I have the Avalon Arcus and a HT processor that does the phantom... I do not have problems with voice levels, positioning or inteligibility of the sounds. I have auditioned so many center channels that didn't work well with the system that I gave up.. I like my theatre as 4.1, and the only surround I would try is the one from Avalon. This may not work well, since it was designed for the Sentinel, but it will probably be the best match you will find. The other crazy thing that could be done is to see if you could find a 3rd Eclipse - this I know will work well... I borrowed a extra pair of Arcus for my theatre with a matching stereo amp for center and WOW!! The extra 11.5K and space requirements just was not worth it. If you REALLY want to do HT properly, it should be a separate room, separate components... IMHO Avalons do HT well enough not to worry about a separate system or a center
How much would be lost if........
I am thinking of integrating my HT and my stereo, I mean just using stereo speakers up front(NO center channel) and a set of surround speakers. I have a good sub also. I realize I will never be able to fully experience 5.1, dts, etc but is pro logic that bad? can I have seperate L and R surrounds with this set up or is it one signal that will be sent to them? My speakers are very holographic and tend to create a center channel when listening to music, also the company who makes them does not make a center(I use avalon acoustic eclipse just for the record). My other option would be to seperate the two systems and use much cheaper speakers in the HT. So I guess my question is: do I really need a center channel to have a good HT set up? any further questions/coments are welcome. Thank you for any help, Tim.