Which Speaker System ?

If your serious about the center channel read no further.

After dicking around with hi-fi floor standers and similar but different bipolars (suck) and yet another for the center for 5.1 and relying on room correction to balance everything out. Even when a production is mixed in 5.1 most modern 7.1 receivers do a very good job of matrixing in the side channels. It's not often you hear of someone going back to 5.1. 

When I finally had a dedicated HT space I purchased a 7.1 receiver and settled on a pair of new, a pair of used, and a pair of demos, and a demo center channel Triangle Comets. The more sensitivity of the speakers design the better.

The dedicated space allowed me to more evenly space the speakers which used much less room correction. Within the first ten minutes of Master and Commander the importance of using exactly the same speakers at the same distance from the floor and as equally spaced as possible became stunningly apparent.

I have put together a couple of far less expensive 7.1 systems using Pioneer speakers in one and more recently Elac's in another with remarkable success. Keep in mind it's only TV.  

I received the Palladiums, P37F, last night.  I'm impressed!  Are they as good as my reference Magnepan 20.7's; no.  But they sound pretty darn good!  And they will work much better as an excellent home theater speaker.  

I only bought two of the rears (P27's).  Do you have a perference for 5.1 setup vs 7.1?  Perhaps I should get two additional rears.

Makes sense

Phantom center is great for the one who sits in the center line with the video screen , not so good for everyone else.

Bill

Another question.  I am considering running 'phantom' mode for the center and elimininating the Center speaker.  Have you tried this?

There are those that say if you have good left/rights and a good quality receiver with an excellent 'phantom' mode that you don't miss the center speaker.

Shameless plug for something I currently have for sale but if you need to run two subs and your preamp only has output for one, then a JL Audio CR-1 crossover (along with a few others) is what you need. If you don’t have your subs already, I do highly recommend JL Audio subs. I have had and still own 2 Rel subs and an M&K sub but the JL Audio subs are better (F112v2). With the crossover, you don't have to limit your preamp search to only those with two subwoofer outputs, any preamp with one subwoofer output will work, which is the majority of them out there.

ARC did make a multichannel preamp, but I believe it is long gone. The remaining reasonably available high-end preamp is the Parasound Halo P7 with 2 7.1 inputs.

A lot of high end 2-channel preamps have "bypass" mode though, which let's you use an external source as the volume for movie watching, and returns to normal operatoin for music.  With something like an Oppo with built in volume and analog outputs that's an easy integration.

Personally I use the P7 for everything. It comes well reviewed. Certainly a step up from the P5. :)

Either 5.1 or 7.1, not sure yet.  I will have two subs.  I need a front end and amps that will work well with the Palladiums.

What kind of a setup are you looking to have, 5.1, 7.1, Atmos, etc?

Do you plan on running multiple subwoofers?

Pre-pro/amp compo, AVR, AVR/amp combo?

Budget?

Bill

Decision made; purchased the Klipsch Palladium P37 system.  Now, I need a really good pre/amp or receiver setup to match the Palladium's and get the best performance from those horns.  

Does a really good tubed unit exist for home theater???

Well I haven't heard that particular Klipsch but, and please don't take offense, if you're only after saving bucks, you shouldn't be looking at Wilson, especially for home theater. The Watch center channel, along with matching stand, that matches the Sophia 2 retailed for over $8,000.00 and the rear speakers are $5,000.00. And that's only a 5.1 system. To go 7.1 or 11.1, you do the math. You can find them used but a Watch 2 with stand is gonna set your back the same price as the Klipsch, and that's just the center channel! The matching rears very rarely come on here used, so they are hard to find. Also, Klipsch and Wilson are two very different brands and have very different house sounds. I recommend you audition both and see what you like better. If it is the Wilson, be prepared to make a big investment, even used. Good luck to you!
Mike 

IMHO, higher sensitivity speakers are generally better for home theater. Also, should you buy the used Wilson's, how easy will it be to find the matching Wilson center and surrounds?