A third main as a center or a true Center? (1 Viewer)

[RandyMathis]

I'm using BIC America RTR123's as my mains and am wondering if I should use another 123 as my center or should I get a DV62CLR-S which is about as close as I can get to a matching center?

The 123 will easily fit under my screen so the size of the speaker is not a problem.

 

[todbnla]

I have heard good things about using all of the same type speakers in a setup. In fact I did this on a small apartment setup I had a few years back. Worked fine, IMHO, Not sure of any technical info on this subject?

 

[Max F]

As long as its shielded it should be fine.

I notice that alot of speaker brands use the same drivers for the center as they do for the fronts (or at least a smaller versiou). However, alot of times the center is in a sealed cabinent as opposed to a ported one (used in the other speakers). I'm not sure how much of a difference this would make.

 

[Brian L]

A 3rd identical loudspeaker is the Holy Grail of a MC set up for the front. Unless you are doing front projection, its not easy to do, but if you can do it, be all means do so.

Horizontal speakers were not chosen as standard for center channel duty because they perform better; they were chosen because they fit on top of you TV better.

In particular, a typical MTM (mod, tweeter, mid) horizontal center has poor lateral dispersion characteristics (if you move horizontally off axis, dialog intelligibility will often suffer).

And while you are writing a check, get a few more more rear channel duty!

BGL

 

[RandyMathis]

Thanks for the replies.

I am doing front PJ and I found somebody that sells the RTR123's which I bought about five years ago and I am thinking of trying to buy one for center which I will probably do as long as I can buy just one speaker from them.

I would love to use them for surrounds but I have seven foot ceilings in my basement and these speakers would make for some terrific headaches if hanging from the ceiling.

I am using in ceiling speakers. Not ideal but they're great for decreasing the likelyhood of concussions.

My only concern about using the third main as a center is that a center is made for voice and I thought that it may be better.

Thanks again.

 

[Brian L]

Thats a bit of a myth, really. I think it derives more from marketing considerations than anything else.

The center does a lot more than just dialog, and putting aside placement issues (hard to put a vertical loudspeaker on top of a TV!), in an ideal world it should be identical the the L/R pair.

I listen to a lot of MC music (SACD and DVD-A) through my rig, and if I could somehow figure out how to stick a B&W 604 in front of my RPTV to match the L/R pair, I would be very, very happy. Unfortunately, B&W does not offer an invisibility cloak for the 604, so I soldier on with a CC6 dedicated center channel.

BGL

 

[Jack Gilvey]

A "true center" would be identical to your mains. The speaker typically marketed as a center channel is often quite compromised for aesthetic reasons.

 

[frank manrique]

Cinema houses deploy identical speakers for R/C/L sound chores...particularly THX "certified" movies houses.
Cinema theaters of old also used matched speakers all across the screen (in the case of the 50s and until multi-plexes became the norm, up to five loudspeakers were used behind the screen; this arrangement addressed the directional Stereo tracking necessities of those days).
Our home theaters should be treated in the same vein...

-THTS

"...hi, my name is Frank...and am an SVS bassaholic..."

 

[Kevin_R_H]

Randy,

If you are using a front projector (and therefore have nothing along the front wall between the speakers), the best sound will likely come from the "no center or phantom center" option - depending on the listening habits in this room.

Certainly, for anyone in the sweet spot, a center speaker can only degrade the front imaging that would be acheived from a pair of stereo speakers. The pans from left to right (or vice versa) will be smoother and more beleivable without the center speaker there to muddy up the image.

Again, this is only true for systems with "nothing" between the front speakers (such as an RPTV, equipment rack, etc).

Of course, a main benefit of a center speaker is locking down the center image for those who sit outside the sweet spot - particularly for those far outside the sweet spot. This is why I said it depends on the listening habits in the room.

I have a front projector in my listening room, and I have no center speaker (despite multiple attempts to blend one into the mix). I have found (along with my guests) that as long as I/they sit within the boundaries of the main speakers, the phantom center is the best choice. In my room, this means 3 across - the person in the sweet spot, and 1 on either side.

The width of this "acceptable seating" may be room-dependent and gear-dependent, so YMMV.

Kevin