what do you all think of using the phantom mode and no center channel??

Thanks Wayne.

While I had heard of D'Appolito before, I must confess that I did not specifically connect him with what I am doing.

I must also confess that while the success with the 1020s is what pushed me to stack the 1030s, and while I had thought of trying something like it for at least a couple of years, it was a recent ad by RBH Sound showing their modular stackable T Series of speakers that was the final push I needed. But then again, maybe it was the brunette in the ad as well! (And is that a grill cloth dress she's wearing?)

Regards.

Jeff Mackwood

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Wayne:

I am afraid I have to disagree with a portion of your last post. While it may be true generally, I know that it was not true in my particular case.

I ran my home theater system for over a decade using phantom mode and no center channel speaker. I started on a Yamaha in the days of Dolby Prologic and a 1050 for DD 5.1. I attribute this to the superior imaging and sound stage that my old Dahlquist DQ-10's provided. I never had problems being able to isolate the dialog. Almost without regard to seating position, I was still able to point to the speaker. This included mono sound sources like newscasts. My sense is that others with excellent imaging speakers could also achieve the same result.

I would like to point out that when I switched to NHT speakers, I purchased a matching NHT center that pretty much conforms to your recommendations except that I have the center setup horizontally. What I have noticed is an increase in the dynamics and sound intensity by switching but this could easily be a function of the efficiency difference between the DQ-10's and the NHTs and the additional amplification the center is now getting. FWIW I have not noted the lobing but then I wasn't doing critical listening in an off center position. I will try to see if I notice it.

I had a session with Gladiator and Zorro in DD, and used the Night Mode as suggested by "sfw". It worked very well - particularly Gladiator! Surround was still excellent but the levels were not as extreme. I could hear ALL the dialogue, yet the effects were still "thunderous" but just not as loud. I have to say, this worked great for me. I don't think I lost any surround quality. I'll keep working with this. Try it.