Johnmcelfresh,
I have often stuggled with the concept of the Center Channel. I have never been able to even imagine a center that could match up to my MonitorAudio Studio 20's and they image absolutely perfect. Recently i put in a small theater room for the family in the basement. I went with an old pair of NHT 2.0 that i had, and a Outlaw 1050 processor/amp. I have a pair of BG in-ceiling ribbons for the rears. At this point its a 4.0 system--no center, no sub. I just didnt get that far yet. However, after 2 weeks of listing to this 4.0 system i'm astonished at how incredible the 360 degree sound field is. Its better than my own system upstairs (Monitor Audio studio 20, MA 800 center, MA Gold in-ceiling, Rotel proc, Adcom power all around).
I had a hunch that the center was a problem. I did a little research and found tha the center channel is sort of meant only for theaters. WAY back, a long time ago theaters only had a center (mono). When they added 'stereo' in the 70's or so, they kept the center because it was there, AND because they needed even volume distribution over the 100' wide theater, addressing issues of people sitting way left or way right. This mono center channel insured the producer that the 'voice track' was at least evenly heard by the whole house. The .1 (sub) was added to expand the low bandwidth production that may not have been specd well in the old center, and LR mains.
None of these issues are present in my home surround system--or anyones for that matter. So i'm thinking that an audiophile 4.0 system will ALWAYS outperform a 5.1, or 7.1... The NHT's are rated down to 25 hz which is quite good, but it wouldnt hurt to have a sub in the system. So, in this application a 4.1 isnt a bad idea. However thats ONLY because the mains are a little lacking. Their big daddy, the NHT 3.3's would likely NOT need a sub.
Ny thoughts, comments?
I have often stuggled with the concept of the Center Channel. I have never been able to even imagine a center that could match up to my MonitorAudio Studio 20's and they image absolutely perfect. Recently i put in a small theater room for the family in the basement. I went with an old pair of NHT 2.0 that i had, and a Outlaw 1050 processor/amp. I have a pair of BG in-ceiling ribbons for the rears. At this point its a 4.0 system--no center, no sub. I just didnt get that far yet. However, after 2 weeks of listing to this 4.0 system i'm astonished at how incredible the 360 degree sound field is. Its better than my own system upstairs (Monitor Audio studio 20, MA 800 center, MA Gold in-ceiling, Rotel proc, Adcom power all around).
I had a hunch that the center was a problem. I did a little research and found tha the center channel is sort of meant only for theaters. WAY back, a long time ago theaters only had a center (mono). When they added 'stereo' in the 70's or so, they kept the center because it was there, AND because they needed even volume distribution over the 100' wide theater, addressing issues of people sitting way left or way right. This mono center channel insured the producer that the 'voice track' was at least evenly heard by the whole house. The .1 (sub) was added to expand the low bandwidth production that may not have been specd well in the old center, and LR mains.
None of these issues are present in my home surround system--or anyones for that matter. So i'm thinking that an audiophile 4.0 system will ALWAYS outperform a 5.1, or 7.1... The NHT's are rated down to 25 hz which is quite good, but it wouldnt hurt to have a sub in the system. So, in this application a 4.1 isnt a bad idea. However thats ONLY because the mains are a little lacking. Their big daddy, the NHT 3.3's would likely NOT need a sub.
Ny thoughts, comments?