Where are the BIG center channels?

[Mark E. Long]

Wait til you see the matching L/R speakers that go with it! Lol

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I have little doubt they are excellent speakers but performance over aesthetics don't always make for a pretty package, lol.

My end game right there I’ve got a line on a pair these aren’t for everyone looks wise but holy crap they sound amazing . Keep in mind this line was basically designed for digital sound sources sacd’s and the like . But I will have a pair of the array 1400’s lol .

 

[Pogre]

You can still find these on eBay and still pricey too but very well built no comparison to the other centers I’ve had . One of the flattest measuring center I’ve ever seen but like almost all centers it’s not the best at off axis response but hell none are . But in a nice room who sits more than 60 gegrees off to the side it works best sitting about 12 foot away .

I'd guess you wouldn't too much in the way of off axis issues with the tweet and mid alignment. You'd have to get pretty far off axis for it to be an issue.

 

[Mark E. Long]

I'd guess you wouldn't too much in the way of off axis issues with the tweet and mid alignment. You'd have to get pretty far off axis for it to be an issue.

Decent review of it on ASR last fall . But that’s a hard crowd over there lol !

 

[kevintomb]

Well, my center uses the same drivers and almost the same size cabinet as my towers, just a different form factor.

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Not trying to be rude, but HOW far is your TV from the Ceiling?

My Tv is about 30" from the ceiling and I am looking upwards a bit......

 

[Pogre]

Not trying to be rude, but HOW far is your TV from the Ceiling?

My Tv is about 30" from the ceiling and I am looking upwards a bit......

Several feet. I have vaulted ceilings. It's a bit high, but not uncomfortable and does not feel odd When I'm sitting in my chair watching TV. The bottom edge of the screen is still pretty well below eye height.

 

[kevintomb]

Several feet. I have vaulted ceilings. It's a bit high, but not uncomfortable and does not feel odd When I'm sitting in my chair watching TV. The bottom edge of the screen is still pretty well below eye height.

I have neck problems, and can never look Upwards...I had a real reason to ask. All good!

 

[ryanosaur]

Salk center channels are also fairly large, like the Ascend Horizon.

Sadly, again, this is all due to compromises that make little sense. Small spaces below TVs in stupid poorly designed furniture have cursed us with these s

I redesigned my space slightly a while back to accommodate an upright 3-way monitor as my center.
When I get my equipment off the front wall, I will put my center on a dedicated stand. I did not change my tv height before and sometimes the center blocks the IR sensor on the TV, so I want to adjust for that.

I will never willingly choose to use a horizontal center again.

 

[Eppie]

Paradigm's centres match pretty well with their mains. My old v2 was slightly smaller so this v5 comes right up to the bottom of my screen. I will likely raise the screen a little when I upgrade.

Their current centres for the Premier and Founder lines are no slouches either:

 

[Eppie]

Salk center channels are also fairly large, like the Ascend Horizon.

Sadly, again, this is all due to compromises that make little sense. Small spaces below TVs in stupid poorly designed furniture have cursed us with these s

I redesigned my space slightly a while back to accommodate an upright 3-way monitor as my center.
When I get my equipment off the front wall, I will put my center on a dedicated stand. I did not change my tv height before and sometimes the center blocks the IR sensor on the TV, so I want to adjust for that.

I will never willingly choose to use a horizontal center again.

Best place for a vertical centre in my cabinet is on the upper shelf in the centre of the cabinet. Basically, cut out the top just above the centre shelf and there would be room for a third bookshelf below the screen. I don't think my wife would approve though. We picked that cabinet out together and it's solid maple.

Three tower speakers with a component rack on each side of the centre tower would work nicely if the towers are not too tall. Some of the smaller towers are angled slightly to point the tweeter up a little, like the Arendals.

