Flatscreen between speakers

As far as not sharing a room, how many people have 2 dedicated rooms? I know some do but it's got to be a pretty small number. I, for one, am thrilled to have ONE dedicated room. If I just had a 2-channel system in there I would have to put the "home theater" (I hate that term) in one of my living spaces. None of mine would accommodate a 100" screen, not even close. Then there's the fact that because this system is not in a dedicated room the SQ will suffer. As I previously stated, my favorite use of my room/system is watching concert videos. I'm getting the best sound possible for this purpose in my "dual use" room.

If I had unlimited funds and could build any kind of house I wanted I "might" do 2 rooms, but I also might not. I like having the highest quality gear in my dual use room that I can afford. Having 2 rooms would be somewhat redundant, especially since a screen has become such an important component in the enjoyment of my room.

For the absolute best 2 channel listening I have a dedicated headphone system. This equipment is at least as good as the rest, probably better. HifiMan Susvara 'phones and a Holo Audio stack consisting of a May KTE DAC and a Bliss KTE amp. The SQ is sublime. Both systems share the HifiRose RS130 as a streaming source and a fairly highly modified Oppo 203 with I2S output as a physical disc source.

I've spent decades planning this room/systems and wrestling with all the decisions that are involved. Considering that most plans don't work out exactly as you'd like and some real world learning is often necessary, I've been over-the-moon with the results I've been getting. I can't afford to shuffle components at the level that many of you do (though I've definitely done quite a bit of shuffling with the HP rig over the years), so I had to get it as right as I could from the beginning.

A thought for those who might try a curtain over the screen, have a Roman shade made the width and height of the screen.  If there's a substantial space from the top of the screen to the ceiling, have matching panels that stay stationary and hide the hardware that lifts the curtain vertically.
If you go the distance, get a remote control for lift and fall....
Home theater like the big ones....supply your own fanfare..... ;)

To keep it in scale, no lion....a cat's long meow, or kittens...*L*
If it 'has to be' instrumental, a kazoo....😏

@ticat 

my experience has lead me to believe that 2 channel and HT have no business being seriously pursued in one room

Could you please list where you see the incompatibilities?

Personally, I find 2-channel severely limiting for classical music in particular, where a huge number of recordings is available on multi-channel SACD and other disc formats (Bluray, Dolby Atmos, etc).

Until recently, my main speakers were Quad ESL-2905 driven by a Krell amplifier, and supported by a big subwoofer, so quite good for 2-channel audio.  They are also quite good at providing 2 channels of a home theater system.  My main source is a universal disk transport which retrieves data from CD, SACD, DVD, Blu Ray and 3k disks, If need be, I can switch my turntable through a 2-channel Krell Pre-amp but for everything else I normally used the DACs in my Marantz AV8802 pre-processor.

IF I want to play 2-channel music, I do it through components which would satisfy me in a dedicated room though they are co-located with "home theatre".

Finally, there are awesome recordings of music performances which add yet another channel - video!  Don't want to watch?  Just shut you eyes, but you miss out on the whole experience.

shooter41

richardbrand

I understand how your processors and you SOLVE the lack of a center channel speaker.

IF possible, try a small center channel rather than skipping it, that is my advice to anyone following. 

After so many years of prioritizing and enjoying excellent 2 channel imaging in my dedicated listening system, and many years of improving TV sound, (starting with old CRTs I hot wired decent speakers to, the fidelity was always there), I am very sensitive to sound that is erroneously off-center of a visual image, especially dialog meant to be centered, or off-center dialog not originating from the correct location.

A common issue is a TV above a fireplace, no center speaker. My wife and sister-in-law house/pet sit for many wealthy people, and I check out the home theaters of many of them. I shake my head at the poor sound so many have.

My Small 5.1 Home Theater

I am left handed and sit on the left end of the sofa (some but not far off center), near my end table, coffee warmer, coaster, kleenex, box of remotes, left side wall ....

Donna, right handed, is at the right end, her coffee warmer ... no right wall. No one normally sits, or needs to sit dead center in my setup due to two factors

1. DBX Soundfield 100 Cross Pattern Dispersion is designed to create a WIDE phantom center image of any 2 channel material (I often 'force' 2 channel),

Toe-In Alternates

and

2. using a Center Channel Speaker (even a small one) physically anchors the center to the center of the image no matter where you sit, because if you rely on Phantom Center, and you sit off-center, it is not going to work as well as sound ORIGINATING from the center. Off-center dialog will have some Phantom Off-Center mix by the originators, which assumes a center speaker,

I am happier with the smaller Jamo, the Klipsch was just too efficient, even after software adjustments

In my office, 2 channel, all center Phantom, I re-configured everything so I could sit dead center for the 1st time ever.