choosing a center channel

Thanks all. I tried the phantom center set up last night and diidnt really like it. It left the center a little too soft for my taste.
I am trying to make the best of a compromised situation. The same room serves both 2ch and movies. I might be able to firm up the middle for movies by altering the positions of my L&R but I have them where I want the mfor music listening and dont want to move them...
I have a decent center that will work till i can get a good one and in the mean time i learned how to turn the center off on my avr. Thanks!
A used yar amight work. I will need to get on line and check out the drivers. I have never heard them. But they look small enough that I might be able to stand one upright under my tv.

Jimmy, what don't you like about your B&W LCR60?

good question. It sounds "cold" to me.
Voices produced through the center are not as resonant sounding as the L&R.
Mind you, it was very inexpensive and I am not really complaining.
I think that I was hoping for a warmer sound from the center to better match the sides. Further, I was hoping that someone more mainstream than Audio Physic might mass produce a passable replacement at a better cost.

Hmmm. I assume you've ruled out some of the obvious things, like speaker wire reversal, a blown driver, or an incorrect setting or malfunction with your AV receiver or surround processor. Have you tried manually increasing the center channel level? My auto-setup always sets the center channel too low for my ears, causing the dialog to get lost in the rest of the soundtrack.

I was trying to find a product I saw a few years ago, that is basically a flat, planar speaker disguised as a painting. You hang it on the wall under or above the flat screen TV. I couldn't find that product, but I did find this, which looks pretty cool. I don't know how much it costs or how it sounds.

http://www.jamo.com/na-en/products/a-804-description

Please let us know what you end up with.

have you considered either a midrange psb (e.g imagine line) or kef xq (great deals on their products at accessories4less)--both make excellent centers-- very transparent without being sterile or over-analytical. for ht use, i wouldn't overspend just for appearance's sake--either of these more "mainstream" products should serve you very well.