 

[slipperybidness]

Hey all,

It seems to be conventional wisdom that in home theater the center channel is the most important speaker in your staging. Yet it seems to be dwarfed in general in even modern and mid-tier lines by their mains and only large compared to perhaps the satellites meant for surround duty. I realize it presents a challenge for most spaces to have an enormous center with access to such inexpensive large displays these days and of course the projector setups, other than doing a false wall and/or screen setup which is also not possible for most people in their homes. But barring all that, still, where are the big center channels? Even from a sensitivity standpoint, they use smaller cabinets and smaller woofers.

I currently use a 3rd identical floor standing tower speaker as my mains, so my front stage are three of the same speaker. This of course puts a big challenge on wall space for a screen and limits screen size. I can either just deal with a high on the wall smaller display, or I can do a false wall and screen (and lose a few feet in the room), but I'm not looking to do a projector at this time. Or, I could explore a big center channel that is horizontal. Just keep running into most lines being small. Maybe it doesn't matter? I'm just thinking out loud at this point.

I love the look of various lines, but I like the sensitivity and size of something like PowerSoundAudio despite their utilitarian appearance.

Anyone have a huge center channel and how did you balance your display size and spacing? Or is everyone using a smaller center and they're happy with it horizontally in a home theater context and looking for bigger, or satisfied?

Very best,

If you are looking for a large center channel, check out the Axiom speakers. I don't recall which one, but one of them is the same size as their towers, but horizontal!

I know Axiom gets a lot of hate around here nowadays, so I'm not recommending them, just saying go look at it.

With that being said, my Bro in Law has that beastly center and the towers, and his system does sound pretty good.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Wait til you see the matching L/R speakers that go with it! Lol

View attachment 54565

I have little doubt they are excellent speakers but performance over aesthetics don't always make for a pretty package, lol.

Have to say, as a nuts a “volts” kinda guy, I like these. Even as much as I love my monkey coffins, they look so Fukkin boring. I’m also so over the whole minimalist, WAF, happy wife, hey let’s have a home theater but really it’s a BT bose wave radio, and now that we have our soundbar, I don’t really get why people are into this overpriced crap.
I can appreciate minimalistic design. But not over function. Your pics remind me of when I walk up to a top fuel dragster(something I’ve done since I was about 5yo). I know exactly what it’s for. Performance, ftw. You can bet if I ever get to your neighborhood, I’m knocking on the door!!!

 

[ryanosaur]

Simple physics details the problems with horizontal speaker alignments and the acoustic issues that occur due to having multiple drivers interfering with each other.
This is not to say they cannot sound good, however, the nulls/cancellations WILL BE PRESENT. This is unavoidable. So straight ahead, on-axis, it can be great. What happens when you are 1', 2', more... off axis?

6" and 8" Woofers take up space and need a a bigger cabinet. Add to that a mid and a tweet and you've got a lot of real estate taken up. Still no guarantee about PH and Sensitivity.
No, the fundamental change is the paradigm shift in furniture and room design that needs to take place. No more built-ins, entertainment centers, cubbys... None of it!
Of course, this leaves the possibility of concentric or coaxial drivers as a possibility, but these too have their own set of issues. Probably the most common that I've seen is poor FR throughout the range of the Speaker. This isn';t to say that there are none that perform well, but the better ones are far more expensive than most want, and they will not necessarily be a good match with your mains.
So back to compromises we go.

 

[Mr._Clark]

Hey all,

It seems to be conventional wisdom that in home theater the center channel is the most important speaker in your staging. Yet it seems to be dwarfed in general in even modern and mid-tier lines by their mains and only large compared to perhaps the satellites meant for surround duty. I realize it presents a challenge for most spaces to have an enormous center with access to such inexpensive large displays these days and of course the projector setups, other than doing a false wall and/or screen setup which is also not possible for most people in their homes. But barring all that, still, where are the big center channels? Even from a sensitivity standpoint, they use smaller cabinets and smaller woofers.

I currently use a 3rd identical floor standing tower speaker as my mains, so my front stage are three of the same speaker. This of course puts a big challenge on wall space for a screen and limits screen size. I can either just deal with a high on the wall smaller display, or I can do a false wall and screen (and lose a few feet in the room), but I'm not looking to do a projector at this time. Or, I could explore a big center channel that is horizontal. Just keep running into most lines being small. Maybe it doesn't matter? I'm just thinking out loud at this point.

