Mixing front and center


I have Dynaudio focus 140s, which I love. I need a center. I am wondering if kef Q6 meta center would work or if this is a bad idea. 

magician

Well, first, do you need a center?  If you sit in 1 location all the time, the center is not important.  Yes, I’ll get flack for saying this but I have a lot of professional and personal experience.  The center really shines when you are moving off center.  It keeps the dialogue and action placed where it should be as you move around the room.  

And then yes, matching the timber of your current speakers helps a great deal, but  you can somewhat mitigate this with excellent room correction. 

Above all, avoid 2-way, center speakers.  They have limited off-axis response.   This doesn't apply to concentrics.  You could use a single Dynaudio speaker as well, if you can place it normally.  A normal bookshelf 2-way speakers on their side have lopsided dispersion. 

Erik S. as usual is spot on. The Dynaudio Contour 25C uses a 2.5 way crossover, with the bass/midranges in parallel below 300Hz, but one of them crossed to the soft dome at 2.5kHz. This technique avoids the worst phase cancellation effects so commonly associated with 2-way centers. The KEF looks like more speaker for the money, but the metal drivers worry me as to timbre match with your Dynaudios. Why not buy both and compare?

I have been mixing center and mains brands for some time.  I currently run an old Dynaudio Audience 122C with Revel F208 mains.  Before that I had a Monitor Audio Bronze center.  Both were fine for movies.

The concern I have for you is that the Kef Q6 Meta may be quite warm in comparison to the Dynaudio especially if your sidewalls are far from the listening space.