Phantom Center. Opinion, Good or Bad?

[sire]

I once experimented using a phantom center when I first purchased my RB-5s. Just was not quite as clear in the vocals without another Rb-5 as a center. This worked great until I purchased my Fortes.

Even doing the level check with my speakers you can tell a timbre difference with the Forte mains and rb-5 center. I changed my setup to a phantom center and the quality seems pretty good at the moment.

The sweet spot only has room for one chair and that is mine.

I am pondering now if I really need a center. Would make life easier when I get my DLP in the fall. Won't have t worry with large center speaker location.

Is there anyone running their system without a center by choice. Pros, Cons??

Mike

[Cornwalled]

Hey Mike,

I had been running my system with phantom center when I got my Cornwalls but found that I didn't get as nice of a center image as when I had a separate center. It allows the mains (and daialogue) to be clearer since they have their own discrete speaker (and more importantly location) to come from. Even though it's not a matching center to the Corns, my Radia is still MUCH better than no center at all.

Good luck,

Jon

[Olorin]

In my case, the answer is "It depends."

I ran my Heresies with no center for a long time, and was very happy with it. Voices always seemed to be coming from the TV, sounds from the sides came from the sides, and sounds that were supposed to pan across the front panned across the front. Then I got an Academy, but I couldn't stand the timbre mismatch even a little. I put the Academy in the closet, and didn't really feel like I was missing anything by using the Heresies by themselves.

Then I was fortunate enough to have some Fortes come up nearby, so I bought them. I continued to run them with the phantom center, and I continued to feel that I really wasn't missing anything.

Then I moved, and the new house has a room that my toys can have all to themselves. I hooked up the Academy, and relegated the Heresies to surround duties. I would describe the move from phantom center to dedicated center as "incremental." It helps, but it's not a jaw-dropping change. It may be important to note that my room is quite small, and the difference might be larger if the room were larger. My impression, though, is that having speakers in the rear corners made a bigger difference than having a speaker at the front center. The timbre match between the Heresies and the Fortes is poor (just like the match between the Heresies and the Academy,) but since they are "only" surrounds, it's something I can live with until I can do better.

[dr-dezibel]

sire,

you're very smart to use the phantom mode instead of running a mismatched center. For me the phantom center works very well.

See my thread "ht without center" for further opinions.

http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=50080&forumID=69&catID=19&search=1&searchstring=&sessionID={370C8D49-113C-42FF-BF87-9EED03DD2A08}

[colterphoto1]

Hello Jon (Cornwalled)

IMHO, Please check out your system with an RC7 as soon as possible. It ROCKS with the Cornwall! Others would of course suggest you stay with the Heritage line with a single center Cornwall or Heresy. That is your choice, but getting a center cabinet that can keep up with the mighty Corns is indeed a challenge!