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Matching the center channel to the fronts

OK, I know it is ideal to match the center channel to the fronts, but I am constrained by the fact that my TV stand will only accomodate a center channel that is approximately 19 1/4" wide. This severely limits my choices when it comes to the fronts which I am thinking about purchasing. With each brand, I would have to drop down a class to get a center channel which fits.

So the question is: should I just drop down a class in the fronts as well, in order to get timbre matched speakers (i.e. get the Focal Chorus instead of the Cobalt with Chorus center or the Dynaudio Audience 42C with the 72 instead of the Focus 200 and audience 42C)?

Or should I go with the higher grade fronts, especially since I plan to use it 70% music and 30% HT (and I do more critical listening with music as opposed to movie soundtracks).
rs691919
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
If your seating position is mainly for yourself and rarely a crowd...then by positioning your seat directly in front you can do without a center channel...just get bigger fronts and phantom the center to both fronts and keep fronts relatively close together relative to your seated position (a distance of 1.5 times speaker spacing is often good)

Center channels are over rated IMHO - they rarely sound as good as main speakers unless they are, in fact, another main speaker and in which case they get in the way of the TV
rottweiler
21 posts
 
If you were to go with a phantom center, would you deactivate the center channel from the receiver/processor?
steuspeed's avatar
steuspeed
501 posts
 
Shadorne makes an excellent suggestion. There are threads that discuss the topic of "no center channel" in more depth. Check them out. If you are primarily interested in 2-channel then moving up the line for your R/L speakers makes sense. You can always add a center channel down the road if you really feel you are missing something. Four really good matched speakers will probably outperform a mixture of five.
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