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Center Speaker matching Front Speakers

My HT is 5.1 setup.
My sitting room is 14LX12Bx8H (normal English home). I have 2XIMF TLS 80 Transmission Line Speakers ( about 1976), Onkyo TX-NR609 Receiver, small 1XYamaha Front and 2Xsmall Yamaha Rear speakers. I have a small Yamaha Sub but I do not use it.
Reading various posts, center speaker should be matched with the 2 front speakers. I feel my center is ok but not as good as I would like it to be.
How do I go about finding a center speaker that will match with the fronts with spec as this:STUDIO TLS 80

Dimensions
Free Standing with Plinth; 38 1/2" x 16" x 18" wide

Drive Units
Bass unit 11 3/4" x 8 1/4" flat polystyrene diaphragm loaded by transmission line
mid range unit 6" plastic cone containing in separate line
tweeter 1 3/4 " diaphragm
3/4" chemical dome super-tweeter

Crossover
Electrical four way at 375 Hz , 3.5 kHz and 15 Khz

Frequency Range
20 Hz to beyong audibility

Matching Impedence
4 - 8 ohms (see graph)

Efficiency Measured via Pink Noise at 1 metre on axis for 40 watts
96dB

Driving Power Requirements
40 - 80 watts
I would be grateful for any suggestions.
Regards
wtaylorbasil
wtaylorbasil OP
1 posts
 
Hi auxinput,
Shame I had 2 TLS50s and got rid of them when I upgraded to TLS80s. I did not realise that center speakers need to have such high spec. Only now after reading posts I was made aware of it. Space would be an issue as wife has allowed these TLS80s after much negotiations!
I will have to look at much smaller units with enough spec to match the TLS80s. If you have other smaller recommendations I look forward to it.
Thanks
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 
I agree that a single TLS50 or TLS80 would be a good choice if you have space, however, any Klipsch speaker will not be a good match. The TLS80 is a transmission line speaker and not horn loaded. That 96db spec or 98db (what I found in an old brochure) is at 40 watts. The spec for 1 watt will be ~83db, so the high sensitivity of Klipsch speakers will be a huge mismatch. Getting the closest timbre match will be just a matter of trying different speakers. You might try listening to various pairs of speakers in retail locations and when you find something that sounds similar to the TLS80’s, buy a matching center for those.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Yeah, it's entirely possible that the receiver will not be able to correct for a 13db variation between center and left/right.  Good catch.
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