I love the look of various lines, but I like the sensitivity and size of something like PowerSoundAudio despite their utilitarian appearance.

Anyone have a huge center channel and how did you balance your display size and spacing? Or is everyone using a smaller center and they're happy with it horizontally in a home theater context and looking for bigger, or satisfied?

Very best,

I hear yah. I'm not sure there is a really great solution. Is a large bookshelf center an option in your case? Somewhat reduced low frequency output for the center might be a reasonable tradeoff.

Here's an AH article about various center channel configurations:

https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/center-channel-designs-1

I've wondered at times why more companies don't develop coaxial center channel speakers to eliminate the lobing issues and keep the size of the speaker reasonable (I'm sure there are reasons, but I'm not sure what they are)(I do not claim to be an expert with regards to speaker design).

The Vandersteen VCC-1 an example of an existing coaxial center channel speaker:

>>>The VCC-1's coaxial driver is a combination of a 6½ inch woofer and a 1 inch dome tweeter that share the same acoustical center and radiate as a single point source. The aligned driver is immune from multi-driver interference and the resulting response variations and phase irregularities that plague conventional center speakers. The VCC-1 maintains consistent sonic performance over an expansive listening area without hot spots, drop outs or timbre aberrations.<<<

Vandersteen Audio High End Speakers | Vandersteen Audio

Vandersteen Audio High End Speakers

www.vandersteen.com

 

[Pogre]

Have to say, as a nuts a “volts” kinda guy, I like these. Even as much as I love my monkey coffins, they look so Fukkin boring. I’m also so over the whole minimalist, WAF, happy wife, hey let’s have a home theater but really it’s a BT bose wave radio, and now that we have our soundbar, I don’t really get why people are into this overpriced crap.
I can appreciate minimalistic design. But not over function. Your pics remind me of when I walk up to a top fuel dragster(something I’ve done since I was about 5yo). I know exactly what it’s for. Performance, ftw. You can bet if I ever get to your neighborhood, I’m knocking on the door!!!

Just 'cause they ain't pretty doesn't mean I wouldn't have them proudly front and center in my living room. I like your comparison to a top fuel dragster. I'd say that's pretty durned accurate!

 

[Pogre]

I have neck problems, and can never look Upwards...I had a real reason to ask. All good!

I don't really even feel like I'm looking up. I sit 14' from it and when I lean back in my chair it's actually almost perfect.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Along the lines of JBL's Synthesis, but much cheaper - why not 3 identical Kali IN-8 v2 monitors in original/vertical orientation? (or even cheaper, but AH praised 3x LP-8)

 

[MalVeauX]

Was just looking at HSU Research's single driver center for lack of lobbing, etc, big 8 inch woofer in a box and that's it.

Very best,

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Just 'cause they ain't pretty doesn't mean I wouldn't have them proudly front and center in my living room. I like your comparison to a top fuel dragster. I'd say that's pretty durned accurate!

I thought you’d like that!

 

[Mark E. Long]

Just 'cause they ain't pretty doesn't mean I wouldn't have them proudly front and center in my living room. I like your comparison to a top fuel dragster. I'd say that's pretty durned accurate!

These are all about Top Fuel I’ve read that if used with the matching center they should be spaced no less than 12 feet apart . But these are very large too as is the center . I know I had to widen my fronts about a foot more to get the best soundstage from all three together. The big center does throw a big center image that definitely needs its space to get good separation from the left and right it fills the space of the screen just right . Those array 1400’s weigh around 100 pounds apiece too and for some reason my wife likes the looks of them lol . The compression driver unit is almost 18 inches tall buy it’s self . Like I said my end game one of these days .

 

[Pogre]

These are all about Top Fuel I’ve read that if used with the matching center they should be spaced no less than 12 feet apart .

I actually have enough room for those...