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How much would be lost if........

I am thinking of integrating my HT and my stereo, I mean just using stereo speakers up front(NO center channel) and a set of surround speakers. I have a good sub also. I realize I will never be able to fully experience 5.1, dts, etc but is pro logic that bad? can I have seperate L and R surrounds with this set up or is it one signal that will be sent to them? My speakers are very holographic and tend to create a center channel when listening to music, also the company who makes them does not make a center(I use avalon acoustic eclipse just for the record). My other option would be to seperate the two systems and use much cheaper speakers in the HT. So I guess my question is: do I really need a center channel to have a good HT set up? any further questions/coments are welcome. Thank you for any help, Tim.
tireguy
leafs
414 posts
 
Do two seperate rooms.When you put a TV in the middle your system wont image properly.Thats why you need a center channel.I have been fortunate enough to do both.
tireguy OP
1,964 posts
 
I also have a 100in projection screen so I don't think that it will interfer with the imaging, sorry I forgot that.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Tireguy- I wouldn't recommend it. There is a significant step up for 5.1, and the center channel is important for holding dialog centered and for intelligibility. Not sure how you would get the surround L&R out w/o a pro-logic decoder and then the center channel info would be missing. The L&R have very little info on most pro-logic soundtracks. The center is not just a summed mono signal. In pro-logic, the surrounds are a limited bandwidth mono signal. In 5.1, they are full range, stereo. Also there is a dedicated LFE channel for subwoofer. Furthermore, I think you can get buy with a lower quality speaker for HT, since you are not critically listening to the soundtrack; the medium is primarily visual, after all. Just my $0.2.
perfectimage
406 posts
 
I personally have never found a center channel speaker that I like and have never used one. I pefer it with out one. Dolby digital is of course better then dolby prologic but i have found that a great pro logic pre amp like the Lexicon cp-3 is much better then a cheap 5.1 decoder. There is so much more to sound quality then seperation.

delancey
47 posts
 
I might restate your question. Instead of asking can I have a good HT without a CH, maybe it should be can I have a good two channel system with HT? In my experience the answer to both of these questions is yes, but it will cost you big bucks.

I unfortunately don't have the room for two systems so I had to combine. I have Magnepan 3.6's and don't use a center channel, but in order to do this properly you need a processor that can allow a phantom center with depth, volume, and placement adjustments. I went with the Meridian 568 and it works great, but I could probably get equally good sound with a lesser system in a seperate room.

The two channel stuff is more complicated. I needed to deal with the TV in the center (which you don't have), seperate power supplies for the TV, DVD, and processor, two channel preamp with theater loop etc. The simple answer is use two rooms, but you can do it all in one with some work.
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