Ultimate center speaker in a small HT set up?

Morgan, I found one of the biggest improvements to my HT system came when I timbre-matched all of my speakers. I have Gallo Ref. 3.1s for front L/R, Gallo Ref. AV Center, and Ref. AV surrounds. The coherence of the soundfield was greatly improved when I did this. This is not a subtle improvement.

When I saw you had the Stradas, I thought great, just get some more Stradas and you're done. This would have made for an excellent system that should work very well in that small room. But now that you've ordered the MAs, I guess you might as well go ahead and replace the Stradas with some MAs....

-RW-

Magico produce the SSC centre channel which is designed to be a perfect match with the S Series speakers, but due to its overall overall neutrality and resolution, it should partner well in any high end home theater using dynamic speakers.

I agreee with RW. My front three Coincidents are perfectly matched at identical height and amplification. The sound field is seamless. Don't mix and match.

Gonna throw the cat among the pigeons now...

That's exactly what happens to the sound when you start mixing speakers in a HT system. Doesn't it make better sense for the birds to fly together as in a formation?

Now, I am aware that the front three speakers should timbre match, but is it really so important?

Not just the front speakers, this is important for all speakers. A sound may move throughout the room in anyway imaginable, or be fixed at any place in the room, therefore any two or more speakers may be used to create the sound. Looking at the picture in Matching Front and Surround Speakers, it is obvious that the jet would sound exactly the same, front or rear in the room, with all identical speakers. Now, what if that jet moves left to right across the front. Again, the front 3 speakers should be identical. Using different speakers will NOT give you a seamless blend from one speaker to another.

Run the test tone around the room, and listen for the difference in the character of the sound. The greater the difference in the sound means the greater the speakers are mismatched. Timbre matched speakers should sound very close, however, all identical speakers will sound exactly the same. The ultimate sweet sound for a HT system is to use all identical speakers.

If you want to improve the performance of your HT system, there is some good information in this article, especially the last comment.

Greetings Tls 49,

I just wanted to thank you for your comprehensive reply and very good advice.
Thank you for making the time.

Cheers,
Morgan.