Center Channel Speaker Question

I had the LM-1's. Best speaker B & W ever made. Your problem is very common. There's a huge demand placed on a center channel. It has to keep up with the 2 main speakers and sometimes, even a sub. To get an idea of what I am talking about, listen to some music using just your front 2 speakers. Unplug one of your speakers and listen again. Its a huge loss. It seems like more than 50%. That's what your center channel has to compete with. For me, the best way to handle a center channel is to not use one or to use a regular pair of stereo speakers. Basically, a center channel is pretty much the same as a mono channel. If you buy another pair of LM-1's and put one on each side of the screen, it will float a perfect center image, just like a mono recording. Also, the LM-1's are very easy to drive. You should be able to get away with using just 1 channel on your amp for both speakers.

You should be able to get away with using just 1 channel on your amp for both speakers.

Sorry to disagree, but B&W states the impedance of the LM1 as 8 ohms with a minimum of 3 ohms. Using a pair on a single channel will result in a 4 ohm impedance with a minimum of 1.5 ohms. The recommended minimum impedance for the SR-6004 is 6 ohms. It just seems too risky, mainly because of the severe drop to 1.5 ohms. I would talk to Marantz tech support before attempting to use a pair of LM1’s on the center channel.

I would definitely use a single LM1 for the center, as this will give you a perfect timbre match throughout the entire room.

If your dialogue alone is hard to understand it may be more of a "lip sync" issue. Try closing your eyes and if the dialogue is now understandable then its a lip sync issue. I know it seems crazy to try but if your lip sync is not adjusted correctly than your brain has a harder time with understanding the dialogue because the lips start moving before the corresponding sounds come out of the center.

If it is still an issue than pursue matching your front speakers.