Does a center channel have to match the right and left front speakers?

Mike Gillespie

New Member
Jan 19, 2011
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I have Dynaudio Confidence 1 speakers on the left and right. The Dynaudio’s have an Esotec tweeter. For music listening I’ll just use the right and left channels, but for watching movies, I’m going to add a center channel speaker. To maintain good sound for watching movies, is it best to only get a Dynaudio speaker that has the same tweeter. Or can I get a less expensive but good center from another manufacturer who doesn’t use that particular tweeter and still good good quality sound without the tweeters mixing badly (which is what the Dyn dealers tell me but of course that's in their interest)?
 

RBFC

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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www.fightingconcepts.com
Hi, Mike. Movie soundtracks use the center channel heavily, so using a quality center channel speaker will result in a better movie experience. Consistency among the speakers used for the "front soundstage" has been said to provide a more seamless wall of sound. If you end up listening to any multi-channel music, as many audiophile home theater owners do, having a matched center channel is a plus. Of course, if you can get a home audition of a speaker under consideration, you can decide if you need the matching tweeter, etc.

Lee
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Hi Mike,

I'm of two minds about this. Ideally yes I believe the center channel should match the right and left channels, the surrounds and subwoofer integration too. It makes for a sound field that has the potential for seamlessness which to me just means less distraction from what we should be really paying attention to.....the story.

Having said that, seamlessness means nothing if whatever center one is using has one straining to understand the dialog. From this perspective the tweeter is much less important to me than the amount of midrange information that it can deliver. So my answer is a giant "It depends".

I've had HTs that had matching and non matching centers, the most extreme "mismatches" being planars for L and R and a box MTM center. In this set up, sure the little MTM had its box colorations but we never had trouble appreciating the movies watched. These days our HT have matched Fronts and Center down to the binding posts. My center uses the exact drivers and is essentially my fronts on its side less of course a whole lot of the cabinet volume hence less bass extension. While I now get a seamless wall of sound that is in perfect scale with the 100" screen and I can say that it truly does enhance the enjoyment. I would be lying if I said that it even came close to eclipsing the visual component of the movie experience.

When it comes to multichannel LISTENING however, I would say that a non-matching center is simply unacceptable to me.

Just my 2 cents.

Jack
 

Mike Gillespie

New Member
Jan 19, 2011
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Thanks to both Lee and Jack for the very helpful information. I'll look for a Dynaudio Center with an Esotec tweeter because I'll probably want to listen to multichannel audio in the future and that's my only place. Mike
 

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