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Best center channel to go with my Kg3.2s in a 5.1 setup


mspa

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Hey guys,

I have a pair of Kg3.2's in oiled oak that are up front in my 5.1 setup with a Yamaha RX-V665. I used to have these as speaker B along with my JBL SCS 110 satellite speakers + subwoofer. This was too much to look at for my wife, so I moved the small JBL fronts to the rear and the Kg3.2's will do front duty . . . but I still have the small JBL center channel, which is or appears to be the exact same as the other fronts, which are now in the rear. Confused? I hope not :)

So my thoughts for a visually and sonically balanced setup are to find a Klipsch center channel in oiled oak that can stand/sit next to the tv cabinet my HD tv is sitting on. A key point I need to make is there is not enough room for a typical horizontal center channel to sit on the cabinet just below the tv. Plus the center between the fronts is to the side of the tv. Crazy, but this is the only way it all works in the wide room with fireplace.

Any thoughts?

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KV-2 or KV-3 will work good and I believe were available in oak finish.

Are you going to be mounting the center speaker vertically instead of horizintally? If so, I really wouldn't recommend a center speaker at all. Setting it vertically will completely throw off the dispersion of the sound into the room instead of anchoring the sound to the TV like its supposed to do.

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Hmmm. Bummer. I only have about 10-11 inches of width to fit a speaker, so maybe I need a different make? Maybe PSB alpha? I understand what you are saying, but I hope that somebody makes or made a center channel that will work. The small JBL is 6.5 inches wide, 4 inches high, 4.25 inches deep . . . it's not bad, but there has to be something in between that would sound better, right?

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Your KGs are very capable on their own. Getting a center speaker from a different company just to fit within limited and compromised space constraints probably isn't the answer. A center speaker isn't an absolute necessity in a home theater setup.

Try disabling the current center speaker you have and see how things sound with just your KGs. If you haven't already, toe the KG's in by angling them inward slightly towards your main listening position and see how it sounds. Klipsch speakers have incredible imaging and when set up properly you'll swear you have a center speaker hooked up every though there isn't one.

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After getting the main wiring hooked up last night to watch some tv, I was surprised at how well the Kg's did. As for not using a center channel, maybe I'm brainwashed . . . to have a 7.2 receiver and only using 4 speakers and sub seems like I'm wasting something . . . but as you say, the reality is whatever setup works for my space and sounds good should be my goal. I may try that out in the next few days. That is, without the center speaker. I haven't tried to use the YPAO microphone that came with the Yamaha to do the proper setup. I'll be curious to see how that effects things.

By the way, these Kg's have the Bob Crites titanium diaphragms, which I'm glad I got. I can only imagine how the BEC crossovers would help.

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I have a 7.1 receiver and am only using 4.1 channels. My current TV stand will not allow an Academy (the matching center speaker for Forte fronts) to fit inside it. With the Fortes toed in slightly the center imaging is dead-on perfect.

YPAO will help balance the output of all your speakers as well as adjust the signal going to each speaker as far as how far away each speaker is from your main listening position. My Marantz receiver has Audyssey which is similar to YPAO. I don't like using the EQ that it does to the speakers but I do use it to set up speaker distance and output.

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I had KG 3.2s in front with KV-2, the moved then 3.2s to the rear and put 5.2s up front. The KV-2 was kind of the weak link I thought with both the 5.2s and 3.2s so I started looking for a different center speaker and an Academy ended up following me home. That lead me to wondering what it would sound like with a pair of Forte IIs and then... You know how these stories go!!!

My long winded point is I really think if I'd had a better center channel I probably would have stayed with those KGs (or at least stayed with them longer, I really liked them). I sold the whole set of KGs/KV to a guy who also found the KV-2 lacking and ended up getting an Academy for a center but has kept the rest last I heard. I'm not saying find an Academy, but I would avoid the KV-2.

My suggestion would be a KG 2.2V center if shielding is an issue or a pair of KG 2.2s and just use one. The 2.2s came in oak oil and would match your 3.2s sound and finish perfectly. The 2.2V is just a regular 2.2 with bucking magnets on the woofers so you can place it by an old tube TV. Either speaker wouldn't matter if you used it horizontal or vertically so that is why I think either the 2.2V or 2.2 would be a good fit for your situation since space is limited vertically.

You could also find a pair of KG 2.5s or a KG 2.5V center which would also work for your situation but they came in light oak and medium oak so it wouldn't be a perfect match but close.

http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/kg-2-2v-specifications/

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Hmm. Seems like the 2.2 is the way to go. If the price was right, I'd certainly go ahead and get a pair, and just use one. There is a guy locally with a KT-LCR. I don't know yet if it's black, or oak, or . . . the specs on this site say it's THX certified. I don't have THX on my Yamaha, but I assume the certification would mean it is good?

BTW, I don't mind spending some time waiting for the right speaker to come along. I'm in no hurry and currently selling another piece of gear to help finance this move.

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Keep your eyes on the garage section here, ebay and craigslist and just be patient they come up from time to time.

Maybe when you've got your other gear sold put a WTB ad in the garage section of the forum and see if anyone is sitting on a pair they would part with. I've got a pair of 2.5s that I don't need but can't bring myself to sell. They are good little speakers, I really like them. If you bought a 2.2 center channel and another pair for surrounds with your 3.2s up front I think you'd really be happy with what you had, especially with a sub.

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I'm really happy with my 663. I'm thinking about the Emotiva UMC-1 pre/pro but really how much better will it be that what I have?

It will be better I'm sure but its the whole diminishing returns kind of thing. You spend a lot to get little gains. I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

I moved the rear Forte IIs out of the way in the rears and put the 2.5s on Bello speaker stands in their place. I'm listening to music with 7 channel enhancer (5 in my case) and those little 2.5s sound great. If another set popped up near me I'd buy them just to have them. Good sounding speakers, much better than a speaker of that size should sound.

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So did you make some change in the "7 channel enhancer"? I was wondering about that. It's the setting I keep my set on right now. Seems to sound the best. I do see that the display shows the correct 5.1 setup I have. I made the configuration changes, so that's probably why. I just wonder why they don't have a "5 channel enhancer". They must have known that some users will have a 5 speaker setup.

I may have to keep a look out for 2.5's as well as 2.2's. What's the big difference? I suppose I'll look it up and see. I have never looked into how the Kg series is numbered. I just figured that on my 3.2's, it means 3 speakers, with 2 active.

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So did you make some change in the "7 channel enhancer"? I was wondering about that. It's the setting I keep my set on right now. Seems to sound the best. I do see that the display shows the correct 5.1 setup I have. I made the configuration changes, so that's probably why. I just wonder why they don't have a "5 channel enhancer". They must have known that some users will have a 5 speaker setup. I may have to keep a look out for 2.5's as well as 2.2's. What's the big difference? I suppose I'll look it up and see. I have never looked into how the Kg series is numbered. I just figured that on my 3.2's, it means 3 speakers, with 2 active.

I don't know why they don't have a 5 channel enhancer but I figure when you do YPAO (Yamaha Room Correction System) it knows what you have for speakers and adjusts accordingly, Since its two channel stereo music I assume left is left and right is right and it just uses the YPAO to even out the sound levels between the speakers.

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