make sure you post your results albert. i'll be curious as to what your conclusion is! :) having an identical center would definitely be optimal, but i don't know how realistic that would be in most people's homes.
yeah, i see where you're coming from albert. i'll admit that i've never done critical testing, but i do recall in my poor days when i didn't have a center channel that i hated it. however, other factors (poor speaker placement or quality) could have adversely affected my experience at that...
i don't see how one could not have a center channel. it anchors all the sound to the screen. phantom just sounds too hollow. afaik, all movie theaters have a center channel too.