Center pairing.

[Saudio]

Would a motion 8I center be sufficient to pair with my motion 60xt floorstanding speakers or would I have to get the larger motion 30 or 50 center. All of these are Martin Logan motion series speakers. I currently live where demoing these is not an option. The price between them is several hundred dollars. If anyone has experience with these speakers I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and advice. Thanks

 

[lovinthehd]

Maybe ask ML?

ps You need this for use with a tv we assume ?

 

[TLS Guy]

Would a motion 8I center be sufficient to pair with my motion 60xt floorstanding speakers or would I have to get the larger motion 30 or 50 center. All of these are Martin Logan motion series speakers. I currently live where demoing these is not an option. The price between them is several hundred dollars. If anyone has experience with these speakers I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and advice. Thanks

I can answer you in general. The center tends to be the weak link in systems.

The center has a lot of work to do and really needs high power capacity and a lobing pattern consistent with the mains. It needs to produce natural human speech without chestiness or shout.

It is a tall order, and center speakers are difficult to design and need a lot of thought. In general it should probably be the most expensive speakers in your system

 

[ryanosaur]

I kinda hate to agree with the assertion that it should be more expensive than a single matching tower, I do agree that the center is a unique challenge and likely should not be skimped on.
I would counter that using a single matching Stand-mount speaker, even if it is just a 2-way, will likely perform better than many ‘true’ centers.
One of the biggest problems is the horizontal orientation. If you can allow yourself the space, an upright MTM or 2-way or 3-way speaker would be better. The best would be using three matching speakers across the front stage.

 

[Verdinut]

The best would be using three matching speakers across the front stage.

Like with my system:

My 7 Channel System

SYSTEM: MARANTZ SR5010, 3 QSC DCA 1222 AMPS. DRIVING THE FRONT CHANNELS IN ACTIVE BI-AMP CONFIG. QSC DCA 1824 (4 CH. AMP.) FOR SURROUND CHANNELS OPPO BDP-95, REVOX B77, TEAC AN-80 (NR), AUDIO-TECHNICA AT-LP1240, SHURE M97XE, HITACHI HCA-8300, PANASONIC TH-50PZ80U, FURMAN PS-8R, APC H15 FRONT...

forums.audioholics.com

 

[flippo]

I Actually Stopped using a center speaker and just use phantom. Stereo is 80/90% music but i like using DTS x

 

[Verdinut]

I Actually Stopped using a center speaker and just use phantom. Stereo is 80/90% music but i like using DTS x

It may be satisfactory for two channel stereo listening, especially when your speakers have a wide horizontal dispersion. But in the case of multi-channel surround listening, and more likely in the case of movies where there is some dialogue, the center channel is a must no matter the horizontal dispersion of the left and right speakers.