Speaker Asylum

Posted by R. Hertz on April 21, 2001 at 11:03:28

In Reply to: DIY Center channel posted by Oscar on April 20, 2001 at 21:59:31:

It's desirable for the center channel to have the same timbre as the left/right channels so you should use drivers from the same manufacturer. I'd say 6" woofers should be adequate but if you can fit 8-inchers, why not? But if you go with 8", I would use a three-way design. In fact, if your design is in the MTM configuration and the center is on its side, then definitely use a three-way even if you stick with 6" woofers. MTM's have very poor dispersion when used this way and a three-way with the tweeter above the mid, flanked by the two woofers, would be a very desirable alternative. The drawback of course is three-ways are a bigger design headache. As far as your decision to use the center full-range, I'd experiment and see what sounds best to you. I do have a question about "blowing out" your old center with too much amplification. Usually, it's just the opposite. Amps blow speakers when they're driven into clipping and the resulting distortion fries the voice coils. Usually the tweeter goes first, but I have the distinction of blowing woofers too.