Is a centre speaker necessary for optimum surround sound which is used for listening to music only? My surround sound system is in a different room from my home theatre, therefore the music room audio system is not concerned with localising centre position for actors in movies.
However, it may be that to provide a complete surroud sound spectrum it is necessary to include a centre speaker in the system.
I guess currently the centre speaker is "ghosting" in the 5.1 setup.
The phantom center can certainly be okay for surround music (you must have the center turned off in the player set up). Now, in my opinion, and depending on the music room (speaker set up) size, a center speaker will create a more definite location (for center specific sounds) if you have more than a couple of people listening - that means not all can share the optimum listening position where center imaging is at its best. Others opinions may differ.
Thankyou My Rantz for your information. I am currently deliberating whether to buy a ( JAMO ) centre speaker to hopefully upgrade my music- only surround sound system. It may be that the connecting of a new centre speaker is actually indiscernable in the total surround sound produced. (I fully realise that in a DVD surround sound setup, it is absolutely necessary to have a centre speaker.)
My dilemma is: do I spend big money for small gain?
Usually,in my home situation, I am the only person listening to surround sound (and the only person who is interested enough to do so)thus other listeners are not a consideration.
My suggestion is to try for a home trial or a money back purchase if you are not satisfied. A good dealer should be willing to help you with this. Also, I assume your other speakers (or mains) are Jamo speakers as well - because timbre matching across the front speakers is preferrable for seemless sound reproduction.
I've had my PSB Image center and using it with SACD an DVDA for a while now. I can say that it does make a difference if you're using mulitchannel audio streams. In all of my multichannel CD's, the vocals come out exclusively to the center.
now if you'r enot using multichannel audio, then buying an expensive center seems odd at best.