Looking for decent center channel (1 Viewer)

[Aaron_Morris]

Hi all. I have been a lurker here for a few weeks and I think I am now ready to post. First, my setup... well it consists of a Kenwood "back in the day when CDs were a new concept" stereo reciever. Some cheap-o Aiwa towers and some aiwa bookshelf speakers. The setup works, and until now that is all I needed. I mostly was into car audio stuff and have begun systematically selling it off. And now I want to get into bigger and better things. I have heard a few decent HT setups and that is the direction that I would like to go. I am not rich by any means, and in fact I am quite... umm... broke. Until I get some of the amps from my car gone I don't have a lot of spending cash as I am a college student and don't have any major cash flow. Tutoring is not the lucrative field I had hoped. Anyway, back to the topic at hand.
I am thinking that a Marantz SR5200 is the best option for me. As far as price and options go. Now, I haven't gotten a chance to go demo it, but have read more than a few reviews and it seems to have the features and general praise that I am looking for.
I was curious as to where to find a modest center channel speaker to tide me over until I cna upgrade to a set of voice matched speakers (my understanding is that this is a good thing). Any help would be appriceated. And I am not against used stuff, so any help would be mucho appriceated. oh, and price range... lets say under $200.

 

[Jeffrey Noel]

Aaron, first off, Welcome to the forum!
Anyway, I would suggest that you not buy a center channel right now. As I understand from your post, you will be replacing it in time anyway. What's the use of spending ~$200 on a speaker that is only temporary? Do you have any idea of what type of main speakers you want to get? If so, and you have actually narrowed it down to what mains you are going to get, just go ahead and get the center channel that is timbre matched to them. It may not sound the greatest with your current mains, but once you get the new ones that are timbre matched with your center channel, it will sound so much better. When speakers all "come together", the sound is beautiful.
So I suggest that you just wait on buying a center channel until you know exactly what mains to buy. Then buy the matching center. Clear as mud?
Best of luck!

 

[Mark Fitzsimmons]

I recently bought the JBL S-Center from www.jandr.com and it sounds excellent. I got it for $180 so it fits your budget.

 

[Bruce Chang]

Try finding a Totem mite-T center channel for $200 used. One of the best center channels you can get for under $200.

 

[ColinM]

I may be inviting some flames...

I have a BIC 62CLR-S from ubid, $84 WITH shipping and I run it with NHT SuperOnes. It sounds just like them, and I have a perfect 360 degree match on the cheap.

Seriously, that speaker is built like a tank. I stuffed it with a bit of fill to make it lose a 'honk' on some material, and now it's REALLY good.

Anything better would be $300 plus.

 

[FredHD]

Colin.

I too have the BIC CLR62-S. What a monster!! It barely fits on top of my 32" Toshiba and it matches great with my DCM bookshelves. I have a fiend with a DefTech Center about the same size. He said he'd get rid of it for a BIC but he is afraid the timbre matching will not be the same for him. Highly recommended.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I agree with Jeffrey. I would wait until you are ready to upgrade your main speakers, and then purchase three matching speakers for the front -- or ideally, five matching speakers to include the surrounds. In the meantime, you can operate your receiver in "phantom center" mode, which simulates a center channel by directing sound to your main L/R speakers. This will probably sound better than a mismatched real center speaker. The downside to "phantom center" mode is that the center channel will not remain anchored to the screen if you sit off-center.

 

[Aaron_Morris]

Thanks for the input everyone. Well, I think that I will just wait for a while to put in a true center channel speaker. When I think I can afford to go with a new set of mains I will just go with a whole set.

 

[Anthony F.]

I'd take a look at the Home Theater Direct level 3 center. It was a great add on to my mis-matched system. Best of all you can add their other level 3 three mains (towers or bookshelf) when you're ready to round out the system. Very reasonably priced and solid reviews.

 

[Johnny Mac]

I've got a Polk CS245i that I got as an "interim" center about 9 mos. ago. I still havent found one I like better for less than $500.