Anyone going Phantom Center Channel?


Just wondering if anyone out there is skipping the center channel and running in phantom? I have a pair of A-1 soundlabs with pretty big soundstage and dispersion and am thinking of just running rear surround for when I watch movies and skipping the center channel. Anyone out there doing this?
lance_s
I've tried it and it works OK. Dialogue is not as focused as with a dedicated center channel.
I think with your speakers and if you are seated centered between the speakers then you will probably find the phantom works as well as having a center. It will be virtually impossible to get a center to match to the A-1. I did the same thing with Martin Logan Monoliths, but part of the reason was I did not want to corrupt the soundstage for 2 channel listening with a center channel right in the middle of the soundstage.
i did the Phantom center in my room and loved it. i think the effectivness of the Phantom center depends on how optimized your room is for 2-channels. if you already have excellent center fill and depth then any center channel speaker will likely detract from the 2-channel performance and not contribute much for multichannel music performance. if you primarily watch movies then i would go for a center channel as dialog benefits from it.

how are you doing the center channel electronics? does your multi-channel preamp have that capability?