Speakers factor into this a lot. Often, people that have moved from stereo only setups to integrate a HT have much better L/R speakers than centre. That isn't to say they have poor centres, more to say that, compared to their other speakers, the centre isn't as good. In this case they could prefer no centre because the difference would be readily apparent.
This even happens with those building a HT from scratch. Many of us are programmed to believe we need great L/R and just passable rears and centre even though the majority of information comes from the centre for HT and surround music.
It's funny, I started out with 2 channel as a focus and have since moved to HT. I have now become a surround music convert due to my Citation 7.0's great 6-axis surround mode for 2 channel. But still, my centre was the lowest performance in the product line for matching centre's from Mirage.
Despite all this, I always seemed to think about upgrading my L/R speakers before anything else! It's just automatic for me. Finally I was able to convince myself the biggest improvement would be to upgrade my centre. I moved to the OM-C2 and couldn't be happier. I still try and fool myself into thinking I need better L/R but then I actually play something, get up and walk over to the L/R's and listen. Many may be surprized at how little information comes from these speakers compared to the centre in surround setups.
I know many of you already know this, but I thought I may drop it in because it's hadn't been directly mentioned yet. But it's a good exercise to put a movie or surround music on and walk over to your mains. You may be amazed at how little information comes from them compared to the centre. And then think about whether you have distributed your speaker budget accordingly.
This even happens with those building a HT from scratch. Many of us are programmed to believe we need great L/R and just passable rears and centre even though the majority of information comes from the centre for HT and surround music.
It's funny, I started out with 2 channel as a focus and have since moved to HT. I have now become a surround music convert due to my Citation 7.0's great 6-axis surround mode for 2 channel. But still, my centre was the lowest performance in the product line for matching centre's from Mirage.
Despite all this, I always seemed to think about upgrading my L/R speakers before anything else! It's just automatic for me. Finally I was able to convince myself the biggest improvement would be to upgrade my centre. I moved to the OM-C2 and couldn't be happier. I still try and fool myself into thinking I need better L/R but then I actually play something, get up and walk over to the L/R's and listen. Many may be surprized at how little information comes from these speakers compared to the centre in surround setups.
I know many of you already know this, but I thought I may drop it in because it's hadn't been directly mentioned yet. But it's a good exercise to put a movie or surround music on and walk over to your mains. You may be amazed at how little information comes from them compared to the centre. And then think about whether you have distributed your speaker budget accordingly.