Paradigm Studio cc-470 doesn't fit my ent. center...or any other one for that matter.

[corysmith01]

Help. I'm about to buy a pair of Paradigm Monitor 20's that I've been lusting after for a while. Of course, initial thoughts lead me to thinking that I'd definitely want to pair them with a studio cc-470. Problem is, I don't have a flat screen tv, so my center has to go in my entertainment rack under the tv...and it's only 7". The cc-470 is 9 1/16. So, I started looking around online out of curiosity...and found that most ent. centers have a 7" rack below the tv...some were bigger at 9", but that still wouldn't fit the 9 1/16" beast of a center. I can't put the center on top of the tv...I've tried putting smaller centers up there, both alone and with a tv top stand, and they worried me...they seemed to sit up there pretty precariously...I'm sure I'd be more worried with this much larger, much heavier center. So, I'm at a crossroads. I can't really fiigure out a way to make this center work, so my choices are to either give up on getting the studio 20's since I can't make the matching center work, OR, figure out another center that would work. I'm sure their performance line is out, but does anyone know if a center from the monitor line would match up sonically? The drivers are different so I don't have high hopes that they will, but figured I'd ask. Can anyone help? Thanks.

 

[Takeereasy]

You may not want to give up on that center just yet. Have you considered using a mount to place the center over the television on the wall behind it? I know you'd probably like to have the front of the speaker flush with the front of the TV, but that is not always possible. Since you are looking at equipment this nice I am assuming that you have a receiver capable of adjusting for any trouble not having the center and TV perfectly aligned might cause. B-Tech makes a sweet mount for centers. Also there are small stands designed to hold a center directly in front of a TV. Here's an example of what I mean. You may need a bigger one, I'm not sure. My local Paradigm dealer has speakers set up like this in their theaters and they sound great. I know you've probably thought of these suggetions already, but hey, I guess you can call me Captain obvious.

 

[Nick250]

I was in the same perdiciment as you a few years ago when I purchased Studio 20s with the cc 470. When I got home I found the 470 was just to big. I ended up returning the cc 470 and ordering a third Studio 20 to use I my center. Not only was it smaller but I found I liked the sound better. I know that the Studio 20 is 8.5 " compared with the 7" you have available but it's much lighter and smaller than the cc 470 witch makes it easier to place. So the third Studio is smaller, less expensive and sounds better. A no brainer for me.

 

[cuse4284]

try looking for some UHU Tack or any other sticky tack. although the uhu stuff is the best i've ever come across. just a little of it holds my center to the top of my tv very securely. i can almost lift the tv before the center speaker starts to come loose. it also leaves no marking and does no damage what so ever to the speaker. i actually use this stuff to keep my surrounds mounted to speaker stands because mine wouldnt mount properly. might as well give it a shot if it means getting the speaker you want.

 

[corysmith01]

Thanks everyone. Takeereasy, the wall mounting behind the tv unfortunately won't work for me. My tv/ent stand is situated in a corner, with my sub actually in the corner, behind the tv. So, it's actually somwhere in the neighborhood of 4 feet from the wall (at least at the furthest point of the corner). Otherwise, that could work out well. And yeah, I'm using a Marantz SR8400, so I could adjust for this. The stands look nice, but in my case, it would be in front of my tv stand, which would put it in fron of my audio/video gear, not to mention protruding out into a major walkway in my living room...not high on the WAF scale.

As for buying another studio 20, that's not a bad idea. If I found a rack that had the 9" depth as opposed to my 7" it could work out. Do they sell them individually? Obviously they must if you did so. I'll have to look into that. Although, it is cheaper than the cc-470, but not when you figure in having to buy another entertainment center all due to this center channel problem. This is bugging me.

 

[JJMP50]

Shelf

If you ent center is in the corner, would it be possible to build a shelf above the center that attaches to the adjacent walls, sides being cut at a 45 degree angle. Using high grade shelving material it would have a high WAF as well.

 

[corysmith01]

Good thought Bird, good solution. Unfortunately, I'm an apartment guy...I don't own my own place yet. As such, alterations in the place are strictly prohibited...I can't even paint the walls! So installing shelves would probably get me evicted...and that would definitely not be good for the WAF

 

[Dumar]

Here's what I did ... long story ...

Hey corysmith01,

I had the exact same problem when I tried to put my CC370 in my (actually the wife's) entertainment unit. On top of that I had just bought a new 34" Toshiba wide screen and knew there was no way it would sit on the unit's pull-out swivel shelf. When I started buying all this new gear and dropping hints like we might need to get a different unit due to size limitations, she got that look on her face and said she wasn't parting with her treasured oak entertainment unit. So I looked at it some more, got out the measuring tape, and built a new shelf that would allow both the centre speaker and TV to live in harmony with the wife's unit. If I had a digital camera I would post a picture, it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. Definitely some major WAF points there.

I don't know how handy you are with a saw and hammer, but you might want to give it a try.

 

[claudermilk]

Boy does this sound familiar! I have yet to get a center, but have already found the 470 is simply too big to fit my ent. center. So, I'm planning on the 370 without feet mounted which should just barely fit. I'm hoping it should match reasonably well with my 20's--at least it will match better than the POS Sony center that's currently there.

 

[corysmith01]

claudermilk, if you do that, please let me know how that works out. I know that you're supposed to match speaker lines, but what do you do in our case where that's virtually impossible? If you do go with the cc-370, let me know how it matches up with your studio 20's. I know it's most critical with 5-channel audio, but the only time my center will get used is during movies...I don't know how critical it to timbre match for movie soundtracks. Maybe it is...I dunno.

 

[Dumar]

claudermilk, if you do that, please let me know how that works out. I know that you're supposed to match speaker lines, but what do you do in our case where that's virtually impossible? If you do go with the cc-370, let me know how it matches up with your studio 20's. I know it's most critical with 5-channel audio, but the only time my center will get used is during movies...I don't know how critical it to timbre match for movie soundtracks. Maybe it is...I dunno.

Very important.