Hello Outlaws,
So I, like may others it seems, have been lusting after, and finaly have the opportunity to purchase the 950!
What I would like to do is use Paradigm Studio 60's for the right and left and instead of a center channel use two studio 20's (right and left). Can I split the signal from the 950 to two 200's for the 20's? Secondly should I use the 5 channel 755 amp or 200's all 'round ( I will be using Paradigm ADPs for the rear 4 speakers).

Thank you in advance for your replies and suggestions. This forum has been an amazing source of info for the last six months or so.

A few thoughts:

1) Nice speakers. I'm running version 2 Studio 60's, Studio CC, and Studio ADP's with an Outlaw 950/750 and have really liked the combination.

2) You can split the signal (pick up a splitter from Radio Shack) without much trouble, but the Studio center is a great speaker. What sort of video display are you working with? If it's a projection screen, a single Studio 60 might actually be better than the pair of 20's. I guess what I'm saying is that you can use a pair of 20's for the center but you may not need to -- a Studio CC or a single Studio 60 might work as well (or there may be a really compelling reason for the pair of centers that I don't know about).

3) if you go with a pair of speakers for the center, you'll need at least one 200 (eight speakers to drive). I'd lean toward driving the 60's with Model 200's and driving the rest with a 770 (with one unused channel) -- it seems like a good balance between cost, performance, and rack space. A Model 950 and eight Model 200's would cost about the same as that, but the benefits of monoblocks all the way around are likely to be only marginal.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

Thanks Gonk, I was hoping you would weigh in on this.
The reason I was thinking of two 20's was the fact that I have a 65" Sony RPT that in my new theater I want to put up on a riser so the center would be around 6' off the floor. In my current house I am using the studio CC on top of the tv and the center seems kind of "disjointed". I have calibrated with the AVIA disc and the trusty SPL but when watching DVD's with a lot of dialog (eg: Mona Lisa Smile - wifes choice!!)the voices seem to be coming from above the actors not from them. I have also tried to angle the CC toward the listening position this helps but still seems off. Due to the fact I have two very large dogs I can't really put the center in front of the tv (this is also the reason for the riser). So I thought two 20's on a shelf at ear level on either side of th tv as part of the entertainment unit would be a good option.
How would I use a single 60? I never thought of that.

I'm interested in where this thread goes as I have a new ML cinema that would get mounted 17" on the wall above the TV. Disjointed sound???

Hipgrncln

I've experienced what IDareYa's talking about -- locating the center too far away from the screen can cause the sound to separate from the action on the screen. I'm having a little trouble with that at the moment, since the new TV and my center won't both fit inside the entertainment center. Aiming the center toward the listening position can help, but it isn't always a cure. I've also got a friend with a Martin Logan Cinema sitting on top of a 50" Toshiba RPTV who is wrestling with the same problem. IDareYa's idea is definitely interesting, and I'd be interested in knowing how it works (even though my system wouldn't work with that sort of configuration).

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

The single 60 would probably not do much good in your case -- it would work if you had a front projection setup and an acoustically transparent screen (which would let you put the speaker behind the screen, much like theaters do for center channel speakers).

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

Gonk you nailed it the voices sound 'separated'. I appreciate the info my test will have to wait for a bit though. The installers are just putting in the wiring for the distributed audio today in the new house so I am about two months away from moving in. Time to get everything on order! I will soon be an OUTLAW!

dual centers is a bad idea, if you want the sound to come from below the tv, then put the center speaker into the "riser", on a shelf underneath it. however if the speaker seems to have a position now it will continue to do so.

two speakers for center is a bad idea, because voices come out of them. no 2 speakers are identical, so they will never be the same sound exactly. plus splitting the signal degrades it. the point of a center is to anchor the dialog to the image, if the centers are on the sides then they are really nothing more than mains in close proximity to the screen. plus two speakers will push the sound out in different places, with a void in the middle if they are perpendicular to tv or interfering with each other if they are angled toward seating area. i have my center on top of my 65 rptv, and have no problem with dialog seeming unnatural. the center is only slightly smaller than the width of my tv, so i presume that helps...
there are just a lot of negatives as far as having two centers, if that was ideal then that is what we would all have, 8.1. yeah they could be fine, etc., but just buy one that is twice as good as the two...

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This post has been brought to you by curegeorg, thanks for reading.

Well that's a new twist. I guess I thought the two 20's would create a soundstage with the tv as the center point. Plus the sound would originate at the same height as the on screen dialog, like talking to someone across the room. I think I will have to convince the salesguy that's helping me with this to have an in home demo (good thing he's a friend). Certainly more food for thought.

I think it'll depend on the installation and the speakers in question. Not sure if it's so cut & dried to say yes it will or no it won't.