Center Speakers Recommendations

[Raanan]

From my experience with surround music mixes so far, there is a lot of emphasis on the center channel. Many times the vocals comes only from the center speaker. Therefore, it make sense that the center speaker would be the best speaker in a surround music set-up. Right now, I think that the center is the weak spot in my set up. I use Wharfedale Lintons as fronts, Wharfedale Dentons for surround and SVS sb2000 for sub. My center speaker is an old Paradigm CC-350, which is fine for movies but I find it unsatisfying enough to be the main speaker in a 5.1 music set-up.
I like focal's speakers, so I thought to try to get a second hand Aria 900cc (focal speakers are usually more forward sounding with more details in the highs than the Wharfedales. I think that it would be a good match). I've also looked at the svs ultra center. The ultra line seems like a rip-off of focal's sopra line at half the price. The 3 way design seems interesting.
What center speakers do you use? Do you have any recommendations?

 

[JediJoker]

I use Wharfedale Lintons as fronts, Wharfedale Dentons for surround and SVS sb2000 for sub.

Great choices. If you can manage, I'd recommend using another Linton or Denton for your center. If you absolutely need a horizontally-oriented speaker, I'd recommend staying away from non-concentric 2-way designs, as their dispersion patterns tend to be suboptimal:



The Lintons and Dentons are fairly linear/neutrally-tuned speakers with wide dispersion. I would recommend a speaker that matches those attributes closely. If it can match in impedance, sensitivity, and/or dynamic capability, even better. The best online resources for objective loudspeaker data are Erin's Audio Corner, Audio Science Review, and Audioholics. All three have data-driven YouTube channels, too, if you prefer that.

 

[Raanan]

I have seen this video, it's one of the reasons that I was interested in the svs center (although there is a chance that Erin and Audioholics are not fully objective and get paid from svs).
Do you think that vertical speaker can work better for center? I actually have enough place to put the 2 Dentons in the middle and connect them in parallel.
I know that people usually says that the 3 front speaker should match, but I have a feeling that if I will combine Wharfedale and Focal I can enjoy both worlds (but maybe it will just be a mass).

 

[wavelength]

The best center speaker would be identical to your left and right speakers.