pick up a cheap 5.1 setup. This is one place; Fluance There are other brands out there too. I just happen to own a set and I have some friends and family that also ended up buying them when they found out what I paid vs. how they sound. you can do some searching through the forum to find people's thoughts on them, as with any speaker set/brand, there will always be arguments of if they are good or not. There will always be arguments for and against said brands. Let us know what you end up choosing to do.
Gear: Crestron AADS, Crestron 4L, RTI T2C, SVS PC 16-46, Xbox 360, Wii, Bass Shakers, TiVo HD, Toshiba A3 HD-DVD, 42" Panasonic TH-42PWD8UK, two Denon AVR-2106's, Speaker Craft Aim 7 Five's, Samsung HD-950 DVD player.
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#18
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11/27/08 at 4:46pm
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Re: Best center channel under $100

I have a pair of large, Boston Accoustic front tower speakers and a matching center. The center is upstairs with a pair of bose cubes on the side because space was a consideration and there is so much reflection in the room (hardwood floors, few furnishings or pictures on the wall) that I needed to have more directed sound. The Cubes sound way better upstairs with the projector than the towers did.

Downstairs the tower speakers are by themselves and need a center. Now the dilema, I think I would do best to move the Boston Acoustics center speaker to the basement and match it with the towers, and therefore need a bose center speaker of some kind. Is the Bose VCS 10 center would provide the best sound to match with the cubes. I can't tell you what generation the cubes are. They are unmarked except for the word Bose on the fronts. No red band around them. All black. Is the VCS 10 worth it or would I do better to add simply another cube and use it as the center? Or is there another center I should pick out?

Your insight, thoughts, feedback?

Dr. G.
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