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Zing's New (Mismatched) Center Channel

Zing

Retired Admin
Superstar
Conventional wisdom around here is that, ideally, all three front speakers be identical. It makes sense. And when I bought my Swan speakers, Jon Lane at The Audio Insider was kind enough to break up a pair and sell me an individual third speaker. So for the past 6 years, I've been enjoying the virtues of 3 Swan D2.1SE speakers for my front stage.

As you likely know, I've been in love with the Swans since I first heard them at Craigsub's GTG in '08 (and subsequently bought my own in '09). I've never kept a pair of speakers this long. In the past, I would upgrade speakers every year or two. But I have been so enamored with the Swans, there was just no point. Why get rid of something you're incredibly happy with?

For the last year or two, the upgrade bug has been nibbling on me but I kept fighting it off with "Why? You're happy with the Swans. Don't mess with it." Plus, I told myself long ago "No more upgrades until the room gets remodeled." Yeah, you know how that goes.

So recently, Batman mentioned that Dynaudio was discontinuing its Focus line. Well, one thing that's been nagging at me was my center channel. Yes, it matched the mains but the Swans aren't terribly efficient and I tend to boost the volume a bit. While I'm on board with three identical speakers up front, I do believe the output of the Swan as a center was not ideal, at least not in my room/setup. Plus, I've been wanting to lower my screen a little bit but couldn't because of the vertical center. So I struck while the iron was hot and got myself a Dynaudio Focus 210C before they were gone.


I'm not at all concerned with off axis lobing because my room is so narrow. The center speaker is 11 feet away from the seating and even the outside seats aren't more than 10-15 degrees off its axis. It just simply isn't a factor for me. However, the 210C is gobs more efficient and has significantly more output and it's those things that are factors for me.

So far, I've listened to a few multichannel discs and if I had been blindfolded, I wouldn't have known there was a mismatched speaker in between the mains.

I'm happy.
 
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Nice! Yeah considering, from what I understand, that the center channel is mainly dialog in movies, and is often un- or under-used in surround music, it makes sense that a different brand/model of speaker as the center could mesh well with the rest of the system. I look forward to hearing this in person at some point. ;)
 
That should be fine. I run a Martin Logan Cinema center with Klipsch Jubilee mains and it sounds great to me.
 
Agree 100% with what Pauly said.
But, it looks like Satan, or Hellboy, is Angry and is ready to snatch your center channel speaker away from you, hopefully He brings you back a nice Monitor Audio CC, or Bose, or something.
 
Well, I learned something else about this hobby a long time ago. I enjoy all the technical stuff and striving to get the best sound through acoustical treatments etc.

But, there is something else. Do you enjoy it and do you like it? If you like your system and you are happy with it, then who cares if one or more speakers is mismatched.

I have been running Def Tech bipolar surrounds with Klipsch up front, 2 pretty large mains and a horizontal center. I enjoy the shit out of it and have for a long time.
 
Nice speaker bro! Now buy two more for the left and right so they all match. :)
 
I may have neglected to mention that my mismatched front stage is not because of the Dynaudio center channel and Swan mains but because of the Focus 210C center and the brand spankin' new Contour S 3.4 LE mains.

51069157922_57cc7f2d46_c.jpg




:happy-smileygiantred:
 
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Thanks, boys!


PaulyT said:
I look forward to hearing this in person at some point.
Just let me know when you've got the time. You're always welcome. Bring your RTA setup.



AndySTL said:
Do the LE contours have the esotec or the esotar2 tweeter?
I do not believe it's the Esotar2. There was one review that mentioned them sporting that tweeter but I think it was an assumption. Dynaudio's own website makes no mention of it.
 
Dawg! You suck!

:text-bravo: :text-bravo: :text-bravo: :text-bravo: :text-bravo:
 
Your new CC sucks.
Your new towers suck.
Your whole front stage sucks.
Your life sucks.

Frankly sir... YOU suck!!!!
 
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