desilew
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Match a center channel speaker with existing front pair
cyclebrain
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Being the "Stereophile" site many here don't really care about surround sound.
Movie sound tracks are dialog and special effects that don't sound real but are there to sound impressive.
So accuracy probably is not important. Dynamic range is important and you don't want a speaker that has a sensitivity rating that is too far from the sensitivity rating of the rest of your speakers. You will have to balance the levels of all your speakers to match and it might be possible to not have enough adjustment range if the speakers are to different in their sensitivity.
The center speaker is mainly for dialog so you might want to chose a speaker that does a good job reproducing voice.

Kal Rubinson
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Quote:
Being the "Stereophile" site many here don't really care about surround sound.

Speak for yourself.


Quote:
Movie sound tracks are dialog and special effects that don't sound real but are there to sound impressive.
So accuracy probably is not important. Dynamic range is important and you don't want a speaker that has a sensitivity rating that is too far from the sensitivity rating of the rest of your speakers. You will have to balance the levels of all your speakers to match and it might be possible to not have enough adjustment range if the speakers are to different in their sensitivity.
The center speaker is mainly for dialog so you might want to chose a speaker that does a good job reproducing voice.

And one that is timbre-matched to the ones you have or else any sounds panned from side to side will vary in tone as they do.

Sorry I cannot recommend a match for those JVCs.

Kal

desilew
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Thank you for your ideas.

desilew
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Thanks Kal for the advice I will do a little research using this information and hopefully I can something.

I hope I did not offend anyone with my question because like many others out there in the world I just like listening to all types of good music.

Thanks
Desi

cyclebrain
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No one here should be offended by your question unless they are a stereo snob.
I do use surround sound and integrated it into my stereo system. I just put my focus into the stereo system and don't put as much effort into the surround setup.

Yiangos
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IMHO,unless you're watching movies with friends,spouse or gr
you do not need a center channel speaker.Another reason to get one is if your 2 main loudspeakers are spread apart very
widely.If you watch movies by yourself , you do not need one
The main purpose of a center speaker is to enable more than one viewer to "feel" the dialoque coming from the tv/screen.

Kal Rubinson
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Quote:
IMHO,unless you're watching movies with friends,spouse or gr
you do not need a center channel speaker.

If the source has a discrete center channel, you need to reproduce it discretely. Mixing into the L/R will never recover the information correctly.


Quote:
Another reason to get one is if your 2 main loudspeakers are spread apart very
widely.

For stereo? Nah. Move the speakers.


Quote:
If you watch movies by yourself , you do not need one
The main purpose of a center speaker is to enable more than one viewer to "feel" the dialoque coming from the tv/screen.

See first point above.

Kal

Elk
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Can he not just listen to the stereo two-track version on the DVD and get all of the audio information?

Kal Rubinson
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Quote:
Can he not just listen to the stereo two-track version on the DVD and get all of the audio information?

Depends. All the notes will be there but the spatial information will be compromised.

Kal

Elk
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Thanks!

desilew
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I want to thank everyone for their comments and suggestions. I went to my local Best Buy, Fry's and Magnolia Hi Fi to audition the speakers they had in their stores and settled on a set of JBL L880's. I started early in the morning so there wasn't much traffic in any of the stores and I was able to give every thing a good listen. I hope to have them in my hot little hands by Wednesday.

Thanks
Desi

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