Quote:
Originally posted by Jeff Mackwood:
Innovator,

Maybe I'm missing something with your post, but I don't follow whatever it is that you are trying to say.

You want to listen to "stereo" music, without a centre channel, but with surrounds on? To my mind "stereo" is a left and a right front speaker - nothing else.

In that case an answer to your question is: it depends. It depends on your room layout, speaker separation, source material, etc. I've found that with speakers set pretty far apart, having a centre mono speaker "fills a gap" in the sound - rather than reducing stereo separation.

But it's your system - and your listening experience. So do whatever sounds best to you. Nothing that you do will be "wrong" - so long as you enjoy it. (To paraphrase the greatest Canadian Prime Minister ever: "What goes on in the home theatres of the Nation is nobody else's business.")

As for the "one button" solution: having a separate centre channel amp with power button within reach would work.

Regards.

Jeff Mackwood
Ottawa


Overall, the sound quality is superb, and I most definitely feel I got more than my monies worth, but there are a few things that could have been a little better thought out in versatile functionality.

I want the side and rear to produce the same sounds as the front, without the use of the center channel. I do want the subwoofer on, but in 5 and more so in 7 channel stereo mode, the subwoofer becomes overbearing, requiring a 4 db reduction to sound balanced. My room is 40X30/

I have an Outlaw M block for the center channel right now, but no button to turn it off with, even in the front of it. That would have be a good idea.

My side surrounds become too loud in the 7 channel mode, so I usually use the 5 channel mode for music. The NEO modes are next to useless for my tastes. Does anybody actually use them on a regular basis? I think not having identical amps is causing me a bit of a problem. Their volume levels don't rise proportionately, causing improper surround levels a various decibel levels.


My old Pioneer D1S surround reciever had the center on or off feature, as well as narrow, wide and phantom available from the remote and main unit. Still, most of these are minor in the scheme of things when you consider all the pluses with the 950.

I wonder if a different chip could be designed to add features in the future. I’d be more than willing to pay for such an upgrade ;-)




[This message has been edited by Innovator (edited December 14, 2003).]