A center or rear speakers, what first?

[dtel]

I have 4 forte ll's and a sub,will get 2 more fortes later.

Would you take one of the fortes for a center and just hold on to the other extra forte, or go without a center and use them for rears.Then later when i get two more use one for front center and the other for rear center.

What do you think would sound best no center or no rears? 80% music 20% movies

[sunburnwilly]

The center is more important ...

[SCOOTERDOG]

I agree with sunburn but I will add that you could use a phantom center

(you should have this option on your av amp) and use the other 2 for

the rear. If I were in your position thats what I would do.

Now that I've said this here is what I would do. I would hook it up

with the front and rears and switch it to the phantom mode and listen

and watch a movie or two. The disconnect the rears and take one of them

and hook it up as the center and listen to them in a 3 channel mode.

See what you like best and go that way.

good luck and let us know what you decided and why.

scooter

[dtel]

Yes it does have phantom mode and that is what i thought i would use,I did that when i had the synergy center it sounded better going thru the mains,fortes than thru a smaller center.

The only reason i never tried both ways is because the rears will be hung off a rear beam.I was planing on making heavy metal brackets to hang the 3 rears and i never got off my butt and did it yet. But i will need them later anyway so i will make them and try both set ups, it's only a matter of time before i will need the brackets anyway. It just sounds strange with no rears, but also sounds very good with a matching center.

Before i got the last two fortes i had my synergy rears, they didn't match but it still sounded good.

I gave the 5 Synergys to a family friend for christmas for him to get started, he was very happy,he was told to join the forum and ask questions.

He will need a sub and receiver, i told him to read and ask questions here before buying . His house is a couple of weeks from being rebuilt from the storm, he lives in Longbeach Mississippi. I expect to see him around here in a couple weeks.

I did warn his wife i am not responsible for what will happen after he is addicted.

[rplace]

Center for sure. I would get a center for movies before I had L/R mains. BTW if you can swing it and end up with 3 Fortes up front you will absolutely love it. I ran Chorus/Forte/Chorus for a while and it was magic.

[dr-dezibel]

Move them to the rear and look to get another pair or single Forte soon.

You can simulate a center speaker but no rears.

[westcott]

Move them to the rear and look to get another pair or single Forte soon.

You can simulate a center speaker but no rears.

IMO, there is no substitute for a center channel. As said before, a great deal of information is generated by the center channel. It greatly improves the sound stage, and make your front speakers sound far more refined. The phantom center loses all effect when sitting anywhere but the primary listening position anyway. I spent a great deal of time testing different center and surround combinations and the center channel truly does make the most dramatic improvement, especially for home theater. When voices do not sound like their coming from the actors mouths on the big screen, it can be very distracting.

Happy New Year!