Courtesy of a crapload of thick blinds. Daytime viewing engaged.
Well, part of the reason for all of this was that I finally got some time to play with the speaker selector I hooked up to do some back and forth testing. I wanted to go with Dark of the Moon because it's a pretty demanding movie that can very easily sound like a muddled mess without speakers that are capable of handling a multitude of sounds all at once. I also chose this movie due to the excellent surround effects and I wanted to see how well it blended with the other 10 speakers. My final reason for the movie choice, was because I love to listen to it at near reference levels, thanks to the four subwoofers I have running.....well....a tad hot to say the least.
Pros
Voices were clear, ambient sounds were reproduced faithfully and it sank right into the background. If it wasn't for the fact that I have to actually get off my butt to press a button specifically selecting it and if it wasn't slightly off center I wouldn't even know it was there. For $100 + wood and glue, I'm not sure there's a better center out there commercially available. Heck, I don't know if you could build a center DIY or BIY for that price.
Cons
The center, or should I say driver, lost composure during some of the more taxing scenes. This is to be expected and is the first time since I've had the center that it's done this. Like I said, this is a demanding track which can be difficult as is without trying to push the volume up and up.
Vs SSC
I'm sure I would be able to hear differences if I had an instant switcher, but I don't and my switching it way too slow. Any differences were negligible anyways and I expect would still be somewhat minor even with a switcher. The main difference has to do with distortion and volume. The SSC will stay composed up to and well beyond the levels I care to listen to, whereas the JWM has a much more distinct point where it's got no more to give. However, this isn't to say it won't get loud and I think that for the vast majority of situations it performs far above the price I paid for it.
More mini-reviews to come as time allows.