Center channel "pair" question...

[Tahoe Gator]

okay, I am at whits end to finding a clean center channel solution. I can't do ceiling for reasons not worth mentioning (where the rest of the speakers are) and I personally don't like the look of a singe speaker sitting atop or below the screen -- breaks the nice clean picture frame outline of the plasma screen. An in-wall solution won't work due to the framing design behind the drywall. So, I'm thinking of using two, yes two, speakers for a center channel, one small one on each side of the screen (the plasma sits just above a fireplace mantle, so they can sit on it fairly unobtrusively). I can serial connect two 4 ohm speakers to create an 8 ohm load (though my NAD amp can run 4 ohm or lower no problem, presume I should keep ohms similar to other speakers?). I realize that this is less than ideal, but I've decided the "phantom" center speaker setup is not cutting it and this seems to be the best compromise of aesthetics and function ... all that said, is it a stupid idea or reasonably sensible? Thanks!

[kexodusc]

It's not a stupid idea at all. But it might not be optimal for you for the same reason most horizontal woofer-tweeter-woofer center channel speakers aren't the best solution for center channels.

If you generally listen from the sweet spot (or within a 6 inches or so one way or the other) you should be okay. Getting off-axis 15 degrees or more can really cause some lobbing problems though, and it's likely that you'll tend to hear 1 speaker over the other, so the center would be skewed to the side closest to you. Depending of course how close to the TV the center speakers are. The result is bad sound further off axis you go.

If you don't suspect this to be a problem for you, or you don't care about people outside the sweet spot area and your amp is up to the task - it's actually not a bad way to go. I've met a few bachelors who do this very setup and swear by it.

In my honest opinion though, because of the added costs and off-axis complexities, why not just run your front mains in "phantom" center mode...It's basically the same thing, only a few hundred bucks cheaper. The off-axis problems are more obvious, but you save a ton of cash which is always a good thing IMO. 2 more speakers is a pile of money for the marginal benefit of the center channel - I'll leave it to you to decide, but just be sure it's the best place to upgrade your system.

[bjornb17]

Using two speakers on 1 channel certainly will work.

I have 2 speakers on each of my 2 surround channels, so thats 4 speakers on two channels.

my amp can't handle 4 ohms, so i connected two 8 ohm speakers in series and it works just fine. Atleast for surround channels, its not a big deal since they arent hugely used speakers, but I imagine it will work for a center channel if your amp is up to it :)

[cjtalbot]

Magnepan MMGW pair on either side of the plasma.

Check out the Magnepan site, they rec using the pair of MMGW for exactly this.

[swgiust]

based on the way most centers are made, wouldn't it make more sense to put
one on top and one on bottom? my guess is that 2 on the side will not
sound that good.