Center Channel Recomendations

Dynaudio Evidence, used Dunlavy HRCC.

Eminent Technology LFT-12

Hardly an expert, but what about your center channel don't you like? As I see it (being that all I ever use mine for is movies) my biggest concern / consideration is not so much what the center channel does, but what it doesn't do -- specifically, sound any different from the mains. Ideally, as I see it, the center should be just as similar to the mains as possibe, in the hope of presenting as unified a sound across the front as possible. So, personally, being that the noisy bits in the mains are coming out of Thiel coaxial drivers, putting a Thiel coaxial in the middle seemed a no-brainer. It's an unavoidable by-product of using little vibrating bits to reproduce sound that you'll get particular sonic signatures from each iteration (yes, in the camp that a sonically "neutral" speaker is one of those mythical beasts that hangs out with the likes of Santa and the Easter Bunny). With all that in mind, I've always understood it to be the conventional wisdom that staying in the family (as it were) with the center and the mains is the way to go. So why the urge to break up your little Martin Logan family? (This, not coincidentally, doubles as my hypothesis as to why you don't see a lot of center channel recomendations -- once you've staked a claim on the mains, the center picks itself. But, then, perhaps it's just me.)

I agree with mezmo.The logans are a very fast speaker, if you break them up you may have a severe problem with timber matching.I used to have the cinema with my ascents and upgraded to the theatre i. I cant imagine having another centre other than a logan when running logans as mains.

I have the Martin Logan Ascent I and use the Theater I for centre. I use a front projector so that size isn't as much of an issue, as it doesn't have to be on top of a set.

I agree that matching timber is key, but I would suggest that a superb Center provides a much more material impact.

I was astonished by the original ML center, the Logos. I upgraded to the Theater I, and was even more impressed. I then upgraded the fronts from ML Aerius Is to the ML Ascents!

I didn't realize how much information came from the center until the theater I and having a dedicated power amp.

You might find like me, that the center channel may actually drive your choice in the rest of your system!

Best of luck

None; use phantom center channel mode.

Revel Ultima Voice. Picked one up on ebay and it may be the best center channel at any price. I also have Salons so the fit is perfect.

The Center Channel is key for HT. Phantom Center is a bad choice BTW. Anyway, the advice on timbre matching is good. Heres my take;

1. Tweeters should be equal height across mains and center and ear level is not a bad thing either. Ideally, centers and mains should have identical drivers as well. Often the center will have two mid drivers and a tweeter but whatever.

When setting up the mains and center, you really should be able to have a seamless transition of sound as , for example, that helicopter flies across the screen. No holes or dropoffs. I have found that setting up speakers for HT is a different game than 2 channel.

Have fun.