What is the Current Guidance on Stereo and AV Configurations

The one bit that I’m chewing on is that the AV Receiver is heavily underutilized if it’s only driving the center speaker. So, I looked at monoblocks but that just adds so many pieces to the solution.

You need the AVR both to do the processing for the L/C/R channels and to amplify the center speaker. If using a monoblock amp you’d still need an A/V processor so would require two additional boxes (and added expense). Your simplest/easiest solution is to just add an AVR if you want to use a center speaker. You never mentioned what model Naim amp you have or if it has a HT bypass — does it?

Hi OP,

Sorry for just now jumping in here. I think there’s at least a small part here I can help you with:

2. How much of a difference does a center channel make for video?

My first real jobs were centered around motion picture sound systems, and I recently built my second center channel speaker.

If all you are asking is whether you should go from 2.0 to 3.0 I’d say no, with some caveats. Originally center speakers in theaters were needed because of the wide variety of listening positions. Customers could be very close to the screen but at extreme left or right angles. Among the goals of Dolby Surround (later called ProLogic and then again Dolby Surround for homes) was making sure the dialogue and center effects stayed in the center, in addition to adding surround effects tracks.

Along the same lines of thinking, I recommend a center as important when you have a variety of seating positions (which I do) and your screen is particularly large / speakers are very far apart relative to the screen.

I watch a lot of Netflix as well as Amazon prime and DVD/BD movies. One weird artifact of switching among these services is I discovered that my Anthem MRX 540 absolutely will NOT use the center channel for 2.0 Dolby Digital signals, and there are a lot of Netflix foreign series encoded like this. It DOES use the center for 2.0 PCM / non DD however, which most other streaming services have. Anyway, point is, despite my best efforts as I switch around from Netflix and Amazon sometimes the center is working and sometimes it is not and I can’t really hear a difference unless I’m off axis.

In your case, without an integrated capable of HT bypass I’d say absolutely not worth it.

SOIX - don't worry about my existing setup. I'm evaluating where I need to go. This is line of thinking was started when I started to investigate 2-box solutions (like those from Primare) or a 3-box solution (NAD pre and amp paired with a Marantz).

Actually, this really started with the wife and I struggling with dialogue in Netflix, Amazon, etc. and wondering if a center channel would help.

Erik_Squires - This is hugely helpful. Thank you.

@kaizen28 I just deleted a lengthy post to share two thoughts, maybe three (Edit: or four).
1. You should purchase a new AV receiver, and it doesn’t have to have a preout, which will save you a lot of money. Use the Naim RCA sub/preouts as an AUX input to the AV receiver . . . if you also
2. Make sure your new receiver has the equivalent of Sony’s ‘Pure Direct’ mode that can be easily switched on/off (Sony puts a button on the remote). The Pure Direct feature and its imitators (or Sony imitated others, I’m not sure) allows the original signal through without any additional processing, stereo is stereo, not multichannel stereo. On my system it really cleans up the signal; output to the center, satellite, and subwoofer speakers are dropped completely out.
3. Add one or more subs, driven by the AV receiver. At least one manufacturer makes speakers that accept both the speaker output of an amp passively, and the sub-out signal into an integral plate amp actively. This would save you from having to add additional boxes to get Low Frequency Effects (LFE) for life-like movie sound. You could hold off on this development if . . .
4. You find you prefer how your speakers sound as driven by the Naim, in which case my suggestion won’t work for you. My suggestion depends on preference for the speakers driven by the AV receiver. In my case, the much newer, much cheaper, Sony AV receiver bettered my older McIntosh stereo amps configured as monoblocks, even when driven by a top-of-line Rogue tube preamp, but only in Pure Direct mode. Not what I expected, but I’m learning to trust my ears. Your mileage may vary.

Note: Using the Naim as a preamp would mean having two volume controls in series. I have found, in this situation, it is best to ‘fix’ the first volume control at maximum (100%) and control the speakers only with the last volume control in the chain, in this case, the AV receiver.

As stated at the top, there are many ways to skin this cat (AV receiver + 2 channel sound), and many, if not most, of the posters to this thread have far more experience and knowledge than I do. I’m simply sharing a strategy and its components that have worked for me.

I have a dual HT/2.2 system running eARC from a Sony Bravia OLED to a Marantz SR8015 AVR, Parasound P5 preamp, B&K Sonata amp (mains) and Adcom GFA6000 for the center and rear Energy surround speakers (Rythmik F12G main sub up front and small M&K K-10 in an opposite corner).  Quick thoughts:

1.  I recently went BACK to a center channel after using phantom mode for a couple years.  The center speaker definitely makes a difference for HT applications and I've determined that I like it much better.  Dialog is definitely sharper.

2.  Yes, matching the center speaker to your mains is clearly preferable, but not entirely necessary.  IMO, one of the most important things is to NOT buy a two-way center speaker with the standard MTM (midrange/tweeter/midrange) configuration.  Find a decent 3-way speaker.  I stumbled onto a low-cost Elac 3-way center channel speaker that matches very, very well with my Magnepan MMG mains and was very inexpensive.  In fact, I like the sound of it better than the Magnepan MMG-C center speaker I used to have (and sold....).

3.  HT bypass on a preamp/integrated for a system that is 80% HT is pretty much a "must have".  Make life easier for yourself and make sure your new component has it.  

FWIW.