Best Center Speaker: Before you say Timbre...

[Bumpin_on_Sunset]

...my mains and surrounds are Silverline Audio Speakers. Panatellas in the front, SR11's in the back. Great speakers!!! Unfortunately the Center Stage is $1200, which is about $700 more than I want to spend on the center speaker. Further, the size of the Center Stage is an issue; it simply will not fit in my asian-style TV cabinet. I'm currently using a Canton Karat center, but was wondering if maybe there was something else out there that works better. Recommendations?

Thanks for the input.

[Woochifer]

Maybe you should try your system with the center speaker switched off. In many cases, the center speaker does not match properly such that in my listenings, it's actually preferable to go without a center speaker altogether. Unless you can find something that provides a reasonably decent timbre match, the center speaker will basically call attention to itself in a negative manner. Timbre matching is about matching the tonal characteristics, not about brand matching. Typically, center speakers from the same line will provide the best odds of a decent match, but there's no reason why a center speaker from a different company won't work equally well or better. It's just that the odds aren't quite as good that this will be the case.

In your case, there's no guarantee that the Silverline center speaker will match properly anyway, especially if you plan to put the thing inside an enclosed cabinet. If you're set on placing the center speaker inside of a cabinet, then the odds of a good timbre match are slim even with the matching center speaker. Anytime you enclose a speaker inside another enclosure, you change the timbral characteristics of the speaker and create other problems because of resonance from the external cabinet.

You might want to try borrowing the Silverline center speaker and install it into your system and see how much it improves upon your existing setup. If you like the match, then you should try out the Silverline center speaker against others and see which one approximates the Silverline the best (NOT which one sounds best by itself, since the quality of the center channel reproduction depends on how well it matches the mains).