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Left center and right center speakers

I am running a 7.3.4 Dolby atmos system.  I have been doing research on dispersion of dedicated center speakers for home theater vs a book shelf or tower speaker to replace the center speaker.  This supposedly helps with dispersion for all seats in the theater.

I am currently doing some upgrades of the front and Surround speakers of the room.  I will have 2 left over bookshelf speakers.  I was going to use one bookshelf as the center and it will match the new incoming full range tower speakers.  Should I just use the one bookshelf in the middle or run a left center and right center speaker set up?  Part of the upgrade is a Trinnov Altitude 16 Processor.  I think it should be said if I am running a Trinnov seperate Amps are given.  So basically a 8.4.4

dmaddox77

Showing 5 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,682 posts
 

I'll have more to say about this topic next year. :)  I'm planning on doing a fully active, high-end 3 way when budget allows

erik_squires
15,682 posts
 

OP:  The dispersion of my center isn't terrible... for my small living room and couch it's fine... but if you want to do a larger seating area then it will be easily bested by 3-way centers.  One of my faves is Monitor Audio

erik_squires
15,682 posts
 

Im not suggesting you DIY, just wanted to show an example of a narrow dispersion center.

erik_squires
15,682 posts
 

Here's a center channel I designed and  built.  Super smooth sounding, but narrow dispersion due to the 2-way design:

 

erik_squires
15,682 posts
 

A great center channel speaker can really help with the imaging regardless of seating location, but not all center channels are the same. 3-way centers tend to be a lot better than 2-ways because the dedicated midrange in the middle of the speaker throws a wide soundstage.

Alternatively, using a vertically placed 2-way (non-center) can work really well.

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