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Most likely not...

152.3.0.7

Posted by Some Guy on May 6, 2003 at 05:29:24

In Reply to: Is "proper" center speaker better than normal speaker? posted by Audio Nirvana on May 5, 2003 at 21:41:55:

True, many people site the fact that dialogue and other parts of the mix are pushed into the center channel, thus making this channel 'more important' than the rest. Naturally, this requires a 'better speaker'... and what could make a speaker better than more drivers?

By most reports, however, the typical center channel speaker (a horizontally oriented speaker with 2 mid-woofers and tweeter/s) is not sonically well suited for the purpose for which it is "designed".

One of the main things for which speaker designers criticize it is that laying the speaker on its side tends to cause the sound to radiate vertically better than horizontally. Most feel that it is simply a cosmetic design made to sit on top of an entertainment system better. This is backed up by some general speaker design guidelines that specify minimizing the front baffle to reduce diffraction and extraneous vibration. That and the simple fact that having more drivers will not make a speaker sound better.

These same people generally suggest that you use three identical speakers across the front rather than two mains and a unique center channel: the sound is supposed to be more balanced and to have fewer dropouts due to different speaker characteristics (frequency range, efficiency, etc). Given the fact that more and more HT receivers are using 5-7 separate and identical amps to supply power to each channel, this latter opinion seems to hold more water with me.

Honestly, there are probably some great dedicated center channel speakers out there that match up with other speakers fine. For my money, though, if a speaker is good enough for the right or left channel, it's going be just as good for the center. What I'd suggest is get an identical speaker to your mains for use as the center. If you do go with a "proper" center channel, I'd suggest trying out a few different ones to see if they match up with what you've got now.

Hope that helps!

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